I have yet to source a full translation of this 2nd November television discussion between National Coaches Rodionenko, Olympic Champion Aliya Mustafina and 1988 Olympic Champion and FIG judge Elena Shevchenko. Some fragmentary details provided by Rachael Liv on Gymfever (:-)) suggest that it addresses the results of the 2013 World Championships again, with Andrei Rodionenko providing reasons that his team did not perform as well as, perhaps, the Russian public had expected. Pretty much a re-run of his earlier press interview that appeared on VTB. Shevchenko apparently mentions that the biggest worry during her competitive years was making the Soviet team, so evidently some comparisons are being made between today's gymnastics and the Golden Era. If anyone has time to add any translations to the comments on this post, we would all be very grateful ... I know that translating such a discussion in its entirety is painstaking and arduous ...
NOTE : PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO THE COMMENTS FOR A TRANSLATION BY CAPTAIN HOOK! Thank you Captain.
Out of fairness, I should point out that my comments below have turned into a general rant rather than a particular comment about this programme, which turns out to have been a review of the 1988 Olympic Games with some comparisons to gymnastics today. Lesson learned, I will always wait for a good translation before committing myself to print in future ... I still think Russian gymnastics should give itself more credit for its achievements, and will leave the rest of this post intact for the record.
Queen Elizabeth is officially disappointed ... Why is Andrei Rodionenko so intent on making excuses for his team's performance? Is there a forward plan for next year's competitions? Some of the points that are being made in the current press round do have some validity ... for example, a few days ago National Junior MAG coach Nikolai Kryukov highlighted that the selection of the current team has been complicated by a lack of emphasis on sport during the gymnasts' formative years, thanks to societal and political changes in the Russian Federation; in other words, there were far fewer Russians coming in to gymnastics than at other times, explaining current problems with strength in depth.
We are perhaps also guilty of constantly comparing the Russians to the Soviets, whose teams included not only Russia, but also such countries as Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Latvia. As Oksana Chusovitina has said, this powerful alliance could probably still dominate gymnastics today if it could find a way of joining forces, training and competing together. But in reality, Russia was only ever a small part of the Soviet team and its leadership, or eventual domination of the world sport upon the breakdown of the Soviet Union, was not inevitable.
But I do think also that Rodionenko is guilty of talking down his team's achievements. Rather like Eeyore, he sees the gloomy side first, without shining a light on the good. Why not give credit, where credit is due? For example, he has said that Aliya Mustafina was 'not supposed' to win beam. But Mustafina brought home the goods in every way, including an all around bronze (meaning that she has medalled in the all around at every single major senior competition of her career), a bronze on bars, and that gold on beam. Mustafina has certainly rescued the Russians on more than one occasion this year, and last, and her achievements should shine out like a beacon of encouragement for her team mates, and for younger gymnasts.
Was it such a surprise that the Russian star took a beam medal? In the days before the apparatus finals Mustafina herself highlighted the fact that her D value on beam was now higher than her D value on bars. She won the event with a routine that expressed more about the full meaning of artistic gymnastics than any of the other exercises on display that day, and Rodionenko should not apologise for this. Mustafina's gold was as well deserved as any of the other golds at that World Championships, and perhaps more deserved than some that were gifted at the Olympics. Given her severe competitive schedule this year, and the problems of illness and injury she has had to overcome, it was a medal that 'weighed heavier than gold', as Russian journalist Natalia Kalugina said.
In my opinion Rodionenko should emphasise the expectations he is now putting on the Russian team as a whole, not allow himself to be hauled over the coals and end up making excuses. It is apparent, on the evidence of the gymnasts' performance and the reports of such witnesses as Alexandrov, that a relative lack of discipline across the teams, in one way or another, has been as responsible for disappointing outcomes as the unavoidable, unfortunate facts of illness and injury.
I wonder why the panel did not include Garibov, Ablyazin or any of the MAG team? In my view their performance was infinitey more disappointing than the WAG team ... It would also be good to see Afanasyeva or Komova take a little of the media pressure off the shoulders of Mustafina, who seems very rarely to be accorded a break.
I am not able to post as frequently as I would like at present, due to work pressures. Please bear with me, I have a number of posts 'in the making' but do not know when I will finish them ...
One key piece of information that should be shouted out is that the Voronin Cup is back on the calender!! Competition dates 1st to 5th December.
This is the 666th post on this blog ... creepy.
NOTE : PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO THE COMMENTS FOR A TRANSLATION BY CAPTAIN HOOK! Thank you Captain.
Out of fairness, I should point out that my comments below have turned into a general rant rather than a particular comment about this programme, which turns out to have been a review of the 1988 Olympic Games with some comparisons to gymnastics today. Lesson learned, I will always wait for a good translation before committing myself to print in future ... I still think Russian gymnastics should give itself more credit for its achievements, and will leave the rest of this post intact for the record.
Queen Elizabeth is officially disappointed ... Why is Andrei Rodionenko so intent on making excuses for his team's performance? Is there a forward plan for next year's competitions? Some of the points that are being made in the current press round do have some validity ... for example, a few days ago National Junior MAG coach Nikolai Kryukov highlighted that the selection of the current team has been complicated by a lack of emphasis on sport during the gymnasts' formative years, thanks to societal and political changes in the Russian Federation; in other words, there were far fewer Russians coming in to gymnastics than at other times, explaining current problems with strength in depth.
We are perhaps also guilty of constantly comparing the Russians to the Soviets, whose teams included not only Russia, but also such countries as Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Latvia. As Oksana Chusovitina has said, this powerful alliance could probably still dominate gymnastics today if it could find a way of joining forces, training and competing together. But in reality, Russia was only ever a small part of the Soviet team and its leadership, or eventual domination of the world sport upon the breakdown of the Soviet Union, was not inevitable.
But I do think also that Rodionenko is guilty of talking down his team's achievements. Rather like Eeyore, he sees the gloomy side first, without shining a light on the good. Why not give credit, where credit is due? For example, he has said that Aliya Mustafina was 'not supposed' to win beam. But Mustafina brought home the goods in every way, including an all around bronze (meaning that she has medalled in the all around at every single major senior competition of her career), a bronze on bars, and that gold on beam. Mustafina has certainly rescued the Russians on more than one occasion this year, and last, and her achievements should shine out like a beacon of encouragement for her team mates, and for younger gymnasts.
Was it such a surprise that the Russian star took a beam medal? In the days before the apparatus finals Mustafina herself highlighted the fact that her D value on beam was now higher than her D value on bars. She won the event with a routine that expressed more about the full meaning of artistic gymnastics than any of the other exercises on display that day, and Rodionenko should not apologise for this. Mustafina's gold was as well deserved as any of the other golds at that World Championships, and perhaps more deserved than some that were gifted at the Olympics. Given her severe competitive schedule this year, and the problems of illness and injury she has had to overcome, it was a medal that 'weighed heavier than gold', as Russian journalist Natalia Kalugina said.
In my opinion Rodionenko should emphasise the expectations he is now putting on the Russian team as a whole, not allow himself to be hauled over the coals and end up making excuses. It is apparent, on the evidence of the gymnasts' performance and the reports of such witnesses as Alexandrov, that a relative lack of discipline across the teams, in one way or another, has been as responsible for disappointing outcomes as the unavoidable, unfortunate facts of illness and injury.
I wonder why the panel did not include Garibov, Ablyazin or any of the MAG team? In my view their performance was infinitey more disappointing than the WAG team ... It would also be good to see Afanasyeva or Komova take a little of the media pressure off the shoulders of Mustafina, who seems very rarely to be accorded a break.
I am not able to post as frequently as I would like at present, due to work pressures. Please bear with me, I have a number of posts 'in the making' but do not know when I will finish them ...
One key piece of information that should be shouted out is that the Voronin Cup is back on the calender!! Competition dates 1st to 5th December.
This is the 666th post on this blog ... creepy.