Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

A new book on the science of gymnastics has just been edited by a world authority on the subject, Dr Monem Jemni.  Details of the book and its author can be found here . The book is available on Amazon .

The organising committee of this year's World Championships in Tokyo have posted an update here .  I think we can look forward to an excellent world championships later this year :-)

Reuters report the sad news that Nikolai Andrianov has died.  Nikolai Andrianov, the most decorated male gymnast of all time, has died after a long illness at the age of 58. "We've received such tragic news that Nikolai had passed away this afternoon," Russia's national team coach Alexander Alexandrov said. "He had been ill for a long time." Andrianov was suffering from the degenerative neurological disorder multiple system atrophy and was unable to move his arms or legs or talk. He died in his home town of Vladimir. Andrianov held the record for men for most Olympic medals at 15, including seven golds, until American swimmer Michael Phelps surpassed him at the 2008 Beijing Games. He is third on the all-time list of athletes with the most Olympic medals behind fellow gymnast Larisa Latynina (18) and Phelps (16). The Russian won four golds, including the coveted all-around title, two silvers and a bronze at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, then added t...

I cannot remember a time when even relatively low profile competitions seemed to carry such significance for gymnastics as today.  The internet is at least partly responsible.  Almost instant access to results, images and videos spawns international discussion and debate.  I do not think we should underestimate this power of word, especially now we have the open-ended Code with its prescriptive formulae for deductions and bonuses which can appear to make everyone with a little knowledge into a gymnastics expert.  Gymnastics has always been a political sport in which the importance of ‘reputation’ has regularly played a role in determining competition outcomes, both by influencing the psychological pressures under which the athletes perform and by shaping the expectations and responses of judges.  This means that Federations have many difficult selection decisions to make each year as so much of what their gymnasts do falls under a microscope.   ...

See the Gymnastics Examiner for a transcript of the finals, and Stoi ! for a technical discussion of the Russian girls' routines here and at the Jesolo Cup.  Full results are also now available at the French Federation website . Russia have taken two medals in each of all but one of the finals, with Mustafina taking gold on vault, bars and beam.  Iszbasa took the remaining gold (floor) for Romania.  Nabieva managed a silver on vault, but came 4th on bars, while Dementieva took bronze on beam behind her compatriot and Romania's Ana Porgras. The silver and bronze medalists on floor are Chelaru and Dementieva respectively. The men performed rather disappointingly I feel, with Balandin and Pluzhnikov taking silver and bronze on the rings, but otherwise other team members failed to qualify to finals.

Competitions are underway - both the French International (World Cup Category 'A') and the Jesolo Cup, which embraces both senior and junior teams. There is a live blog of the French International finals at the Gymnastics Examiner, now (14.00 GMT). I am grateful to the All Around Forum (Albert) for links to the results of the Jesolo Cup : Senior team Senior all around Not a great competition for the Russian girls who came third as a team behind the USA and Italy, but then again this was a very inexperienced team.  Belokobylskaya was the top Russian girl all around in 7th place. The Couch Gymnast carries a report of the junior competition, which the USA won by a clear margin over the Russian juniors, with Italy in third.  Anastasia Grishina won the bars title, and piibunina provides a video of her routine. Full results of qualification for the Paris World Cup event are here .  With only four gymnasts competing in each final, it's anyone's guess who can wi...

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...