Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Somewhat belatedly, I've been reading President Grandi's latest letter dated 2nd May 2011. It's difficult to understand why this letter has been presented at this time - what has prompted this?  Why does Grandi suddenly consider it imperative to change a Code which encompassed so many changes he himself initiated?  The letter is wordy and cloaked in flowery declarations, but makes two key points - (i) the Code needs simplification, and, (ii) crucially, he finally acknowledges that objectivity is an inappropriate principle in the judgement of an artistic sport. Many of us would agree with this, but the letter has received a somewhat muted response in the media - some links are provided below.  Problem is, the Code, competition formats and so on seem to change so regularly it's difficult to keep track, and the changes rarely lead to much, if any, improvement.  Furthermore, Grandi's letters don't really amount to much.   On a practical level, he does not set...

I was delighted to see coach Leonid Arkayev honoured at this year's International Gymnastics Hall of Fame induction. Long overdue. I found this picture of Arkayev during his days as a competitive gymnast, at the Novosti picture site . Arkayev has never been publicly recognised in the same way as his Romanian counterpart Bela Karolyi, partly because he does not possess Karolyi's talent for self-publicity and partly because he chose to remain in his home country. He presided over Soviet and Russian gymnastics in one capacity or another from 1972 to 2004. I remember Arkayev's accession to the position of chief coach of the men's team, and the emphasis he put on young talent. He gave responsibility to young gymnasts such as Nikolai Andrianov, revitalising the Soviet team in the process and making way for the supremely strong Soviet teams of the 1980s and early 1990s. I'll never forget Makuts, Korolev, Akopian, Balabanov, Bilozerchev, Liukin, Artemov, Mogilny...

It's about time someone wrote something about this talented gymnast.  Despite the common perception that she's leading the Russian team only by default, I consider this jewel of a gymnast to possess unusual strength and artistry.  My blogging colleague Kristal at Double Front has similar ideas.  Perhaps the hardest worker on the Russian team (according to Alexander Alexandrov in May's IG) will soon get the full recognition for her beautifully performed routines - I certainly hope she doesn't risk injury or compromise the balance of her presentation by over inflating the difficulty content of her routines. The Russian Gymnastics Federation website has an English language translation Moscow News interview with this enigmatic gymnast.  Anna speaks here of her mother's interest in sport and of her relationship with her coach, Yelena Zhiganova.  It adds just a little colour to a picture of a rather under-rated gymnast who I hope will continue gracefully and add...

A few days ago I posted about the Hall of Fame section of the Russian Gymnastics Federation website and mentioned it drew on materials from another useful website which I would provide a link to later ... Thanks to a prompt by AJ from the All Around, I can now provide you with that link. The website is Russian language, but in addition to competitor and coach profiles (noteable for the high quality of the passport photographs provided) you will find here results of many of the important Soviet and Russian competitions of the past. If you love the Soviets and Russians, and particularly if you want to experience the sensation of visiting a Brezhnev-era photographic archive, please do visit and wallow in the materials provided at Artistic Gymnastics: Results, Championships, Champions. I would be delighted to read your comments recording the most outlandish Google translates available on this site, or links to the best examples of passport photography.

Full results of this competition are now accessible here .

Russia Today did a round up (in English) of Russia's performance at the World Cup, including interviews with Aliya Mustafina and Konstantin Pluzhnikov. You'll find the original source here .

The letter 'K' in the Russian Gymnastics Hall of Fame seems to include many intriguing gymnasts from the past.  Take a look . Kuchinskaya, Korbut, Kim, Khorkina .... who's next? A good excuse for a video fest, anyway, to celebrate the power of the 'K'. Let's start with Natalia Kalinina's floor exercise from the event final of the 1990 Goodwill Games.  Notice Alexander Alexandrov in the background! Nelli Kim, Floor exercise, event final, 1980 Olympics. She shows us what a ROUTINE really is! Viktor Klimenko, 1970 World Championships - pommel horse Vera Kolesnikova, 1985 Worlds Team Optionals, Floor exercise Viktoria Komova, 2010 Youth Olympics qualification, floor exercise (yes, I'm cheating here; she isn't in the Hall of Fame yet but she should be included right next to her mother) Olga Korbut, beam, 1972 Olympics (the saddest thing is, I can't find a complete video of her floor routine with good sound and video qualit...