Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

A lovely post by the Couch Gymnast reminds me of the continuing need to balance often simplistic media representations of our sport.  Brigid quotes from three recent posts at the Russian Gymnastics Federation site, interviews with Tanya Nabieva , Anna Dementieva and Svetlana Khorkina , and in particular highlights the clear warmth of coach-gymnast relationships.  I would add that in her interview Khorkina almost speaks more about Pilkin ('Grandpa') than she does of herself.  Nabieva also pays tribute to her coaches Vera and Alexander Kiryashov in this month's International Gymnast . The idea of the coach-gymnast relationship as tender, loving, and almost parental echoes the theme of many sources often ignored by the mainstream media.  Bitter recriminations surround certain coaches, particularly in Romania and the USA, but gymnastics has provided as many quietly positive role models.  For example, people seem to love speculating about Arkayev's autocratic be...

The book arrived on Thursday and I couldn't wait to get started on it.  It's also too large to fit into my handbag, so I won't be able to take it to Berlin, and therefore have the perfect excuse to read it now.  Which I'm doing in my typical butterfly manner, skipping from section to section, from back to front to middle in no particular order.  This ease of reading is facilitated by the author's style, in which the main central thread is his stream of consciousness, leading to the feeling that you are involved in a rather one-sided conversation with your loquacious long-lost Russian (or Ukrainian?) uncle full of stories of his rich life in gymnastics. I'm not even going to attempt a full review of the book until I've had a chance to read it through twice or three times as there is much to absorb, and sometimes what is left unsaid leaves you feeling you haven't quite got the point.  There are some intriguing cliff hangers in the book, especially a brie...

Rick at Gymnastics Coaching has alerted me to the publication of the above book, for which a preview is available at the author's website . I have just ordered a copy from Amazon UK for £12.61 including Free Super Saver Delivery.  This will definitely be my Easter holiday reading; it will probably find itself tucked into my handbag for the flight to and from Berlin!  It sounds as though it could be a little more digestible for the everyday reader than Leonid Arkaev's book, How to Create Champions .   Now what I would really like in addition to these two books is an autobiography of Leonid Arkaev, written in English.  Oh, and an English language translation of Alexei Nemov's autobiography, please.