Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Since the girls are so very young and new to the international scene, I thought it worth providing some details (available from the Russian Federation website). Anna Rodionova - born 21st November 1996 (age 14), trains at the Dynamo club in Yoshkar-Ola, capital of the Mari El republic with coaches G A Fomenko and L G Tiulkina. Kristina Sidorova - born 22nd June 1996 (age 14) - trains with Rodionova under the same coaches at the same gym! Evgeniya Shelgunova - born 8th August 1997 (age 13) - trains with coaches Liudmilla Marinova and Nadezhda Tikhonova in Alatir, Chuvasia Republic. You will be able to read outline details of an interview with Shelgunova here .

NOTE : FOR AN UPDATE OF THE FULL, FINAL RESULTS, PLEASE CLICK HERE . So far, the full results are not available, but Italy came first with a score of 110.95, narrowly ahead of the Romanians who had 110.55.  Germany took the bronze, with Russia in 4th place.  I didn't see the final subdivision, but did manage to catch the online coverage of subdivision 3.  The Romanian team (Iordache, Badea, Gheorghe) was excellent overall and in particular on beam, where they recorded the top three scores of the competition.  The Russians were a very young team hand-picked from the 1996/1997 generation.  Anna Rodionova, Evgeniya Shelgunova and Kristina Sidorova - all of whom have featured in recent domestic competitions in Russia - suffered a few disasters, not least a very nasty, head first fall on beam from Shelgunova, who admittedly has mentioned it as her bogey piece.  The team had started on beam, so this must have been a nervey experience for her.  Kristi...

This young gymnast, born 8th August 1997, comes from the town of Alatir in the Chuvash Republic (capital: Cheboksary) and is coached by Ludmilla Marinova and Nadezhda Tikhonova.  She turns 15 in the Olympic year, and is a member of the Russian junior national squad (see this link for a full list and details) so all being well will be eligible to compete at world senior level from 2013. Shelgunova has been doing rather well recently, taking five golds at the recent Spartakiade competitions, and will be appearing at the Youth Olympics. The Russian Gymnastics Federation has provided a link to a 22nd July article from the Moscow special edition of Sovietski Sport with an interview with this young gymnast.  Even if you don't speak Russian, it's worth a look for the beautiful photograph!  There is also now an English language translation here . Evgeniya says her favourite gymnast is Aliya Mustafina, and she would like to win the world championships one day.  Her work...

A photo report on the recent Spartakiada (held in Penza, 27 June-4 July) can be found on the Russian Federation's site .  This is an opportunity for young gymnasts to make a name for themselves and test their skills ahead of the important international competitions in particular, a competition between Russia and China which is due to take place between 4th and 8th July. Full results of the competition can be found here .  Muscovite Evgeniya Shegulnova emerged as the strongest at this competition, winning both the all around qualifications and finals as well as the finals in vault, floor and balance beam, a speciality of hers (15.075).  Shegulnov was born on the 8th August 1997 and trains in Moscow with coaches Marinova and Tikhonova. In the boy's competition, Andrei Logutov came first all around. Competitions took place in two age categories, with the younger girls' competition being won by Maria Bondareva (strongest on beam, 14.5) and the boys by Ivan Tikhonov. ...