Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Alexandr Alexandrov, former Russian national gymnastics coach,  stated that, most probably, he’ll stay in Russia and will train Olympic champion А liya Mustafina further.   The Ministry has asked me to stay, with the same salary I was earning. Some people want me to be in the team, so I rather think I’ll stay in Russia. At some meetings, some people expressed their claims against me. I don’t know if they were right or wrong. Time will tell. I was offered to work abroad, but I told them to wait. I was born in Moscow, I grew up and I spent all my life here. Only if something doesn’t turn right, then... I’m not 15. I went abroad only because I was obliged to, when everything collapsed.  All this concerned Mustafina, as if she was to blame because she didn’t train well in the team. I don’t understand. If someone doesn’t train well, how can this affect the rest? We’re not a football team, where, because of someone, everything can go wrong. Could she influence s

The organising committee of the London Olympics (LOCOG) has finally published full details of ticketing at the Olympic Games, including how many were eventually sold to the public rather than given away to sponsors and dignitaries , and how many tickets were available in each price category. Despite the fact that the public and press have been baying and begging for this information for most of the past year, LOCOG have chosen to publish their report as quietly as possible, without any accompanying press releases or events, and right upon the cusp of Christmas, at the same time as the UK media is sizzling with news stories left, right and centre.  Almost as though they would like to keep some of the facts as quiet as possible; after all, they have managed to convince us that the Games were an immense success. Which, in the main, I agree with.  I don't want to say goodbye to 2012; the Olympics brought much happy spirit to the city of London and its people, and I don't t

The Russian Gymnastics Federation has a gallery of Elena Mikhailova's excellent photographs of the Voronin Cup.  You can view a selection of the edited highlights at RRG's Facebook page.  There are some stunning photographs of Anna Dementyeva in particular. All around Voronin Cup champion performing at the Voronin Cup this weekend.  Courtesy RGF

Junior champion on floor, Artur Dalolyan You will find full results at the Russian Gymnastics Federation's website .  Highlights are reproduced below. Junior MAG All Around Miscellaneous all around senior results (place 21 onwards; edited highlights)   Full team results can be found here (junior) and here (senior) . Apparatus finals Junior men Floor Pommel horse   Rings  Vault Vault scores are not available at the moment. Parallel Bars  High Bar Senior men Floor Pommel horse Rings Vault Results not available at present Parallel Bars High Bar  

Fan favourite Anna Dementyeva took three golds in Moscow this December The Russian Gymnastics Federation has now published the full results of this competition which I will  reproduce below (WAG first, MAG in a separate post). I think the most significant outcomes are the junior women where Evgeniya Shelgunova, who turns senior next year, took the gold in the all around and beam.  Maria Kharenkova, who will train with the seniors next year but won't have senior competitive eligibility till 2014, also rounded out the year nicely with a silver in the all around and a the gold medal on floor. It is good to see Dementyeva pick up some gold (gold all around in the senior competition, and gold on bars and beam where she scored 15.6 with an SV of 6.6).  With Anna Pavlova taking silver in the all around and golds on floor and vault, this must have been a pretty competition to watch.  Olympic team members Komova and Mustafina were present and appeared on individual apparatus, thou

Olympic all around silver medallist Viktoria Komova confirmed her continuing presence in gymnastics today at Moscow Dynamo's Voronin Cup with a strong winning performance leading to four golds - all around, floor, bars and beam. In the junior competition national team member Evgeniya Shelgunova also did well, securing gold medals overall, on vault and on floor, while Maria Bondareva sealed a recent comeback to competition with silver all around and gold on bars and beam. In the men's competition there was strong international rivallry with Russia's Andrei Cherkasov coming out on top in the senior all around and Japan's Takumi Sato taking the junior.  Olympic team member Denis Ablyazin achieved a gold medal on floor but was forced to settle for bronze on vault behind Britain's Kristian Thomas.   The junior men's apparatus saw Japan and Britain sharing the gold, with Frank Baines taking home three gold medals to add to his silver in the all around. Full r

Russian WAG at Stuttgart this weekend : national coach Evgeny Grebenkin, Aliya Mustafina, Yulia Inshina, Anna Rodionova, Kristina Goryunova.  Can anyone identify the coach to the right?  Picture courtesy of Schwaebischer Turnerbund on Facebook. The Russian WAG team had a good time at this weekend's DTB Cup in Stuttgart, finishing in first place.  It is good to see the girls competing well in a friendly, despite some setbacks.  Anna Rodionova suffered an injury on bars in the final and had to retire from the competition, leaving Aliya Mustafina to pick up responsibility on vault (full twisting Yurchenko) and Yulia Inshina to perform on floor.  Kristina Goryunova, freshly restored to the national team after completing an enforced break due to a doping infringement, did some good work on beam. In the WAG all around , the USA's Elizabeth Price took the gold.  She reminds me of Alexandra Raisman, all power and energy, but look around for photographs of her in flight, all booty

Lup ita translates a recent Sports Pa n orama in ter view: Nelli Kim: triple back on floor Nelli Kim at the USSR Display, Wembley, London, 1979.  Courtesy of Finyo. She considers herself Belarussian, although she lived in Kazakhstan until 1977 and now resides in Belarus, the US and Switzerland.  To be more precise, Nelli Kim has no home in the country of watches, banks and cheese, where she spends many months every year.  Yet, her soul is in Belarus, whose colours she defended during the last years of her fabulous gymnastics career.  Five time Olympic champion and world champion, she was recently in Minsk to brief Belarussian specialists on the new aspects of the next Code of Points. — The Code of Points will be enacted in 2013. The judges will receive new categories, she explained. I decided to come first to Minsk. To whom do I have to explain the nuances of the new Code other than Belarussian specialists?  I’ll meet with coaches and

1980 Olympic Champion Elena Davydova at a London display in 1978 This French TV transmission of the historic final at the Moscow Olympics is fascinating for the mix of fluff and routines it presents.  Sadly, we see only two fragments of Nadia Comaneci's routines.  I would be tempted to say that this was a Soviet feed edited for diplomatic purposes, but I remember the BBC live transmission as covering Comaneci in full. I sat there, glued to my television set as the judges fought out the final rankings.  With Soviet Elena Davydova standing in first place, 1976 champion, the legendary Comaneci, needed a 9.95 on beam to take the gold.  Unfortunately, she took a rather hefty wobble half way through her routine, ending with a mark of 9.85 and the silver medal.  This was an astounding result for a gymnast who had been to hell and back since her former glorious victories in Montreal, but that did not stop Romanian judge Maria Simionescu from fighting and debating the mark with rival

I remember Olga receiving this award back in 1972 ... I was 13 years old. It was before the time of video recorders, personal computers and Youtube, and therefore a rare opportunity to savour those amazing moments from Munich again. I was so thrilled to see Olga Korbut on my little black and white TV screen, collecting her BBC award as International Sportswoman of the Year. Gymnastics was new to me, Olga had opened my eyes to the sport, they have never closed. There was something so special about Olga. Those moments from 1972 never lose their freshness. With many thanks, once again, to Novosti, for reminding me of this great moment.

Olga Mostepanova in training.  Courtesy of RIA Novosti The joy of that video of the 1976 Olympics sent me into an Olympic reverie, a recollection of perfect tens of the past.  There is no greater unsung hero than 1983 and 1985 World Champion Olga Mostepanova, who competed at the 1984 Alternative Olympics in Olomouc, but was denied the chance of appearing at the Olympics thanks to larger, world political events that saw the Soviet Union boycott the Los Angeles Games.  I first saw Olga compete at Wembley in 1981 at the annual Champions All competition.  She was a tiny little thing, wearing a white leotard and with big white ribbons in her hair.  I remember how coach Vladimir Aksenov paid attention to her between each apparatus, holding her hand and leading her through the competition.  But for all her baby looks, Olga was an impressive gymnast, especially on beam where her lines, soft and sharp at the same time, melded with an innate sense of rhythm to create gymnastics of great

It's hard to believe that it is now 36 years since Nadia fought Nelli at the Montreal Olympics, since Maria unveiled that trademark cheeky charm, since Ludmilla broke her heart and Olga broke ours. The sport has come a long way since those heady days. Turn the clock back another 36 years and we pre-date the beginning of the 'new' era of gymnastics that began with the entry of the Soviet Union into Olympic competition in 1952. In that sense only, the sport was still in its infancy. Just think of all the twists and turns since. Gymnastics was on the cusp of an acrobatically led revolution. Just look at the bars routines of Saadi, Tourischeva and Grozdova and compare them to those of Filatova, Comaneci and Korbut. Comaneci looks well ahead of the field on bars, but Nelli Kim soars ahead on floor and vault. This video reminds us that Comaneci's victory in Montreal was not as emphatic as the legend may lead us to believe: her floor is unsophisticated and relatively

Evgeniya Shelgunova, courtesy of the UEG Russia's women gymnasts took gold at two different competitions this weekend, showing an interesting level of development across the generations.  Veteran Anna Dementyeva competed with significantly improved form at the Joaquim Blume Memoria l, hitting a 14.75 on beam, while at the annual Massilia Cup in Marseille, France, emerging senior (eligible 2013) Evgeniya Shelgunova led her team to first place, taking the all around title for herself.  Youngster Maria Kharenkova added an exclamation mark to the Russians' performances with an emphatic gold in the floor exercise. The Russian team's performance was enhanced by tiny Viktoria Kuzmina's silver medal on uneven bars.  The team cumulatively took first place on every piece of apparatus but vault, where their fifth place underlines an urgent need to make improvements.  Even the revaluation of the Amanar vault will not overcome such a deficit whilst competing against a relativ

2010 World team champion Tatiana Nabieva should compete in Kazan this summer National coach Valentina Rodionenko has given two interviews recently about Russia's plans for the future. Here , she explains how next March's Russian Championships will be used as selection for the four gymnasts who will compete at the individual European Championships in April. It's a heavy year's competition with Europeans in the Spring, the Universiade in July, and the World Championships in the autumn.  Aliya Mustafina, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Tatiana Nabieva and Krystyna Goryunova have already been announced as being in contention for the Universiade, which Rodionenko says Russia are treating as a highly important competition and which will take place on home ground in Kazan. Next year, two juniors will progress to senior level - Evgenia Shelgunova [who will have full competitive eligibility for senior competition] and Maria Kharenkova [who will train alongside the seni

Fishing the internet for black and white pictures of gymnasts, I came across the following images at the RIA Novosti Media Gallery . 1981 World Champion Olga Bicherova is very photogenic, and I love these candid shots.  Soviet champions were often highly praised for their diligence and sense of duty, not just in sports but in everyday life.  Collecting stamps, replying to fan mail and working hard in the classroom all personified the work ethic and high standards which exemplified the perfect Soviet citizen.  Olga Bicherova replying to a Japanese fan's letter, shortly after winning the 1981 World Championships.  Courtesy of RIA Novosti Olga Bicherova in practice with choreographer Galina Savarina, in 1982 Olga Bicherova and her stamp collection, 1981 Olga Bicherova, the model schoolgirl, 1981 Tiny Olga Bicherova with coach Boris Orlov in 1978 This brief Soviet television documentary emphasises the personal qualities that made her such a great example for youth

I have been doing a little research this morning for a book I am planning with Vladimir Zaglada and our translator, Lupita. Long ago I found a wonderful website that I loved for its photographs and a brief essay on the nature of choreography. One day, I realised I couldn't find it any more.  I thought it had disappeared. It is a sadness to me that much of the history of Soviet gymnastics is disappearing; for example, try searching for pictures of Elena Shevchenko: there are few that really capture the majesty of her floor performances. So I was very happy this morning, when I found Natasha's website again, in a truncated version, but including some of the old pictures.  I love the atmosphere of black and white and the sense of history they capture. The site is the resume of now US-based, former Soviet team choreographer, Natasha Matveeva . Well worth a look and a read for the impressive list of gymnasts with whom she once worked. Natasha Matveeva, her daughter Anya

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 goes out onto th