Azerbaijan, land of gymnastics opportunity

Oleg Stepko, European Parallel Bars Champion

Nico Jackson reports on some new developments

Something is in the air of Azerbaijan lately. This energy-rich nation in the Caucasus region has taken a keen interest in developing its gymnastics programs in recent months. Already strong in rhythmic gymnastics, the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation continues to move forward with the men’s and women’s artistic programs through recruitment of gymnasts and coaches from abroad (mainly Russia). As reported in December 2013, Azerbaijan has recruited several well-known former competitors for Russia: Anna Pavlova, Yulia Inshina, Marina Nekrasova and Konstantin Pluzhnikov. Earlier this week, FIG released news of nationality changes for nineteen gymnasts in all gymnastics disciplines. Fifteen of those gymnasts were new representatives of Azerbaijan, most of whom were formerly of Russia (including two WAG and one MAG). The most notable change was Ukrainian Olympian and European Champion on parallel bars, Oleg Stepko.

To those who closely monitor the gymternet, buzz about Oleg Stepko in Azerbaijan has been aplenty since last week. Stepko has regularly been posting Instagram photos of his settling in and the new training facility in Baku. His personal coach, Pavel Netreba, has also followed him to Baku. It remains to be seen when Stepko will make his competitive debut for Azerbaijan, but so far he seems to handling the change well and making friends with his new teammates.

The general reaction in the gymnastics community seems to be mixed about Stepko’s switch and Azerbaijan’s tactic of importing foreign gymnasts to build teams. While Stepko’s personal motives for the switch are not yet fully known, this nationality change has been pending for some time. After last year’s European Championships in Moscow, Oleg Verniaiev revealed in an interview with Ukrainian press that he, Oleg Stepko, and Igor Radivilov were approached by the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation offering the trio a chance to compete for Azerbaijan in future competition along with some luring benefits.Verniaiev and Radivilov declined the offer, but apparently Stepko was considering it.

In a telephone interview with XSPORT Ukraine, 1980 Olympic Team Champion and long-time brevet judge, Bogdan Makuts, shared his frustration with the ongoing losses of top Ukrainian talents beginning with Nikolai Kuksenkov to Russia and now Oleg Stepko to Azerbaijan. Makuts further revealed thatStepko had been considering Azerbaijan’s offer since last year, but that nearly everyone within Ukrainian gymnastics tried to cajole him to stay at least until after the 2016 Olympics. The Ukrainian Gymnastics Federation initially refused to let him go. Stepko was even offered an increased monthly stipend and an apartment in Kyiv from Lilia Podkopayeva’s former husband, Timofei Nagorny. Despite the persuasion attempts, Stepko remained interested in going to Azerbaijan and eventually got his way. Finally, Makutsworries that Oleg Verniaiev will be next because Russia has recently been trying to lure him and that more Ukrainian gymnasts are considering leaving for Azerbaijan and Russia.

It is easy to understand Makuts’ disappointment of the situation given Stepko’s tremendous talent and early success for Ukraine. Easily Ukraine’s #2 all-around star after Verniaiev, losing Stepko to Azerbaijan is a fairly big blow to the country’s program especially in its future team prospects. This along with the current political turmoil makes Ukraine’s gymnastics future look bleak. On the other hand, we still have not heard Stepko’s side of the story. We should keep an open mind on what his motives were for this change since we do not necessarily know what his circumstances might have been.

As a personal fan of Stepko, I refrain from judgment in this situation because I do not know what his daily life is like or what his personal goals are. In any case, I wish him well in everything he does and believe his talent should be appreciated regardless of the flag he chooses to represent. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how Azerbaijani gymnastics will look over the next couple of years as a result from of this massive importation of talent.

 

Below you can read the original article from XSPORT Ukraine along with a video clip of the interview with Bogdan Makuts (in Russian and Ukrainian).

http://xsport.ua/gymnastics_s/news/ukrainskiy-gimnast-oleg-stepko-otkazalsya-ot-3-5-tys-timofeya-nagornogo-i-uekhal-v-azerbaydzhan_61757/