The new Russian Revolution - the fall of an Empire?

A gold medal winning machine ... Alexander Alexandrov and his prize gymnast, Aliya Mustafina.  Courtesy of mk.ru

The Russian press has been busy over the last week, chewing over the news of Russian gymnastics.  In case you have been living in a cave without links to the outside world, I will provide a potted history of the recent past: Alexander Alexandrov's role as Head Coach of the women's team has been reassigned to Evgeny Grebenkin.  Alexandrov has expressed his personal commitment to continue his role as personal coach to Russia's only gymnastics gold medallist at the London Games, Aliya Mustafina, but his professional contractual status still remains uncertain.   The reassignment of jobs has been decided and announced by Russian gymnastics supremo Andrei Rodionenko on grounds that a team coach cannot also be a personal coach.  Alexandrov has bitterly fought for his right to remain as Head Coach, but Rodionenko's will has prevailed. 

There are recriminations from all angles - personal coaches Sergei Zelikson (Anastasia Grishina) and Marina Nazarova (Ksenia Afanasyeva) make suggestions that Alexandrov neglected his team coaching responsibilities in favour of Mustafina.  Alexandrov stated the impossibility of a situation where his authority had been undermined by the effective withdrawal of Zelikson's gymnast Grishina from the regular training regime required of every other gymnast on the Olympic team.  (Zelikson has sinced resigned, or been sacked, from his position as Grishina's personal coach.)  Mustafina announced that Grishina refused to perform on beam in Olympic finals.  Gymnasts have made critical statements online.

With hindsight it all seems rather planned, or at least let's say that events were on a trajectory that at first seemed unpredictable, but which eventually made sense. Strange things started happening from the beginning of the year.  Valentina Rodionenko publicly and vehemently briefed against Mustafina from as early as January, and continued her campaign with regular outspoken statements favouring team mates Viktoria Komova and Anastasia Grishina. Alexander Alexandrov, formerly a highly visible figure on the competition podium besides 'his' team, was virtually invisible at this spring's European Championships and barely showed his face at the Olympics.  Team selections and rosters were even more surprising than the Russian norm.  Following the Olympics there was a public press conference at which Alexandrov was denounced.  Alexandrov gave interviews, Mustafina gave interviews, even Mustafina's father gave interviews.  And Valentina vented.  An internal meeting of the Coach's Council at which Alexandrov was voted off the team was secretly filmed and sections then shown on Russian TV.   Verbatim transcripts of internal meetings were published.  It's all been a little bit like Russian Gymnastics meets EastEnders (a popular, very melodramatic, UK soap opera).  The public humiliation of Alexandrov has been terrible to witness.  I thank Lilianamichelena for a link to this TV coverage of the RGF meeting at which Alexandrov was denounced.    It is very uncomfortable viewing.

Andrei Rodionenko's decision to replace Alexandrov with the younger (44 year old) Evgeny Grebenkin, architect of the Russian team's amazing progression on the uneven bars, may be well intended and thoroughly reasoned.  Grebenkin's relative youth (Alexandrov is 60, Rodionenko 70, his wife, Valentina, 76) may provide the opportunity to favour the longer term development of the women's sport in Russia.  The new appointment may give Rodionenko the opportunity to foster the next generation of head coaches in Russia.  It may provide a new technical brain at the head of the Russian team.  Or it may deprive the team of the fantastic ability of a bars specialist.  It may empower a motivator with the ability to communicate effectively with the new generation of young Russians.

Sadly, we will probably never know. There may be many benefits but the quiet Rodionenko has been unable or unwilling to articulate them in the unremitting storm of bad publicity that Russian gymnastics has whipped up for itself.  A nasty fug of venom and self recrimination leaves Russian gymnastics with a bumper portion of scrambled eggs on its face.  The only individuals coming out of this unscathed are the gymnasts themselves; except for that two of them, Mustafina and Grishina, face uncertainty over their personal coaching arrangements.

Now, in a rather gravelly*, hard to understand radio interview with The Voice of Russia, Rodionenko reveals another of his truths : at 18 years of age, Mustafina is a young lady who needs to concentrate on her social life more than on gymnastics.  I suppose that Andrei thinks that a few parties might take her mind off the uncertainty over her professional sporting future; or is it that he has a desire to see her drift onto the sidelines?  What will become of her, in view of Alexandrov's terrible humiliation and the likely influence it will have on his future career decisions?   Let us not forget : the only reason that Alexandrov ended up as Mustafina's personal coach is that no one else would take her, after her childhood coach emigrated to the USA,  From that desolate position of nothingness,  Alexandrov and Mustafina created Olympic gold medals.  No matter how difficult either one of them is, this should not be forgotten.

The whole situation seems unfinished.  Sports Minister Mutko, who is in charge of the funding of part of RGF's operations and who some years ago rejected Rodionenko's four year preparation plan for the London Olympics, has said he would refrain from commenting on Alexandrov's dismissal until after a meeting with the head coaches on Monday.  Since Monday all has been quiet.  I wonder what would be on the agenda, besides the obvious?  The sport of gymnastics in Russia is in decline: the only solution the head coach proposes is to sack one coach and appoint another.  This is what I would be worried about if I were Mutko: an apparent lack of application to the immense problem in hand.

I guess there will be no miracle recovery for Alexandrov, and the hapless Grebenkin (who claims not to have known about his appointment until it was announced summarily at the Coach's Council) needs to be allowed to get on with his job as best as he can.  Andrei Rodionenko is doing his best to make it all appear calm; business as usual.  There is an Allsport.ru interview in which he discusses the upcoming FIG Executive Council (the important one, where new Presidents and Committee Members are elected). 

It may be something, it may be nothing: when asked who will travel to the FIG Executive Meeting, Rodionenko says he doesn't know.  Then, in response to the question :

'Could you clarify your contractual situation with the Russian team?' he replies :

'This is not my concern, it is up to the heads of the Ministry of Sport.  All contracts in the summer sports are valid up until the 31st December 2012'

Clearly, therefore, Rodionenko has received no commitment from the Ministry of Sport as to his continuing employment beyond this date that he can publicly share with us at present.  This may mean that he is facing the possibility of a well-earned retirement; or it may mean he will continue in his job.  We will just have to wait and see.

I wonder if what we are seeing is the fall of a dynasty; the final throes of a once powerful, proud empire.  The Rodionenko family's behaviour in all of this echoes the behaviour of Soviet leaders of the past: autonomous, manipulative, power- rather than concensus-centric.  The structure of the sport in Russia has remained unchanged since Soviet days and is heavily centralised, with all senior national team members training at the National Centre in Lake Krugloye, over which Rodionenko presides with a rod of iron.  Meanwhile, sport in the regions, at the feeder schools and clubs that spot and develop young talent, is flaking  Is change on the horizon?  Will Russian gymnastics be able to escape from the shadow of its Soviet, heavily centralised self, and reshape itself for a prosperous future?  Will  the Russians' star performer be able to secure a sporting future for herself alongside the coach she describes as her 'second father'?

And what of Alexandrov?   With national federations recruiting head coaches around the world, what will he decide to do?  Could Mustafina become the first competitively active Russian national team member to take up an individual coaching arrangement overseas, alongside her personal coach?  In view of the developing deficit of coaching skills in Russia, highlighted regularly by Andrei Rodionenko, will Russian gymnasts begin to follow the path of their counterparts in tennis, removing to high quality training facilities overseas whilst competing under the flag of their native country? 

So, Rodionenko has survived for now, Alexandrov has fallen ... is it all over?





*I'm sure I can hear dogs barking in the background; or is that an elephant trumpeting?  Have the Rodionenkos gone on safari?