Skip to main content

Noven'kaya - The New Girl

I hadn't seen before this Soviet produced drama. It is in the Russian language which sadly I don't speak! But do take the time to have a look, if only to appreciate the well sculpted bone structure of so many of the actors, and the incredible black and white photography which is so redolent of this particular period of Soviet gymnastics. There are some of the most incredible look alike performances including one from the lead role as Latynina.

Fast forward to parts 15 to see Petrik, Druzhinina (Voronina) and Askakhova in podium training and competition, and to 16 for amazing coverage of the Soviet team in action (around 1967/8), including bars work from Petrik and a young Tourischeva, all doe-eyed, beribboned and intense, in her leotard with an embroidered Dynamo symbol.

The purity of movement in these routines is outstanding, and I don't think Komova or Afanasyeva are so very far behind them in this respect. There is certainly a heritage of movement that informs their work, something which I think is missing in too many gymnasts these days.

You can see Part 1 here, and a link to a listing all 16 parts here.

I am unable to update my blog as much as I would like to at present as we are having a particularly busy time at work. However, please bear with me as I will be posting on the Tokyo World Championships at some point in the not too distant future.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Russia Cup - the road to Nanning!

The Russian MAG and WAG teams take their preparation for World Championships in Nanning one step further this week, as key players compete in the annual Russia Cup in Penza.  There will be team, all around and event finals. The WAG team Last year the gymnasts were rather depleted and suffering the effects of injury; this year the national squad is still short of some of its top members, but has greater diversity and experience up and coming into the ranks, so it will be an interesting time.  Last year saw St Petersburg gymnast and fan favourite Tatiana Nabiyeva lead the all around, ahead of Alla Sosnitskaya, Anna Pavlova, Anna Rodionova, Ekaterina Kramarenko and Polina Fyodorova.  With the individual-only World Championships up coming in Antwerp, I remember writing that Russia might well decide to send a team of only three gymnasts, such was the paucity of available talent.  The final reckoning saw Russia fare a little better than this, although performance ...

Aliya Mustafina - 'I'm just trying to stay healthy'

A brief interview with the World and Olympic Champion from All Sport is summarised below. Russian national gymnastics continues to prepare for the World Championships, which will be held October 3-12 in Nanning (China). Olympic champion Aliya Mustafina told Mary Staroverova about her health and about preparations for the competition. - In June, I went to Germany to solve the problem with my ankle.  I had a small operation to clean the joints of a build-up of bone particles.  Nothing serious was evident, and the operation went well.  Now I have to tumble.  But there is still some discomfort, a slight pain at full load, and I can not tumble at full force.  For the time being, I try to go easy on my legs.  After the Russia Cup I will have to fully prepare for Worlds. That is just one month.   Even if I'm not tumbling, I will keep myself in good shape, and that should suffice (smiles). - I can't say if it is a different pain to before Europeans, because at...

Remembering last summer - Nelli Kim, her judges and Viktoria Komova

In view of Nelli Kim's recent interview , Lupita and I thought it timely to revisit the performance of some of the WTC President's judges over past competitions ... this article from 27th August 2012 is reposted here, as a reminder. You will find a link to the FIG's newly published book of results at the Olympic Games here .  This year, they have broken down the judge's execution scores so you can see exactly how each judge evaluated the gymnasts' performances.  It makes for interesting reading - if only I had more time to analyse each judge's marking.  A skim reading already highlights multiple inconsistencies in individual judges' marks and makes you wonder why they bother with the jury at all. I have taken the time to look at the reference judges' scores for the top four in the women's all around.  The FIG explains here what their role is, and how they are selected.  I even used my calculator, which is a risky thing in my hands.  M...

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more