These pictures of young Ivan Stretovich, taken by Elena Mikhailova at last week's European Gymnastics Championships, are available in a gallery at the Russian Gymnastics Federation website. I wanted to share a sequence of them with you. Stretovich turns 16 in October, and comes from Novosibirsk in Siberia, where he is coached at the Dynamo club by B Konvissar. This young gymnast emerged at April's Russian Championships, where he took gold or silver medals in every event final except for vault. In Montpelier, he contributed to the Russian team's silver medal. But pictures speak louder than words, and medals aren't all that matters. Stretovich's start values (in qualifying 5 (F), 5.1 (PH), 4.8 (SR), 5.4 (V), 5.1 (PB) and 4.9 (HB) leave some room for development, but the special quality of his work is even rarer than a double twisting double back somersault. That quality is the ability to elevate the simple to a pitch of perfection, and to make the diff...
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