Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Who said, some time in the late 1980s, ‘those who do not risk, cannot win’? I think it was twice World Champion Yuri Korolev, but do correct me if I'm wrong and you have the reference to hand. The sport has virtually been turned on its head. Just look at team competitions – all scores counting – teams can’t possibly afford to take a risk if they want to win gold. The sport has been turned into something akin to diving or trampolining – technical and interesting to watch, but almost totally devoid of artistic depth. Which brings me back to ROV. A reader has queried the validity of my use of Groshkova as an example of ROV, given that (s/he states) ROV disappeared from the Code of Points in the late 1980s. I suppose this is fair comment given my assumption that the form of the sport reflects the state of the judging codes. But it does also introduce an interesting idea, that of the legacy of past sporting codes. Gymnastics is constantly in evolution, not total re-invention, a...

I was reading International Gymnast Online yesterday and came across a story about the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships: http://www.intlgymnast.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1921:russia-wins-three-more-golds-in-moscow&catid=5:competition-reports&Itemid=164 What caught my eye was Tanya's comment at the bottom of the page, to the effect that the Russian team had won too many golds at this championships, and that the FIG shouldn't 'allow' it. Now, granted, I don't know much about rhythmic. The 15 point winning margin of the Russian team suggests that there wasn't much doubt about their win, though, and there seem to be enough people in the world gasping about Kanayeva's grace and artistry to make these wins seem reasonably legitimate; if anything can be legitimate in this sport given the amount of controversy surrounding figures such as Irina Viner. What really got me thinking, though, was the poster's emphas...