Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Valentina Rodionenko reports that the men's team is in full training at Lake Krugloye. Denis Ablyazin hasn't needed a break and is training 'at full strength' - (and if you subscribe to his Instagram account you will see him practising routines on p bars and high bar). David Belyavski joined training a little late, as he has been abroad on his honeymoon. Maria Paseka is returning to training on the 4th December after taking treatment for a back injury. Rodionenko says that Aliya Mustafina is excused training for the time being - Liubov Baladzhaeva helped with the translation here.  Apparently the gymnasts, as salaried athletes, cannot just take time off without permission from the Federation.  I understand that this means no change to Aliya's competitive status, ie she will not be training or competing for the time being, until such time as she gets bored and decides she wants to make a comeback!  From her Instagram account, Aliya is currently suf...

Dear Readers, I am going cold turkey on social media for a few weeks.  So I won't be posting on this blog for a while, although I might be able to moderate your comments.  Please bear with me - I have important matters that need attending to, but I will be back sooner or later. Thanks for your patience. Elizabeth X 

David spoke to Russian newspaper Kommersant after his medal-winning performance on uneven bars yesterday. 'I had some health problems, but it's pointless to talk about them right now.  I went out and competed. First of all, the team's silver is far more important than my individual reward.  We had all wanted this medal for our team, and had worked for it for a long time.   Today - it's a funny feeling to be happy with bronze - for a long time we have wanted an Olympic medal in this apparatus.  I can do the exercise better. Oleg Verniaiev really gave a convincing performance, he was spot on.  If you can manage your nerves, you will be the winner.  We get on really well with the Ukrainians, they are our friends.   Now I will take a break, rest up, get married, and then come back. One more Olympic cycle will be enough for me.' http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3065529

Congratulations, David!  A well deserved medal in a fiercely contested final.

Bronze on rings and silver on vault were Denis's reward for hard work, earned today in Rio. Interviewed by Sportbox after the event, Denis said he would take a break after the Games to treat and rest a 'very sore shoulder'.  He plans to return to competition with his most complicated routines, not watering down, as that 'is not my way'.  He pointed out that he was better prepared for Rio than he had been for London; by implication I wonder if we can take that to mean he'll be better still in 2020?! Russia's other qualifier to vault final, 19 year old Nikita Nagorny, performed well to finish in fifth position.   In the women's competition, the graceful Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands won gold with a beautiful and original beam routine after expected gold medallist Simone Biles bobbled on this precarious apparatus.  Wever's win was the first Olympic medal in gymnastics for a Netherlands woman. Today's finals were notable for the high standard of co...

After winning her silver medal on vault yesterday, Maria Paseka said she does not want to end her career, and will take a decision later, based on her health. 'I will go to Germany for treatment, then take a holiday in Spain, and then I will look at it', she told reporters. 'I have a drug test now.'   When asked how often the team had been tested - 'on our arrival at the village some of the guys were tested in the morning, then I was tested the next morning.  Angelina was tested on the first and second day.  It was better than at the London Olympics where they did all of the testing at once.  Everyone had to sit in a room and wait. Sources: rsport.ru/rio2016_gymnastics/20160814/1031000911.html rsport.ru/rio2016_gymnastics/20160814/1030991236.html

Valentina Rodionenko has reported that Aliya Mustafina yesterday said she would take a two year break, then begin to train again for the Tokyo Olympics. I'm unsure what to make of this ... I can see Aliya of all people being the one who pulls this off, but it seems quite a bit too soon for her to make such a decision with any certainty, and of course only today Aliya was telling journalists 'let my dreams stay with me'.  Aliya is a young woman and all sorts of adventures are ahead of her.  Not sure what authority Rodionenko had to make such a far reaching announcement on behalf of another.  Let's wait and see. http://tass.ru/sport/3537359

The purple monkey toy which Aliya held while waiting for her bars score today is a present from her boyfriend which she takes with her almost everywhere, the champion told reporters earlier today. Aliya continued to say, 'All I want now is to relax, lie down.  What is my dream job?  Let my dreams remain with me ...'  Source - RSport -  http://rsport.ru/rio2016_gymnastics/20160815/1031063249.html

With Evgeny Grebyonkin, Aliya's bars coach since childhood.  Aliya's personal coach, Sergei Starkin credits Grebyonkin with Aliya's continuing gold medal potential on the apparatus. President of the Russian Olympic Committee, Alexander Zhukov, has been in the audience at the gymnastics and presented the gymnasts with their medals.   The beautiful face and unmatchable gymnastics of a unique, charismatic champion.  Is it goodbye ... or au revoir?

Head of the Burtasy School of Gymnastics, Valery Starkin (father to Sergei Starkin, who coaches Aliya Mustafina and Denis Ablyazin) has spoken to Penza Pravda about Aliya's bronze medal performance in the AA.  Sergei has trained many Olympic athletes, including rhythmic group members  Natalia Lavrova and Olesya Belugina. 'The result can be considered good, if not excellent.  We knew that Aliya would be able to compete for silver or bronze, and that the gold would only be obtained if the leader, Simone Biles, made a mistake. ... Aliya managed to hold onto her third position despite fierce competition from a Chinese gymnast; her experience helped her a lot. The marking was proper.  Aliya missed some connections, acrobatic elements and so the complexity of the D score was reduced.  For example on the beam it was 5.3, and also in the floor, despite the fact that usually Aliya scores better there.  If you add back in the difference, she could easily have be...

According to Sports Express, Ukrainian athletes have been ordered by their Govt not to speak to Russian press.  This includes our friends in the gymnastics hall, and AA silver medalist Oleg Verniaiev is in particular affected.   It is so unpleasant to have politics imposed on athletes in this way and I really feel for everyone affected.  Oleg, Igor and all the team are members of the international gymnastics family and they have always been close to Russia.  Let's support Ukraine, and Oleg in particular, as much as we can during what must be a difficult time.  I'm sure that the gymnasts and coaches only want to continue to be friends. http://www.sport-express.ru/olympics/rio2016/artistic-gymnastics/reviews/ukrainec-vernyaev-vypolnil-prikaz-ignorirovat-russkih-1031804/

Seda has posted the following message on her social media sites -  Thank you all for your support ... Of course, not everything turned out the way I wanted it to, but still. These Olympic Games are over for me) I am reading all your comments and posts - there are so many, I won't be able to answer every single one! As it would take a very long time! Once again thank you all for such warm words 😍 I will continue to try 🙈 All LOVE ❤❤❤ RRG says -  Seda, you have made such a difference to the team this year - helping them to a gold medal at Europeans, and a silver medal at the Olympics.  Your progress has been amazing, and your spirit so vibrant and happy.  It is a pleasure to watch you compete, and I think you can expect much success in your future career - and the next Olympics!   We love you and look forward to hearing news of your training, and seeing your next competition. Seda's Instagram account is @tigrilaaa13 if readers want to post pictures and messages ...

Seda had a few words to say about her AA competition - she is so mature. ' Vault went well, bars too, and the beginning of my beam.  But then the dismount went wrong.  And then somehow on floor my strength had gone, I do not know why.  The main thing I remember at this Olympics is when the team stood on the podium. Responsibility for the team is very big, I was nervous that I might fall.  But competing with the team was easier, there is more support, while in the AA it was just me and Aliya. The Americans have good difficulty, they are very stable. We will keep trying - I can still upgrade my routines.' http://rsport.ru/rio2016_gymnastics/20160812/1026087430.html Good luck, Seda, and keep on fighting!  

In the end, it was as predicted : Simone and the others, with Simone's teammate, Alexandra Raisman, providing the back up.  I do not need to point out that, by definition, the Americans are scoring significantly higher marks than the rest of the field.  Congratulations to them! Aliya Mustafina finished in third place.  The 2012 bronze medalist led the competition after vault and uneven bars, but had a very nervous outing on beam that might have taken a less experienced gymnast out of the medals.  A bravura performance on floor brought Aliya back though to confirm her third place all around.  From her senior debut in 2010 to today, Mustafina has continuously set high standards of grace.    It is the first time since 2000 that a gymnast (Amanar) has medalled in the all around at two consecutive Olympics, and  if Aliya can medal on Saturday's uneven bars final, she will once again be Russia's biggest medal winner of the women's gymnastics.  Russ...

Such a good final - just so special, so many amazing routines.  David didn't medal this time but I think with time and hindsight he and we should be proud of his achievement.  4th is the hardest position, but he has apparatus finals to come and, beyond that, plenty more energy in him for more competitions. Congratulations to all who competed, I have never seen such a close final before.  Special congratulations to the medalists, including my compatriot Max who won GB's first AA medal for over a century.  And love to the Russian team, especially David and Kolya, who worked so hard today and in training to prepare to give such an extraordinary fight.

The former personal coach of Aliya Mustafina coached the Brazil WAG team for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. The Brazilian team is planning to contest three medals.  Six years ago, under his guidance, the Russian team did the unimaginable, winning team gold at Worlds and beating USA.  Two years later Aliya Mustafina became the most decorated gymnast in London, winning four medals.  In Rio Brazilian gymnasts, who have been coached by Alexandrov for the past three years, are going to fight for three medals – in all-around, team final and beam final. Even if they don’t medal, the fact is that no one expected such fantastic progress from them. Alexandrov wasn’t present on the podium. Like a shadow, he followed the team around, sometimes giving the coaches advice in the mixed zone, then disappearing again. Anyway, there was no time to follow his movements: there were too many exciting things happening in the third subdivision. First, a teeny-tiny 16 year old newcomer to the Olympic ...

Lioubov Baladzhaeva has translated part of an article by Elena Vaitsekhovskaya, about the Russian team's success in Monday's MAG team competition.  I wanted particularly to hear what Alexander Alexandrov had to say. 'The thing is, there are no secrets in gymnastics any more', said the former Russian WAG team coach.  You can see videos of all the different elements, coaches share information.  There is nothing that you can't learn if you want to.  In addition, gymnastics is constantly changing, and it requires a much higher level of physical preparation.  Physical conditioning leads to better protection from injury and an ability to perform a wider range of difficult elements.  Most importantly, it gives the gymnast endurance.  If athletes do not have endurance, competitions become a lottery, they are afraid to make mistakes.' Vaitsekhovskaya says that Russia is still a 'follower' in men's gymnastics, behind China and Japan.  The other 'followers...

  'When you raise your hand, you forget all about the pain.  If your warm-up doesn't go well, then you just think about how to do everything well and support the team' 'The injury only hampered me in training, as I had to think about the injured leg and tried to preserve it a little bit.  But during competition I worked at full strength.' Source - http://tass.ru/sport/3524277

'When we fell out of the top three, I told the girls to keep on fighting till the end' 'We are happy, silver is the most that we could do here.  We didn't expect the Chinese to make a mistake on floor, but we fought to the very last moment.' 'It was as hard here as it was in London.  That was my first Olympic Games, the victory is in the past now, and we had to try to perform no worse than we did there.  You realise at the beginning of the competition - any error can be fatal.  You are under pressure - but it's OK.' 'It wasn't hard to compete on beam [after Melnikova's fall].  I just knew that I had to do as much as possible to reduce the gap to our rivals.  I didn't feel worried about it.' 'Our success here will inspire me in the individual competitions.' ' I decided to come to the Olympics just to help the team.  I can't say anything about the next competition because I just want to relax now.  But I have achieved my...

It was an emotional performance and an emotional reaction at the end - but Russia is now second in the world in both MAG and WAG! The team did well, exploiting its strengths on bars and vault, and holding its own on beam.  Seda Tutkhalyan really showed her maturity and mettle with an almost perfect showing on beam and a solid, if not faultless, display on floor.  Maria Paseka did her best ever Amanar vault.  Aliya Mustafina ... was Mustafina.  Taking her fifth Olympic medal here, she scored over 60 in the AA.   The best work did come from the 2012 veterans, although Seda on beam and Daria on bars do have that special mark of Russian innovation and skill.  Angelina Melnikova looked perhaps a little overwhelmed at times - though I personally love her emotion - but this was only her first Olympics and I am certain she will be back for more.  Should she have had her personal coach on the floor with her?  It might have given her more assurance.  I...