Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

International Gymnast alerts me to this interview with Ludmilla Korolenko, former coach of Ukrainian 1996 Olympian Liubov Sheremeta.  Korolenko now works for the Russian federation as a coach, primarily for the junior team, specialising in beam preparation, and also judges at major international competitions. There is a lot of meat in this interview if you can get past the Google translate.  Korolenko discusses recent changes to the Code, and refutes the idea that judging is subject to deliberate corruption and cheating, preferring to think of controversies such as those surrounding Mustafina's vault valuations as simple errors or misinterpretations, something she says is quite a common occurrence.  She also highlights inconsistencies between rule applications in men's and women's gymnastics.  Errors in women's gymnastics, she suggests, are penalised twice as deductions are made for poor execution and the move is downgraded.  If I read the translation correct...

I'm just collating the voluminous amounts of results and video links relating to the Russian Federal Championships, though I'm afraid my progress is rather slow thanks to the recent adoption of two adorable black and white cats, Harry and Ron, who are of course my priority at the moment, alongside large volumes of assessment I must complete as part of my 'proper' job!  However, to keep you interested, here are some links I located via the Russian Gymnastics Federation website .  First of all, an interview (from 2007) with 13 time Olympic medalist and long-serving member of the Men's Technical Committee, Boris Shakhlin (RIP).  Boris reflects on the relative increasing difficulty levels in gymnastics (he competed at Olympics in 1956, 1960 and 1964), on the rewards accorded to sportsmen in his time, and on his premature retirement from sport, brought on by a heart attack at the age of 35 as he prepared for the 1968 Olympics.  When asked to rank the best gymnasts of ...

Alan Owen of Anastasia Grishina Online kindly informed me of the Moscow Championships which are taking place on the 25th of January.  Anastasia will compete there, along with Anastasia Sidorova, Anna Rodionova and Kristina Sidorova. Sounds like an interesting competition - glad to see Anastasia Grishina back from her injury.

Nora at the All Around forum kindly posted a link where you will be able to find videos of some routines from the North West Regional Championships (see earlier post) that are taking place in Vologda this weekend.  Thanks to DJKiara88, whose Youtube channel this is. National team member (reserve) Maria Dunayeva's floor and beam routines can be seen.  Maria will be age eligible for 2012.  Results of all six competitions will be posted here as soon as they become available (the Russian Gymnastics Federation website has a set of pages devoted to these competitions). 

Visit this link to view a charming short documentary (2002) on 1956 and 1960 Olympic All Around Champion, Larissa Latynina.  Latynina retired from competition in 1966 and took up post of Soviet National Coach for the women's team, a title she held until 1977. The documentary includes footage of Ukraine-born Latynina in competition in the 1950s, and more recently relaxing in her rural home in Russia, and attending the Russian Championships.  Towards the end of the documentary she is seen congratulating Elena Zamolodchikova, Anna Pavlova, and their coaches.

With upcoming parliamentary (December 2011) and presidential (March 2012) elections looming, Vladimir Putin is voicing his commitment to supporting sporting excellence.

The Russian Gymnastics Federation website carries a notice of imminent Federal District Championships to be held in Vologda, Vladimir, Rostov-on-Don, Chelyabinsk, Cheboksary and Novosibirsk.  It's unclear who will compete at these competitions - but I will update this site with links to results as soon as they appear..