'Nothing is impossible' - Nikita Nagorny and the Russian men

The atmosphere surrounding the Russian male gymnasts at this year's European Championships was noticeably relaxed and happy as they made their way to their various medals.  This reflects not only a more stable competition performance, but also a refreshed dynamic within the team. 

First, some background.  Russian sport finds itself under unprecedented pressure at present following serious doping allegations and positive tests which have led the International Athletics Federation to propose that Russia's entire track and field team be barred from the Olympics.  Other sports are implicated, and even gymnastics has not emerged unscathed, as senior team member Nikolai Kuksenkov tested positive for trace elements of meldonium in the spring.  Kuksenkov has now been given a pardon and actually competed in Bern, but it seems likely that artistic gymnastics, with its ultra-clean record internationally, has the potential to win medals for Russia at the Olympics without the trauma and bad reputation of positive doping tests.  The sport will come into sharper focus for Russia if they have to go to the Olympics without their best track and field athletes, so the pressure is on for Rio.

Andrei Rodionenko says that the Russian government has not set the team a medal winning target, but that they hope to match their medal tally from London four years ago - eight in total across MAG and WAG.  Considering the waning fortunes of the women's team, the men will probably be expected to provide a greater proportion of gymnastics medals than they did in London - but, of course, the competition is much deeper than WAG, so this may present problems.

Having won a total of three gold medals in Bern - there was no gold at the equivalent competition in Sofia two years ago - the Russian team must now look forward to Rio.  Victory in Europe is significant in men's gymnastics, but at the Olympics the Russians must face not only the British, but also the Japanese, Chinese and Americans.  In Bern, the team scored more points than the winning Japanese team did in the Glasgow World Championships last autumn, but all of their rivals will find the Russians' spirited performance galvanising as they perfect their finished routines for Rio.  There are no easy medals in gymnastics.

As the head coaches and officials emphasised, Bern was only one step on the journey to Rio.  In this article, I will analyse some of the key findings that emerged from interviews with the coaches and gymnasts in the wind-down from the Championships, and make some observations of my own.  Key questions to be considered are :

1. How did the team perform?  What improvements will they make before Rio?  
2. Who is in contention for the team?  
3. What role will the coaches play in all of this?  
4. What implications are there for the sport as a whole, both in the Russian Federation and more widely as we approach the next four years?

Performances and prospects

Russia's good performance at these Championships has been recognised at the highest level of the State; Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has expressed his satisfaction.  But he also adds that the main purpose of Europeans was to prepare for Rio.  The Russian Government's clear interest in artistic gymnastics must be a pressure as well as an opportunity.  Funding of the central training camp at Round Lake (Ozero Krugloye) - one of the best equipped gyms in the world thanks to sponsorship from the principally state-owned VTB Bank - is good.  But to Russia, sport is state and the pressure to win medals is immense.  The coaches must have an ability to alleviate that pressure and to simplify complicated situations if the gymnasts are to be able to deliver.

I like National MAG coach Valery Alfosov.  He has a simple, direct way, and there is a funny story circulating.  One of the female gymnasts had joined the men at a training camp overseas.  During the team briefing, Alfosov issued the instructions.  'Guys, we have a lady with us.  No farting in the lift, and watch your language'.

He is similarly laconic in summing up performance in Bern, with a light touch when handing out criticisms.  'Britain is our main rival in Europe', he says.  Russia's most experienced gymnast, Nikolai Kuksenkov, was the only one to make any mistakes in team finals, on the parallel bars.  It's clear that Alfosov is unhappy with this, but his job list is for the whole team, not just Kuksenkov:

• On parallel bars, they have to 'maintain the pace of execution throughout the whole exercise, only stopping when planned.  All elements must be executed on straight arms, without any adjustments.'  Alfosov's prioritisation of parallel bars, a specialism for the Russians and Soviets before them, was demonstrated in particular when he accompanied David Belyavski to the podium during his event final.  A rare appearance, and a sign of Alfosov's respect and concern for this great gymnast.
• On high bar, the team must increase their D values - this is very urgent.
• On rings, the men must improve the posture of their strength elements.
• On floor, the height of the tumbles and the precision of their landings is of paramount importance.  Greater elegance is required in the gymnastic moves.  
• On vault, precise landings have to be the name of the day, without losing marks.
• Finally, on pommels the team have to rotate on straight arms and not rely on strength.  

Alfosov admitted that he was 'pleased with how our guys have shown themselves'.  They came to Bern with new routines, but performed without errors.  He didn't really want to pick out any individual for praise, but he had to name David Belyavski and Nikita Nagorny, Russia's two individual gold medallists.


The elegant Belyavski is the most 'Russian' of all the team; light and powerful, with an economy of line that is reminiscent of 1988 Olympic Champion, Vladimir Artemov.  Belyavski has often struggled to show his best in competition, but in Bern carried himself with all the charisma and confidence of a Bolshoi Principal dancer.  His self assurance was shared by the head coach.  'David's success was as expected', said Andrei Rodionenko, 'He was prepared for it.  His attitude now has to endure until the Olympics'.  This was pretty much echoed by David himself, who said that 'good preparation' was the basis of the team gold medal.  A well grounded approach to Belyavski's superior gymnastics, then.  This might seem a bit tough, but the 24 year old from Ekaterinburg knows that he will have to be at his best if he is to contend for individual medals in Rio, and great gymnastics does not happen by magic.  The whole team will need to follow his example if they are to live up to their coaches' high expectations.

The Russian team still revolves around a fairly long-standing team of stars - Belyavski, Ablyazin, Kuksenkov, Ignatyev - along with 19 year old Nikita Nagorny, who, in only his second year as a senior, won a gold medal in the floor exercise, his second individual Europeans first (he won vault last year in Montepelier).  Many are crediting the ebullient Nagorny for the renewed vigour with which the Russian men are tackling competition of late.  You couldn't help but smile at his spontaneous celebration after his medal ceremony, which was shared by all the gymnasts.  (Do you have a few minutes to spare?  I suggest you visit Nikita's Youtube Channel, Nikushkin Day.  It's probably even better if you speak Russian!)

Nagorny is not over-confident, though.  'Two years ago, I looked at the guys on the team and I thought, perhaps, it wasn't even a dream to be part of this.  I thought it was impossible.  This was my first team European Championships and we won!  Now, I want to say that nothing is impossible ...', he said to RSport.  Mature, outgoing and a natural leader, Nagorny is a breath of fresh air in the often tense atmosphere of the Russian gymnastics team and his enthusiasm is infectious.

If, as a person, Nagorny is engaging and outgoing, then as a gymnast, he is more moderate and controlled, a kind of relatively elegant acrobat.  He doesn't completely fit the stylish frame of David Belyavski, nor is he quite the daring acrobat that Denis Ablyazin is.  He is a developing all arounder with impressive difficulty and good execution, but what impressed me even more than this was the seriousness with which he approached his competition.  There is a deliberate style of 'hitting' his routines that owes much to mental attitude, never a strong point amongst the nervey Russians.  Even so, he did make an error in vault event finals.  (The format of this competition, and the timing of the medal ceremonies was extremely challenging for all those competing in multiple finals.)  But then, so did his team mate Denis Ablyazin - and this is a comparison that does the senior gymnast few favours.  While Nagorny squeezed every inch out of his 6.8 D value floor exercise in qualifiers, team finals and event finals, Ablyazin fell short of qualifying to floor final even with a 7 D value, and made errors at every stage of the game.  Ablyazin won the floor world title in 2014, but since then has struggled to find his feet.  He has outscored Nagorny only twice on floor in major senior competition over the last two years.  In Bern, he had an unlucky time with errors on all three pieces at some point of the game - floor, rings (handgrip problems in team finals) and vault, ending up securing two medals instead of the expected four.  In Rio, he will have to grasp back some of the initiative if he is to capitalise fully on his extreme difficulty.  When you consider his position as event specialist, the importance of his position on the team as a main individual medal contender, things really are coming to a crunch.

The 23 year old from Penza - who holds 13 individual medals at World, European and Olympic level - has already been outdone in terms of D value by the amazing Kenzo Shirai.  But then Ablyazin's skills are more varied than Shirai's, who relies in the main on his fabulous twisting skills to achieve his 7.5 D value.  Andrei Rodionenko's opinion of Ablyazin's competition performance recently is that his routines are simply at the very limit of what is possible for him; he has to be at an absolute peak to complete them without error.  The pressure must be huge.  Stories are circulating of a severe and public dressing down given by Valentina Rodionenko to his coach, Sergei Starkin, right after Ablyazin's failed floor exercise.  Starkin held his own.  He knows that he who does not risk cannot win.  This is a simple maxim of gymnastics and I do not expect either Ablyazin or his coach to 'wimp out' and reduce his difficulty.  It takes guts to continue when people have seen you fail, but Ablyazin is a gutsy performer.  I expect he is in the gym right now working on improvements, and we will just have to wait and see how things go in Rio.  If he fulfills his tasks there he may secure as many as three of the eight medals Russia needs, but we will have to sprinkle him with a little good luck.

Ablyazin's struggles highlight a perennial theme within the sport : what of the constant battle between execution and difficulty in men's gymnastics?  What part will this play in the final results in Rio?  Emin Garibov, a former team captain, and an outside contender for the Rio team, feels that gymnastics has become 'a bit of a circus', and that in the 'chase' for complexity, gymnastics has lost some of its inherent 'purity and elegance', alienating spectators who no longer understand how the sport is marked.  'The last two years seem to show that complexity trumps purity, but at the Olympic Games I think that there will be an optimal balance between complexity and clarity', he said.  This 'optimal balance', if it materialises, may favour such gymnasts as Belyavski, but it will depend on the delivery of perfect routines.  Can Russia manage this?  Garibov thinks that there are medal chances, but lists his country's rivals as Japan, China, USA and Great Britain.  There is much for Russia to overcome on the way, but Garibov is certain that the team will 'fight to the last'.

The ever present threat of injury could affect any of the teams and individuals preparing for the Olympics and this is one area where Russia could be vulnerable.  They have good reserves - for example the technically pure Ivan Stretovich and Artur Dalolyan - but their optimal team will include those who competed in Europe, perhaps with Garibov in for Nikita Ignatyev, if the former's training and injury recovery goes well.  The competition format in the Olympics is a little different to that in Europe, meaning that the team needs greater depth at qualification stage.  As usual, the gymnasts who will train for Rio will be selected on the basis of performance in Bern, at Russian nationals earlier this year, and at the summer Russia Cup (begins 27th June).  If everything were predictable in gymnastics, we wouldn't need competitions, so be prepared for shocks and surprises.

The Russian team, coaches, medics and gymnasts

Finally, when they are not flying through the air with the practiced precision and reckless abandon of a fighter pilot dodging bullets from the head coach, the Russian men do seem to have their feet on the ground, and they have taken courage from their victories in Europe.  David Belyavski commented that the team had demonstrated that they were now able to fight for medals at the Olympics in both team and individual events.  The hardest medal in Bern was the team gold, because it meant they had to compete eighteen routines without error.  The same will be true in Rio, but the outcome won't necessarily be the same because other teams may perform even better.  However, given the depth and diversity of the international field in men's gymnastics, team medals may be more realistic than individual.  Russia has made significant improvements to its competitive attitude and gymnastics content.  The men's team has been strengthened by the addition of new blood to the coaching team - young coaches like Andrei Dukhno, a tumbling specialist.  The gymnasts also bring their own personal coaches to the arena.  In gymnastics, teamwork amongst the coaches is as important as the spirit amongst the competitors.  Cohesive relationships in the team are very much in evidence at present and it will be essential for this condition to continue if they are to be successful in Rio.

Sources

Interview with head coach, Valery Alfosov (stadium.ru)

Interview with David Belyavski (and Nikita Nagorny) (Rsport)

Interview with head coach, Valery Alfosov (TASS)

Interview with Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko (stadium.ru)

Interview with Nikita Nagorny (Rsport)

Interview with Emin Garibov (Sportbox)

Further reading on RRG:

A brief profile of David Belyavski

Nikita Nagorny 'absolutely stunning' in pre-Olympic training, says coach

'Mama, don't cry!' Denis Ablyazin as a boy

Emin Garibov : 'I will compete for Russia, but remember Azerbaijan'

Interview with Nikolai Kuksenkov 

Nikita Ignatyev ; 'The All Arounder'

Kuksenkov tests positive for meldonium

WADA ruling about excretion rates of meldonium - implications

Kuksenkov cleared to compete in Europeans following positive test for meldonium

Read More

'Together with the team' - Russia's MAG prepare for Rio

Russia's leading male all around gymnast, David Belyavski, with head coach Andrei Rodionenko

As the first big competition of the year approaches for Russia's male gymnasts - the national championships in Penza, which begin in just three days' time - Irina Stepantseva of MK.ru has focussed on the team's preparation, with a visit to Round Lake.  There she interviewed many of the gymnasts, and head coach Andrei Rodionenko.  You can view the full piece in Russian here.  

The context : As I have said before, Russian sport has been hit hard by all the doping bans, particularly in track and field athletics.  RUSADA, the national anti-doping agency, has been accused of falsifying documentation.  Tennis has taken a hit, with Maria Sharapova testing positive for the controversial drug Meledonium, and now swimming appears to be being targeted.  I think we can probably expect that all Russian sport will be under the microscope for months to come.  It's not as if Russians are the only athletes ever to have tested positive, but it might look as though there is an institutionalised, state-endorsed culture of cheating.  

So Russia is looking for clean sports to step up and shine at the Rio Olympics.  This article is part of a series entitled 'Together with the team' that looks to raise the profile and morale of Russian sports.  

Head WAG coach Valentina Rodionenko has already gone on record to say that Russian gymnasts do not have a doping problem, and so artistic gymnastics appears to be one sport that the Government will be looking to to fill the gold medal gap in Rio.  Not much pressure, then!

So it is not surprising that a fair chunk of Irina's article focusses on the rigourous doping tests that the gymnasts are regularly subjected to, and I think it's a good thing to emphasise that this process does take place.  Gymnastics is a skill sport and there aren't many drugs that can give a performance benefit without affecting balance and so on.  Internationally, over past years there are around ten doping cases listed for international gymnastics, compared to hundreds in the sport of athletics, and scores in swimming and tennis.  Regardless of the high profile 'seven' who tested positive for meledonium in Baku 2015, when the drug was still legal, gymnastics is generally a very clean sport - and that isn't just about Russia.

Nikolai Kuksenkov

The sportsmen can't allow themselves to be distracted by the controversy though, and senior team member Nikolai Kuksenkov asserts that it's the job of team members to train, and to ignore the politics that accompanies big-time sport.  He became acquainted with this in London 2012, he says (Nikolai was a member of the Ukraine team who were controversially awarded a team medal, then denied it after an appeal by the Japanese team).  Indeed, the whole team seems to be working assiduously - Stepantseva makes the point that the training hall is quiet, but a hive of activity - no one is still at any time.  Coaches Andrei Rodionenko and Valery Alfosov observe the training silently.

'Kolya' makes the point that the five top teams - Russia, Britain, America, China and Japan - are all working pretty much equally, with only Japan with a slight advantage.  He goes on to say that they can't pay attention to criticisms made by 'armchair' specialists - they must simply work hard and keep their nerve.

Denis Ablyazin with masseur Andrei Blyushke, and coach Sergei Starkin

Denis Ablyazin talks about team relations - living and working in such close proximity, don't the gymnasts sometimes get on each other's nerves?  He explains how they all want to win and they are all just working to perform their best.  Yes, sometimes people are careless or do annoying things - like, for example, leaving plastic cups hanging around in the bathroom - for this they 'get it in the neck' from their team mates!  But, by and large, the team gets on.  They all want the same things and they all have a similar discipline, to work quietly and not make a fuss.  His coach, Sergei Starkin, repeats the same theme - it's just not acceptable, he says, for gymnasts to vent anger in the gym - if this happens, it's time for the coach to have a word, and advise his gymnast about how to behave better.

Emin Garibov, who is still the team captain, is back in training and says that the wider background of crisis in Russian sport is motivating for the team.  He is just happy to be back in training after all of his injury problems.  It is very difficult for him to train as he still has pain in his shoulders, and is sore all over his body, but the team spirit keeps him working.

At 6 am the previous morning, he had been awoken by a knock on the door - doping control for David Belyavski, who had undergone testing only the previous day at the Glasgow World Cup.  It takes a lot of time, and since the recent controversies the process seems to have become more strict.

Andrei Rodionenko speaks of the gymnasts' performance at Glasgow, in particular Denis Ablyazin, who was disappointed to miss out on apparatus medals.  He explains that it's 'not a reproach' to speak of this - Denis's performance has been analysed, and he will learn from it.  The level of this gymnast's routines is ultra-high - there are only two or three other gymnasts who can perform at this level - and perhaps he wasn't ready psychologically to compete to the peak of his abilities.  He is a highly responsible, well motivated and ambitious gymnast.

The competitions scheduled ahead are all stages of preparation for the Olympics - with Rio the final goal, where all the learning and training will, hopefully, come together.  The team has been working together for a year now and there is a hard-working, goal-oriented atmosphere.


Photographs courtesy of Elena Mikhailova/RGF

Read More

European Championships 2013 - men's qualifications

David Belyavski's hard working and rather elegant hand.  Courtesy of the RGF

It has been a fascinating day at the Olympiski stadium, watching the new order of world gymnastics battle it out for places in this weekend's all around and event finals.  I am not sure that things went quite the way the Russians would have wanted today.  As ever, large errors found them missing out on final places to which their gymnasts, on capability, should easily qualify.  They lead in three out of the six finals, but surely with fewer errors could have topped the qualification stakes, and seen a greater proportion of their team represented in finals.

In Europe, at this present time, it seems to be a fight between three countries - the ambitious and competitive Ukraine, determined to vindicate the disappointment of a fourth place finish in London; relative newcomers Great Britain, whose steadiness and strength in depth point to a bright future; and Russia, the team who will perhaps always seem slightly disappointing, compared to their mighty past under the aegis of the far larger, far more confident Soviet Union.  (At this competition Germany did not present its strongest face - we will have to wait and see if this is training strategy or a downturn in their fortunes.)

The British team qualified the highest number of gymnasts to event finals, six, while Ukraine managed to match Russia's five. I mentioned before that Russia lead three out of the six apparatus finals.  Ukraine and Britain share one lead each (the remaining apparatus, pommel horse, is still the domaine of Hungary).  Russia's efforts rely on only three gymnasts out of their six nominated performers, as do Ukraine's, but Britain qualify four.  Britain qualified no gymnasts to parallel bars, rings or vault finals, while Russia's real bug bear, as ever, was the pommel horse, on this occasion a highly competitive final with no score of less than 15 in the top 13 places.  Britain did in fact score highly enough to finish in the top eight on vault, but only one of their gymnasts presented two vaults, Theo Seager, who fell on his second attempt.  Ukraine's real strength appears to be parallel bars, where their gymnasts stand in 1st and 3rd position with some stunning and original work.

Russia could have improved their qualification status if only both David Belyavski and Nikita Ignatyev had not sat down their vaults (the first thing I saw on entering the arena), and if Ablyazin and Balandin had not suffered severe landing errors on floor and rings respectively.  (Ablyazin's floor work is astounding for its difficulty but I must question the wisdom of a Code of Points that rewards a floor exercise that is essentially a composite of back to back tumble runs with barely even a second for anything else.  Remember the rhythmic, linear work of such greats as Artemov?)  At the same time, Ablyazin must be congratulated for his amazing work on vault, a piece which he has been unable to train at full strength since recovering from his injury; and on rings, a new strength of his since the same injury gave him time to work on upper body strength.  He leads both these pieces, while Emin Garibov leads high bar.

Friday's all around final promises much, with a top four (Whitlock, Verniaiev, Belyavski, Stepko) who should provide a beautiful podium and a great advertisement for European gymnastics.  Nikita Ignatyev adds to Russia's efforts with his seventh place finish in the all around, while Daniel Purvis's 8th place finish means that all but one (Theo Seager) of Britain's men have made a final of some kind or other.  The British team are trained by Russians, Andrei Popov and Sergei Sizhanov, and it shows.

Men's all around qualification results

Floor exercise

Pommel Horse

Rings

Vault

 Parallel Bars

High Bar

Read More

Dementyeva out - Shelgunova in - Grishina off form - Pre-Europeans news and information

Viktoria Komova at a press conference yesterday.  Courtesy RGF

WAG and MAG European Championships for individuals begins one week from today at the Olympiski Stadium in Moscow, Russia, and the Russian Gymnastics Federation has been busy arranging press conferences and interviews to promote the competition and the chances of the Russian gymnasts.  You will be able to read below details of both the men's and women's team composition, as well as some links to important documents.  

A news report today suggests that Grishina's competitive readiness may be in doubt. At the same time, youngster Evgeniya Shelgunova, a favourite of head coaches Rodionenko, has recently been elevated to reserve over the injured Dementyeva, and Valentina Rodionenko has been talking up the veteran Afanasyeva's chances of competing in the all around final.  Yet again it is an uncertain situation for the Russians.

You will find the latest version of the nominative registrations here, though these lists are currently out of date: we know for example that Sandra Izsbasa will not be competing for Romania, meaning the country's entire effort will rest on the shoulders of Larissa Iordache and Diana Bulimar.  Amongst the Russians, the confirmed team now includes Evgeniya Shelgunova as reserve instead of the unfortunate Anna Dementyeva, who is injured.  It is also expected that Ksenia Afanasyeva will compete on all four apparatus in qualifications, alongside Aliya Mustafina and (?) Anastasia Grishina.  This creates competition for the two all around spots in finals, and leaves Maria Paseka as the only specialist on the four person team, competing on vault and bars.

Russia are hoping for their artistry to give them the edge at this competition.  In the context of changes to the Code of Points which Valentina Rodionenko says has more or less evened out the playing field in world gymnastics, it is certainly true that this mature team (assuming Mustafina, Afanasyeva, Grishina and Paseka) should be able to offer some of the most attractive gymnastics on offer in the world today.  It is very early in the season, however, to make any final judgement on the effect of changes to the Code.  It remains a truth that the Russian girls will have to work hard to improve their consistency and to develop the floor tumbling which Rodionenko acknowledges is less of a strength than their artistry.  Her suggestion that Afanasyeva is practicing an Amanar vault also underlines how important gymnast retention and development is to the Russian team.  Afansyeva has surprised the team with how quickly she has adapted to the demands of the new vault, but it remains unsure if she will use the skill in competition.

An update today (thank you Laerke) from Valentina Rodionenko suggests that reserve Shelgunova is on better competitive form than Grishina.  Lupita (thank you) summarises here Valentina's key points :

• Grishina is not doing her new elements
• She has recovered her old programme
• Grishina is now on worse form than she was earlier in the year at national championships
• She cannot be replaced due to the sports principle
• Coach Razumovsky says that they are adapting to the new training arrangement
• They are very concerned about her performance at the European Championships
• Grishina is currently training at home - Valentina says she wants her to return to Lake Krugloye

A question is, WHY is Valentina saying all this.  It suggests a level of uncertainty that can't be good for the Russian team in general; it would be tragic for the talented Grishina to miss out on such an important home competition, probably a career-threatening psychological injury for her and certainly a significant weakening of a team that already lacks strength in depth. 

The draw for the WAG competition is here.

The men's team faces somewhat different challenges with a multi-talented team including David Belyavski, Nikita Ignatyev, Denis Ablyazin, Emin Garibov, Alexander Balandin and Matvey Petrov.  The reserve is Dmitri Stolyarov who finished third all around at this spring's Russian Championships.  The men's competition format means that four gymnasts can compete on each apparatus out of a total of six nominated.  Competing all around will be Belyavski and Ignatyev, with Ablyazin doing floor, rings and vault, Garibov pommels, parallel bars and high bar, Balandin rings, and Petrov pommels.  The draw for the MAG competition is here.

The Russian men are on the ascendant but face fierce competition from the British and German men here. 

Finally, last night Moscow Echo hosted an interview between top gymnastics journalist Natalia Kalugina, Valentina Rodionenko and returning international Viktoria Komova.  Take a look at the video - Valentina does most of the talking.  I hope to be able to provide my readers with a summary of the main content in due course.  Viktoria is looking well, and tells us here that she intends to support her team by following them round the arena and shouting loudly, presumably using the words we all know well!  Davai, Vika!!

The work plan for the competition is here.

The MAG training schedule is here,.and the WAG training schedule here.

Competition schedule (all times are Moscow) :

Wednesday 17th April - MAG qualifications

Three sessions starting at 10.00; 14.00; 17.30

Thursday 18th April - WAG qualifications

Three sessions starting at 10.30; 14.30; 17.15

Friday 19th April - All Around Finals

MAG - 13.00; WAG 17.30

Saturday 20th April - Event Finals

13.30

Sunday 21st April - Event Finals

13.30

Full Twist blog has a directory of TV channels covering Europeans, and online streaming will be available via Eurovision.

Couch Gymnast is there and will be reporting as usual, and I will be attending the competition and will blog daily.

Read More

Mustafina, Grishina, Paseka, Afanasyeva - four for Moscow

Anastasia Grishina at the Russian Championships in Penza earlier this month.  Picture courtesy of RGF

Nominative registrations are now out for the upcoming European Championships in Moscow.

Women : Aliya Mustafina, Anastasia Grishina, Maria Paseka, Ksenia Afanasyeva

I'm delighted to see Afanasyeva on the team - to me, she is the natural selection over the still developing Evgeniya Shelgunova, whose selection could really only be justified on developmental grounds - and perhaps this could be seen as rather indulgent given the current competitive climate in world gymnastics.  Afanasyeva really adds clout to what is a mature and classy Russian team.  She was also looking on good acrobatic form at the French International recently - perhaps less focussed on her dance, but then since when did this really matter to the scores?

Aliya Mustafina is reportedly competing at the Stella Zakharova Cup in Ukraine this weekend so we shall have a chance to see how her preparations are going.  Both Anastasia Grishina and Ksenia Afanasyeva have put in convincing showings at recent competitions, with Grishina looking much stronger and more confident than in London, in my opinion a legitimate contender for the all around gold, and Afanasyeva hopefully able to fight for a European floor gold to add to her World medal from 2011.

But remember what happened last time Europeans were staged in Moscow - 1987?  There the graceful young Daniela Silivas came in and stole the all around title from young pretender, Alleftina Priakhina, leaving veteran Elena Shushunova with a bronze medal.  I would love to see Romanian Larissa Iordache make a similar impact at this competition and compete closely for a medal in the all around.  European gymnastics needs and deserves a higher profile than it gets and a beautiful podium of Grishina, Mustafina and Iordache would really emphasise the classical artistry that is still so much a characteristic of the sport in these parts of the world.

The Russian men's team includes Denis Ablyazin, David Belyavski, Alexander Balandin, Emin Garibov, newcomer Matvei Petrov and Nikita Ignatyev.    Belyavski and Ignatyeva are going for the all around.

Enjoy Anastasia Grishina's gold medal winning beam routine from last weekend's Cottbus Cup.



Appreciate Ksenia Afanasyeva's floor routine from the French International of two weeks ago:

Read More

Day 2 EF - MAG, WAG Russian Championships

Olympic medallist Denis Ablyazin was the star this week in Penza

The spectacular events of beam, floor, vault, parallel bars and high bar took place last week and I am finally updating the blog with these results, which can be found in full on the RGF website (WAG and MAG).

They were interesting results : over the two days of event finals, four different women won gold medals (Paseka, Grishina, Shelgunova and Afanasyeva).  The absence of Komova from the competition, and the withdrawal of Mustafina and Grishina from beam and floor finals mean that these results cannot be considered to be the comprehensive book on Russian WAG form, but it is good news that the Russians have such plausible champions on each piece of apparatus.  I am particularly pleased to see that Ksenia Afanasyeva is continuing at full force - her beam routine was especially interesting.

For the men it was a stunning endorsement of the specialist work being done by the fiery Denis Ablyazin (gold on floor, rings and vault), with all around gold medalist David Belyavski confirming his class on parallel bars with a gold, and newcomer to the Russian team Nikolai Kuksenkov asserting his authority and value with a gold on high bar and a bronze on pommel horse, both apparatus at which the Russian men struggle during team competitions.  Kuksenkov's official accession to the national team may come too late for qualification for this spring's Euros, but if he continues in this vein he will be a very useful team member at World Championships in Antwerp.  Of the gold medallists only Matei Petrov, pommel horse, had not been on the Russians' team at the London Olympics.  His candidacy for Europeans will depend on weighing up his likely consistency and medal winning possibilities on this one piece compared to others who may be able to spread their risk across two or three pieces.  Balandin, for example, has potential both on rings and on parallel bars.

There is little room for a fair to middling all arounder on the Russian MAG team these days - most of them are specialists.  Nikita Ignatev, who earned a medal in the all around, looks unlikely to make a senior national team at a major competition, except as reserve, as he has no single piece at which he particularly excels.  I trust that last year's Olympic team captain, Emin Garibov (injured?), does not fall foul of the same forces this autumn in Antwerp.  Internationally, outstanding all arounders such as Kohei Uchimura are becoming increasingly thin on the ground.  What a pity.

As we work towards the first major competition of the four year preparation towards the Olympic Games, the men's team looks more interesting and competitive than the women's.

WAG beam

1.  E Shelgunova   14.05
2.  P. Fedorova  13.9
3.  K. Afanasyeva  13.775
4.  A. Dementyeva  13.4
5.  A. Pavlova  13.275
6.  K. Goryunova  13.275
7.  E. Kramarenko  12.8
8.  A. Polyan  11.725

WAG floor

1.  K. Afanasyeva  13.6
2.  K. Goryunova  13.525
3.  A. Polyan  13.075
4.  A. Pavlova  13.00
5.  E. Shelgunova  12.9
6.  A. Dementyeva  12.625
7.  M. Smirnova  11.95
8.  P. Fedorova  11.8

MAG vault

1.  D. Ablyazin  14.075
2.  M. Kudashov  13.525
3.  P. Pavlov  13.125
4.  V. Kozin 12.075
5.  D. Yakubovski  12.00
6.  A. Byikov  11.85
7.  A. Cherkasov  11.075
8.  P. Suetin  10.475

MAG parallel bars

1.  D. Belyavski  15.03
2.  A. Balandin  14.8
3.  N. Kuksenkov  14.7
4.  A. Cherkasov  14.7
5.  N. Ignatyev  14.68
6.  D. Stolyarov  14.5
7.  D. Gogotov  14.45
8.  K. Ignatenkov  12.9

MAG high bar

1.  N. Kuksenkov  14.95
2.  N. Ignatyev  14.85
3.  D. Kazachkov  14.1
4.  V. Kozin  14.03
5.  P. Russinyak  13.7
6.  E. Garibov  13.03
7.  I. Pakhomenko  12.5

Read More

2012 Voronin Cup MAG results

Junior champion on floor, Artur Dalolyan

You will find full results at the Russian Gymnastics Federation's website.  Highlights are reproduced below.


















Junior MAG All Around

Miscellaneous all around senior results (place 21 onwards; edited highlights)

 

Full team results can be found here (junior) and here (senior).

Apparatus finals

Junior men

Floor

Pommel horse

 
Rings

 Vault

Vault scores are not available at the moment.

Parallel Bars

 High Bar

Senior men

Floor

Pommel horse

Rings

Vault
Results not available at present

Parallel Bars

High Bar

 

Read More

Can Maroney score the ten? Considering tomorrow's apparatus finals

These are the Olympics and - for some reason, perhaps television schedules, maybe ticket revenues - the organisers have split our apparatus finals over three days rather than the usual two.  There has also been a two day break since the team and all around competitions.  This means that some of the gymnasts qualified for finals will have to stay fresh, alert and competitive till next Tuesday.  It is the longest Olympic gymnastics competition I have experienced in 40 years or so of following the sport.  And it certainly made it prohibitively expensive for all but the most loyal corporate follower to attend every day at the gymnastics this year.

The Olympic organisers will also have to learn if this format works for the competitors.  No doubt some gymnasts will thrive on the rest they have been allowed ... then maybe, there is the risk that some may provide stunningly off focus exercises. 

We do not yet have start lists for tomorrow's competitions, but I do have details of the gymnasts qualified to finals ... first of all, men's floor ...

I'm going to stick my neck out and tell you to watch Ablyazin in this final.  His big problem will be fitting all that difficulty into the all too short 1 minute 30 second time frame allowed for the exercise, and staying inside the floor area.  If he can do both, his score may well zip up and take the competition by surprise.  The legendary Uchimura is also on the rise after a difficult qualifying round, and Zou Kai cannot be counted out - he tends to lack a little finesse on the floor, but his difficulty level always makes him a threat for gold.

Women's Vault

In this final the gymnasts have to demonstrate two vaults; the winner will be the one who manages to demonstrate the highest difficulty with the least error.  Precious few gymnasts practice two vaults at all these days, meaning that the apparatus has become the domain of specialists.  Of the top four gymnasts, only one, Iszbasa, competed in the all around.

Vault is also controversial.  Some consider the Amanar vault to be scored too highly (6.5 start value) relative to its nearest equivalent (for example, a double twisting Yurchenko is worth 5.8), giving those who perform it a disproportionate advantage in all around and team finals.  For the uninitiated, an Amanar is a  vault with half a twist onto the horse and two and a half twists off, all combined with somersaulting actions on and off.

But in the apparatus finals, the scoring of the Amanar could provide some real excitement.  The question is, can America's McKayla Maroney score a historic ten in execution tomorrow?  The first ten ever, under the new, open ended Code of Points.   Her vault is high, strong and beautiful.  Some would argue that vault lacks the complexity of other apparatus to force error, but generating and controlling all that flight is a fearsome achievement.  Maroney is the strong favourite for gold barring major disaster.

Elsewhere, human interest is provided by the qualification of gymnastic geriatric Oksana Chusovitina, at 37 the oldest female artistic gymnast in the competition.  Oksana was a first time Olympian competing for the Soviet Union in the 1992 Olympics when she won the gold medal on the floor.  She now has a family, and competes for her adopted country, Germany.  She will contend strongly for a medal here.  Her nearest rival could be Maria Paseka, whom the Russians brought to London purely for her vaulting ability.

Beyond the top two, this final lacks a bit of strength in depth, so expect surprises especially if there are errors. Vault is over in the flash of an eye!

Pommel horse

Louis Smith is renowned for his difficulty, but his execution at this competition has also improved significantly - having given his all for team and qualifying, can the bad boy of British gymnastics hold it together a third time?  Competing for gold alongside him will be the immaculate Krisztian Berki.  Berki of Hungary, inheritor of his country's long legacy of pommel horse specialists, had a poor qualifying round but still managed to finish in fifth.  If Berki is on song he could deprive Louis Smith of gold, even if Smith is at his best - talent will out, dears.

Read More