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