Skip to main content

'There are no secrets in gymnastics any more', Alexander Alexandrov

Image
By

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.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dmitri Zanin on Melnikova and the Russian team in Zagreb

By
Melnikova’s gesture on the podium, the "Slavic face," the coldness of rivals—Zanin captures the details of gymnastics at the Euros. Natalia Maryanchik, sports.ru  Жест Мельниковой на подиуме, slavic face, холод соперниц – детали гимнастики на Евро от Занина - Дальний лес - Блоги Sports.ru The European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Zagreb concluded with a triumph for the Russian women, even though Melnikova and Kalmykova only made it to the tournament following intervention by the Foreign Ministry and competed practically straight off the plane. Melnikova and Kalmykova took first and second place in the all-around event. Competing under a neutral status, the Russian women won the team competition. Melnikova also claimed gold in the vault, as well as bronze on the balance beam and in the floor exercise. Match TV commentator Dmitry Zanin, who covered the tournament, recounted that Melnikova was moved to tears during the vault medal ceremony. He described her standing in h...
Post a Comment
Read more

Alexander Alexandrov in his own words 5: The London Olympics, and beyond

By
Part 1 Part 4 Russia's gymnasts and coaches celebrate at the London Olympics, 2012.  Courtesy RGF/Elena Mikhailova RRG: In your opinion, did the Russian WAG team fulfill its potential at the London 2012 Olympics?  Were there ways in which the team could have done better?  How was the team spirit - amongst the gymnasts and amongst the coaches? AA:  I have a somewhat double feeling/opinion about this.  In my mind, I believe that we were capable of taking first place.  At qualifications we were losing to the US by 1.5 points.  When finals started, we were a bit behind, but gained some positions compared to the qualifications round.  Unfortuantely, we were not able to hold on and lost by a large margin. Anastasia Grishina: 'scared' and poorly coached in 2012, but great potential for 2013 I don't want to point any fingers, but again our unstoppable Rodionenkos had worked for four years with the coach of Grishina and allowed him to train ...
8 comments
Read more

No Paseka for Russia in Berne

By
Barely two weeks will elapse before the WAG European Championships begin in Berne, Switzerland, and the news we had been fearing has been confirmed : world vault gold medallist Maria Paseka is  off the Russian team while she nurses a back injury.  This leaves Russia significantly weakened for the coming competition, with co-star Viktoria Komova also missing from the line-up.  It is a little disappointing, but it seems the right decision to rest the gymnasts so that they can be at their best when and where it really matters. Who will replace Paseka?  Valentina Rodionenko says that the youngster Natalia Kapitonova, who trains in Penza, has been chosen on the basis of her solid performances at national championships.  Well, we will have to wait and see - these announcements often turn out to be unreliable.   I personally would prefer to see the dynamic Seda Tutkhalyan be given a chance at this level, but Kapitonova has certainly shown herself to be more reliab...
41 comments
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more