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International Gymnix Junior Cup - results and videos

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The winning team in Montreal!  Clockwise from top left : Daria Skrypnik, Anastasia Ilyankova, Angelina Melnikova, Ekaterina Sokova, Ksenia Semyonova

Russia's newly blossoming youngsters scored a win in Montreal this weekend by taking the team gold in the International Gymnix Junior Cup,  by a narrow margin over hosts Canada.  A tightly contested all around saw Angelina Melnikova take silver and Daria Skrypnik take fourth.  Canada's Woo Rose-Kaying took the gold medal, and her compatriot Olson Shallon bronze.

These are excellent results for such tender flowers in one of their earliest international competitions and I look forward to seeing the girls as they grow and develop their skills.  Certainly, they must have the motivation to continue strongly into today's event finals, where at least one gymnast has qualified to every final, and all team members will compete (Vault - Skrypnik, Bars - Melnikova and Skrypnik, Beam - Ilyankova and Sokova, Floor - Skrypnik and Melnikova).  

It is worth adding that Daria Skrypnik suffered what is for her an uncharacteristic fall on beam - and would have won the all around with a perfect showing.  Gymnastics is full of ifs and buts, I know, but this information paints a picture of a relatively strong up and coming all arounder.

Ekaterina Sokova's floor : http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fNF1ziiKGYA
Angelina Melnikova's floor at a recent Russian competition http://youtu.be/QXYvURQMTE8
Anastasia Ilyankova's beam : http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1n_YrJQ-3j8

Quick hit routine descriptions are available at the International Gymnix Facebook page.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/LInternational-Gymnix/171920412824114?ref=ts&fref=ts

Full results are also available at Gymnix's main website http://internationalgymnix.ca/fr/

Apparatus scores are available here : http://ww2.sinaimg.cn/mw1024/9d9bf83djw1ee9cmhp15dj20re0h6gpz.jpg

Anyone waiting for EF scores - the website still hasn't been updated (10.00 pm London time) but here is a link to the relevant page, so you can check if you are waiting.  I am told that the Russian girls won a few medals :-).  http://internationalgymnix.ca/fr/resultats/resultats-2014/dimanche-9-mars-2014/

Angelina Melnikova.  Born 18th July 2000.  Trains in Voronezh under coach S Denisovich
Daria Skrypnik.  Born 4th October 2000.  Trains in Krasnodar under coach M Pletinetskaya
Ekaterina Sokova.  Born 12th December 2000.  Trains in Vladimir under coach A Kulikova
Anastasia Ikyankova.  Born 12th January 2001.  Trains in Leninsk-Kuznetsk under coach S Kisilev

With many thanks to VK.com Sportivnaya Gymnastika group for the photograph.


Ksenia Afanasyeva should compete floor, vault at Europeans - ValentinaRodionenko

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Twice Olympian Ksenia Afanasyeva with the gold medal she won on floor at the Universiade last summer

Russia's most senior female gymnast, Ksenia Afanasyeva, is recovering well from an ankle operation, and expected to be ready to compete on floor and vault in May's European Championships, said Russian coach Valentina Rodionenko in an interview with press agency Itar-Tass this weekend.  

Afanasyeva has suffered from ankle pain since well before the 2012 Olympics, and after a busy first half of  2013 the injury forced her out of the Antwerp World Championships.  A first operation carried out by Russian doctors last year did not help ease the pain.  'We are very pleased that the second operation, done by German doctors, was successful', said Valentina.

First year senior Maria Kharenkova has also been mentioned as in the running for a place on the Europeans team, and in a February interview Aliya Mustafina also stated her desire to compete in Sofia (May 12th to 18th).

Good luck to Ksenia and to all the Russian team as they prepare for the Russian national championships (31st March to 6th April) and then Europeans.

Link to the report : http://www.sports.ru/others/gymnastics/158505663.html

Russian girls win six medals on final day of International GymnixJunior Cup

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The winning team on Saturday night: National Junior team coaches Olga Bulgakova and Artem Voinov with Angelina Melnikova, Daria Skrypnik, Anastasia Ilyankova, and Ekaterina Sokova.  Picture courtesy of Sportivnaya Gymnastika on VK.com

Event final results are now available at http://internationalgymnix.ca/fr/resultats/resultats-2014/dimanche-9-mars-2014/ and can also be seen below, with the help of a good magnifying glass.

Congratulations to all the girls, who competed so well and will have learned a lot from their experiences.  It is so good to see that the team managed to medal in every single competition.







Garibov out of Cottbus with shoulder injury; Mustafina in 'optimal'shape - Rodionenko

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Anastasia Grishina with coach Viktor Razumovsky

Partial translation of the 9th March interview with Valentina Rodionenko, by Albert Starobutsev

'All of our strongest gymnasts will compete in the Russian Championships, except Afanasyeva'

Russian WAG team leaders Aliya Mustafina, Viktoria Komova and Anastasia Grishina will not compete at Cottbus next week, but will remain at Lake Krugloye to prepare for the forthcoming Russian Championships in Penza.

A shoulder injury has ruled Emin Garibov out of the Cottbus competition.

'The Russian Championships will be a major step in the selection for the May European Championships in Bulgaria', said Valentina, 'in Penza all of our strongest gymnasts will compete, except Ksenia Afanasyeva.  We decided to send some young athletes to Germany so that we could evaluate them on a senior stage, and consider them for a place on the Europeans team.  Anna Rodionova, Daria Spiridonova, Polina Fyodorova and Maria Kharenkova will all compete there.  Incidentally, the complexity of Kharenkova's gymnastics in some ways already surpasses that of some of our leaders.

'Our Olympic Champion and, last year, World Champion, Aliya Mustafina, was given the opportunity to rest for the whole of January.  During this time she managed to pass the winter session at her University.  This athlete gave her all last year and needed a serious break.  But now Aliya has trained into almost the optimal shape.  We decided not to take her to Cottbus, as I don't see much sense in that.  Aliya already has a name in gymnastics.'

According to the coach, silver medallist at the 2012 Olympic Games Viktoria Komova is slowly finding her physical condition.  'Last year the girl was seriously ill with meningitis, and at the end of the year sprained her foot at a bus stop.  She grew, and has gained a little weight.  But she is still as beautiful as ever.

'Anastasia Grishina, who won a silver with the team in London, is also preparing for the Russian Championships, and we hope she will show herself in all her glory there.  Last year Grishina also had a number of illnesses.  She is now getting back into shape, but very slowly, and we are a little bit worried.  Why is this happening?  She is always complaining that something hurts.  We have talked with coach Viktor Razumovsky, but he believes everything is going to plan.  This coach doesn't believe in accelerated training.  We will have to see how things go.'

Russian national championships for women take place in Penza from 1 to 6 April.

http://itar-tass.com/sport/1033050







Emin Garibov - injury news

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The shoulder injury that is keeping team captain Emin Garibov out of Cottbus may also prevent him from competing at the World Championships this autumn, says Valentina Rodionenko.

'Initially, our doctors were inclined to operate, but then decided to prefer conservative treatment.  In late March, Emin will have a check up with German doctors, to see if his shoulder has improved.  If not, he will need an operation.  In this case, we might not even be able to rely on Emin for Worlds.  With this kind of joint injury, you can't expect a quick recovery.'

http://itar-tass.com/sport/1032766


Russia at Cottbus - MAG and WAG event plans

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Photo of Anna Rodionova and Maria Kharenkova, from Anna's official group on VK.com

Valentina Rodionenko has given further details of the MAG and WAG participants at Cottbus: 

Denis Ablyazin - rings, vault and floor
Alexander Balandin - rings and parallel bars
Dmitry Stolyarov - floor and vault
Matvey Petrov - pommels
Nikolai Kuksenkov - pommels and high bar
Nikita Ignatyev - high bar and parallel bars

Anna Rodionova - bars and beam, though she may miss beam as she has ankle pain
Maria Kharenkova - beam and floor
Polina Fyodorova - floor and vault
Daria Spridinova - beam

http://itar-tass.com/sport/1032766

Cottbus gymnastics - Day 1 qualification results

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Some nice results from the Russia men and women :-).  You will be able to follow the second day of qualis on the DTB live ticker tomorrow, Friday, from 4 pm Germany time at http://cottbus-2014.dtb-liveticker.de.   Gymnastike has videos http://www.gymnastike.org/coverage/251491-2014-Cottbus-World-Cup. On Saturday and Sunday only (finals), both days at 4 pm Germany time, there should be live streaming available here http://www.schawa.tv/dtb-tv#&panel1-1&panel2-1

It is a strong field, especially the men (see my earlier post for details of the Russians competing, or you can check out the full working order here http://www.turnier-der-meister.de/news/home.php).

I'm looking forward to seeing all the Russians this weekend, but especially young Maria Kharenkova, who to me has the uncluttered look of a fighter.  But we'll just have to wait and see.










Cottbus 2014 - Day 2 qualifications

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  Russia continued strongly today at the Cottbus competition, with Denis Ablyazin establishing himself as Russia's leading competitor.  Ukrainian Oleg Verniaiev also performed some outstanding gymnastics on this second day of qualifying.  In the women's competition, Romanian Andrea Munteanu easily leads both beam and floor, but in her first senior international competition the promising Maria Kharenkova qualified to both her finals, despite a crunching fall on beam.  We look forward to seeing her fight back on Sunday.

Photo of Katya Kourbatova and Tamara Chachua, courtesy of Sportivnaya Gymnastika on VK.com

In other news, Russia's 2010 world team champion Ekaterina Kourbatova is present in Germany this week as personal coach to Georgian competitor Tamara Chachua.  

The competition continues tomorrow from 2 pm.  There is some doubt as to whether the live streaming promised by DTB can be provided internationally, for legal reasons.  Live updates will be available on Gymnastike http://www.gymnastike.org/coverage/251491-2014-Cottbus-World-Cup/article/25598-LIVE-Updates-2014-Cottbus-World-Cup#.UyNBFH8gGK3

Floor results





Parallel bars


High bar



Vault







Oleg Verniaiev, Igor Radivilov - superteam for Azerbaijan?

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It is difficult to say what is the significance of the following communication by the great Ukrainian champion, which is accompanied by the above image of a rather dirty Ukrainian flag.  Posted a few minutes ago on VK.com, it hints at changes to come, especially in the context of his compatriot, Oleg Stepko's, recent migration to Azerbaijan.  I am posting Igor's words here both in Russian and English, in order to give Russian speakers the opportunity to comment, and iron out any possible inaccuracies or loss of nuance in the translation.

I would like to say - good luck, Oleg!  

'Кого интересует мой переход под другие цвета флага .
Да этот вопрос сейчас решается но пока что я защищаю цвета своей страны.
Я думаю в скором времени все будет решено !

If you are interested in my transition to other colours of the flag.
Yes, this issue is now solved but so far I am defending the colors of his country.
I think soon everything will be decided!'

Updated 23.50 14th March

Nico Jackson, resourceful as ever, has found some information to contextualise what Oleg Verniaiev has said, in particular an interview with a Ukrainian national coach Aleksandr Gorin on an Azerbaijani news site :  http://www.1news.az/sport/gymnastics/20140313082626337.html
There is also some more information on Oleg Stepko's decision to leave Ukraine.

Nico summarises :

As to whether Oleg (Verniaiev) is migrating to Azerbaijan, it seems to depend on who you ask. On the one hand, they're saying negotiations with Verniaiev - and Radivilov - have taken place, but on the other hand, there's nothing official about either having taken a decision.  (In another media source, it says that Yevgeny Moskvin (former coach of Valery Goncharov, working now as the head coach of Azerbaijan's men's national team) has recruited Oleg Verniaiev AND Igor Radivilov to Azerbaijan also.)

Aleksandr Gorin says there was a long debate over letting Oleg Stepko and his coach go to Azerbaijan. Of course, everyone initially refused. However, they voted and agreed to let him go with some sort of compensation ($10,000 supposedly).

Stepko and Netreba (Stepko 's coach) decided to go to Azerbaijan because they felt there was no living to be made as an athlete and coach in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Gymnastics Federation and sports ministry weren't enough to help in that regard.

Gorin certainly seems to be very upset at Stepko and his coach for leaving. He's also very angry with the committee that voted to let him go and doesn't understand why their Olympic Committee didn't block the move.

Double gold for Ablyazin at Cottbus

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Denis Ablyazin on rings at the 2012 Olympics

Ablyazin today staked his claim as Russia's leading event specialist with a strong showing on both floor and rings.  His explosive abilities on floor saw him tumble almost non-stop from start to finish, including some top level difficulty (7.1 D score) that with better execution must make him a contender for a medal at World Championships.  

He has now also overtaken his compatriot Alexander Balandin on rings (3rd here today behind Ablyazin and Greece's Eleftherios Petrounias) who despite his high D score (6.9 to Ablyazin's 6.8) had small errors.  

On pommel horse, won by favourite Kristian Berki, Nikolai Kuksenkov finished in 7th place after difficulties with the dismount marred his performance.

A video of Ablyazin's floor is available here http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cTOn2WdyHQs&feature=youtu.be


No doubt you will find further videos at this user's channel (Marcos Aurelio, http://m.youtube.com/user/jackmcpheepr) 

In the women's competition, Russia's only representative, Anna Rodionova, took a creditable silver on bars behind Germany's Sophie Scheder.  Germany took both gold medals in today's WAG, dominating vault with Berger and Bui taking gold and silver respectively.

Anna Rodionova on bars - a beautiful combination of powerful swing and aesthetic form - http://youtu.be/dNLiaCgc8eg

Tomorrow's competition continues, with Ablyazin representing Russia on vault, and Maria Kharenkova competing on beam and floor.  Start lists can be found here - http://www.turnier-der-meister.de/db.php/anhang/1007/starting_list_2014.pdf

Good luck for tomorrow, gymnasts!  You are making a good and productive start to the year.  Keep on fighting!

You will find results here - http://cottbus-2014.dtb-liveticker.de.  Or can view them below if your eyesight is good!












Ksenia Afanasyeva (2011) 'Winning gold gave me the strength to carry on'

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It was a glorious moment.  Ksenia Afanasyeva, assumed to be out of the picture for medals, was brought into the final at the last minute as a reserve.

She delivered one of the best floor routines of the last five years (alongside her own masterpiece at the 2012 Olympic Games, that went on to win her the 2013 European title).

Afanasyeva ('Afonya' to her friends) didn't expect to win.  The modest young woman, for so long the unpredictable but gifted one, was accustomed to disappointment.  Adopting the role of team captain and 'mother' to the younger gymnasts on her team, she doubted her own motivation to continue and train for her second Olympics, to be held in London the following year.  

Then came the score, and the shock of realisation.  Gold, well deserved, brought an emotional response from both Afanasyeva and her coach since childhood, Marina Nazarova.  I'd like to give credit to whoever took this wonderful picture, but sadly the source isn't acknowledged.

Coincidentally, I came across the following ten minute interview with an almost painfully shy Ksenia, from a Russian show Expert.  I linked to it at the time of its initial release, but now the poster has added English language captions.  It is worth spending the ten minutes to share Ksenia's thoughts. http://youtu.be/9EXnk6lf6JY

You can view the floor routine and Afansyeva's reaction in full here : http://youtu.be/mVHW3DHZVm0

I very much hope Ksenia continues till Rio and, if possible, beyond - she is a graceful example in both form and character, a great captain for the Russians.


Kharenkova takes two medals on final day of Cottbus

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Russian gymnasts in Cottbus last weekend - from left to right - back row - Polina Fedorova, Maria Kharenkova, Daria Spiridinova; front row - Yulia Inshina (Azerbaijan), Anna Rodionova, Marina Nekrasova (Azerbaijan)


In her first senior international, Maria Kharenkova secured two medals last Sunday, taking a silver on beam, and a bronze on floor.  Not a bad result considering the jitters she suffered in the early part of the competition, and one that underlines the worth of a strategy that favours the selection of young gymnasts for these smaller competitions.  Russia now enters the pre-Europeans preparation with two more tried and tested medalists on its roster (Rodionova, remember, gained a silver on bars on Saturday), and this can only add to an impression of strength in depth, greatly needed in the run up to the major competitions this year and beyond.  

Kharenkova's performance was not as confident as she had presented during her medal winning routines at the 2012 Junior European Championships, but she still has some impressive routines and the fact that she made fewer errors as she progressed through the stages of the competition suggests she may have a 'big match temperament' and is still finding her feet at senior level.  Russia has found it difficult to transition its junior gymnasts to senior level in the recent past, so any indication of progress from this youngster from Rostov on Don is a matter for optimism.

Less encouraging is that Russia could field no gymnast at all on WAG vault ...

In the men's competition Ablyazin made a small but costly error and couldn't follow through with a second day gold to match his first day victories.  However, he did enough here to signal his determination to use this year to best effect as he prepares for the a Rio Olympics.

Russia continues with its preparations for Europeans with the Russian Championships in Penza, beginning on the 1st April with the first stages of the women's competitions, junior and senior.  Good luck to all the gymnasts!  

You can view videos of many of the best routines from Cottbus (MAG especially) at this YouTube channel http://m.youtube.com/user/jackmcpheepr/videos?sort=dd&shelf_id=2&view=0

Judith Radloff, hero of the gymternet, was present at the competition and took the trouble to video routines live - a big thank you, Judith!  Her videos, including Maria's floor and beam finals, can be found here https://www.facebook.com/judithradloff?ref=ts&fref=ts.

You will find the final results here, or can view them below.  http://cottbus-2014.dtb-liveticker.de














Coach Nabiyeva, happily engrossed with her little gymnasts in StPetersburg

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'My little ones' says Tanya Nabiyeva in this personal photo of a training session she is leading. Tanya has been posting many videos of herself recently, in training for the Russian Championships where she will compete for her home team, St Petersburg - and perhaps hope for some individual reward. She looks very happy!



Alina and Anfesa, two young gymnasts from St Petersburg trained by World Champion Tatiana Nabiyeva in her hometown. 'Anfesa reminds me of myself as a child', says Tanya, 'blue eyes, big tummy, pigeon-toed. Doesn't understand the whole bargain at all!  Just looks up and smiles'.

Alina and Anfesa, who (I am guessing) are about 7 or 8 years old, will be 21 or 22 by the time the 2028 Olympics take place. One of the candidate cities for those Games? St Petersburg.

With thanks to Tanya for these lovely pictures, and her thoughts.  Oh ... GOOD LUCK for the forthcoming competition.

PS I am getting the same question from a lot of people - will Tanya 'definitely' compete?  My answer is - wait and see - there are no certainties in life, and especially in this sport.  Only a week to go till the Champs begin!  

Perhaps Tanya was joking - but she seems to be working pretty hard for a joke!  And enjoying it.  Her St Petersburg team would benefit from her contribution in Penza. I do not think you have to take her participation at nationals as a full 'comeback' attempt at international level - but who knows what might transpire in the coming months?  

My guess is that Tanya is happy in her new life and won't look back - but only she will know the answer to that ... And it might not be a decision that has been taken with any finality ... Life just isn't like that.  Patience.  It is the unexpected in life that can provide so many joys :-).

Ukraine, Russia, Azerbaijan and Crimea: world politics and international gymnastics

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Does Ukraine have a future in men's gymnastics, or will its athletes move overseas to pursue their talents?  Oleg Stepko's personal photograph as he prepared to travel to Baku

Many of the stories to be found on this blog are about a relatively unspoken fact of life of the sport - the migration of gymnasts, coaches and officials from their home countries overseas.  While we discuss the personalities, we do not consider the phenomenon of migration and its influence on the sport particularly deeply.  This is a little surprising, as migration has shaped the sport significantly since 1991.  In particular, coaches from Russia and the states of the former Soviet Union - and their families - have figured as the main protagonists in the worldwide development of the sport.  In America, the phenomenon began earlier - during the 1980s - as Romanian head coaches Bela and Marta Karolyi defected to the States, and went on to build the nascent characteristics of American women's gymnastics and its success today.  Marta Karolyi still leads the programme today.  1988 Olympic champion Valeri Liukin, Kazakstan born, is likely to follow her as head coach post 2016; his Moscow-born daughter, Nastia Liukin was Olympic champion in 2008, and Liukin's coaching and business partner, former Sports Acrobatics world champion (Latvia born) Evgeny Marchenko, trained the Olympic champion, Carly Paterson, in 2004.

In Britain, there has been a transformation in results achieved by the country's male gymnasts, in large part as the result of the importation of expertise from the East; Ukraine-born Russian Vladimir Zaglada, Performance Director at British Gymnastics in the 1990s, was figural in creating the training system that has fed new talent onto the senior team, and Russian coaches Andrei Popov and Sergei Sizhanov have led the men's senior and junior teams to Olympics medal-winning standard over the past decade.  You do not have to look far to see a Russian name on almost any country's national roster and this has in turn led to a fairly severe deficit in the coaching ranks of Russia; in 2010 Kalmkova estimated that 364 coaches had left the country since 1992.

Carter (2011) says that the main perceived reasons for migration are economic; people need to move to another country in order to make a living and benefit from an improved environment.  This doesn't, however, take account of wider circumstances and the environment from which the individual is migrating.    During the 1990s Russian President Boris Yeltsin reduced moneys available for sport, and participation levels plummeted as public opinion rallied against sport in a backlash to the Soviet era, so many coaches had no choice but to migrate to be able to make their living doing a job that they love.  Last year, coach Alexander Alexandrov migrated to Brazil from Russia when inter-team politics made his position untenable. 2000 and 2004 Olympian Anna Pavlova migrated to Azerbaijan to train and compete as there was no room for her on the Russian team.  Six-time Olympian Oksana Chusovitina has competed for three different countries (Soviet Union, Germany and Uzbekistan) during her long career.  Ethnic Russian competitor Nikolai Kuksenkov migrated from Ukraine to Russia under a change in nationality, to benefit from improved conditions that made it possible for him to rehabilitate a nasty injury; his father Yuly Kuksenkov has joined the Russian national team as a men's coach.

The value that Azerbaijan has placed on sport is one of the things that makes it so attractive to sporting immigrants such as Oleg Stepko, who took this picture of his new training environment in Baku.

Carter (ibid) goes on to elaborate on three factors that are involved in understanding the phenomenon of international sporting migration: transculturation, mobility and visibility.  Transculturation is 'the process by which the values and meanings of a commodity change when it moves from one locality to another' (page 17).  In the context of gymnastics then, the skills, talents and expertise of coaches and gymnasts (the commodities) are of greater financial and/or cultural value in some territories than in others.  This provides the fundamental premise of sporting migration; if the work were valued the same everywhere, there might not be the need to move countries.  A country can therefore make itself more or less attractive as a place of employment according to the value it puts on a particular sporting commodity.  If the value of the work declines significantly it can encourage the tendency for overseas migration (eg Russia in the 1990s) or if there is a significant value placed in sport then it can encourage the tendency for immigration from overseas (as is currently ongoing in Azerbaijan).   In every example I have so far cited, it was not only circumstances at home that influenced or forced the moves; the opportunity to work overseas was also offered to the individuals concerned, so that as one door closed, another opened.

Mobility and visibility are qualities inherent within the process of transculturation (ibid), mobility relating to the transfer of skills and features of the environment from one territory to another; visibility to the renown or reputation of the individual concerned.  All of this is set within a complex context of institutional or national restraints, the way that individuals can circumvent these restraints to be able to work where they want to, and also the way that countries can get around them in order to attract talent.  For example, Germany has a special fast track to its national citizenship for certain talented sportspeople.

People face all sorts of stresses and strains once settled overseas.  Latvian born Natalia Laschenova, 1988 Olympic Champion, struggled to confirm her US nationality and lived under the threat of deportation for more than a year while lawyers finalised the rather complicated paperwork.  The problem affected her daughter, an aspiring and talented collegiate gymnast who was unable to take up her place at an American University before the problem was solved. Russian born Maria Filatova has been unable to visit her family in Siberia for many years as the status of her citizenship was and perhaps still is uncertain.  The life of these 'transnational sporting migrants' can be far from easy.

So we live in interesting times in gymnastics and sport in general, and in particular in the territories of the former Soviet Union which are now undergoing so much change, political and sporting.  Some territories (eg Azerbaijan) try to establish themselves as sporting superpowers by means of building new facilities and, essentially, importing as much talent as possible; others attempt to re-establish past prowess by means of large regeneration investments to refresh old facilities, build new ones and train up new talent to replace that which has been lost (Russia); still others (Ukraine) flounder as the value of sport declines, training facilities close down and both competitors and coaches look for new homes where they can practice their skills to their full potential, and make a living.

Oleg Stepko and his coach, Pavlo Netreba, outside the Hilton hotel in Baku, which is their current home from home

The future for Ukraine's men's gymnastics programme thus looks bleak as rumours of the forthcoming migration of stars Oleg Verniaiev and Igor Radivilov are discussed in the Ukrainian press, with team mate Oleg Stepko already comfortably ensconsed in the Hilton Hotel in Baku, Azerbaijan, and training well underway with those he describes as his new team mates in one of Azerbaijan's brand spanking new training facilities (see pictures).  Some of those rumours suggest that Verniaiev may be considering a move to Russia, but we won't know until the star makes the announcement himself; at present it is a wait and see situation.  I personally would love to see these three gymnasts compete alongside each other once again; there is something in the way that they carry themselves that reminds me of the Soviet men's teams of old; perhaps it is something they learned from their head coach, 1989 World Champion, Igor Korobchinsky, who trained and competed with all of the old Soviet legends.

Of course, one thing that remains unsaid so far in respect of the Azerbaijan example is whether it is investing money in development programmes for its home grown athletes.  In rhythmic gymnastics the country certainly has a pedigree, and is regularly producing champions, whereas in artistic gymnastics - apart from the noteable cases of (Soviet) Valeri Belenkyi, 1992 Olympian from Baku, and Emin Garibov - an ethnic Azeri leader of the Russian team - the talent pool seems somewhat weaker.  Azerbaijan has invested in building gymnastics facilities around the country - but whether this can translate into longer term success will be under question.  Certainly, it would seem that a strategy to 'buy off' talent from other teams can only prove to be a short term, immediate solution to the lack of top class artistic gymnasts.

Elsewhere, in the Russian press (Slyusarenko, 2014), there is discussion of the influence the accession of Crimea to the Russian Federation will have on its sporting canon.  While artistic gymnastics is not mentioned, rhythmic is; Crimean town Simferopol is home to the SDYUSSHOR training centre, home gymnasium to World All Around silver medallist Ganna Rizatdinova, and while the gymnast now trains in Kiev with Irina and Albina Derjugina, it is clear that questions will be asked as to her eligibility to join Irina Viner and compete for Russia.  The same question is being asked of Alexandra Gridasova, a member of Ukraine's national team who comes from Simferopol, as well as athletes in other sports including weightlifting, Greco-Roman wrestling, track cycling, sailing and athletics.  The article makes it clear that there is a real desire within Russia to make the best of this change in sporting terms and we will have to see if this translates into investment effort that might create the conditions for further immigration into the Russian national gymnastics team.

In the meantime, as I have mentioned, former Ukrainian international, the talented Oleg Stepko, is making  first steps in his new home and has recorded some of his experiences in personal photographs published on his Instagram account.  I wanted to share a few of them with you, with thanks to Oleg himself and all good wishes - I would like to see him win a medal or two at Worlds this autumn.

Oleg can enjoy croissants with Nutella, and cappuccino coffee, every morning in Baku :-). 'They are delicious' he says, in another post about a chocolate treat he and the team are enjoying (has chocolate become a commodity in Azerbaijan's sports strategy?)

'Now I'm their kid', says Oleg in his caption to this picture 

An intriguing one, with thanks to Nico Jackson for the translation, 'Actions speak louder than words' says the handwritten sign.  And underneath the picture, a message from Uzbekistan's Anton Fokin, which I will paraphrase as - 'Can we talk?  Have you made a decision yet about the Bundesliga?'

...

I hope Oleg can do great things - it is a major step he has taken

Oleg will need to decorate a lot more omelettes to fuel his training 

Oleg has been doing some sightseeing

And, finally making friends in his new home.  I couldn't resist this one.

Good luck to all gymnasts, whatever their nationality or citizenship!


References

Carter, T F (2011) In Foreign Fields: The Politics and Experiences of Transnational Sport Migration London: Pluto Press

Kalmkova, S (2010) 'Artistic Gymnastics: Russia versus Russia'Voice of Russia, 8th October 2010 retrieved from http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/10/08/24773120.html

Slyusarenko, E (2014) 'New Russia: which Crimean athletes can strengthen the Russian team?' Sportbox.ru retrieved from http://news.sportbox.ru/Vidy_sporta/Events/Rio_2016/spbnews_NI443352_Novie-russkie-Kakie-sportsmeni-Krima-usilyat-sbornuyu-R

Further reading

Alexandrov, A, Alexandrova, A, Booth, E (2012) 'Alexander Alexandrov in his own words 1 : A Difficult Decision' Rewriting Russian Gymnastics retrieved from http://rewritingrussiangymnastics.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/alexander-alexandrov-in-his-own-words-1.html

Zaglada, V (2010) One Coach's Journey from East to West: How the fall of the Iron Curtain changed the world of gymnastics Bloomington IN: Authorhouse

See this website for a map of sports in Crimea http://xsport.ua/other-sports_s/news/chto-poteryaet-ukrainskiy-sport-v-svyazi-s-okkupatsiey-kryma-infografika_65968/

February 2014 video of the new gymnastics arena being built in Baku: http://www.mehriban-aliyeva.org/en/video/item/910

Russian National WAG Championships

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Flashback to London 2012: Viktoria Komova

The Russian Championships for women gymnasts - junior and senior - begin on the first of April (yes) in Penza, finishing on the 6th.  You can see the schedule here : http://www.sportgymrus.ru/Admin/GetFile.ashx?get=1&id=43065

It is a full competition where the regional teams participate and individuals get a chance to test themselves and their early preparation for the coming competitive season.  This year the top women will be competing for places on the European Championships teams (junior and senior) for Sofia, Bulgaria, later in the spring.  It is expected that we will see Viktoria Komova for the first time in many months - which must be the most anticipated comeback for years.  Aliya Mustafina is also hoped to make a show, as well as Anastasia Grishina and Maria Paseka.  There has been an announcement that Ksenia Afanasyeva will compete vault, and I would also be surprised if we didn't see Maria Kharenkova again, and get a chance to see Evgenia Shelgunova.  The graceful Anna Rodionova should be in the running, too.

So that's basically our Olympic team from 2012 along with other newbies who might be in with a shot at the first big competition of the year - it will be interesting to see who is on form, but also I think how far the gymnasts have improved, if at all, since their last big outing - the Olympics.  Worlds this autumn will be the mid-cycle competition and at the same stage of the team's development as in 2010, which as you will no doubt remember was the year the Russians won Worlds and when Aliya Mustafina first came to prominence at senior world level.

I came across the following fantastic collection of videos (no commentary!) of WAG qualifications in London this morning.  As a team, I think we were seeing the girls at their best, if not flawless in their execution.  Whatever happened between the calm of quals and the rather harrowed presentation in team finals?  What in particular happened to Grishina?  Here, she looks sleep deprived but puts in a fantastic showing in bars, beam and floor.  It is hard to say that the team would not have done much better with a well rested, positive Grishina delivering her best on all these apparatus in the final.  Perhaps we will never know what the battle was all about, but I would love to be able to rewind history and see the team compete again, with Grishina instead of Mustafina on beam - and Komova instead of Mustafina on floor.  Perhaps no change in the final result would be the outcome - but you never know.

History hasn't recorded how good this team looked in quals - excess expenditure of nervous energy seemed to take its toll however.  Perhaps tension between the coaches finally became too much for 'Nastia' whose training arrangements, as described by head coach Alexandrov in his interview with this blog, had become a battleground.  In the end, coach Alexandrov was to say that Grishina was not ready mentally for such a big competition - the team would have been better off with European Champion Anna Dementyeva.  But Anna was sent home at an early stage of the training camp by Valentina Rodionenko - and that is another story.  

Have the Russians got any better since 2012?  Are their routines ready for the new Code?  We will have to wait and see.  If there is any news of live streaming or of videos I will post here right away.

London 2012 WAG qualifications - Russia - FX


London 2012 WAG qualifications - Russia - V


London 2012 WAG qualifications - Russia - UB


London 2012 WAG qualifications - Russia - BB






Maria Filatova, perfection on the beam

'Olympic target' documentary (1978)

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There is a very special article on the RGF website at present, all about the making of the 20 minute documentary 'Olympic Target'.  The film is about 1976 and 1980 Olympian Maria Filatova, who of course featured on the pages of this blog earlier this week.  It's a fascinating piece that tells many different stories about film making in the Soviet Union, about training conditions for the national team at that time, and about the personalities involved in producing one of those iconic black and white films.  I will summarise the best bits below.


The film 'Olympic Target' was made in 1978 by film maker Vladimir Lapin, out of the Western Siberia newsreel studios in Novosibirsk.  In 1987, this black and white film won a special award, given by the International Olympic Committee, at the Tunisia International Sports Film Festival.  It had also won awards in 1979 in Film Festivals in Italy, Budapest and Kiev. 

The 1987 award went almost unnoticed by the Soviet public.  It was a time of change; restructuring and elections were more in the news then.  Of course, at the time that the film was made, 'Masha' was loved by the whole country.  She was the tiniest little girl on the Soviet team, complete with pigtails, and was already an Olympic Champion. 

Lapin says that the film was the idea of Moscow scriptwriter Leonid Gurevich.  The Director was Valery Klabukov, whom Lapin knew from their time together at the Institute of Cinematography.  The whole film took only about two months to put together from start to finish ... much less than some of the wildlife films he had been involved in.  The creative principle of all these films was to stand back and let the action happen ... there are some 'set piece' elements, but mostly the action was shot as it happened, in real time.  Lapin goes on to give various examples of his film making experience, including shooting films of birds in Siberia, but most noteably a documentary on Russian wrestling legend Alexander Karelin.  Lapin talks of how he managed to capture the precise moment Karelin took off, leapt over a barrier into the arms of his parents after winning a major title.  He says that through his film making he somehow managed to develop a sense of the moment something was about to happen.  That shot at the beginning and end of the film ... where Maria lands her vault and her team mates shout 'Stoi!' is one such moment.

The film was shot in four places - the big gymnasium in Leninsk-Kuznetsk, a competition in Minsk, and the national training centre in Moscow.  Some of the slow motion pieces were also shot in a studio in Moscow.  They had to make do with basic technical equipment.  The film was shot in black and white because the colour film they could acquire would not give a good result in the lights in the gym.  Most of the colour film making equipment they needed was only available with Government authority. 

He explains that in addition to the films about Filatova and Karelin, he also shot a documentary about a famous ice hockey referee, Yuri Carandini.  As a child he had spent hours at the local Novosibirsk ice rink, watching ice hockey matches.  He filmed all over the Soviet Union,

Back to the film about Maria Filatova, Lapin says that they didn't spend that long in Moscow and Leninsk-Kuznetsk actually doing the filming.  They spent New Year's Eve in Leninsk-Kuznetsk to capture Maria with her family, and otherwise they had to schedule filming around her training and competition schedule.  He didn't get to know Maria well, preferring as a general rule to keep a distance from the subjects of his films.

He says that the atmosphere in the training camps was very heavy, and that the coaches were a little 'embarrassed' by the film-makers' presence.  The air was often full of profanity, and even the smallest child was not indulged if she fell.  'This life is not to be envied', he says. 

He says that he didn't know much about the awards at all at the time that they were granted, reading about the 1987 award from the IOC in a copy of Sovietski Sport newspaper.  He never actually received the award.  Today, he doesn't have any money, and has no camera to make any more films. 

Prepared by Alexander Sklyarenko with the support of the Karelin Fund

You can find the film at Maria Filatova's website here

The film is a classic, like so many of its ilk.  In addition to Maria, you will see a very young Natalia Yurchenko, along with Maria's contemporary, Natalia Shaposhnikova, and 1980 Olympian Stella Zakharova.  There is an interview with Lioudmilla Tourischeva.  Coaches featured include Maria's personal coach, Innokenty Mametyev, as well as the legendary Vladislav Rotstorotsky and coach to 1980 Olympic Champion Elena Davidova, Gennady Korshunov. 1978 World Champion Elena Mukhina also briefly features towards the end of the film.




The Produnova vault - should it be banned?

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Elena Produnova - one of the most beautiful and powerful gymnasts ever

There is a lot of discussion about this at the moment and I felt moved to add this blog's voice to the rising tide of opinion.

The vault you can see below (a) should not be banned as it is exciting, innovative and beautiful.

Vault (a)


But the vault below (b) should receive a zero, leaving the coach and gymnast effectively disqualified from the running for team, all around and apparatus finals.  While you might argue that the gymnast nominally lands with her feet on the ground, she can't sustain the landing and her weight is taken by back, head, neck and several other body parts.  Surely common sense dictates a zero score.  You can argue, if you like, that common sense shouldn't come into judging, but surely it is not too much to expect judges to make judgements.  Or perhaps a minor change to the wording of the Code if Points is required to make this more comfortable for them.

Vault (b)


We should not deprive the sport of the rare sight of a fantastic, elevated Produnova vault just because vault judges are not making the right decisions, leaving gymnasts being rewarded for risking their lives for a high D score.

Please discuss.

Russian Gymnastics Championships 2014 - the schedule

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Picture credit : Aliya Mustafina group on VK.com

Russian Championships begin tomorrow and the gymnasts' Instagram accounts have so far given visual evidence that Viktoria Komova and Aliya Mustafina have at least travelled to Penza.  You can click on the following link to find a summary of who else is planning to appear.  http://www.rewritingrussiangymnastics.blogspot.co.uk/#!http://rewritingrussiangymnastics.blogspot.com/2014/03/russian-national-wag-championships.html

Lake Krugloye on Tumblr has kindly translated the full schedule for the women's competition.  I haven't heard anything about live streaming, but will publish any information I do find as soon as I can.

Tuesday 1 April

10:00 - 14:05 Junior podium training
15:30 - 19:35 Senior podium training

Wednesday 2 April

Junior AA Qualification and Team Final

12:00 - 13:50 Subdivision 1 (Northwestern, Siberian, Southern, Moscow I, Volga)
14:00 - 15:50 Subdivision 2 (Ural, Central, Far Eastern, Saint Petersburg, Moscow II)

Thursday 3 April

Senior AA Final and Team Qualification

12:00 - 13:50 Subdivision 1 (Southern, Northwestern, Central I, Central II, Siberian)
14:00 - 15:50 Subdivision 2 (Volga, Ural, Moscow, Far Eastern, Saint Petersburg)

Friday 4 April

12:00 - 13:50 Junior AA Final

Saturday 5 April

11:00 - 13:00 Senior Team Final

Sunday 6 April

11:00 - 13:00 Junior & Senior Event Finals

All times in Moscow time

Recruiting young gymnasts in Moscow!

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Emin Garibov with young gymnasts from his Moscow Dynamo club


The historic Moscow Dynamo club (which now seems to be called the Mikhail Voronin Gymnastics Club) is recruiting new young gymnasts to its team!  The following notice appears on its Facebook page.
 
 
ГИМНАСТИКА ДЛЯ МАЛЫШЕЙ
Гимнастический клуб «Динамо-Москва» проводит набор детей в группу раннего развития.
В зале гимнастического клуба «Динамо-Москва» имени Михаила Воронина возобновляются занятия в группе раннего развития для детей от 6-ти месяцев до 4-х лет вместе с родителями.
...
Занятия ведут:
Заслуженный мастер спорта СССР, заслуженный тренер СССР Владимир Борисович Гурный, телефон: +7 (903) 112 73 81.
Семейный психолог Ия Сергеевна Цой
телефон: +7 (925) 710 94 92.
Расписание:
Среда 11:00-12:00
Суббота 14:00-18:00
Адрес гимнастического клуба «Динамо-Москва» имени Михаила Воронина: Москва, Спорткомплекс «Олимпийский», Олимпийский проспект, дом 16, строение 1, "южный сектор", вход в Генеральную дирекцию.
Проезд: станция метро «Проспект Мира»; въезд на машине с улицы Дурова или Олимпийского проспекта.
Телефон: + 7 (495) 688 89 20, 688 95 90
E-mail: clubdynamogym@mail.ru
Фото: vtbrussia.ru
 
 
 
 
GYMNASTICS for KIDS Gymnastics Club Dynamo Moscow is recruiting children into the Group of early development.

In the gymnastic Club Dynamo Moscow on behalf of Michael Voronin resumed classes in a group of early development for children from 6 months to 4 years with parents.

Classes are: Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR, Honoured Coach of the USSR, Vladimir Borisovich Gurnyj, telephone: (903) +7 112 73 81.

Family psychologist Iya Sergeevna Choi phone: (925) 710 +7 94 92.

Schedule: Wednesday-Saturday 12:00 11:00 14:00-18:00
 
Address of the gymnastic Club Dynamo Moscow Mikhail Voronin: Moscow, olimpiyskiy sports facility, Olympic Avenue, 16, BLD. 1, the "southern sector", the entrance to the General Directorate.

Directions: Metro station "Prospekt Mira"; travel by car from Durova or Olympic Avenue.

Phone: + 7 (495) 688 688, 95 20 89 90 E-mail: clubdynamogym@mail.ru Photo: vtbrussia.ru


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