Einselka at the all around forum provides this link to details of the all around and team results at the Voronin Cup.In the meantime, the Russian Federation has found time to revamp its website which is now far more colourful than before. I am particularly excited to see a page of pictures of a recent conference at which the Federation President,...
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Media link - Valentina and Andrei Rodienenko interview in Sovietski Sport
There is a long and interesting interview with the Rodienenkos in Sovietski Sport today. The Google translation is rather difficult to make complete sense of but the interview addresses the prospects for the Russian team at the 2012 Olympics (they are targetting six medals: two golds, two silvers, two bronzes); discusses the reasons for the Russian...
Monday, December 13, 2010
Viktoria Komova named Voronezh athlete of the year
Albert of the All Around Forum reports that Viktoria Komova has been named Voronezh region athlete of the year. A local news site gives the details, and explains that thanks to Vika's achievements the Government has agreed to build a new school gym in the region.The page also shows links to other news stories and interviews with Vika.Congratulations...
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Mustafina collects another gold, silver at Toyota Cup; dominates world scene in 2010
The All Around Gymnastics News site reports the final results of the second day of competition in Japan.Beam : 1 Mitchell, 15.2 2 Mustafina 15.15 3 Sui Lu 14.975 Dementieva came 7th with 12.775 following two falls and two large balance checks. Such a pity - competing to full potential, Dementieva should...
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Toyota Cup - results, day 1 - Gold, silver, bronze for Russian girls!
A running commentary on the Toyota Cup can be found at the Japan Gymnastics official blog. A whole new experience for me, reading Google translates of Japanese gymnastics reports!Edited 12 December - The All Around Gymnastics news site as ever has an excelent comprehensive report on this competition, men and women. So far, the women's competition...
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Voronin Cup, Moscow, 17th-18th December 2010
The Russian Gymnastics Federation reports that the 18th Voronin Cup competition, run by Dynamo Moscow, will take place on the 17th and 18th December, including gymnasts from around 20 countries. This is a competition for men and women. It is expected that Viktoria Komova will compete. Watch this space for updates as they become av...
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Siberian Open Cup 2nd-4th December 2010
The Siberian Open Cup has been taking place in Leninsk-Kuznetzk. In its 10th year, previous winners have included Anna Pavlova, Evgeny Podgorny and Maxim Devyatovski. Competitors from Russia, Mongolia and Kazakstan this year participated.Anastasia Ovipova from Novosibirsk took first place in the girls' competition (Candidate Master of Sport...
Tamara Lazakovich
I felt I had to start a new post to offer reverence to this wonderful gymnast whose website I found by chance when trying to identify a gymnast in an old Soviet newsreel. Viewing the website has been a little like dusting off an old book you read years ago and loved, but had almost forgotten existed. It is a fan site and the design is unsophisticated,...
Tanya Nabieva wins all around competition at Tournoi d'Arques :-)))
Tanya also led the Russian team to victory in this competition which featured gymnasts from 13 countries. There was a live stream yesterday which was rather difficult to follow as no scores were given out and full routines were not always covered - the apparatus finals will also be free to view this afternoon from 2.30 pm Central European Time...
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
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...
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Is Men's gymnastics artistic?
A great discussion going on at the Gymnastics Coaching blog on artistry raises some important questions, especially since Nelli Kim mentioned there may be a future need for harmonisation between the men's and women's Codes. I have a few thoughts to elaborate on this subject, but office politics (groan) and student assessment must take first place...
Monday, November 22, 2010
The two Sidorovas are posted to compete in Belgium 27/28 November
Charlotte at the All Around Forum reports that Anastasia Grishina and Anastasia Sidorova are planning to compete at the Belgian Top Gym tournament weekend of 27/28 November. It will be great to hear reports of their progress and performance at this competition which is running for its 14th year.Edited 23/11 - please see comments below - sadly,...
International Tournament Daniel D'Amato, Blanc Mesnil, France
This weekend in Blanc Mesmil, France, the Daniel D�Amato International Tournament took place. This is a team and individual competition for boys and girls from Spain, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Russia, and local teams from France. A list of participants can be found here. Full results have yet to be posted on the website but, via...
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Developing this blog
Cor. When I began this blog, only a couple of months ago, I never realised quite how much goes on in the constantly evolving world of Russian gymnastics. I started out by wanting to look back to try to make some sense of what might be happening now and in the future. As it turns out, current events are enough to keep me occupied,...
Results of Glasgow Grand Prix competition
Results of the Glasgow Grand Prix can be accessed here. Australia's Lauren Mitchell dominated this competition, taking golds on beam and floor. Russia's Ekaterina Kurbatova, the only gymnast to qualify to all four event finals, took gold on vault but finished outside the medals elsewhere. Well done, Katya! Anna Myzdrikova unfortunately finished...
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Local/junior competitions in Russia
While the world focusses on international competitions such as this weekend's Grand Prix, Russian junior and local competition continues. Perhaps a name emerging from one of these competitions will in future make it onto the Russian national team at European, World or Olympic level. They perhaps help to guage the progress of development of the 'mass...
Friday, November 19, 2010
Toyota Cup, Tokyo, Japan, 11 and 12 December
Albert and Nora at the All Around Forum have kindly provided a link to the roster for the above competition. For Russia, Anna Dementieva, Aliya Mustafina and Ekaterina Kurbatova are so far posted to compete.This weekend, Ekaterina Kurbatova and Rotterdam reserve Anna Myzdrikova compete in Glasgow at the Grand Prix (World Cup competition). I will...
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
WAG new elements credited by the FIG
The FIG have now published a list of new elements credited at the World Championships 2010 (Rotterdam). You will also find a list of new elements credited at the Youth Olympic Games.Nabieva, Mustafina and (Youth Olympics) Komova have all had uneven bars elements named after th...
Monday, November 15, 2010
Ballet or gymnastics?
My friend Ian from the University of Greenwich sent me this link to the Chinese State Circus's version of Swan Lake. He headed the email - 'Ballet, or gymnastics?'. I found that quite intriguing, and even though I don't have time to write more now, I wanted to share it with you.Please do comment! I'd love to know what you think of th...
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Media link - Andrei Rodienenko - Question and Answer session
Andrei Rodienenko has been busy recently answering questions! Here, he considers the theme 'What are the chances of the Russian gymnasts at the Olympics 2012'.Incidentally, I am growing to love the eccentricities of Google translate which perhaps deserves a blog all of its own. Do please enjoy this piece and its literary associations as best you...
Media links - results of this weekend's competitions
The Russian girls have been busy - and very successful - this weekend! All seven gymnasts from the national team (including reserve Anna Myzdrikova) are scheduled to compete by the end of this month. Massilia CupThe wonderful TATIANA NABIEVA competed alongside her team mates KSENIA SEMENOVA and KSENIA AFANASYEVA in Marseille this weekend at the Massilia...
Friday, November 12, 2010
Media link - Sovietski Sport interview with Aliya Mustafina
A fascinating interview is available to view here : http://www.sovsport.ru/gazeta/article-item/418471Includes some relatively detailed discussions surrounding the apparently sudden departure of Dina Kamalova (Aliya's coach during her years as a junior competitor) to America, the role of CSKA head Galina Stepanova in helping link Aliya to her new coach,...
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Media links - Sports Express interviews with Rodienenko, Komova and Mustafina
A press conference was held at which Rodienenko, Mustafina and Komova discussed the recent world championships and their plans for the forthcoming year. Rodienenko also makes reference to the state of men's gymnastics and to the state of University gymnastics in Russia.Video conference (one hour long) is available here : http://www.tatar-inform.ru/video/1369/Gennady...
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Moscow Regional Competitions - Master of Sports/Candidate Master of Sports - results
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Lake Krugloye - rewarding the gymnasts and coaches/considering the future
A flurry of activity at Lake Krugloye: first, on the 1st November, Russian minister of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy Vitalyi Mutko visited the training base to congratulate the women's team on their victory in Rotterdam, and also to present awards to various gymnasts and coaches:Merited Master of Sport medals were given to Ksenia Afanasyeva, Tatiana...
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Boris Pilkin - a tribute (media link)
Nora at the All Around Forum kindly alerts us to the following article and short video tribute to the irreplaceable Boris Pilkin.http://belnovosti.ru/news/society/2010/10/22/belgorod-prostilsya-s-borisom-pilkinymAnd see here one of his masterpiece works of gymnastic art.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzSMcTtYkikRest in peace, Bor...
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Blog addition - video documentary list
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Friday, October 29, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Media update, and question re the Code
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Sunday, October 24, 2010
Media update - Martha Karolyi 'We cannot have the FIG thinking that only ballerinas can be gymnasts'
What an extraordinary statement. What on earth does Karolyi mean by this? What does she mean - ballerina? When we hear the word, our immediate associations are - elegance, grace, posture, effortless poise, beauty. Aren't they? And isn't this exactly what we would want from our gymnastics?Well, I can entirely understand why Karolyi wouldn't want...
Saturday, October 23, 2010
The New Russian Revolution - Musicality and the Radiant Way
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Wednesday, October 20, 2010
The Anthem of Gymnastics
And finally, the anthem of gymnastics has been played in honour of the Russian team at a World Championships. Aliya Mustafina, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Anna Dementieva, Tatiana Nabieva, Ksenia Semenova and Ekaterina Kurbatova fought like titans to win Russia's first ever world team gold medals, at the 2010 World Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam today.Detailed...
Monday, October 18, 2010
Is Nabieva a revolutionary? Towards a classification of Soviet and Russian gymnastics
This weekend my friend Tracey said to me that she felt that Nabieva�s stoop Tkachev-Pak combination, performed on Saturday at the World Championships for the first time, was quite possibly the most revolutionary moment in gymnastics history since Korbut stood on the top rail of the asymmetric bars in Munich and premiered her unique loop. Those of...
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
A picture link, and media update
A news feature has appeared at http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/10/08/24773120.html highlighting the migration of Russian coaches overseas as a major factor in the downturn in Russian gymnastics recently. Not a surprise, but Valentina Rodienenko quantifies this, asserting that around 364 coaches from the former Soviet Union have left the country. So enhancing...
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Coaches, judges and gymnasts of the former Soviet Union at the Rotterdam World Championships
Thought it would be fun to compile a list of ex-Soviet gymnasts and coaches at the Rotterdam World Championships in an official capacity. This, in no particular order, is derived from the list of nominative registrations - please add more as I will doubtless have missed many!Anatoli Yarmovski � MAG coach, AzerbaijanGalina Marinova (Bulgaria) � guest...
Friday, October 8, 2010
World Championships news source - link
The Rotterdam World Championships website is attempting some quite extensive coverage of the coming competition, including pictures and reports of podium training. Webcam coverage is available, but only if you have a Netherlands IP. Here is a link to their promised coverage :http://www.gymnastics2010.com/en/a101007001.aspHope they can deliver as...
Monday, October 4, 2010
Alexander Alexandrov shows confidence in Russian team for Rotterdam
Russian team coach Alexander Alexandrov has expressed some optimism about the Russian women's prospects at the upcoming world championships.http://www.sportgymrus.ru/press/news/4066/default.aspxHe feels that Mustafina is a good prospect for the all around; and makes special mention of Nabieva's straight Tkachev-Pak combination as 'unique and historic'....
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Can the Russian women win in Rotterdam?
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Monday, September 27, 2010
Results of Dynamo Cup competition
The competition took place this weekend in Penza. The Russian women's team for Rotterdam did not compete here, but the men's team did, partly as a pre-competition test. I am delighted to see that my favourite gymnast Barkalov won, and would like to announce that henceforth, he will be known as Barkalot on these pages.http://www.burtasy.ru/school/activities/event_64.htmlThe...
Sunday, September 26, 2010
'Those who do not risk, cannot win'
Who said, some time in the late 1980s, �those who do not risk, cannot win�? I think it was twice World Champion Yuri Korolev, but do correct me if I'm wrong and you have the reference to hand. The sport has virtually been turned on its head. Just look at team competitions � all scores counting � teams can�t possibly afford to take a risk if they...
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Should the FIG 'allow' wins? Comments on the World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships
I was reading International Gymnast Online yesterday and came across a story about the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships: http://www.intlgymnast.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1921:russia-wins-three-more-golds-in-moscow&catid=5:competition-reports&Itemid=164 What caught my eye was Tanya's comment at the bottom...
Friday, September 24, 2010
What is this about? Gymnastics at a turning point?
Having followed gymnastics (women�s gymnastics in particular) for almost 40 years, I have seen many changes and would like to try to understand how the sport has developed over that time, and the direction it may take next. I am particularly interested in linking this thinking to overall cultural, societal and political changes in the world, the way...
