Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Anastasia Grishina in typical flowing movement at last week's Europeans.  Courtesy : RGF I am convinced that we have yet to see the best of Anastasia Grishina.  The 17 year old native of Moscow gave us a glimpse last week of the consistency, purity of technique and sheer amplitude that makes her one of the brightest upcoming lights in world gymnastics.   Anastasia ('Nastia') has had an action-packed first year in senior gymnastics, with all the ups and downs one might expect of a young adult starting out in a fiercely competitive sport.  It certainly has not been plain sailing.  A painful leg injury hampered her preparation for the Olympics, and meant that routines presented last week at the European Championships were still work in progress.  She and her new coach, Viktor Razumovsky, attracted criticism from Russian head coach Valentina Rodionenko for their failure to deliver upgrades and to increase start values.   But Rodionenko ...

Lupita has been hard at work again, and here provides a full translation of the interview which featured in Wednesday's blog post. 'If Mustafina's health is good, I have no reason to doubt her'   -   Alexander Sergueievich, did you attend the EC? -   Of course! I didn’t accompany Mustafina to the podium. I watched everything from outside. -    Mustafina said she wanted to talk to you, because you might be offended, because she was accompanied by other coaches. -    We have already talked, but not as long as we wanted, we had no time. I am old enough not to be offended. There are always misunderstandings between coach and athlete from time to time. I am no longer 30 years old, I do not need to be on the podium to prove myself. -  How do you assess Mustafina’s performance? -  It’s always difficult to start a new season. When the athletes start a new quad, it’s much more diffic...

European Champion Aliya Mustafina with national team coach Evgeny Grebyonkin in Friday's all around final Alexander Alexandrov yesterday spoke out in defence of his gymnast Aliya Mustafina, sweeping aside speculation that there may be a rift in the charismatic pairing that has delivered gold for Russia at European, World and Olympic level, and confirming that he continues as her personal coach. 'I am too old to be offended', he said, adding that after thirty years on the gymnastics podium he did not take the exclusion to heart.  Mustafina's appearance at last week's European Championships was good enough to secure two gold medals, but her somewhat erratic performance, particularly in qualifications, leaves a few question marks over her readiness for such a high level competition.  She herself acknowledges that she came to this competition not prepared to her best, pointing out that on bars, for example, she was not competing her full repertoire of skills.  B...

Courtesy RGF Wearing her Olympics leotard yesterday afternoon, Ksenia Afanasyeva faced off all doubts about her ability to manage pressure with a breathtaking performance on the floor.  Afanasyeva's artistry is now matched by her confidence and aggression in the all-important tumbling.  Her start value of 6.3 was the highest of the competition, her score of 15.166 superior to that earned in Tokyo two years ago when she took the world title on this apparatus. Short term, she has sacrificed some of the choreography from her Olympic floor routine to favour work on consistency, but a new routine is promised for this autumn's World Championships. The pressure Afanasyeva faced came from many directions, most tangibly in the audience she faced who included many of the most influential people in sport in Russia.  Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko and senior representatives of sponsors VTB were there to check on and celebrate the results of their considerable investment.  H...

David Belyavski, 22 years old, has long promised a gold medal in a major all around competition.  The 2012 and 2013 Russian national champion is set in the classical mould of Alexei Nemov and Vladimir Artemov.  Now chief coach of the Russian team, Valery Alfosov, is comparing him to the highly respected Olympic Champion, Kohei Uchimura.   Belyavski performed with consistency and elegance to take the gold medal in this Friday's all around final, and promises much more.  The emotional intensity of his performance was impressive as he went head to head with the richest competitive field men's European all around gymnastics has seen in a long time.    David trains at the Dynamo Club in Yekaterinburg with coach Viktor Lomaev, and at Russian national championships competes for the Siberian men's team that contributes so much to the national scene.  An interview with Valery Alfosov appeared in yesterday's edition of Sovietski Sport. The...

http://sport.rbc.ru/other/newsline/20/04/2013/388534.shtml   Mutko pleased with medals and expects more.  Acknowledging it as difficult post Olympic year.  Victories of Mustafina and Belyavski show changing face of Russian gymnastics - an improvement in that Muscovite Mustafina reflects the old funding structures while Belyavski's reflects the new face of the Siberian team.

Vault bronze medallist Maria Paseka is congratulated by 1956 and 1960 Olympic Champion, Larissa Latynina  Courtesy RGF Today's event finals saw mixed fortunes for the Russians as Aliya Mustafina won the gold medal expected on bars, while Paseka erred twice on vault but delivered beyond promise on bars with a surprise bronze.   It was an emotion filled afternoon as Russia celebrated its emerging legend, Mustafina, and coped with the relative disappointment of somewhat below-par presentations in the men's competition.  We will have to wait till tomorrow to see whether Denis Ablyazin can finally win a long expected gold medal on vault at this championships  - and whether the brilliant but unpredictable Ksenia Afanasyeva can assert herself on the floor at European level, to match the Worlds gold medal she won two years ago in Japan.  Anastasia Grishina may be in with a chance of a medal on beam if she can perform her routine without error, and Emin Garibo...