Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

A single picture is worth thousands of words , so take your time to look at these images.  Consider the variety of feeling, shape and flow.  There is a quality of gymnastic eloquence that is about more than 'form'.  A quality that is trained, but innate and deeply embedded in Russia's gymnastics culture.  A quality that has been uniquely the possession, and responsibility, of the Russians in recent years. I believe it used to be called virtuosity.  Consummate artistry.   The beauty, the power and the glory. These Russian women gymnasts are the rarest of the rare, the final, finest remaining strand of a chain of heritage begun by their sporting predecessors, the Soviet Union.  You are experiencing here the last masters of a fading art form.  In London, America may well take the medals with their power and consistency.  But Russia already owns the soul of artistic gymnastics.  Only they understand the sport in all its c...

Marina Nazarova (left) personal coach to Ksenia Afanasyeva, is photographed here with the Russian Olympic team, coaches and guests at a recent press tour of the National Training Centre, Lake Krugloye Marina Nazarova is coach to Russian Olympic team captain in artistic gymnastics, Ksenia Afanasyeva.  Lupita has translated this article which appeared in Sports Express on the 16th July. Marina, what does it mean to be one of the main coaches? - First, a huge responsibility. For the country, the team, the performance, the gymnasts. On the podium I’ll have to be sensitive to how all the girls are feeling. On the podium the important thing is not to interfere ... - How can you do that? - To say a few things, to distract them, if you see fear in their eyes; to find special words.  They don’t go to the podium programmed to perform.  You have to do the right thing at the right time: know when you can say something, if it’s necessary, and when it’s ...

Clockwise from top left : Afanasyeva, Komova, Paseka, Mustafina and Grishina grace the Olympic rings The sun is shining in London ... our team have arrived and are settling in at the Olympic village.  The event has almost begin, and with Gymnastics Examiner's Blythe Lawrence promising quick hits from podium training, it won't be long before speculation reaches new heights.  How we engage in this speculation is largely a personal matter.  The All Around has recently published an impressive table of statistics which allows for an entirely scientific, reasonable projection of the USA as the women team title's most likely winners.  I wouldn't dispute this on the basis of the evidence presented, but I would add that there are arguments against using science to predict anything, particularly in a sport such as gymnastics.  What would be the point of having a competition if we knew in advance what would happen?   Russian national champion Aliya Mustafina agre...

Coach Nazarova watches as Afanasyeva performs floor Ksenia Afanasyeva is a compelling person; the only member of the Russian gymnastics team (men or women) to have represented her country at two Olympics, she is self admittedly 'touchy', liking to have everything in its place and preferring to room alone.  But besides this, she is an excellent and caring team leader, concerned to keep up the spirits of the younger girls. And then there is that wonderful floor exercise.  The World Floor Champion will unveil a new routine in London.  The pictures we have seen, from the Russian Cup (see left) promise another mature and expressively complex rendition. In 2008 Afanasyeva was still a youngster who didn't have to worry about fear or nerves.  In London, 2012, she serves as captain to her team.   Read on as Lupita translates another in depth interview from Russian Gymnastics sponsors VTB. Gymnasts are not often praised before an important competit...

The teams have, in fact, arrived safely in London, and I hope they are resting and not too distracted by all the Olympic hype here.  This morning I went and watched the Olympic torch relay at Woolwich, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in south east London.  There was a big turn out in the early morning sunshine, and lots of smiling faces.  Let these be happy Games. The gymnastics team has caught the attention of the Russian media and a number of news videos have appeared showing them during check in this morning.  They are worth a viewing for sight of a very healthy looking Grishina, Mustafina in full command of herself on the TV screen, all the team there resplendent in their outfits.  There are some interviews with Mustafina and Garibov. Russia 1 news coverage Sportsbox 1TV RU Russia 1 news coverage embedded below

Team caption Emin Garibov says he prefers action to thought Here are some brief extracts from  the most interesting pieces in the Russian media at present.  Lupita is away for a few days, so I am relying on Google translations.  Only bare bones, then, of what I can say with at least reasonable certainty.  The titles are linked to the original, Russian language pieces.  We have here quotes from Alexander Alexandrov, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Aliya Mustafina, Maria Nazarova, Emin Garibov and Valentina Rodionenko.  'We'll win with beauty’ National women's coach Alexander Alexandrov says of the Amanar : 'we need it like air'.  Without giving any promises, he says  "I can say only one thing: we're going to London to win the medal, no matter how difficult it is!" Ksenia Afanasyeva expresses sympathy for those gymnasts who have to stay in Moscow training, even though they know that their chances of competing are zero. Aliya Mustafina...

Three key members of the team - Komova, Mustafina, Paseka The Russian press is so alive it's hard to keep track of all the coverage. I began this morning with a mission to review and post the most important links sent to me by the ever faithful M, by Alan Owen, and discovered by my own research, and have found myself 'painting the Forth Bridge' (the Scottish bridge that, it is rumoured, is impossible ever to complete painting because as soon as you reach one end, the other is in need of retouching).  It made me think about what we are all doing on the gymternet. Read the title of the post if you wonder what I have been reflecting on specifically.  The net is full of information that has been reported and then passed quickly from reader to reader in a process of 'Chinese whispers'*.  News exchanges from person to person so quickly on the internet and often gains a life of its own. For example, on the 14th July I posted a Lupita translation of a Sports ...