Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

There are some gorgeous photographs on the Russian Gymnastics Federation website of the gymnasts celebrating their achievements at the Tokyo World Championships - Tatiana Nabieva, Ksenia Afansyeva, Viktoria Komova and Denis Ablyazin. It made me smile to see them so happy.

First impressions, lasting impressions. The Tokyo World Championships were certainly a talking point this year. For me they were perhaps the most political championships we have experienced in some years. In this age of social media, talk was all important, and it began well before the competition started. I expect it will go on for some time to come. I will take a considered look at all the national level exchanges in due course, but in the meantime I wanted to record a few thoughts. And, lest we forget, put into relative permanence a few observations from the world of social media and broadcast about a controversial all around result. This World Championships was all about the power and precision of the American girls. They did dominate the team competition and were without question the best prepared team at this event. We also witnessed the continuing, rather surprising rise of a depleted yet determined Russian team. The developing discourse of the battle between the wom...

Russia's new World Champion, Ksenia Afanasyeva, appears in a ten minute panel interview on Sports Expert. The written commentary notes that the gold she won on floor in Tokyo is the most important victory of her career; before she had won the gold, she was considering retiring from the sport. I'm sure many of us would love to know the main points Ksenia makes in this interview which begins at 9.30 on the video link provided here . Could anyone possibly provide a brief translation?

And finally, the judges did some judging. As a result, we have a world champion - Afanasyeva - who is worthy of the honoured title 'artistic gymnast'. At the end of the day, Afanasyeva won because the judges chose her routine as the best. At last, I like to think, artistry influenced the outcome. Only the judges could tell you, though, whether this was actually the case. The top 3 gymnasts all had the same difficulty value - 6.1. They all made errors and so all had deductions. It was very close indeed. Discussing artistry is difficult. It is a concept that is not easily articulated as it is largely intangible. It's also rather contingent on matters of taste. A shared understanding of the vocabulary would be a good starting point though. 'Choreography' as understood by many of us is a synonym for 'dance composition' and yet there is so much more to the art of choreography, including but not limited to ideas of balance, line, rhythm, amplitude....

And finally, we have a floor world champion who is worthy of the title. At times, watching this final, I felt that the floor should be replaced with a tumble track. Last year Marta Karolyi pronounced that gymnasts should not have to be ballerinas to win. But, surely, they should have to adhere to some form of dance tradition. For Alexandra Raisman to medal is a terrible comment on the state of women’s gymnastics, but then I suppose she was as good as many of the other participants in the final who finished below her in the rankings. Then came Sui Lu and Ksenia Afanasyeva and it felt as though you were watching a different sport. For once, the judges acknowledged the added dimension these gymnasts brought to the floor, and justice was done. Congratulations to both of them! I am particularly delighted for Afanasyeva, a truly outstanding gymnast who has contributed to many Russian team efforts but often fallen away during individual finals. For her to be World Champion on floor s...

Queen Elizabeth is officially appalled.  Her flag (unusually, white blue and red) is flying at half mast.  Remember these names - Ksenia Afanasyeva, Viktoria Komova, Anna Dementieva, Yulia Belokobylskaya, Yulia Inshina, Tatiana Nabieva, Alyona Polyan - they are all consummate artistic gymnasts, fulfilling the requirements of the sport to be both artistic and dynamic.   They are a vibrant example of a dying breed, and they alone keep the sport alive. There is not enough time in the world for me to articulate the dissent and dismay I am feeling at present, after the women's all around final.  So for now, I will keep my silence.  Other than to offer my sympathy - and congratulations - to Viktoria Komova in particular, and Ksenia Afanasyeva and the entire Russian team in general.   But shortly, in the not too distant future, I intend to produce a review.  A state of War may shortly be declared.  A War of Words. That is all I have to say a...

I wanted to give you some links to the Federation's website where you will find some important information. But first, look here at some beautiful pictures of the Russian girls during a control workout attended by Russian Minister for Sport, Valeri Mutko. It's great to see them all looking relaxed and confident, with Aliya Mustafina amongst the fold. I read on the IG forum that Mustafina will be travelling with the Russian team to Tokyo to provide moral support - not on the competition floor, but from the stadium.  If this is true, I think it's great both for the team and for Aliya. Russian Head Coach names Russian team for Worlds  - This is essentially a rehash of the Novosti article linked to on this blog on the 23rd September, including Paseka in the team Andrei Rodionenko confirms Russian women's team for worlds .  'Final' announcement made on the 27th September including Inshina in the place of Maria Paseka Alexander Balandin discusses his recent in...

edited 25/9 - there is some uncertainty as to whether this is the official announcement - let's wait and see who travels to Tokyo. Andrei Rodionenko ( via RIA Novosti ) has announced the 'final' teams for the Tokyo World Championships. Changes can still be made. Men: Garibov, Khorokhodin, Ignatyev, Belyavski, Ablyazin, Cherkasov, Golutsotskov, Pluzhnikov Women: Afanasyeva, Komova, Dementieva, Belokobylskaya, Nabieva, Polyan, Paseka Surprising to see Polyan still listed on the main team instead of Inshina but perhaps there is something we don't know. Or things may change right up until the last moment. Rodionenko is apparently worried about the conditions out in Tokyo in the wake of Typhoon Roke which killed 12 people and is causing landslides. There is some discussion of the consequences of cancelling this event. PS Google translate of the day: Alyona Polyan = Alan Field. Is there something we should know?

Those of us in the UK are lucky enough to have reasonable TV coverage of gymnastics on the BBC, who have just published the following schedule: Tuesday 11 October Women's Team Final 1050-1310, BBC Red Button/online 1300-1500, BBC Two/online Wednesday 12 October Men's Team Final 0950-1240, BBC Red Button/online 1330-1530, BBC Two/online Thursday 13 October Women's All Around Final 0950-1155, BBC Red Button/online 1300-1500, BBC Two/online Friday 14 October Men's All Around Final 1050-1350, BBC Red Button/online 1300-1500, BBC Two/online Saturday 15 October Individual Apparatus Finals 0520-0830, BBC Red Button/online 1630-1800, BBC Two/online Sunday 16 October Individual Apparatus Finals 0550-0905, BBC Red Button/online 1600-1730, BBC Two/online The link is here . I'm guessing it will be worth checking and rechecking closer to the time.  :-)))   :-))))

Nominative registrations for the forthcoming World Championships are now available at the FIG website . Russia has confirmed its teams as follows : MAG Konstantin Pluzhnikov (reserve) Emin Garibov Sergei Khorokhodin Nikita Ignatyev David Belyavski Denis Ablyazin Anton Golutsotskov It is great to see some new faces on the team.   WAG Alyona Polyan (reserve) Ksenia Afanasyeva Viktoria Komova Anna Dementieva Yulia Belokobylskaya Tatiana Nabieva Yulia Inshina Inshina, Komova and Belokobyskaya compete at world championships for the first time.   Maria Paseka did not quite make the cut this time - she didn't look ready at the Ghent World Cup this weekend and, besides, Inshina complements the team's skill set much better.  But remember, this time last year Dementieva was the reserve gymnast. Komova and Dementieva have their personal coaches travelling with them to Tokyo.  WAG judges for the Russian team are Vera Kiryashova (coach to Tatiana ...