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!