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Injury was a main concern for the Russian women at this competition.  Of the Olympians, only Gerasimova competed at full strength.  Both Listunova and Melnikova were suffering with pain; you could see this on their faces and in their movement, by the end of the day's competition.  For Listunova, foot and back pain were problems, while Melnikova had severe achilles pain.  Melnikova is booked in for an MRI as soon as she returns to Moscow after a short break in Sochi, where she is staying with David Belyavski and his family.   Slava Urazova didn't make the competi ..read more

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There are two main domestic gymnastics competitions in Russia.  The first one, Russian national championships, takes place in the spring, and is for regional teams, All Around, and Event Finals.  As the first major competition of the year, nationals have often traditionally been qualifiers for places on the national team training for Europeans Championships.  The Russia Cup, in July, is an individual AA and EF competition and is far more important in that it qualifies gymnasts for the major competitions such as Worlds, and Olympics.  Gymnasts are often less ready for nation ..read more

I have to think very carefully about what I give exposure to on RRG, either here in the main blog, or over on X and Facebook.  I am particularly thoughtful when it comes to showing anything that links individual gymnasts to support for the War, as that could be damaging well beyond the extent of this horrible conflict. This meme is currently sitting on the Instagram site of RIA Novosti - a Russian government supported media and news outlet.  It shows three gymnasts - by the look of them Ablyazin, Belyavski and Dalaloyan- with a caption explaining that none of th ..read more

As the Russian Championships approach, it seems that almost every leading gymnast is experiencing injury problems or a lack of preparedness for competition - with the exception of David Belyavski, 32, captain of the MAG team - he is always ready, says the head coach. WAG injury list Angelina Melnikova is experiencing low energy, blaming poor nutrition; there is very little protein available at the National Training centre, she says.  Boiled vegetables are the main offering.  She has Achilles pain and is finding it difficult to make her landings and to get through four routines.   ..read more

 Ukrainian cultural identity in gymnastics It’s difficult to write about Russian gymnastics at present; I have to keep it contextless.  And yet the news colludes against me.  Yesterday, former Russian President Dmitri Medvedev made a horrible statement declaring that Russia should subsume the whole of Ukrainian identity; Ukraine should disappear and become part of Russia not just geographically and economically, but also culturally.   Let me say that again: Medvedev said that Ukraine’s identity should disappear.   To say that your country’s aim i ..read more

Olympic champion in artistic gymnastics Victoria Listunova, who is not training at full strength due to back pain, will perform at the Russian Championships in Sochi in March. “Listunova is experiencing muscle pain in the lumbar region of the spine, but there is no injury,” Rodionenko said. “We have reduced her loads and are trying to understand the reasons for the problems that have arisen, but the doctor says that it is ‘sore throat’ [translation difficulty] (delayed onset muscle pain syndrome - TASS note). Health "Athletes are the most important thing now, and as soon as they feel unwell ..read more

Olympic team champion Vladislava Urazova is having surgery for a serious knee injury tomorrow and won’t compete at the Russian Championships, Valentina Rodionenko has reported to TASS.  Vladislava was training acro on floor when she was injured; Russian Champs begin on 11 March.   RRG wishes Vladislava all best wishes for a full recovery.   ..read more

The latest from Russia - please note that these stories all come from official channels and I have no way of verifying what I am seeing right now.   The Games of Future, a ‘phygital’ (mixed physical/digital events) multi sports event, the first of its kind, opened on 21 February in Kazan.  There are no gymnastics disciplines.  At the opening ceremony, a beaming Nikita Nagorny is depicted sitting next to President Vladimir Putin.   Artur Dalaloyan was also present and was interviewed by Match TV.  He emphasised that with the Russian Championsh ..read more