I-G.tv has just launched a gallery of Soviet and Russian gymnasts with a profile of Natalia Yurchenko . This is the first in a regular series. There are some beautiful pictures of Natalia today and in her competitive hey day, a preface by Vladimir Zaglada, and a table detailing most of Natalia's major competitive achievements. Vladimir has done a beautifully rendered Russian language translation for I-G.tv. You can read a Google translation of it in English there if you wish, or view the original below. Natalia Yurchenko: ‘a synthesis of risk and beauty’ Queen Elizabeth I will always remember Natalia Yurchenko’s face. Those brooding, dark eyes somehow expressed a whole rainbow of feeling that I could never put into words. Yurchenko began her floor exercise that way; eyes cast down, head to one side. The music animated her gymnastics, at one time emotional but never over-gestured. Facially impassive and inscrutable, you could read the wo...
Reporting and analysing Russian gymnastics since 2010. Includes original and exclusive interviews with leading coaches and gymnasts, and historical issues dating back to the Soviet Union. The first blog to report extensively on the sport using Russian language sources. I read, I argue, and I have opinions. Be warned.