Skip to main content

Ukraine athletes ordered not to speak to Russia press, reports Sports Express


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.

Comments

  1. That really is a shame. Those athletes could tell Putin to get the hell out of their country.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Andrei Rodionenko explains Russia's performance at Worlds - Lupitatranslates

Rodionenko with European Champion David Belyavski  Courtesy RGF/Elena Mikhailova This is the interview that many people on the internet have already commented on, regarding Andrei Rodionenko's alleged racism.  The original, Russian language version, appears on VTB Bank's website (VTB are sponsors of Russian gymnastics).  It takes cleverer people than me to decide what is racism, what is deliberately perjorative, and what is inferred in an interviewer's question.  For now, I will not comment on this, therefore, but I would ask you to read Lupita's translation carefully before you form your own opinion.   I am providing some links below which might help you to decide where you stand. Definition of racism Definition of sexism BBC Sport article by Matthew Syed : Is it wrong to note that 100m winners are always black?            Updated 24/10 CSKA Moscow: UEFA opens racist chants case         ...

Aliya Mustafina - I competed as best I could

Picture credit RGF Aliya speaks in Sports Express http://news.sport-express.ru/2014-05-18/699607 I am very pleased with my performance today, I don't know what the judges didn't like about my bars, but I didn't ask them ... I did my routine fairly well without serious error. On beam I didn't have the start value but I received the highest execution score.  We will try to fix that before the World Championships. Considering the problems I had with my ankle, I think I performed to the optimum at the moment.  I did everything I could. I'm not  the least bit sorry that I performed here -  Very glad that I could help the team. I think my presence made things easier for the girls.   It is very difficult to compete at such serious senior competitions for the first time.  Of course they were very worried.   But I'm sure that with time they will learn to cope easily with their nerves (smiles). 

Simone and the others - results and reflections

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...

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more