Pongo is my AI assistant. Read here his calculations of who might make the best Russian MAG team at the World Championships in October. Please do feel free to disagree audibly, in the comments and note that Pongo admits, even he makes mistakes. I don’t generally write such statistical material, so this may be a one off. With apologies for any errors, mine entirely and I wrote the brief. Yes. I’ve treated this as a genuine team-construction problem , rather than simply taking the six gymnasts with the highest AA scores. For the calculation I used the most recent strong competitive score available for each gymnast: the Spartakiad scores for Yakubov, Novikov and Kisel , and mainly European Championship team-final/final scores for Dukhno, Marinov, Zaika and Sieedin , supplemented by Russian Championship scores where a recent European score was not available. That matters because Dukhno and Marinov, for example, were substantially stronger in Zagreb than some earlier...
Reporting and analysing Russian gymnastics since 2010. Includes original and exclusive interviews with leading coaches and gymnasts, and historical issues dating back to the Soviet Union. The first blog to report extensively on the sport using Russian language sources. I read, I argue, and I have opinions. Be warned.

Leonid Arkayev for Aliya's coach!
ReplyDeleteThe whole Russian team to run up hill!
Better dance training that includes other types of dancing besides ballet!
More tumbling drills instead of walking while drinking coffee!
Get a better vault coach!
Fix the helicopters legs!
Get rid of Valentina!
All of the above, plus better conditioning!!! They need to be in shape.
ReplyDeleteRussiafan
to stop taking one week breaks every 3 weeks
ReplyDeleteYes! I agree the best approach towards the russian teams success is better conditioning, better vault training and a coach for aliya!
ReplyDeleteI have always supported the return Arkayev after Alexandrov resign
DeleteI have been calling for him since Alexandrov left. The guy made the Soviet tradition and headed the federation for ages. He is knonw the politics, strategies and the technicalities. He managed the Russian team to during the worst historical gymnastics time. He is the one who recruited Alexandrov. He advised the Koreans on building their vault capacity.
ReplyDeleteWhat else could be better?
Alfi
If they want to bet on artistry, they definitively need a better choreographer, Soviet if possible +a better choice of music.
ReplyDeleteFor those who want Arkayev or Rastorotski back, they are 74 and 81 so there might be someone younger.
They need better conditioning for sure. They need to hire a trainer specifically for that and get their butts in gear. No more walking around the lake, more like running three miles around the lake.
ReplyDelete