Coach Elfimov with Viktoria Komova at a team visit to the Novodevichy Convent Viktoria Komova's personal coach, Gennady Elfimov, has given a personal interview to Sovietski Sport. His main messages? Don't hype Vika! Keep calm! We have to keep our focus and perform four apparatus confidently - don't get carried away with that vault! And forget about Tokyo! Read key excerpts from a Google translate below. Gennady Elfimov is a protective presence in the life of Viktoria Komova, quiet, placid and undemonstrative. It's just as well. He has helped his gymnast through some of the most difficult moral challenges a gymnast can face : the controversy of a silver medal at last year's World Championships amid gross media speculation that the marking had been unfair; the pain and frustration of a serious leg injury, at just the time that Viktoria would prefer to have been preparing for competition. Other commentators, in pa...
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.