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' are the UK and USA. It's just that at present, Russia is fulfilling the follower role better than these others.
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