'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

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Viktoria Komova to miss Russian Championships

Viktoria has informed fans via her VK.com group that she will miss nationals because she is taking treatment for back pain.

This obviously isn't great news for the returning champion, but pain is a way of life for gymnasts and it is right that Viktoria now rests and tries to get better before the 'business' end of the year.

With Russia's veteran all arounders out of the picture, it will be an interesting competition in Penza.  Melnikova, Tutkhalyan, Kapitonova and Kharenkova are now Russia's main all around prospects.

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No meledonium problems for Russian gymnastics, says Rodionenko

More than forty Russian athletes across ten different sports have tested positive for the recently banned drug meledonium, but Valentina Rodionenko has firmly pointed out that Russian gymnasts do not have a problem.

Doctors closely monitor the gymnasts' diet and intake and in the sport of gymnastics they have to be especially careful as even a small change in what the gymnasts consume can affect balance, eg on the beam.  Valentina says that the doctors were aware of the change to the list of banned substances, and no problems are anticipated.

Source - http://m.rsport.ru/artist_gym/20160317/905190441.html

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Mustafina 'unlikely' to compete at Russian nationals

Valentina Rodionenko has told TASS news agency that it is unlikely that Aliya will compete at Russian nationals in April.  The Championships had been planned as the Olympic Champion's return to competition following knee surgery, but she is not yet fully ready, and it seems that more recovery time is necessary.  Her last competition was the European Games in Baku, last June.

If this turns out to be true, it isn't the end of the world.  Aliya herself would most probably say that she herself just doesn't know as yet whether she will compete.  

Besides, there are plenty more competitions for Aliya in the coming months!  

By the way, congratulations are due to the Russian team, who won today's DTB Team Challenge with some very convincing performances, and to Nikolai Kuksenkov who won a bronze medal in the DTB Cup!

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The sad demise of artistic gymnastics

This picture, of 1985 Soviet World Championships team member Irina Baraksanova, is a symbol of what is now lost to gymnastics as a whole, and Russia in particular.  Black and white, the picture was taken at another time when imagery came at a premium, technology was simple and memory and emotion played an important part in documenting sports history.  A similar picture taken today might be more colourful and have a sharper focus, but lack the nostalgic significance, the scope to challenge the imagination.  For all its lack of precision and technical sophistication, this box brownie snap captures the feeling of a unique moment.  Baraksanova, in common with many of her team mates, used floor exercise to tell an enigmatic and gentle story built on line, air and just a little bit of acrobatic magic.  The position of the head, the asymmetry of the position, the downcast eyes, all speak to me.  She combined grace and power, innovation and tradition to make the extreme difficulty of what she was doing vanish.   Virtuoso described her and her team mates.

Oh dear.  Perhaps I am just in a sad mood.  It is Olympic year and I should feel more optimistic than this.  After all, things on the Russian team are looking up.  In training for the Olympics are the veterans, Afanasyeva, Mustafina, Komova, Paseka.  In reserve are young leaders Spiridonova, Kharenkova, Tutkhalyan.  Scaling the walls of the Olympic team are newcomers Melnikova, Kapitonova.  And that's forgetting such talents as Dmitrieva, Sosnitskaya, Skrypnik, Shelgunova.  For once, Russia has a reserve team!

But what is the point of Russia without that unique artistic identity?  Watching the film Faster, Higher, Stronger (a Russian language drama documentary about its sports heroes) I am reminded of the magnificent character, the inimitable originality of the artist Khorkina and her coach Boris Pilkin. She was perhaps the last true artist to dominate the competition arena, though, and gymnastics has changed irreparably since her retirement after the 2004 Olympics.  The tail end of Khorkina's legacy limped on in the form of such gymnasts as Viktoria Komova, but the truth is that not even Russian artistry could possibly survive the relentless attacks of the FIG.  Precision, power and endurance are now the markers of a sport that once took such qualities for granted, but which now values them to the exclusion of all else.  A sport that has always emphasised quality of movement has now become tainted and spoiled by distorted shapes, little line and even less air.

Given the FIG's mindless adherence to its own substandard rules, anyone can now win gymnastics competitions by executing the elements as listed in the Code of Points and avoiding the errors prescribed there.  If this means bouncing up and down fifteen times in a row or throwing the most difficult tumble or vault, as long as the gymnast lands in a reasonably competent position, the gymnast will record the score, regardless of what the end result looks like or the relationship it bears to anything else in the routine.  It matters not if the vault is dangerous to life and limb, if the jumps are little more than muscled bounces, if the leaps are flat and airless.  All that matters is that the gymnast picks 'skills' that she can 'execute' 'without error' and the scores will follow.

The advantage of this is that the 'scoring' is said to be more 'transparent' and 'objective' and 'fair' (all of this is rather contentious, by the way).  Another side effect, I might add, is that it requires little thought and judgement from the judges - in fact, why not just replace them with a computer programme?  (This idea has been mooted more than once by FIG President Bruno Grandi and might not be a bad idea, considering the length and complexity of the Code and the unlikely expectation that a human can remember all the details, observe critical features such as angle, and write them down, all at the same time.)  

The tragic consequence, however, is that women's gymnastics has, by and large, lost its verve.  Artistry cannot compete with the mediocrity of a few bureaucrats determined to impose their Utopian vision of uniformity.  The only way you can fight these bureaucrats is on their own terms.  Sport, after all, requires that you play by the rules.  But let's not forget a more universal rule - argue with an idiot, and you will only descend to his level.

So, Russia, can you argue with the idiot, buck the trend, fight the uniformity, maintain your level?

I am always one to give Russia the benefit of the doubt.  I admit it, I love them.  But I think that the Rio Olympics are probably their last chance.  Not just to show that they can fight for medals, but also to demonstrate how artistry can co-exist with this Code.

We have to wait.  The Russian Championships for women begins on the 4th April - two weeks' time - and there we hope to catch a glimpse of Mustafina, Afanasyeva, Komova and Paseka.  European Championships open on the 1st June.  Mustafina is still in recovery from her knee surgery late last year.  Afanasyeva has been suffering ankle pain.  We do not know how the others are progressing.  If these gymnasts made it to Rio as the core of the Olympic team, in good shape, a team medal may well be a possibility.  Artistry?  There's something intangible about Mustafina's gymnastics, inimitable about Afanasyeva, and then there is Komova with that unrepeatable line and rhythm.  So perhaps artistry would survive, for just a little bit longer.

But the veterans' participation in the Olympics is still a moot and distant suggestion, and even if they make it they are the end of an era.  Watch the young ones in competition at Stuttgart, and see how Russian gymnastics has sacrificed its artistic identity in an attempt to keep up with the Code.  The situation has advanced beyond weak tumbling and vaults, the usual fight our dear Russians have to stay on the apparatus.   There are now the endless, awful, Wolf turns, in combination.  And, oh, horror of horrors, landing tumbles with arms down.  This looks unfinished and ugly even on the graceful Anastasia Dmitrieva.  Gorgeous Natalia Kapitonova with all that potential for line, and she does not even use it.  The Russian gymnasts are diminished by their attempts to follow these trends and to win on the basis of D - E.  They shouldn't even try.  They should stick to themselves, to their own interpretation of gymnastics, and give us what we expect, beauty.   This is what defines their system and philosophy of sport and by deserting it, they desert what makes them strong.

You can watch all of the routines from Friday's team qualification by downloading the British Gymnastics BGScore app onto your mobile phone or tablet. 

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Tutkhalyan and Kuksenkov for Stuttgart; Spiridonova leads the teameffort

As per the original published plans, Seda Tutkhalyan and Nikolai Kuksenkov will compete at next week's World Cup. This is a great opportunity for the gymnasts to test their early year preparations, with both gymnasts in contention for an Olympic spot. 

After Maria Kharenkova missed an appearance in Glasgow this week, thanks to what Valentina Rodionenko described - quite grumpily- as administrative problems in the processing of her visa, this will be Russia's female debut of 2016.  On the men's side, David Belyavski competed in the AA yesterday in Glasgow but had an inconsistent competition to finish well out of the medals, while British hero Max Whitlock stormed the gold.

Albert Starodubtsev's TASS report makes much of Aliya Mustafina's 'absence' from the World Cup thanks to her continuing rehab, but Russian Championships have always been planned as the gymnast's first competition this year.  It was indeed rather surprising when Valentina used Aliya's name in an impromptu release a few weeks ago, as Tutkhalyan's name has always been the only one on the roster, recovery times for Mustafina's type of knee injury are known to be fairly significant, and - surely - preserving Russia's gold potential for Rio should be a priority.  

Fans shouldn't be worried by this.  It is not a withdrawal, it's a strategy.  It is also yet another occasion on which Valentina's reported plans for Mustafina's career have proved to be untenable, questioning whether the political hold that the head coaches once had may be diminishing.  Don't get over excited about this though, as it may just as easily be a reflection of media inflation and Valentina's unerring ability to speak freely.

More interesting news is that Russia is sending a team to Stuttgart.  Led by the tough and ambitious - also the coach favourite - Daria Spiridonova, many of the younger gymnasts will get an opportunity to shine.  Most notably, Olympic hope Angelina Melnikova will compete.  We will also see Anastasia Dmitrieva, Natalia Kapitanova and Daria Skrypnik.  

This news is almost enough to make me want to book a flight to Stuttgart, but I doubt my purse could tolerate it ... However, it looks likely to be a fascinating competition for Russia.

And, just look - Russia has a reserve team!  This is fantastic news.

Source - http://tass.ru/sport/2733860

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IG - The State of the Sport

Infographic courtesy of International Gymnast

I wanted to share Dwight Normile's ideas, as I find he has taken a systematic approach to deconstructing some of the reasons for the recent degradation in women's gymnastics, and to providing evidence of the fall in standards internationally.   You will find the link at the bottom of the page.

Dwight proposes that the sport has essentially lost its way and shed strength in depth throughout the international field thanks to the introduction of the open ended system of marking, now ten years old.  An imbalance between the difficulty and execution quotients of the mark has led to an over emphasis on difficulty to the detriment of form and technique.  Injury has also become far too common a mark of this lopsided approach to evaluation.

I would agree with Dwight, and go further to say that the very essence of gymnastics is the elevation of movement to the level of culture, so that something like a simple tinsica can become an object of delight.  Remove the 'difficulty' and the gymnast should still be able to impress with purity of action.  Add in the difficulty and the purity should remain within even the simplest and especially the most difficult elements.  A gymnast should be capable of delivering routines sustainably without the constant threat of ripping tendon from bone or leaving lower leg hanging disconnected from knee.  Through all the years of 'evil' Soviet domination of the sport, when 'abusive' coaches were driving their gymnasts to 'inhuman' effort, injury and injury avoidance was never as strong a determinant of success as it is today.  In her recent Gymcastic interview Mackayla Maroney articulated perfectly the dichotomous lives of elite gymnasts as outwardly smiling icons whose inner lives are sacrificed for gold.  These young girls face unique pressures in reaching the top of their sport.  Pain and discipline has always been a part of elite sport and probably always will be, but in gymnastics the never ending quest for greater difficulty at the expense of sustainable technique is showing its toll in the casualty rates and makes hypocrites of those who laud the sport today for its 'fun', greater inclusiveness and diversity.  If you don't possess muscle mass, can't use strength to overcome the gaps in your technique, don't bother with gymnastics today.  One wonders what Boris Pilkin, the coach who nurtured the skinny, nobbly-kneed Khorkina to the ranks of the all time greats, would make of the total lack of creative freedom that the sport offers today, if a gymnast wants to win gold.

Lilia Podkopayeva is one example of a gymnast who could perform top difficulty without loss of form or adherence to the fundamentals of gymnastics which have now so sadly been lost.  How I would love to see Simone Biles perform her beam and floor routines with the same precision, finesse and attention to detail as the 1996 Olympic  Champion.  Biles will probably win multiple gold medals in Rio, and deserve it; such a pity though that the judging does not encourage her to balance her athleticism with more attention to the aesthetic.  She could be so much better.  Take the tumbles out of her beam and floor routines, and what is left?  Such a pity that gymnastics has found itself in this position of vacant possession.

A lack of errors does not define perfection, and there is a big gaping hole in gymnastics; not even acrobatics encourages such attention to difficulty without at least paying a nod to what Normile describes as 'form and technique' and what I would label more generally as 'quality'.  It is evident not just at medal winning level but right through the ranks.  This is not about an approach to 'dance' or 'choreography' as it is understood today.  It is not something that can be described as a matter of taste or style, except for that an absence of style is largely its upshot and result.   What has been lost is a holistic quality of gymnastics throughout the international field.   This isn't old-fashioned, it isn't something that has to jump out of the window as we move towards greater difficulty, it is gymnastics.

I am not sure that Dwight's emphasis on 'The End of the Ten' (as Dvora Meyers calls it in her upcoming book) is entirely accurate as the sole source of our sport's troubles.  Others are currently citing the absence of international compulsory programmes as figural.  I personally believe that in the end it is a whole network of causal links, influences and pressures that have led us to this less than pretty pass.  Changes in the marking system are secondary, and perhaps the closure of compulsories was primary as it touched the very heart and form of the sport.  Yet ice skating, diving, myriad other sports have been subject to similar changes without the devastating effect it has had on gymnastics.  There is something about the way that the FIG has managed these changes that has left gymnastics - women's, in particular - damaged and tainted.  For those whose world view and frame of reference stretches wider than the wow factor of wondering at extra twists and turns, cringeing at fluffed landings and torn muscles, and clapping along to impossibly percussive, upbeat floor music, the sport has lost its way.

  

http://www.intlgymnast.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4481:stretching-out-state-of-the-sport&catid=8:stretching-out&Itemid=130

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Mustafina and Garibov for Russian Champs

The annual Russian Championships, scheduled for 28 March to 10 April in the town of Penza, should provide an opportunity for fans to see Russian returning favourites Aliya Mustafina and Emin Garibov, said coach Rodionenko to RSport yesterday.

Both gymnasts are rehabbing injuries, Mustafina to the knee and Garibov to the shoulder.  Garibov's return marks the end of an absence from full training of over a year.  

Mustafina's level of participation is yet to be decided.  All around is a possibility, but just as likely is a specialist contribution on bars and beam.  The 2010 World Champion depicted herself practising a double layout on a Tumble Trak yesterday, with a heavily strapped right knee.  

Rodionenko indicated that should Mustafina's preparations go well, she may yet be seen in the World Cup at Stuttgart.  

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Vote for artistic gymnastics!

The local Ministry of Sport of Kabardino-Balkaria (a republic in the South of Russia) is conducting a poll to find out which are the most popular of sports.  

Elena Produnova is the Republic's head coach and asks that we all support gymnastics.  The poll appears in the top right of the web page.

For those of you who don't read Russian, it's 

?????????? ??????????

Please vote! 

http://???????????.??

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