Sad news - the great Soviet champion Yuri Korolev has died, aged 60.  Korolev was a great coach, very loved by his gymnasts and hugely respected in Russia.  Korolev was World AA champion in both 1981 and 1985, and took the silver AA in 1987.  He amassed a total of 14 gold medals across three World Championships and 3 Europeans.  The sadness of Korolev’s career was that he never competed at an Olympics - the Soviet boycott of 1984 denied him LA, and he snapped his Achilles tendon just before the 1988 Games.  …Yuri was one of a dynasty of champio ..read more

There is that little face: the face of a child.  Brown eyes, contemplative eyes, eyes that stare at you emotionlessly, a little defiantly.  Dark rings; she is tired, she could sleep for hours.  Young Nadia looks as if she has been crying.  She is a child.  If you found yourself with responsibility for her, you would make her some hot milk, give her some cookies and put her to bed, not send her to train with the toughest coach there has ever been, or force her to have her photograph taken.   The metal chains around her neck give away that she has achieved som ..read more

The fundamental premise of this blog is as a monitor and observer of all that happens in Russian gymnastics.  In as far as you can like a whole nationality, I like Russians and Russian culture.  I do not like the Russian state's use of violence against Ukraine; (nor do I like the use of violence by anyone in any context).  This was the first blog to take a regular view of aspects of Russian sport, from the perspective of the developing narrative in the Russian press.  Often the stories told lack resonance with what is commonly accepted about Russian gymnastics.  There ..read more

In view of the Russians' absence from Europeans, I thought it might be interesting to look at the top three scores at 'their' competition, the Belarus Cup, and make some comparisons to Europeans.  Hmph.  I'm not sure it is possible to make comparisons between the marking in one competition and another, actually ... but for the sake of interest, here are some of the key scores.  Does anyone want to do some technical/critical breakdowns of the scores?   Are the standards comparable?  How would the 1, 2, 3 at Euros be affected, if at all, if the top Russian or top tw ..read more

Travelling back in time to 1985, all 15 of the top spots in the women's all around competition at the European Championships were taken up by Eastern European countries who were part of what was then called the Soviet bloc.  The Soviet Union, the German Democratic Republic, Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria were all in the mix.  Spain's Isabel Soria, 16th that year, was the first gymnast from the West to appear on the results sheet.  Event finals were an exclusively Soviet Bloc affair. 38 years later, we see this turned on its head almost completely.  True, we have ..read more

With the European Championships taking place this week, there is one thing on my mind - gymnastics.  And the big question for me is - will Russia be able to take part in the Olympics?  It's looking increasingly unlikely - Europeans were the last chance to qualify as a team, and of course they aren't in Antalya this week. Russia has been invited to participate in the Asian Games, but this doesn't appear to be a valid route to qualification as a team, either.  The only chance may be for gymnasts to qualify individually - but with an FIG ban on all Russians at international competi ..read more

This is a time when sport and politics are inextricably interwoven.  It's a sad day when I have to say that I can't support Russia's participation in the Olympic Games, but Russian gymnasts are paid by the State, and sport is used as a mouthpiece for the Russian state.   It's not a personal matter, and I don't want to get into personal condemnations or accusations.  The gymnasts are Russian.  They aren't bad or horrible people, but they do live in a different and rather difficult environment that shapes their opinions.  The BBC's Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg, sp ..read more

http://www.championat.com/other/article-207289-ukrainskie-gimnasty-nashli-pribezhishhe-v-rossii.html A man need help The phone call came from the adviser to the Minister of Sports of Russia Oleg Lagutin a holiday. However, for him - work. In Sochi Paralympic Games opened, and a huge machine of the ministerial working non-stop. Muddled story of gymnast and coach-choreographer Natalia Karamushka from Kharkov had nothing to do with the events that unfolded in Sochi. The reaction was instantaneous. - I understood everything. Let us think. A man need help. There choreographer rate in Saransk ..read more

They are literally bereft - torn apart and desperately sad.  Russia and Ukraine, in gymnastics at least, were always the best of friends.  Despite the horrors of the Holodomor, the famine forced on Ukraine by the USSR which claimed the lives of an estimated 3.9 million people, relations between our gymnasts were always observably warm.  If you ever saw a victory podium shared by the two, you would know this to be the truth.  Fierce competition, respect and friendship.  Everything was as it should be. Russia and Ukraine shared their gymnastics bounty.  Nikolai (My ..read more

At my university we have finally made it to the time of year when we can concentrate on writing and research.  It is a clear change of pace; from the relentless chitter chatter and interaction of teaching and assessment to a shorter, sometimes more reflective, time.  It is over all too quickly, and though I love my time with the students, increasingly I would rather be reading and writing.  It is very important to plan my work so I don't waste the coming couple of months when we have just a little more breathing space. When I began my blog I first of all saw it as a channel f ..read more