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| Rodionenko with European Champion David Belyavski Courtesy RGF/Elena Mikhailova |
This is the interview that many people on the internet have already commented on, regarding Andrei Rodionenko's alleged racism. The original, Russian language version, appears on VTB Bank's website (VTB are sponsors of Russian gymnastics).
It takes cleverer people than me to decide what is racism, what is deliberately perjorative, and what is inferred in an interviewer's question. For now, I will not comment on this, therefore, but I would ask you to read Lupita's translation carefully before you form your own opinion.
I am providing some links below which might help you to decide where you stand.
Definition of racism
Definition of sexism
BBC Sport article by Matthew Syed : Is it wrong to note that 100m winners are always black?
Updated 24/10 CSKA Moscow: UEFA opens racist chants case
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24654499
Andrei Fiodorovich has been shown some newspapers describing Russia's first Worlds after the Olympics as a failure. This is despite Mustafina’s magnificent beam victory, which atones for a great deal, as no one can remember when our gymnasts last won on beam. Аnd there is Balandin’s silver medal on rings. Rodionenko didn’t avoid an open discussion on the topic and answered the most difficult questions.
– Andrei Fiodorovixch, how can we assess globally what we saw in Belgium?
– My answer is twofold. We experimented with a few things, but didn’t succeed everywhere. It wasn't a failure, because we didn't set a target for the number of medals to win, but we did manage to fulfill ourselves. We fight at the top level, even if the Americans can compete with two teams and we have difficultly to gather one. It’s not a complaint, it’s a fact. In the 1970s’ our men’s team couldn’t beat the Japanese for nineteen years! Some great Soviet gymnasts suffered severe defeats ...
– Was including risk in the routines justified?
– We could not have risked keeping our routines as they were. Treading water is not interesting. This is why we performed supercomplex elements. We didn’t achieve everything … Aren’t the first Worlds after the Olympics the best place to risk? Not all our experiments were well appreciated. It’s worth mentioning. Some judges are not prepared to understand. I can explain why. I don’t know why the second and third category judges were not there. Some third, fourth category judges were giving scores at the World Championships … Some of them were women wearing the hijab.
– It’s exotic!
– After the Olympics the judges’ perception changed substantially. A few elements are now scored differently. Now I have got the explanations, everything is clear, but it would be good to know in advance of competitions, because that is when we create routines, and when we begin to create them, we don’t know where we are going. I compare gymnastics with diving. When divers create their routines, they calculate what he is able to perform. He counts the points and knows the score he can obtain. In gymnastics, we are told. 'Show us what you have invented, and later we’ll decide the value'.
– Recently, I watched a video with Korbut’s loop, Mukhina’s loop. They stood on the high bar, jumped, did a somersault and regrasped the bar. It’s a pity that nobody creates such spectacular elements.
– First, you are not allowed to stand on the high bar. Second, for current gymnasts, that is very easy.
– It looks spectacular and is breathtaking!
– It only looks so. Do you remember the back somersault? The gymnasts do it without pausing. Gymnastics develops quicker than those who rule it.
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| Andrei Rodionenko; Denis Ablyazin's coach, Sergei Starkin to the rear. Courtesy RGF |
– Are you sure that the bureaucratic slowness is to blame? Are you avoiding blaming Nelli Kim, president of the FIG Technical Committee? It has been mentioned several times that the Soviet former star is working for the USA. She is responsible for the rejection of the inquiry concerning Mustafina’s beam score. Andrei Fiodorovich, aren’t you becoming a hostage of your own nobility?
– I did so a long time ago … We have already talked to Nelli Kim. She says that they were fighting for the same, but the FIG Executive Committee didn’t approve it. It’s difficult to know: either the Technical Committee has not done everything it should, or there’s a bad intention. It’s impossible to find out without the help of a private detective!
– Where did you miscalculate in Belgium?
– We simply didn’t compete with the team we had planned. 90%! This was due to a series of injuries and diseases. For the men, the Universiade took place at such a time that meant that the athletes could not peak. There was no time for them to recover.
– Hambuechen didn’t perform at the Universiade. He only ‘trained’ in Kazan. Fabian only competed on two events! He was not ready for the AA, he told me. Those who were not ready then, were ready now. Kuksenkov and Belyavski peaked in Kazan. They had the opportunity to perform new elements that were not entirely polished, or of doing the old stuff. They decided to do new elements because it’s the future. Contrary to Hambuechen, who has worked many, many years with the same routines. He doesn’t make mistakes! The American girls didn’t show anything new. They win with a very pragmatic approach. In women’s gymnastics only Russia and China bet on experimenting. The Chinese competed with a new team at the beginning of the Olympic quad. Their athletes fell and made mistakes, but smiled because they did not have the responsibility of winning medals. In our country people don’t understand …
– There’s something else people don’t understand. Mustafina herself stated she loses to the Americans on vault only. Why is she third in the AA?
– Yes, only one event, but it gives a substantial gap … Although I can't find the difference of 0.5 between Aliya and Kyla Ross's vault scores. Simone Biles, for instance, performs an Amanar, but both Ross and Aliya perform a double twisting Yurchenko. I didn’t see such a difference between their vaults! It is as if Aliya had performed a one and a half twisting vault. In Rotterdam, we were better than the Americans on vault. This difference on vault means the same as four super difficult elements on bars. Mustafina worked on her Shaposhnikova with a full turn on bars for six months. Only one element, and you need four …
– The next question is difficult. Simone Biles and Anna Rodionova are both 17. They competed in their first World Championships. Biles won gold. We praise Anna Rodionova who finished 16th. There is a difference in ambition and mentality. Why is it so?
– Biles was in the group training for the Olympics. We cannot compare her with Rodionova. We hadn’t planned to have Rodionova perform in the all around. Afanasyeva underwent surgery, Grishina had back pain, Komova had meningitis and in Antwerp Nabieva fell on her head. We should pay attention to the colour of the faces of the vault finalists. Isn’t it like in athletics? Four out of eight are African American. And this is only the beginning … We work with Anna on something that Biles has got from nature. Don’t forget that in the US 60,000 people train gymnastics. In Russia - 1,000.
– Will there be a total domination of the African American group?
– On vault and floor, yes. But on bars and beam, the situation is different, of course.
– Аnd in the All Around? Douglas is the Olympic champion; Simone Biles is the world champion.
– I would like to point out that when we analyze the confrontation between the US and Russia, we are comparing something that cannot be compared. We have never competed with them at our best level. The Americans have achieved this thanks to a large reserve. Viktoria Komova competed at the Olympics, but not at her top level. She was then growing very fast. Not in days, but in hours, like in Russian fairy tales! The Americans have left behind this growth period: African Americans have this earlier. Yet, coming back to Rodionova, she is a very beautiful girl, she has a lot of potential, and we will work to uncover and realise it. She is strong emotionally. She doesn’t freak out after her mistakes. Rodionova fell and continued as if nothing had happened. By the way, she learned her beam dismount two weeks before leaving for Antwerp!
– Do you know what went wrong with Denis Ablyazin in Antwerp? Why didn’t he make any final?
– Once I went to high jumper Valeri Brumel’s training. Valeri had the best jump, but before jumping he ran 1,200 meters, jumped again and ran 1,200 meters again. Then he worked on technique. Ablyazin needs a similar approach. When he has so much energy, he doesn’t know to handle it. When he goes onto the podium, he says: 'Now I will do everything right!'
– Are you sceptical about meditation?
– A Chinese doctor is working with our team. He uses meditation with the gymnasts, talks over their problems. He is like a psychotherapist. This doctor has been in India, in Pakistan, in the Tibet monasteries. In Russia Chinese doctors are not legalized! He uses herbs that are difficult to import. We haven’t got the order we made for the London Olympics. Everything is still at Customs …