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.