Media link - Sovietski Sport interview with Alexei Bondarenko - back in training

Today's Sovietski Sport has an interview with former Russian and twice European champion, 32 year old Alexei Bondarenko.

Bondarenko visited the recent World Championships and reports here that he is working on his gymnastics again, despite an injured hand.  He speaks of his devastation at his two disastrous falls on vault in Athens, and of the increased level of difficulty performed today by such champions as Japan's Uchimura.  He also comments on the motivations of the current generation of Russian male gymnasts (he seems to think they are more concerned with winning money than medals), and the lack of financial support he received following his injury which saw him spending four weeks under the care of a Moscow specialist hospital.

He shares his Moscow lodgings with a cat, Bond, which makes him a good person as far as I am concerned ;-)

Good luck Alexei!