Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

A Quiet Moment on the Podium Sofiia Krainska is a young Ukrainian gymnast who won a silver medal at the 2026 European Championships. Instead of celebrating, she covered her face with her hands while standing on the podium. The photo shows a calm, private reaction rather than a public celebration. A Russian gymnast had won the gold medal, and Sofia had to listen to the Russian anthem, and watch the Russian flag rise as she stood in front of the audience. The competition is the European Championships of Rhythmic Gymnastics, both junior and senior, and it's the first time that the Russian anthem has been played in a gymnastics arena since the beginning of Russia's war with Ukraine.  Ukraine is expected to continue to protest against the raising of the Russian flag, and playing of the Russian anthem, in forthcoming competitions.  Ukraine want a a peace agreement and for Russia to stop bombing their homes. Sport and the Wider World For some athletes, competitions are affected by e...

People often say that sport and politics don’t mix, and the situation with Russia shows why. First, its athletes were banned from competing in the Olympics. Now, they have been allowed back in. We have to try to think - which is right? The real problem in the world right now is war, not sport. Some leaders think fighting is the only way to solve things. And the people who run the Olympics think that banning countries will somehow stop wars. It hasn’t worked. When Russia was not allowed to compete, gymnastics felt different. Some people thought it was less exciting. Now the Russian gymnasts are coming back, and everyone is wondering how they will manage. Can they get ready in time for the Olympics? The IOC — the organisation that runs the Olympics — first banned Russia and is now letting them return. Other sports groups are following their lead. Their rules are very strict and written in legal language. They are not talking about feelings or fairness, only about laws. There is also a...

  Sport is not the problem, world politics is.   Put another way, speaking as a feminist, only men could believe that the answer to any problem is to bomb, shoot, kill and maim.   And, speaking as a sports afficionado, only the IOC could believe that isolating nations from the Olympic mission of peace and friendship might solve the problem of war.   Is sport ‘war without the shooting’?      Politics and sport do not mix, that’s for sure.   Am I the only one who found gymnastics without the Russkies just a little bit flat and boring?     Now we have them back and have to contemplate how their gymnasts will cope in a new age.   Can they revive their motivation and get back in time to compete as a team at the Olympics?     The IOC started the sanction, and now it’s attempting to stop it.   They are the ones who hold the power, and their approach is mirrored by the sporting federations who are gradually letting Ru...

Picture courtesy of Igor Radivilov on VK.com As Russia's Ministry of Sport released an interview with Valentina Rodionenko in which the Head Coach requested assistance to develop gymnastics in Crimea (see earlier post), Ukraine's vault and rings ace Igor Radivilov posted this picture of himself with team mate Oleg Verniaiev and Ukraine Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk. Does anyone know what this event was, when it took place, and what the awards are? The Liukin's Nico tells me that this was an award handed out in May ... so it might just be coincidence that Igor chose to post it now.

I responded to a question on Gymternet Clan on Facebook recently; which gymnasts did you see in competition first?  Being rather old, my reply was that at the 1976 Soviet Display at Wembley, I was lucky enough to see Ludmilla Tourischeva, Nelli Kim and Olga Korbut.  Quite a heady memory, and one that for some unknown reason sent me in search of Chopin's Nocturne, 9-2, a piece of music that always reminds me of the deep, emotional and expressive Tourischeva.  She is the standout for me these days.  At the age of 16, Korbut's pyrotechnics appealed more.  Olga is still beautiful, very special, but somehow Ludmilla's gentle, complex gymnastics come from somewhere more intense and soulful, closer to me, these days. I haven't posted enough recently, having been busy at a Conference on Cultural Tourism in the Digital Era, in Athens, where as well as listening to and questioning others on their interesting research in this topic area, I had the p...

Russian gymnasts and coaches at the European Gymnastics Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, sit shoulder to shoulder with their Ukrainian friends, including 1985 World Champion Oksana Omelianchik. Picture courtesy of the Russian Gymnastics Federation All good luck to all competitors in the senior final.  Udachi! Peace and friendship to all.

Does Ukraine have a future in men's gymnastics, or will its athletes move overseas to pursue their talents?  Oleg Stepko's personal photograph as he prepared to travel to Baku Many of the stories to be found on this blog are about a relatively unspoken fact of life of the sport - the migration of gymnasts, coaches and officials from their home countries overseas.  While we discuss the personalities, we do not consider the phenomenon of migration and its influence on the sport particularly deeply.  This is a little surprising, as migration has shaped the sport significantly since 1991.  In particular, coaches from Russia and the states of the former Soviet Union - and their families - have figured as the main protagonists in the worldwide development of the sport.  In America, the phenomenon began earlier - during the 1980s - as Romanian head coaches Bela and Marta Karolyi defected to the States, and went on to build the nascent characteristics of Amer...

Stella Zakharova today, courtesy of her Facebook page 1980 gold medal Olympian and 1979 and 1980 World Cup all around champion Stella Zakharova has contributed to a round table of Ukrainian artists and athletes on the Ukraine crisis. Other participants are Nina Matvienko (artist) and Evgen Nischchuk (Ukrainian minister of culture). 'Let us work together to raise Ukraine', says Stella.   Stella says a video of athletes and artists speaking about Ukraine is in preparation. Since retiring from big time gymnastics in 1980, Stella has married and is the mother of two children.  She is an outspoken supporter of Ukrainian gymnastics, and has her own annual international competition, the Stella Zakharova Cup, currently in its thirteenth year.  The competition regularly attracts top gymnasts and is sanctioned by the FIG, but has had to be postponed this year because of the current troubles. Stella Zakharova on beam at the Moscow News competition in 1980 (gold all...

Oleg Stepko, European Parallel Bars Champion Nico Jackson reports on some new developments Something is in the air of Azerbaijan lately. This energy-rich nation in the Caucasus region has taken a keen interest in developing its gymnastics programs in recent months. Already strong in rhythmic gymnastics, the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation continues to move forward with the men’s and women’s artistic programs through recruitment of gymnasts and coaches from abroad (mainly Russia). As reported in December 2013, Azerbaijan has recruited several well-known former competitors for Russia: Anna  Pavlova ,  Yulia   Inshina , Marina  Nekrasova  and Konstantin  Pluzhnikov . Earlier this week, FIG released news of nationality changes for nineteen gymnasts in all gymnastics disciplines. Fifteen of those gymnasts were new representatives of Azerbaijan, most of whom were formerly of Russia (including two WAG and one MAG). The most notable change was Ukrainian Olympian a...