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| Mustafina needs more connections without intermediate swing, says coach Zaglada |
Russian gymnastics is at another one of those turning points ... at the beginning of a new Olympiad, it is time to review and renew. This post examines the state of Russian WAG gymnastics today, in the context of its cultural roots. Coach Vladimir Zaglada also shares his creative vision for the future in a vibrant interview that considers possible future directions for the Russian team.
When I first began following gymnastics, over forty years ago, the cultural influence of Soviet Russia on the sport was very, very strong. Not only did the Soviet Union (USSR) win a large proportion of the major events (in particular WAG - see for example this post on the 1974 World Championships), the form of the sport also mirrored their concept of gymnastics as something close to the cultural origins of dance and ballet. The Soviet authorities used sport to communicate their cultural and political values to the world, and gymnastics in particular became a vehicle for the expression of the Soviet spirit of adventure and scientific exploration prevalent during the Brezhnev era (1964-1982).
The Soviets believed that sport went beyond mere games, into the realm of culture; as a phenomenon it embraced the aesthetic and was almost spiritual in nature. This multi-dimensional idea of sport was often described as 'physical culture' and had its own ethos, known as 'sportivnosti', a philosophy that characterised sport as 'an aspiration to overcome the body's limitations, a dream of spiritual flight, a release from the flesh' (Makoveeva, 2002:9). It was not enough merely to win; athletes had to win with virtuosity, exploiting and expressing to the full the 'beauty and delight of the game' (ibid) that was so central to their thinking.
Gymnastics seemed tailor made for the Soviets' way of thinking, offering scientific innovation, artistic expression and competitive opportunity all in one package. Making sure that they had strong representation on the Executive and Technical Committees of the sport and that their athletes were the most striking, innovative and beautiful in the world, the USSR led the sport for forty years, and shaped it in their image. From their accession to the modern Olympic movement in 1952 to their last hoorah (as the Commonwealth of Independent States) in the Barcelona Olympics of 1992, the sport celebrated the artistic and innovative during a time that is now widely recognised as gymnastics' Golden Era.
After the break up of the Soviet Union, gymnastics benefitted from the depth of gymnastics talent still circulating the system. 1996 Olympic Champion Lilia Podkopayeva trained with the Soviet national junior team, as did 1997, 2001 and 2003 World Champion Svetlana Khorkina and 2000 Olympic Champion Alexei Nemov. Inevitably, however, Russia's influence became watered down. Changes to gymnastics evolved as the sporting political and cultural influence of the Soviet Union waned and as other countries began to make their presence felt. Competition formats were changed to make it possible for the smaller countries to compete for medals; compulsory exercises were dropped as the FIG did not consider them necessary for the development of high level gymnastics; the Code of Points adopted an additive model; the value of artistry was reduced, almost nullified; equipment changes encourage more acrobatic work.
The legacy of USSR gymnastics remains: firstly, in the elements and movement groups that carry the names of iconic Soviet champions of the past, including for example Yurchenko, Tkachev and Shushunova; secondly, in the coaches from the former Soviet Union who contribute to the leadership of gymnastics programmes in many different countries, for example Belenkyi (Germany), Popov (Great Britain) and Saadi (Canada). (In 2010, Rodionenko (see Kalmkova) said that around 364 coaches had left Russia since 1992, in order to take up coaching positions overseas.)
But gymnastics as a cultural form has changed immensely. The athletic and measurable has taken over from the artistic and intangible. Giant vaults and flighty uneven bars exercises predominate. Balance beam is used as a tumble run rather than as an elevated platform for exquisite skill and beauty. Floor is an outlet for impressive fitness and powerful tumbling. The sport has lost its artistic soul. Attempts have been made to amend the Code to encourage improvement in the presentation of exercises, but the model is broken beyond repair. Gymnastics is just a different sport these days. Most countries emphasise power and athleticism in their training; artistry comes a poor second, and is generally reduced to a consideration of execution, presentation and performance.
Russia has, unsurprisingly, been the last nation to hang on to artistry and to the artistic legacy of Soviet gymnastics, probably because so much of that legacy builds on its own national cultural heritage and so is second nature to them. For years the coaches have promoted gymnasts whose grace far exceeded their athletic ability, most recently for example the beautiful, now retired, Yulia Belokobylskaya who shone for a brief moment in the 2011 European Championships but has been seen in personal photographs, dressed in a tutu and en pointe, for all the world a stunning ballerina. The Russian insistence on maintaining the aesthetic high ground in the face of an artistically nullified sporting code has made life difficult as gymnasts like Viktoria Komova attempt to do far more than their nearest rivals from overseas by providing an added dimension of virtuosity to their routines for which they often receive little credit.
At the 2012 Olympics Russia expected its greatest WAG team since 2000 to deliver two gold medals. Hampered by injury, by their own high expectations, and by poor strength in depth that is basically a result of poor participation levels during the post-Soviet years - before Putin's interest in sport provided an injection of cash - Russia managed only one gold. By their standards, a little disappointing. How will Russia look forward to the coming four years? Can they afford to maintain the fantastic artistry for which they have become renowned? Or must they finally emphasise greater athleticism, the heart of their rivals' success for the last four years?
This Olympiad is far from typical for the Russians. Normally only two gymnasts would be expected to remain with the team from one Olympics to the next. This year, however, WAG coach Evgeny Grebyonkin has made it clear that to develop the necessary strength in depth, especially during the early part of the Olympiad, the team is reliant upon its veteran performers such as Ksenia Afanasyeva. Mature gymnasts such as Ekaterina Kramarenko, and those who once seemed out of favour such as Tatiana Nabiyeva and Anna Dementyeva, have been recalled to the fold at Round Lake to prepare for the Universiade. For Russia, the first major competition of the year was this spring's European Championships in Moscow. Next, we have the Universiade (July) and then, the World Championships (October). It is a busy year!
How did the Russians do in Moscow? What will they need to do if they are to hold or improve their competitive position over the next four years? I discussed these questions and many more with coach Vladimir Zaglada. Vladimir (see resume below) was a leading technical coach in the USSR during the 1970s and 1980s, head coach of Moscow's famous Dynamo Club for more than twenty years, and is today a well known author and a leading coach working in the USA. I have collaborated with Vladimir extensively on articles for the website i-g.tv since 2011, and he regularly advises me on questions I have for this blog.
Queen Elizabeth (QE) : The Russian gymnasts have a reputation for being inconsistent. Do you think that they make too many mistakes?
Vladimir Zaglada (VZ) : I do not think that they make many mistakes. If they made too many mistakes, there would be no medals!
QE : What did you think of the performance of Ksenia Afanasyeva at these Championships?
VZ: I remember strongly thinking after the Olympics that she will not compete any more. Now, we see her in her best shape ever. She performs two whips connected to a triple twist: this is the hardest connection, one of the most difficult connections.
The Russians are now working on multiple direction tumbling on floor - this is going to become their real specialism. Connections of twisting somersaults, for example, two and a half back somersault into a half twisting straight front.
QE: We saw Mustafina pull out a bravura performance for the gold overall - and then on bars, where I thought she looked just a little bit less than her best.
VZ : They need to add something in order to be as strong as Tweddle, whose routine is still the best. I worked in Great Britain and very well know how hard Beth and her coaches worked to prepare to be the BEST in the World. I saw her progress every day … what she added to her performance was POWER which came to her not from USSR or Russian Gymnastics School. It was multiple nations' input: Romanian, Hungarian, Bulgarian coaches worked with her for a long time and of course, her amazing coach, Amanda Reddin!
Aliya is very close to being world uneven bars champion, but she still needs to put direct connections with releases and no intermediate swings into her work. The best performers on uneven bars have connections without any intermediate swings.
But this competition - the European Championships - today it is absolutely clear that it is no longer a major competition, or even, in particular, a test event. Are the Champinships as important as the Asian Games? The American Cup? There are fewer gymnasts competing here, from fewer of the important gymnastics countries. The Universiade has also always been less important as a testing event as well, but probably we have to look carefully at its results BECAUSE IT IS A TEAM COMPETITION!
QE: Why do the Russians appear to have fallen behind the competition on vault? Years ago (1985) we saw Elena Shushunova perform a double twisting Yurchenko. Have rates of technical progression slowed? Why are the gymnasts not performing two and a half and triple twisting Yurchenkos?
VA : Vault is not really a strong event for the Russians, but remember that it took about fifteen years for gymnasts to progress from the double back to the triple back (Liukin, 1987), and even now that is not commonly performed ... also the equipment is different, it is more difficult to land from the vaulting table. I think another question would be : why do so few do the Tsukuhara vaults? The FIG judges prefer the Yurchenko ...
Where are the Russians doing double front tucked vaults (Produnova)? Why don’t we see a possible development of round-off entry with half twist to double front? This is a real Russian Style which is very well known to Andrei Rodionenko and other Russian coaches! Where is the Russian triple twisting Tsukuhara performed many years ago? Nobody does it or even tries it ... of course not! Because the FIG just put the Yurchenko – Amanar at the highest level and for this reason it is not really interesting “to jump out of your pants”.
Also, today, the coaches need to be able to predict success - the most reliable vault is still the double twisting Yurchenko - Mustafina in particular is outstanding at this vault.
QE : The standard of difficulty in tumbling seems also to have stalled - I remember Tatiana Groshkova (one of your gymnasts from Dynamo Moscow) performing an incredible double full in layout somersault at the 1990 European Championships. 1996 Olympic Champion Lilia Podkopayeva performed the double front with half out. But today, the most difficult single tumbles presented are the double layout, and the double double tucked.
VZ : The Russian coaches are stuck; they rely too much on Rodionenko to do their thinking, and this system has reached its limit. Perhaps it is time to recall some of the old gymnasts as coaches!
QE : What improvements do the Russians need to make before the next Olympics?
Our Russian girls need to do more conditioning and to become more athletic. In this life only the strongest will win. Our girls are tiny. Compared to gymnasts like Alexandra Raisman, a girl like Anastasia Grishina still appears to be like a little girl. The girls need more physical conditioning, not only artistry; they need to be more aggressive.
The situation with the coaches is not the same as before : coaches like Innokenty Mametyev (Maria Filatova), Vladislav Ratstorotky (Tourischeva, Shaposhnikova, Yurchenko), Dmitriev (Lazakovitch) - none of them were small personalities, they all spoke out and had strong opinions. Nobody could put Knysh (Korbut) down. Ratstorotski was of the opinion that the coach had to be in front, had to be a leader and be visible.
QE : Can the Russians win?
VZ : I hope so - but there are many strong countries : USA, China, Japan, Romania, Britain, and now Canada under Elvira Saadi. Saadi is a great coach, and has been mentioned as a possible head coach for Russia, but her influence in Canada is already being felt.
Aliya Mustafina is a real Tartar by nature - a very strong personality, nobody will manage her, it's not possible with such a character. The biggest problem will be if they give too much power to the girl.
Head coach Andrei Rodionenko understands that he cannot go on forever, but is there anybody to replace him? Maybe somebody exists?!!!! Just think - who is there from among the former gymnasts and coaches. How did Valery Liukin become one of the best coaches in the USA? Why don't any of Russia's former gymnasts have an appropriate position in our country's gymnastics hierarchy? Why is Yuri Korolev (even his name tells us that he is a KING!!!) is working just as a conditioning coach ... questions, questions …
Why we do not see private gymnastics clubs in Russia? We need to talk about this more.QE : Vladimir, artistry seems to have become de-emphasised under the changes to the Code of Points. Can Russia still continue to produce its special artistry, will the Russian School of Gymnastics survive?
Dance is in the Russians' blood, says Vladimir
VZ : Artistry is in our Russian Blood! We are dancing people during all our entire life. It is under our skin and inside of us FOREVER! Because we were for a long time a BIG RUSSIAN EMPIRE with multiple nations and multiple culture. We will never LOSE OUR NATURAL ARTISTRY. All Russia needs is POWER which will be enough to remain strong among strong countries.
So in answer to the question: 'Is gymnastics still Russian' - I think I might say - yes, but only just. 'Sportivnosti', by necessity, seems to have been replaced by simpler, more athletic sporting values, and in order to win, Russia must, as Vladimir says, focus more on their conditioning and difficulty, and develop more power. In order to reclaim the top competitive spot, Russia will have to follow the Code, rather than attempt to follow their own sporting ethic; to comply with the exigences of the Code, rather than try to challenge them. In the process, I can't help but think that some of the artistry to which Russia is born will become lost, and the sport will move still further away from the artistic model that made it so great during the 70s, 80s and 90s.
Can the Russians continue to accommodate the demands of the fierce artistry to which they are born? Where next for the Russians? What will become of the sport? What do you think?
Vladimir Zaglada was USSR National Consultant Coach and Expert with responsibility for high complexity acrobatics on floor exercise and balance beam, a leading coach for USSR WAG who worked on development of new difficult skills on uneven bars. In 1978 he took full responsibility for Dynamo Moscow Gymnastics School and worked for Dynamo Moscow for more than twenty years. Today, Vladimir is working as Leading Coach and mentor for the BIO Athletics Unlimited located near Olympic Atlanta (USA). His Gymnastics Consultancy Office is working very successfully, giving to their students (gymnasts, coaches, instructors) advanced knowledge in technique and methodical progressions in artistic gymnastics.
Bibliography
Kalmkova, S (2010) 'Artistic Gymnastics: Russia versus Russia' Voice of Russia 8th October 2010
Makoveeva, I (2002) 'Soviet Sports as a Cultural Phenomenon: Body and/or Intellect' Studies in Slavic Cultures 9-32
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