Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Elena Shushunova, European, World and Olympic Champion 1984-1988, has died of pneumonia, reports TASS.  'Shusha', perhaps the greatest artistic gymnast, was only 49. She will be greatly missed and we will remember her with awe and love.RIP.   http://rewritingrussiangymnastics.blogspot.com/2015/08/elena-shushunova-grace-power-complexity.html Shusha BB -  https://youtu.be/EQPUDGoLucc Shusha FX -  https://youtu.be/EQPUDGoLucc Shusha UB -  https://youtu.be/yLSwcPgBNw0 Shusha V -  https://youtu.be/aUC7DjWfZuQ

Dutch news site nu.n l has reported the sudden death of coach Boris Orlov.  Boris coached 1981 World Champion Olga Bicherova.  In 1986 he moved from Moscow to Holland and made his home there, holding a number of club and national coaching jobs, including as Head coach of the Dutch national team from 1994 to 1999 .  His gymnasts included Renske Endel and Susanna Harmes, medallists at the 2001 and 2005 World Championships. Boris was 73.  Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

I am on my way home after attending the annual World Congress of the International Society of Sport, which this year was held over three days in Switzerland.  More than 300 participants gathered at the University of Lausanne, on the edge of Lake Geneva, to discuss issues relating to the place of sport in society.  Themes covered included sports policy, anti-doping, social exclusion and participation, ethics, disability, gender issues, sports development, globalisation, Olympism and mega-events and health. I attended the second gathering of the group ISCWAG (International Socio-Cultural Research into women's artistic gymnastics), which is a relatively newly assembled group of academics from all over the world.  You can find profiles of the founder members here .  This year the papers focussed on such subjects as the coach-gymnast relationship and grooming; gender-based violence and gymnastics coaching, and the pattern of older gymnasts continuing to compete in the...

Russia WAG are travelling to Mallorca today for their annual two week active holiday - mainly two weeks of rest, relaxation and bonding, but with some daily training to keep in shape.  I'm glad to say that Elena Eremina is going there with the team!  It is now still only three months since her op, so still too soon to train fully, but this photo, taken yesterday, shows she has lost neither her beautiful line, nor her desire and enjoyment in gymnastics.   Aliya is staying in Moscow to continue working there as part of her planned training regime.  I suppose this will also enable her to be close to her family and especially Alisa, her 10 month old daughter.

At the next Olympics, the teams will include four all arounders.  This rule change is one of the more positive things that the FIG has done for the sport recently.  Specialists like Denis Ablyazin will still get a chance to qualify for a limited number of specialist spots, but the emphasis on all around achievement is just what gymnastics needs.  The all arounder has always been the most intriguing gymnast, and it is is the all around competition that brings with it the greatest sense of show, endurance and self challenge.  This change will eventually, hopefully, encourage the pursuit of excellent and consistent execution as a route to self actualisation, if not competition medals.  Apparatus specialists can be very exciting, but they are also rather hit and miss.  If the sport's raging epidemic of injuries can also be quelled, and gymnasts can enjoy competing longer, it will be a step forward. I always love the RGF's photo galleries, especially the way the...

Knysh and Korbut in training, 1973 Olga Korbut has repeated her allegations of mistreatment and rape by her coach, Reynald Knysh, in a Russian Jerry Springer style panel show.  She first made these allegations public in the early 1990s. Supported by her sisters, and her first husband Leonid Bortkevich, Korbut confronted Knysh, who has repeatedly protested his innocence, revealing that he had been suspended from the national team after an investigation into complaints made in the 1970s.  Korbut says her abuse went on for over one year. An occasionally hostile audience, and a sceptical panel who included 1968 Olympian Olga Karaseva, could not drown out Korbut's strong and assertive performance.  After Olga was accused of lying, former husband Bortkevich spoke out:  'I was married to Olga for 25 years and she never lies'.   It is now too late for any legal redress against Knysh.   . A Sports Express report  of  the documentary includes a video of the...

No good news to report at present from beautiful, brave St Petersburg, as the gymnastics club where national team members Elena Eremina, Valeria Saifulina and Lilia Akhaimova all train faces ruin.  Club Pushkin, built up from scratch by coaches Alexander Kiryashov and Vera Kiryashova, is one of Russia's leading gymnastics clubs for women.  St Petersburg gymnasts are technically clean, well disciplined and happy competitors who generally stay in their sport and work with their club for years.  Tatiana Nabiyeva, Ekaterina Kramarenko and Evgeniya Kuznetsova have all trained at Pushkin and earned medals for their country at world level, including gold.  Current senior national Elena Eremina is vice world champion in the all around and uneven bars events. St Petersburg is a historic city where Imperial Russia left its mark.  The beautiful palaces and waterways mark it out as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of the wonders of the world.  Its spirit is fierce and...