Reclaiming Russia's Sporting Heritage

Reclaiming Russia’s sporting heritage?  Artistic gymnastics and tourism in Russia

Elizabeth Booth

The purpose of this paper is to explore the importance of Russia’s cultural identity to its success in artistic gymnastics in the context of the Russian Federation’s attempts to leverage sport as a tourism development strategy.  The importance of sports in Russian society has changed significantly since the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991.  Formerly seen as a tool of propaganda and diplomacy (Riordan, 1977), today sport is aligned with youth and tourism, as can be seen by its strategic positioning under the aegis of the Russian Federation’s Ministry of Sport, Youth and Tourism.  The planned staging of such mega events as the Football World Cup (2018), Winter Olympics (2014) and Universiade (2013) is part of an overall strategy which has seen significant Government and corporate investment in sporting development, focussed on both the athletes and on the building of new facilities.  This has provided the springboard for much tourism promotion but it could also be argued that Russia’s popular cultural identity is strongly associated with its sporting success in the minds of the public.  In particular the sport of artistic gymnastics has provided a window into Russian traditions of ballet, folk dance and circus (Lisitskaya & Zaglada, 1987) with which the wider public are generally less familiar.   Artistic gymnast Olga Korbut, who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1972 and 1976 Olympics, is arguably the most recognisable and accessible of all Soviet faces and could be considered a cipher for the Soviet Union’s sporting diplomacy.  More recently, Olympians such as Alexei Nemov and Svetlana Khorkina represent the modern face of Russian youth.  Since the breakdown of the Soviet Union in 1991, however, the sport of gymnastics has undergone many political and societal changes that have undermined Russia's leadership of the sport both artistically and competitively.  Today, the USA can claim to be the dominant force in the future of a sport that now emphasises athleticism and power at the expense of the artistry and originality that formerly characterised it.  Can Russia reclaim its former eminence and once again mould the sport in its own cultural image, to the benefit of its tourism industry?

These subjects will now be looked at from two perspectives: (i) the political and societal importance of sport in the USSR and now Russia, and (ii) the corresponding changes which have taken place in the sport of gymnastics.  

The Soviet Union’s accession to the IOC in 1951 followed a long period of indecision about the desirability of engaging in elite international sport (Riordan, 1993).  As recently as the 1940s political leaders had considered competitive sport, and in particular the Olympic movement, as ‘bourgeois’; it embraced ‘the social distinctions and privileges current in Western society’ (ibid: xx) and distracted citizens from the class struggle.  By the 1950s, however, the value of sport as an internationally visible measure of success of the Soviet system and its citizens had become recognised.  The first sports schools were opened in 1949 and by 1952 the Soviet Union was ready to compete at its first modern Olympic Games.  Ruthless pursuit of victory became a characteristic of the newly developing Soviet sports infrastructure.  Victory was required to be guaranteed in personal letters sent to Stalin, and the appointment of a former security force senior as Soviet Sports Minister seemed to underline the state's pursuit of gold at all costs.  Defeat could lead to joblessness, denouncements and worse.  

The Soviet Union's relationship to the international sporting field was characterised by a similar lack of compromise; Soviet membership of international sports federations was made conditional on the acceptance of Russian as an official language, and Soviet representation on Executive Committees was obligatory.  Other countries only grudgingly accepted the Soviet Union as part of the sporting community.  The 'professionalism' of their approach, with athletes earning salaries and training full time, was considered counter to the ethos of amateurism prevalent in sports at the time. 

Soviet dominance of the sport of artistic gymnastics began at their very first Olympics in 1952, with Soviet athletes winning 22 out of a possible 47 medals in their discipline, including more than half of the gold.    Over the coming years fearsome competitors such as Larissa Latynina (18 Olympic medals won at three Olympic Games) and Viktor Chukarin (seven gold medals at two Games) wrote their legends.  These athletes became high profile Soviet Olympic heroes, not only rewarded and recognised by the State with prestigious awards such as ?Merited Master of Sport?  ?Hero of Soviet Labour? but also featuring in press and media which emphasised their heroic work ethic, qualities of leadership and charismatic personalities .  The developing rhetoric of Soviet sport reflected not only the superiority of the Soviet Union, but also demonstrated the philosophy of sport in everyday life as an 'effective factor in the all-round human development, which seeks to form personal qualities and facilitate the acquisition of useful skills' (Kukushin, 1983: 130).     A legion of Soviet teenage girls dominated gymnastics throughout the 1970s and 1980s, but their hardworking application to school work and sensible leisure interests never wavered.  For example, in English language, Soviet produced press such as Sport in the USSR, fans could familiarise themselves with 1981 World Champion, 15 year old Olga Bicherova's fascination for physics and stamp collecting.  Vladislav Rotstorotski, the Svengali-like coach to four World Champions, spoke of how his gymnasts devoured books from his personal library of classical Russian literature.  1988 Olympic Champion Elena Shushunova claimed an interest in military history. 

The scale and seriousness of the Soviet sports effort was made evident in English language, Soviet produced publications.  Soviet Union claimed their sporting strategy to embrace the wider population in healthy activity, with a total of over 700,000 sports amenities able to accommodate over 20 million people each day of the summer (Timofeyev and Kopitkin, 1987: 73) and 50 million individuals training regularly in sports groups and performing in competitions (ibid: 67).  Their most popular sport, track and field numbered 226,000 participants (ibid: 71).  Between 1935 and 1987 almost 200,000 athletes were recorded as having won the title of Master of Sports, a further 8,300 the International Class Master of Sport title, and 3,000 Merited Master of Sport .  Sports were said to employ around 328,000 highly qualified people in full time coaching positions,  helped along by countless voluntary assistants (ibid: 75). 

The sport of gymnastics was largely shaped by Soviet input Yuri titov as president in 1976 code of points written in russian WTC led by ellen berger from east germany names pervade the sport yurchenko tkachev shushunova korbut voronin etc etc.

Kukushin, G I (1983) The System of Physical Education in the USSR Moscow: Raduga
Timofeyev, A and Kopytkin, Y (1987) (eds) Soviet Sport: the Success Story Moscow: Raduga