Skip to main content

The State of Russian gymnastics - Elena Produnova and Rostov on Don


You will read quite a lot on this blog about all the money that the Russian Government and its sponsors, VTB, are investing in Russian sport. Head coach Andrei Rodionenko has acknowledged VTB's help in establishing new training centres across the country, including the town of Rostov-on-Don which has famous associations as the training home of champions Liudmilla Tourischeva, Natalia Shaposhnikova and Natalia Yurchenko, and more recently of Elena Produnova, Yulia Belokobylskaya and senior national team member Anastasia Sidorova. Sports are considered an important part of the country's social policy, and mega events such as the upcoming Sochi Olympics, this year's Universiade in Kazan, and the 2014 Football World Cup have the potential to contribute enormously to the economy by improving infrastructure and providing opportunities to develop tourism.

Yet, as we have seen in the arrangements made for Dynamo Moscow while their new training facilities are built, these positive capital investments are often unmatched by good management at grass roots level.  In this case - in a May radio interview with Elena Produnova - it becomes clear that Russia's legacy of sporting achievement is falling by the wayside, providing an answer to the question - why do so many Russian coaches work overseas?

And I am sure there are many clubs out there who would like to employ the inimitable Elena Produnova.

Elena Produnova was one of the leading gymnasts in the world of the late 1990s, and was unlucky to miss out on a gold medal at World or Olympic level.  Had she not suffered an untimely foot injury in 2000, she may well have won the gold medal in the All Around at the Sydney Olympic Games.  She was a powerful, passionate gymnast who combined difficulty and power with an innately musical approach to her sport.   She was also the only female gymnast ever to compete the handspring double front vault with any degree of technical mastery.

With thanks to Lifje for finding this fascinating interview, which Lupita kindly summarises in English below.



Radio Rossya- Radio Don - Athletes’ problems in the Don region.  Elena Produnova speaks.

I was given a flat after the 2000 Olympics. When I was an athlete, I competed for the Army Club, but now people have forgotten.  As I am not an army official and there is no law about the allocation of a flat to Olympic champions after the Olympics, there is the risk I may lose my flat.  If I had been a civil servant in the army, I would have kept my flat.  This happens to many athletes in the Rostov on Don region - people rapidly forget about us.


There is a long list of athletes with the same problem, mainly in the Rostov region. Athletes need a specialist to handle administrative issues for them.  The athlete has no time to handle this himself because he is always training or competing.

But we are 'past our sell-by date'. People forget about us. Female gymnasts are very young when they compete.

I have a very strong character: I decided to stay in Rostov because I love my city. Now, should I pack my bags and go away?  To where? Abroad?  But doesn't our country need athletes? Why do we have this situation? In the States they would welcome me. People there remember me and even now I often get work proposals.
The Rostov school is very strong. There is an excellent tradition and we would like it to continue. We face this lack of provision from the very start. What happens to the athlete when he or she finishes his or her career? What happens after an injury? We need another health system if we need surgery once our career is over. 

Elena Produnova's unforgettable floor exercise from team final in the 2000 Olympics


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tatyana Nabiyeva on work and love in China

Some highlights from a long interview with 2010 World champion Tatyana Nabiyeva.  Source: Russian team page on VK.com.  Translation - Google translate A big interview with Tatyana Nabieva about the peculiarities of work and life in China, the bright years of her sports career, a little about modern gymnastics and about love. On the Nabiyeva flight — At the same championship, you presented a new element on the bars, which was later added to the rules with your last name (flying over the top bar with a straight body, difficulty group F. — Sport24). How did you come up with the idea to try something new? — Actually, it happened spontaneously, I think. We worked with Vera Iosifovna [Kiryashova] on the purity of the elements on the bars, sometimes I didn’t fly all the way to the Shaposhnikova element. Once I didn’t fly all the way to the bars either and stood on my feet between the bars, bending my legs in flight for safety. Then Vera Iosifovna said that this was a different eleme...

‘We all love her very much’ - Roschina speaks of Mustafina and the need to perfect an Amanar vault

From sport.ru via vk.com.  Google translate  A big interview with Anastasia Loginova from Sport24 with Lyudmila Roshchina following the Strongest Cup, where the gymnast won four out of five gold medals. We quote several fragments, the full version is available on the publication's website, link at the end. ❓ The Strongest Athletes Cup has recently ended. Did you have time to analyze your performances? 💬 I just rewatched the broadcast, looked at my shortcomings. ❓ Did you set a medal plan for this start? 💬 I didn't think about it. Only that I needed to do my program - and then what will happen. ❓ Did you have time to discuss the competition with your coach? 💬 She praised me, said that I was great. She didn't scold me for mistakes on the beam - on the contrary, she supported me. ❓ Can we say that the beam is your weak spot? This is the only final you didn't get to. 💬 Probably yes. I have this apparatus that is a bit unpolished, so to speak. Treacherous. I need to work...

Angelina Melnikova photo session

Daria Isaeva has done a photo session with Angelina Melnikova at Dynamo Moscow.  Here are Angelina’s words about it.   "  The first time I was on a balance beam I was six years old. I was scared because of the height, so at first I walked hand in hand with my trainer." "The hardest thing on this apparatus is to keep your balance. Usually, when I'm on the beam, I imagine that I'm in a corridor 10 centimeters wide." "You can't be afraid of the beam! Coaches say that if you have fear, you will perform poorly." "The first difficult element I did at the age of eight was a backflip. In adult gymnastics, this element is considered one of the easiest." “I still can’t do a cartwheel on a log; I can easily fall off it, although children can do this element at the age of six.” "It's better to perform on the balance beam barefoot - you feel the apparatus better that way. But to avoid injuries, we sometimes tape our ankles." "It...

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more