Skip to main content

Rostov claims Kharenkova as its own

Image
By
Maria enjoys a quiet moment at the Banquet following last week's European Championships.  Courtesy RGF

European Beam Champion Maria Kharenkova has been congratulated on her gold medal by officials from the Rostov region of the Russian Ministry of Sport.

'I must say that the victory of our athletes confirmed the validity of the creation of the Rostov regional gymnastic training centre', said Yuri Balakhnin, head of the regional Ministry of Sports.  'We've got a strong tradition and a wonderful coaching school. I remember that at the Olympic Games of 2012 in London our rhythmic gymnast Ulyana Donskova won gold.  Now Maria Kharenkova has made a serious step to get onto the Olympic team.' (Source: http://championat-rostov.ru/news/view/1657/).

Rostov's pedigree is indeed rich : Maria is the latest in a long tradition of fine gymnasts and coaches from the region.  Her coach, Olga Sagina, also counts 2012 European team silver medallist Anastasia Sidorova and 2000 Olympian Elena Produnova amongst her charges, and the Rostov school is also famous for 2011 national team member Yulia Belokobylskaya, 1983 World Champion Natalia Yurchenko, 1980 Olympic Champion Natalia Shaposhnikova, 1972 Olympic Champion Ludmilla Tourisheva and 1976 Olympic Champion Svetlana Grozdova.

I remember that not too long ago - before Rodionenko returned to take over management of the Russian team (2006) and at a time when the national training centre kept a goat to maintain the grass forecourt, and when wallpaper was hanging from the walls - then Head Coach Leonid Arkayev visited the new facilities and praised them, with a fair degree of jealousy.  With characteristic dryness he suggested that the national team was considering moving there, such was the perfection of these facilities compared to the run down state of their main centre.  

It is good to see that the investment in Rostov is paying off.

And while we are discussing Rostov genius, may I suggest you take the time to explore Natalia Yurchenko's personal website?  It is full of gems, including an essay on how she and her coach created the now universal, but once revolutionary, Yurchenko vault.  http://www.nataliayurchenko.com

I am personally very proud that Natalia chose a quote from my blog, as the opening page of her website :-)
Labels:

Comments

  1. Unknown24 May 2014 at 14:36

    Natalia coaches at the gym where I take adult gymnastics classes, I love watching her coaching, she has so much passion!!! I wish I could be coached by her haha.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous24 May 2014 at 16:35

    where is Anastasia Sidorova now?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gláucia Sousa24 May 2014 at 17:28

    Natalia was very lovely chosing a quote from this blog, as the opening page of her website´s. I do like her website and Queen Elizabeth´s quote. Cute. <3

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A timeline of Soviet Olympic history

By
'If you want to be like me, just train!'  1951 poster promoting the basic physical training system in the Soviet Union.  The man in the picture has the coat of arms of the Soviet Union on his top, indicating he competes at international level.  Picture courtesy of A Soviet Poster A Day Jim Riordan published his article, 'The Rise and Fall of Soviet Olympic Champions', in 1993.   In 1992 the Soviet Union, under the aegis of the Commonwealth of Independent States, had made its last hoorah at the Olympic Games.  The Barcelona Olympics had also marked the 40th anniversary of the Soviet Union's participation in their first Games, at Helsinki in 1952.  Soviet men and women had dominated the artistic gymnastics competitions at both. In the following timeline I extract from Riordan's article key points leading to the accession of the Soviet Union to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1951.  It makes for fascinating reading, addressing such...
Post a Comment
Read more

UPDATE 23/9 - Russian WAG team for Nanning confirmed

By
Daria Spiridonova will compete at her first World Championships this autumn.  Picture : RGF Natalia Kalugina has confirmed the Russian team for Nanning : Aliya Mustafina, Maria Kharenkova, Tatiana Nabieva,Ekaterina Kramarenko, Alla Sosnitskaya, Daria Spiridonova.  Reserve : Polina Fyodorova Here is a paraphrased translation of a comment by Natalia Kalugina on her Facebook page : 'Aliya has confidence in competition and she is, kind of, a coach to this team.  In Europe she succeeded in this role and she has told the coaches that she even liked it. The main fighting force will be Kharenkova, Sosnitskaya and Spiridonova.  Accordingly, the strongest apparatus will be beam (Marina Bulashenko With God!).  The Chinese women, of course, have been known to win that apparatus, but if one falls, they all fall.   Alla Sosnitskaya could compete in the vault final, and - in theory - on the floor. On bars, of course, Russia will probably lose to the Chinese women, but the...
57 comments
Read more

Komova should have won!

By
It was a very tight battle in the North Greenwich arena today, with American Gabby Douglas beating out Viktoria Komova by a mere 0.259 points (see results below) and the legendary Aliya Mustafina sealing her comeback from that career-threatening injury with a well deserved bronze medal. Yes, she suffered a fall from beam after her Arabian somersault but elsewhere she was at her best, a real endorsement of the work of the Russian coaches in nursing her back to almost-top form since that fateful day in 2011. Komova had a faultless competition apart from a step on landing her Amanar vault. Frankly, she must feel utterly shattered after coming second once again by a very small margin to an American who was treated very generously by the judges. Komova soared and took every beam move to the max, rounding off with her rare double Arabian dismount in fine style; Douglas literally sidled along the beam, seeming frightened to take her feet off the apparatus for all but her somersaults. Kom...
45 comments
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more