Alexander Alexandrov to coach Brazilian WAG?

It seems that former WAG national coach, now personal coach to Aliya Mustafina, Alexander Alexandrov, is considering an invitation from the Brazilian Gymnastics Federation to take on the role of national senior WAG coach there as they prepare for the Rio Olympics.  Alexandrov would be working alongside his former colleague Oleg Ostapenko, junior WAG coach, who left the Russian junior team for Brazil in 2010, and would no doubt considerably strengthen the Brazilian gymnasts as they prepare for their home Olympics.

Nothing is certain yet: Alexandrov went on a fact finding tour to view training facilities and meet the gymnasts recently, and still has to make his decision. If he were to decide to go, he would be a significant loss to the Russian WAG team and in particular to Russia's only Olympic gold medal gymnast.  Alexandrov had recently confirmed that the Russian Ministry of Sport had asked him to stay in Russia and he appears on the RGF's recently published list of coaches.  However, the Brazilian Federation benefits from significant financial support as it prepares for its home Olympic Games in 2016, meaning that it can probably afford to make Alexandrov a very attractive offer.  I would assume that Alexandrov's decision is also likely to be influenced by his working relationship with the senior team leadership, Andrei and Valentina Rodionenko, and whether he feels he is likely to have the autonomy to give the best to his gymnast/s.

View the source articles here, here and here.  Google translates work pretty well, but we should wait for official confirmation of Alexandrov's final decision ...  this decision, apparently, is due tomorrow.  Do not hold your breath though, I have known such negotations to take weeks.

With many thanks to Bernard Abdo who provided the links at GymFever.

Alexander Alexandrov (third from left) during a recent trip to view training facilities in Brazil