Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

2012 Olympic silver medallist, and multiple European medal winner in her native city of Moscow in 2013, Nastia Grishina, has retired, confirms head coach Valentina Rodionenko in an interview with Albert Starodubtsev of Tass. 20 year old Grishina, a beautiful beam and floor worker who was once considered to have significant all around potential at world level, married recently.  She has been studying journalism at a Moscow University. Rodionenko wasted no time in ascribing Grishina's waning as an international star to her changing coaching arrangements since the Olympics.  Regular readers of this blog will know that Sergei Zelikson, whose tenure as Grishina's personal coach was terminated suddenly in 2012, was recently re-appointed to the national WAG team as tumbling coach.  'The leaders of the Moscow Gymnastics Federation made a fatal mistake a few years ago, when they decided to transfer Grishina to a different coach', said Rodionenko.  'You couldn't take Gris...

Yuri Korolev (right), has joined the Russian national coaching team.  He is seen here congratulating his gymnast, 2012 Olympian Dmitri Barkalov. The RGF has now updated its list of national team coaches.  The senior management team includes Andrei Rodionenko and his wife Valentina Rodionenko as Head Coach and Senior Coach of the men's and women's teams respectively, with Evgeny Grebenkin installed as Senior Coach of the women's team.  (Grebenkin has stepped down from his personal coaching responsibilities for national reserve team member Ekaterina Baturina.) Nikolai Yepishin has taken up a position as Senior Coach of boys and girls.   Valery Alfosov, Nikolai Krukov and Olga Bulgakova remain in their existing positions as Senior Coaches of the men's, junior men's and junior women's teams respectively. Alexander Alexandrov, personal coach to Aliya Mustafina, is confirmed in this position on the national coaching team, and Gennady Elfimov, coach to Vik...

Elena Shevchenko with 1985 World Champion all around, Oksana Omelianchik.  Picture courtesy Tom Theobald I read somewhere recently that Moscow's Viktor Razumovsky is now coaching 2012 Olympian Anastasia Grishina ... interesting.  Razumovsky was a leading Soviet personal coach during the 1980s, bringing through such talent as 1988 Olympian Elena Shevchenko, 1987 World Championships team member Elena Gurova, and Soviet international Olga Chudina.  He also had a hand in coaching 1981 World Champion Olga Bicherova.  All renowned for the elegance and spontaneity of their floor work in particular. It reminded me of the 1988 Olympics, when the Soviet team performed in red, won by a significant margin, and were led off by the placid yet dynamic Shevchenko. I like what Larissa Petrik has to say about her in this interview from GymnForum: "Elena Shevchenko is my favorite gymnast ... We are similar in spirit, in style and ... in the colour of our hair.  When she g...