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!
Friday, November 26, 2010
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 at present.
In the meantime, I'll provide you with a link to this excellent discussion.
In the meantime, I'll provide you with a link to this excellent discussion.
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Edited 23/11 - please see comments below - sadly, Anastasia Grishina has withdrawn from the competition because of an injury - she will be replaced by Kristina Sidorova. Good luck, Kristina - and may I wish a happy, healthy recovery to the beautiful Anastasia Grishina.
Edited 23/11 - please see comments below - sadly, Anastasia Grishina has withdrawn from the competition because of an injury - she will be replaced by Kristina Sidorova. Good luck, Kristina - and may I wish a happy, healthy recovery to the beautiful Anastasia Grishina.
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 the GymNet Forum Albert reports the following results of the girls� competition:
1 Ukraine
2 Russia
3 Antibes
In the individual competition, Russia�s Yulia Belokobylskaya took first place, ahead of Ukraine's Anastasia Koval and Yevgenya Chernyi. Well done all!
I will update this post with a link to the full results and any observations, if and when they become available.
23rd November - full results of the all around competition are available here. Team competition - we may have to wait a little longer - still a dead link ...
24th November - well, we do at least have summary results of the team competition - even if the individual scores aren't given - here. Phew.
23rd November - full results of the all around competition are available here. Team competition - we may have to wait a little longer - still a dead link ...
24th November - well, we do at least have summary results of the team competition - even if the individual scores aren't given - here. Phew.
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, although I expect - jolly well hope - there will be some fallow weeks and months when I will get the chance to be more reflective again.
The internet has opened up gymnastics amazingly. I can remember when every speck of information I could gain about the Soviet gymnasts was precious. We had to wait months for the results of even the largest competitions. I remember, for example, tuning into the BBC World Service at midnight to hear the results of the women's all around at the 1985 World Championships, only to disbelieve the report I had heard (Shushunova tied Omelianchik) and to have to wait another few days for highlights to appear on the TV. I would spend hours in Collet's bookshop on Tottenham Court Road scouring the books and magazines for even the shortest mention of my heroes. Today, I have a loft full of ancient copies of Sovietski Sport (I can't even speak Russian and still don't know what the majority of them say) and the English language, Soviet produced Sport in the USSR. It probably won't be long, relatively speaking, before I acquire a scanner and, allowing for appropriate copyright attribution, post some of the more intriguing pieces here. They still give me a thrill when I see them, the touched up pictures with added eyeliner (you might know what I mean if you have ever seen a Soviet era newspaper picture of a politician, sportsman or astronaut) and the mysterious, flowery, emotional language of Soviet sports.
Of course, my perception of this time is being challenged by my writing of this blog, which inevitably involves closer reading of contemporary issues as well as the past. Rodienenko recently said: there is no Soviet gymnastics training, only good gymnastics training. This made me stop and think. I am not the only one who has labelled a particular kind of gymnastics 'Soviet', but I am now beginning to question whether this attribution of political, cultural and temporal characteristics to a particular type of gymnastics is not flawed. Perhaps all I have been thinking of is a time when gymnastics was much BETTER. Perhaps it will get better again ... ??? (Edited 21/11: Then again, what was it that made them so much better ...)
Now, of course, we have everything to hand, immediately, and you become aware of how constantly active gymnasts are. No sooner have I posted the results of local competitions in Russia than I find the details of another international junior competition in France. This can be wonderful, but I think we all suffer from information overload from time to time, and trying to keep track of the multiple sources of data can be exhausting. My aim for blog now is to provide a central point of access to as much of the Russian gymnastics-focussed primary information as I can manage, in addition to an outlet for my voice and reflections on past and contemporary issues. I trust this is considered a useful addition to the excellent work others are doing, both on the internet and in print. I am inevitably drawing prompts from other blogs and forums, in particular the excellent All Around Forum. A list of the key blogs I refer to are provided and I continue to try to provide attribution wherever I can.
I am considering adding new pages to this blog to locate the bibliography, video links and other similar listings which I think probably go unnoticed and unused otherwise. The librarian in me also wants to add an index to names, dates and competitions to facilitate research. Whether I can do this or not depends on the availability of time, but also my ability to find an appropriate technical solution. I had better get down to thinking about this relatively soon, so that the task does not become overwhelming.
I briefly closed comments on this blog after a particularly nasty, profanity-filled remark made by an anonymous poster. But I have re-opened them again today, and trust this will encourage appropriate discussion. If you have any thoughts on how this blog could continue to be useful, I would be very happy to hear them. Please keep reading!
The internet has opened up gymnastics amazingly. I can remember when every speck of information I could gain about the Soviet gymnasts was precious. We had to wait months for the results of even the largest competitions. I remember, for example, tuning into the BBC World Service at midnight to hear the results of the women's all around at the 1985 World Championships, only to disbelieve the report I had heard (Shushunova tied Omelianchik) and to have to wait another few days for highlights to appear on the TV. I would spend hours in Collet's bookshop on Tottenham Court Road scouring the books and magazines for even the shortest mention of my heroes. Today, I have a loft full of ancient copies of Sovietski Sport (I can't even speak Russian and still don't know what the majority of them say) and the English language, Soviet produced Sport in the USSR. It probably won't be long, relatively speaking, before I acquire a scanner and, allowing for appropriate copyright attribution, post some of the more intriguing pieces here. They still give me a thrill when I see them, the touched up pictures with added eyeliner (you might know what I mean if you have ever seen a Soviet era newspaper picture of a politician, sportsman or astronaut) and the mysterious, flowery, emotional language of Soviet sports.
Of course, my perception of this time is being challenged by my writing of this blog, which inevitably involves closer reading of contemporary issues as well as the past. Rodienenko recently said: there is no Soviet gymnastics training, only good gymnastics training. This made me stop and think. I am not the only one who has labelled a particular kind of gymnastics 'Soviet', but I am now beginning to question whether this attribution of political, cultural and temporal characteristics to a particular type of gymnastics is not flawed. Perhaps all I have been thinking of is a time when gymnastics was much BETTER. Perhaps it will get better again ... ??? (Edited 21/11: Then again, what was it that made them so much better ...)
Now, of course, we have everything to hand, immediately, and you become aware of how constantly active gymnasts are. No sooner have I posted the results of local competitions in Russia than I find the details of another international junior competition in France. This can be wonderful, but I think we all suffer from information overload from time to time, and trying to keep track of the multiple sources of data can be exhausting. My aim for blog now is to provide a central point of access to as much of the Russian gymnastics-focussed primary information as I can manage, in addition to an outlet for my voice and reflections on past and contemporary issues. I trust this is considered a useful addition to the excellent work others are doing, both on the internet and in print. I am inevitably drawing prompts from other blogs and forums, in particular the excellent All Around Forum. A list of the key blogs I refer to are provided and I continue to try to provide attribution wherever I can.
I am considering adding new pages to this blog to locate the bibliography, video links and other similar listings which I think probably go unnoticed and unused otherwise. The librarian in me also wants to add an index to names, dates and competitions to facilitate research. Whether I can do this or not depends on the availability of time, but also my ability to find an appropriate technical solution. I had better get down to thinking about this relatively soon, so that the task does not become overwhelming.
I briefly closed comments on this blog after a particularly nasty, profanity-filled remark made by an anonymous poster. But I have re-opened them again today, and trust this will encourage appropriate discussion. If you have any thoughts on how this blog could continue to be useful, I would be very happy to hear them. Please keep reading!
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 outside the medals on her specialist piece, floor.
In the men's competition, Alexander Balandin took gold on the rings.
In the men's competition, Alexander Balandin took gold on the rings.
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 base' of Russian gymnastics which is so important to its future development.
The Russian Gymnastics Federation website provides information about these competitions.
First, a regional competition taking place in the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia (capital: Khabarovsk), the largest, but least populated of Russia's 8 Federal districts (the other seven are Central Federal District (capital: Moscow); Southern Federal District (Rostov-on-Don); Northwestern Federal District (St Petersburg); Siberian Federal District (Novosibirsk); Urals Federal District (Ekaterinburg); Volga Federal District (Nizhny Novgorod); and the North Caucasian Federal District (Pyatigorsk).
The Amur regional district championships (a junior competition) were held 12th-14th November in Belogorsk, in the newly renovated and equipped sports hall belonging to the sports school. 62 gymnasts took part and the competition was opened by Head of Sports of the Amur regional government, Oleg Gumeniuk. Girls winner was Candidate Master of Sport, Elena Logutova of Raichinchinska; Master of Sport Evgenyi Ischenko from Blagoveschenka won the boys' competition.
Beginning today in Cheboksary is the Junior Russian Sports Schools Championships. Team, all around and event finals will take place and I will update this site with results and relevant links as soon as they become available.
Edited 23/11 - the Cheboksary competition is for boys, while the girls' competition is taking place in Veliki Novgorod. Details of the participating teams can be found on the Federation's website, here. Alar at the All Around Forum has been kind enough to post some results of the girls' competition which I will copy here word for word:
'Most of the best juniors are missing. Anastasia Sidorova is looking very good, got 59.625 and 59.5 in AA (with bonus system). She won 3 EFs as well. We'll see her at Top Gym next week-end. She does BB from 6.5 and DTY for which she got 15.3. Tried 2.5 as well, but fell.
Katja Baturina did BB from 6.4, Maria Smirnova does 3,5 on FX. Evgeniya Shelgunova has DTY and does full-in and 3/1 on FX. Viktoria Kuzmina (1st ranker) has 5.7 UB.'
The competition is discussed in a little more detail at the Russian gymnastics board, for those of you fluent in Russian!
Edited 24/11 - results of the girls' competition are available here : http://sportgymrus.ru/contest/4953/4964/default.aspx
Boys' competition results are here :
http://sportgymrus.ru/contest/4953/4960/default.aspx
Will take a more detailed look at these later in the week.
The Russian Gymnastics Federation website provides information about these competitions.
First, a regional competition taking place in the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia (capital: Khabarovsk), the largest, but least populated of Russia's 8 Federal districts (the other seven are Central Federal District (capital: Moscow); Southern Federal District (Rostov-on-Don); Northwestern Federal District (St Petersburg); Siberian Federal District (Novosibirsk); Urals Federal District (Ekaterinburg); Volga Federal District (Nizhny Novgorod); and the North Caucasian Federal District (Pyatigorsk).
The Amur regional district championships (a junior competition) were held 12th-14th November in Belogorsk, in the newly renovated and equipped sports hall belonging to the sports school. 62 gymnasts took part and the competition was opened by Head of Sports of the Amur regional government, Oleg Gumeniuk. Girls winner was Candidate Master of Sport, Elena Logutova of Raichinchinska; Master of Sport Evgenyi Ischenko from Blagoveschenka won the boys' competition.
Beginning today in Cheboksary is the Junior Russian Sports Schools Championships. Team, all around and event finals will take place and I will update this site with results and relevant links as soon as they become available.
Edited 23/11 - the Cheboksary competition is for boys, while the girls' competition is taking place in Veliki Novgorod. Details of the participating teams can be found on the Federation's website, here. Alar at the All Around Forum has been kind enough to post some results of the girls' competition which I will copy here word for word:
'Most of the best juniors are missing. Anastasia Sidorova is looking very good, got 59.625 and 59.5 in AA (with bonus system). She won 3 EFs as well. We'll see her at Top Gym next week-end. She does BB from 6.5 and DTY for which she got 15.3. Tried 2.5 as well, but fell.
Katja Baturina did BB from 6.4, Maria Smirnova does 3,5 on FX. Evgeniya Shelgunova has DTY and does full-in and 3/1 on FX. Viktoria Kuzmina (1st ranker) has 5.7 UB.'
The competition is discussed in a little more detail at the Russian gymnastics board, for those of you fluent in Russian!
Edited 24/11 - results of the girls' competition are available here : http://sportgymrus.ru/contest/4953/4964/default.aspx
Boys' competition results are here :
http://sportgymrus.ru/contest/4953/4960/default.aspx
Will take a more detailed look at these later in the week.
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 provide links to results for all these competitions once they are complete.
This weekend, Ekaterina Kurbatova and Rotterdam reserve Anna Myzdrikova compete in Glasgow at the Grand Prix (World Cup competition). I will provide links to results for all these competitions once they are complete.
Russian President Medvedev honours successful Russian athletes
A TV report here records Medvedev's meeting with successful Russian athletes including their gymnastics team from the 2010 world championships.
I have added this link to the media directory below.
I have added this link to the media directory below.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
New video link
Russian Gymnasts Prepare for Mexico (1967). This delightful short news video, property of the British Pathe archive, features Zinaida Druzhinina (Voronina) in training for the Mexico Olympics.
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 them.
Nabieva, Mustafina and (Youth Olympics) Komova have all had uneven bars elements named after them.
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 this.
Please do comment! I'd love to know what you think of this.
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 can :=)
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 can :=)
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 Cup
The wonderful TATIANA NABIEVA competed alongside her team mates KSENIA SEMENOVA and KSENIA AFANASYEVA in Marseille this weekend at the Massilia Cup, and achieved gold medals in the team, all around, bars and vault events. Tanya also took the bronze on balance beam. KSENIA AFANASYEVA took gold medal on floor and silver on beam behind France's Aurelie Malaussena. A fuller report can be found at The Gymnastics Examiner.
The Italian Grand Prix
World Champion ALIYA MUSTAFINA competed here alongside Youth Olympic Champion VIKTORIA KOMOVA. Aliya won beam and came fourth on bars, while Viktoria took the gold on bars and silver on beam. Full results, and a video of Aliya's performance on beam can be found at Aliya's official website.
DTB Cup
Promising young ANNA DEMENTIEVA competed this weekend in Stuttgart alongside World Student Games veteran IRINA SAZONOVA. Anna had a few mistakes, but performed well to compete in each final in this, perhaps the most serious competition of this weekend. She collected bronze medals on bars and beam as well as a silver medal on the floor exercises. This competition was noteable for Lauren Mitchell's top level performance but I believe Anna should also feel pleased to have medalled across three apparatus in one of her first senior competitions. Full results can be found on the IG website.
Oh and I should perhaps add that Russians won the gold and silver medals in the Rings event - congratulations to Alexander Balandin and Konstantin Pluzhnikov.
EKATERINA KURBATOVA and ANNA MYZDRIKOVA are scheduled to compete in the Glasgow Grand Prix soon.
All in all, the Russian girls are demonstrating their increasing strength in depth and one hopes this is a sign of ever improving things to come.
Massilia Cup
The wonderful TATIANA NABIEVA competed alongside her team mates KSENIA SEMENOVA and KSENIA AFANASYEVA in Marseille this weekend at the Massilia Cup, and achieved gold medals in the team, all around, bars and vault events. Tanya also took the bronze on balance beam. KSENIA AFANASYEVA took gold medal on floor and silver on beam behind France's Aurelie Malaussena. A fuller report can be found at The Gymnastics Examiner.
The Italian Grand Prix
World Champion ALIYA MUSTAFINA competed here alongside Youth Olympic Champion VIKTORIA KOMOVA. Aliya won beam and came fourth on bars, while Viktoria took the gold on bars and silver on beam. Full results, and a video of Aliya's performance on beam can be found at Aliya's official website.
DTB Cup
Promising young ANNA DEMENTIEVA competed this weekend in Stuttgart alongside World Student Games veteran IRINA SAZONOVA. Anna had a few mistakes, but performed well to compete in each final in this, perhaps the most serious competition of this weekend. She collected bronze medals on bars and beam as well as a silver medal on the floor exercises. This competition was noteable for Lauren Mitchell's top level performance but I believe Anna should also feel pleased to have medalled across three apparatus in one of her first senior competitions. Full results can be found on the IG website.
Oh and I should perhaps add that Russians won the gold and silver medals in the Rings event - congratulations to Alexander Balandin and Konstantin Pluzhnikov.
EKATERINA KURBATOVA and ANNA MYZDRIKOVA are scheduled to compete in the Glasgow Grand Prix soon.
All in all, the Russian girls are demonstrating their increasing strength in depth and one hopes this is a sign of ever improving things to come.
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/418471
Includes 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, Alexander Alexandrov. Fargat Mustafin also discusses Aliya and her sister Nailya.
Includes 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, Alexander Alexandrov. Fargat Mustafin also discusses Aliya and her sister Nailya.
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 Elfimov, Komova's personal coach, was also present.
Andrei Rodienenko : http://summer.sport-express.ru/gymnastics/reviews/9195/
Aliya Mustafina and Viktoria Komova : http://summer.sport-express.ru/gymnastics/reviews/9194/
With thanks to Nora and Albert at the All Around Forum for posting these links.
I intend to post a round up of the best coverage of worlds by the middle of next week, identifying key themes and questions for the future. I will include video links.
Video conference (one hour long) is available here : http://www.tatar-inform.ru/video/1369/
Gennady Elfimov, Komova's personal coach, was also present.
Andrei Rodienenko : http://summer.sport-express.ru/gymnastics/reviews/9195/
Aliya Mustafina and Viktoria Komova : http://summer.sport-express.ru/gymnastics/reviews/9194/
With thanks to Nora and Albert at the All Around Forum for posting these links.
I intend to post a round up of the best coverage of worlds by the middle of next week, identifying key themes and questions for the future. I will include video links.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Moscow Regional Competitions - Master of Sports/Candidate Master of Sports - results
Albert at the All Around Forum alerts us to some results from the Moscow Regional Championships, held 26-29 October 2010 and posted at http://www.sport-gymnastics.ru/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=2425&sid=31ec44c5dfd1f31ba0f4e286fd04f553. Some of the scores noted, in particular those for Maria Paseka, Anastasia Grishina and Viktoria Malikova, appear to be those they achieved for the Russian Nationals earlier this year. I understand that these key results can be re-used for team competition purposes, in order to avoid over-competing key gymnasts who are preparing for higher profile competitions. This compromise allows the �home� club to gain appropriate recognition for the achievements of their gymnasts.
I will transcribe here some of the key competition results with a view to registering some new names. Of particular interest are the achievements of Naila Mustafina, Aliya Mustafina�s younger sister ;-)
Candidate Master of Sports (girls born 1996-1997)
1. Maria Mager (1997) 53.3 + 53.8 (high score vault = 14.2; floor = 13.7)
2. Anastasia Belova (1997) 49.4 + 52.1 (high score beam = 13.8; floor = 13.8)
3. Anastasia Marchuk (1996) 50.65 + 50.75 (high score vault = 13.9)
Aliya Mustafina�s sister Naila (1996) competed here also after an absence due to injury and achieved 5th position with a total of 98.7 over two days (49.2 + 49.5). Her results in the apparatus finals of 2nd in beam (13.6) and first on floor (13.65) suggest she could have the potential to improve her placing a little.
Also performing hors de competition were a number of younger gymnasts born in 1998. I shall mention Maria Palamar who at the tender age of 11 or 12 achieved a mark of 13.3 on beam.
Winners in the individual apparatus were
Vault : Anastasia Marchuk, 13.45
Bars : Maria Mager, 13.15 (Belova must have been favourite for this with an all around bars score of 13.8, but fell and achieved a score of 11.1 in the final, ending up in 4th place)
Beam : Anastasia Belova, 13.7. Second place to Naila Mustafina, 13.6
Floor : Naila Mustafina 13.65
There was a further competition held for girls born in 1998, although I am unable to translate what it was (anybody able to clarify? The title is ???????? ??????).
Apparatus final results included
Vault : Viktoria Kuzmina 13.625
Bars: Yana Vlasova 13.2
Beam: Elizabetta Yemelyanova 14.4 ;-)
Floor: Ekaterina Bryanchina 14.2
Youth results of the Master of Sports competition (men born 1989-1993) are also provided, with Alexander Klochkov (1990), Konstantin Chalov (1992) and Vycheslav Veselov (1992) sharing the main medals overall. All three seem to share vault as a strength, with scores in the 15s on this apparatus.
I always think it is nice to file these results away and remember the names to see how gymnasts progress. I love it if one of my juniors makes it to senior or even international level!
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 Nabieva and Anna Dementieva (Aliya Mustafina, Ksenia Semenova and Ekaterina Kurbatova have already received this honour).
Merited Coach of Russia medals were awarded to National Team Coach Alexander Alexandrov; acrobatics coach Vasily Ivanov; choreographer Olga Borova; technical trainer Evgenyi Grebenkin (he has special responsibility for uneven bars); and Anna Dementieva's personal coach, Elena Zhiganova.
Congratulations to all!!
Secondly, the Russian women's team and coaches held a press conference on the 2nd November at which the results of the recent world championships, and prospects for future development were discussed. Key reference was made to the need for future investment, and development of the numbers of gymnasts and coaches as a pre-requisite to continued and improved success. Credit was also given to the Federation, the Ministry of Sport, and to sponsors VTB. Rodienenko also made reference to ambiguity in the marks awarded to two of the Russian gymnasts. Key points included :
Rodienenko asserted that this was a well deserved victory they had been working towards for more than a year. The Russian team was now recognised as the best team in the world. But Russia now has to prove that this result was not accidental. It is always more difficult to defend a title than to win for the first time. Important factors in the victory this time were the girls' own experience, skill and strong desire to win. The role of their personal coaches, state coaches, and training staff at Lake Krugloye was also vital, as well as that of the Federation and the Russian Ministry of Sports (note: presumably the Ministry are key fund-holders).
Alexandrov thanked supporters of Russian gymnastics and said that the competition at next year's World Championships was bound to be even more difficult than this year.
Valentina Rodienenko mentioned that after a short holiday the girls were now back in training at their improved facilities in Lake Krugloye. From 2011 the senior team will be joined by those girls born in 1995, including Viktoria Komova.
Andrei Rodienenko makes mention of the ambiguity of rules which affected the marking of Mustafina and Kurbatova's (sic) vaults at the World Championships and says a similar problem also affected a Swiss gymnast (note: this was presumably Ariella Kaeslin). The Russians have been proved right, and he is confident that similar problems should not arise again in the future.
As regards the future development of the sport, Alexander Alexandrov highlighted a lack of coaches recruiting young gymnasts in the regions. Pay is poor, and this role is currently left to fanatics of the sport! Additional funds in this respect were needed in order to support improved performance. Mustafina added that if more gymnastics centres were built to accommodate training for greater numbers of children, better results would follow. In this respect, Valentina Rodienenko highlighted the work of Federation chief Andrei Kostin and sponsors VTB. The Federation had been able to give gymnastics equipment to 122 schools. She highlighted the importance of the Academy of Physical Education in Malakhovka (province of Moscow) where a number of young girls and boys between the ages of 9-12, and their personal coaches, undertake training under the guidance of specialist Nikolai Yepishin. A key goal is to educate both the coaches and the gymnasts as a basis for forward development of the sport in the region.
With thanks to the website of the Russian Federation where this and other useful information can be found : http://www.sportgymrus.ru/
Edited 8th November 2010 to include some corrections to the translations, kindly provided by Kyan at the All Around Forum.
Merited Master of Sport medals were given to Ksenia Afanasyeva, Tatiana Nabieva and Anna Dementieva (Aliya Mustafina, Ksenia Semenova and Ekaterina Kurbatova have already received this honour).
Merited Coach of Russia medals were awarded to National Team Coach Alexander Alexandrov; acrobatics coach Vasily Ivanov; choreographer Olga Borova; technical trainer Evgenyi Grebenkin (he has special responsibility for uneven bars); and Anna Dementieva's personal coach, Elena Zhiganova.
Congratulations to all!!
Secondly, the Russian women's team and coaches held a press conference on the 2nd November at which the results of the recent world championships, and prospects for future development were discussed. Key reference was made to the need for future investment, and development of the numbers of gymnasts and coaches as a pre-requisite to continued and improved success. Credit was also given to the Federation, the Ministry of Sport, and to sponsors VTB. Rodienenko also made reference to ambiguity in the marks awarded to two of the Russian gymnasts. Key points included :
Rodienenko asserted that this was a well deserved victory they had been working towards for more than a year. The Russian team was now recognised as the best team in the world. But Russia now has to prove that this result was not accidental. It is always more difficult to defend a title than to win for the first time. Important factors in the victory this time were the girls' own experience, skill and strong desire to win. The role of their personal coaches, state coaches, and training staff at Lake Krugloye was also vital, as well as that of the Federation and the Russian Ministry of Sports (note: presumably the Ministry are key fund-holders).
Alexandrov thanked supporters of Russian gymnastics and said that the competition at next year's World Championships was bound to be even more difficult than this year.
Valentina Rodienenko mentioned that after a short holiday the girls were now back in training at their improved facilities in Lake Krugloye. From 2011 the senior team will be joined by those girls born in 1995, including Viktoria Komova.
Andrei Rodienenko makes mention of the ambiguity of rules which affected the marking of Mustafina and Kurbatova's (sic) vaults at the World Championships and says a similar problem also affected a Swiss gymnast (note: this was presumably Ariella Kaeslin). The Russians have been proved right, and he is confident that similar problems should not arise again in the future.
As regards the future development of the sport, Alexander Alexandrov highlighted a lack of coaches recruiting young gymnasts in the regions. Pay is poor, and this role is currently left to fanatics of the sport! Additional funds in this respect were needed in order to support improved performance. Mustafina added that if more gymnastics centres were built to accommodate training for greater numbers of children, better results would follow. In this respect, Valentina Rodienenko highlighted the work of Federation chief Andrei Kostin and sponsors VTB. The Federation had been able to give gymnastics equipment to 122 schools. She highlighted the importance of the Academy of Physical Education in Malakhovka (province of Moscow) where a number of young girls and boys between the ages of 9-12, and their personal coaches, undertake training under the guidance of specialist Nikolai Yepishin. A key goal is to educate both the coaches and the gymnasts as a basis for forward development of the sport in the region.
With thanks to the website of the Russian Federation where this and other useful information can be found : http://www.sportgymrus.ru/
Edited 8th November 2010 to include some corrections to the translations, kindly provided by Kyan at the All Around Forum.
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-pilkinym
And see here one of his masterpiece works of gymnastic art.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzSMcTtYkik
Rest in peace, Boris.
http://belnovosti.ru/news/society/2010/10/22/belgorod-prostilsya-s-borisom-pilkinym
And see here one of his masterpiece works of gymnastic art.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzSMcTtYkik
Rest in peace, Boris.