Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

The Russian women won the gold medal today in the team competition at the Universiade in Gwangju, ahead of the Japanese and Korean teams.   The picture is Alla Sotnikova's gold medal ... from her Instagram account - thank you, Alla!  Congratulations! It was a fantastic team effort, highlighted by Polina Fyodorova's stable performances on bars, beam and floor, Maria Paseka's powerful vaulting (strong Amanar) and bars work, and Kramarenko's bars.  I loved the way that Fyodorova's technique on bars looked so effortless (wonderful 1.5 turn on the top of the high bar), the expressiveness of Sidorenko's floor work, and the power and emphatic charm of Elizarova.  This is not to ignore the great efforts of Kramarenko and Paseka, but we see these two often on the international scene and their gymnastics is familiar, and on a different level.   Alla Sidorenko, for example, has not featured on a national team before, and the native of St Petersburg showed her class her...

Nikita Ignatyev with the top six gymnasts at Russia Cup this year.  Left to right - Roman Suetin (6th), Ivan Stretovich (5th), David Belyavski (2nd), Nikita Ignatyev, Mikhail Kudashov (3rd), Daniil Kazachkov (4th).  Courtesy RGF Nikita, a promising all arounder who has built his strength gradually from one competition to the next, is a repeat national level champion, having won the spring Russian Championships in 2012.  His win here was earned thanks to consistent performance.  His nearest rival, the occasionally brilliant David Belyavski, made too many mistakes to take the gold.   1991 born Mikhail Kudashov from Chelyabinsk, in third place, is one of Russia's 'reserve' gymnasts, unlikely to make the final line up for Nanning thanks to the prevalence of event specialists on the team. A noteable newcomer to the all around line up is fifth placed Ivan Stretovich, 1996 born and so due to progress to the senior team in 2015 alongside such youngsters as Artur Dalolya...

Denis Ablyazin.  Picture courtesy of Moskva Sportivnaya Denis Ablyazin, fast rising star of Russian - and world - gymnastics, spoke to Moskva Sportivnaya on Wednesday and addresses his recovery from injury, future prospects, life at Lake Krugloye and the forthcoming Moscow European Championships.  The following is a brief summary of key points. Denis sold his car awarded as a prize after his silver medal winning performances in London, and bought a lovely apartment in his hometown, Penza, instead.   He does not want to live in Moscow as it is too hectic there. His injury was a broken heel suffered when he missed a pit landing and hit his foot on concrete.   In gymnastics, he says it is considered better to break a bone than tear a ligament.   While he was in plaster, he could do conditioning work, and the benefits can be seen in his work on rings, where he has added a strength element.    He is not quite ready to vault at his pr...