From April 9th to 12th, the final stage of the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup was held in Croatia. Over the five stages, neutral athletes won 22 medals, nine of which were gold. Dmitry Andreev, head coach of the national artistic gymnastics team, summarized the first half of the international season. With thanks to the RGF — How would you rate the gymnasts' performance at the World Cup? — We didn't aim to qualify for the World Championships through these tournaments—the main selection will take place at the European Championships. However, each athlete had their own goals. First and foremost, this is about regaining competitive experience on the international stage. The team lacked it: some athletes haven't competed abroad for a long time, and a new generation has emerged that needs to be introduced to international competitions now. It was important to review the competition programs, identify weaknesses in routines, and make adjustments before the European and World Cham...
This is the first of a long series of pieces about Russia in general, that I'll be trying to improve and complete over the coming year. Please bear with me and leave me comments; I will need feedback and encouragement! I want to try to put gymnastics in Russia into context with its past, and especially with everything that has happened in the past ten years. It seems to me that things are changing fast. Russia - some basic facts Russia is the largest landmass of any single country in the world, spanning from Europe to the Far East, from way up north towards the Arctic and the Barents Sea, down to the border with Georgia in the south. The country shares land borders with seventeen other nations from Norway to Japan, China and Korea; it shares maritime borders with countries including the USA and Alaska. Maps below. Russia's declining population is a matter of major concern to the Government. Despite the size of the country, its population is only...