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Hello, friends! I've been absent from the blog for a few days to try to make an honest attempt at managing the clutter that's become my life. But I just can't stay away from gymnastics so I'm back to catch you up on a few things you might've missed over the busy weekend. Here's what's been happening in Russia:
Ksenia Molozhavenko is training an awesome bars combo, here. She and Maria Kharenkova represent the Southern district during Russian Nationals.

Seda Tutkhalyan is officially the most tech savvy of all her peers at Round Lake. I think this girl is on every media platform except Twitter (and let's be honest, that's soon to come). In addition to her VK, IG, and [private] sprashivai account, she is now on Periscope! This relatively new social media app lets you broadcast live videos to the world. Catalina Ponor has already shown us how useful that can be when she basically recorded the entire ROU-FRA friendly meet for us using the app. I love that we're approaching a time when it won't matter whether an event is televised or not in order for us to see it. Yippee. 

Moving on, Yulia Biryulya claimed the all-around title at the 2015 Yevgeny Podgorny Cup with 52.333. She also took the gold medal in every apparatus final with scores that would've improved her AA final by 3.1 points! Her EF scores were VT(13.883) UB(13.5) BB(13.4) FX(14.2). She turns senior in 2017- a tough time for her- because Russia traditionally struggles most the first year of a new quad.* Hopefully, her remaining time as a junior sees her level continuously being raised, so that she gets on the ground running in 2017, and doesn't suffer from that transitional period. It appears she's on the right track. Congrats, Yulia! To revisit her gorgeous gymnastics, click here and watch her BB from 2014 KSI-Matz, which scored an 11.7 with two falls.*

At this same competition (Yevgeny Podgorny Cup), Anna Pavlova made a modest return after her dislocated shoulder thwarted her EuroGames participation. She placed 6th in AA with 51.000 and was second on beam with 13.300 (yay) and fourth on floor with 12.850. Forward, Anna, we love you!

 Valeri Liukin is the subject of this Kazsport documentary that asks how and why he became both a successful Soviet gymnast and Russian-American businessman. It obviously features the career of his Olympian daughter, Nastia Liukin, as well as his latest accomplishment as head of youth development at USAG. It's exclusively in Russian and I'm working with someone to get a subtitled version, so it'll take time. I'll let you know when it's completed but it's worth viewing now for the archived footage of Valeri's gymnastics days. Enjoy.

 
                                                    
From UEG, we learn that the 2017 Euros are considering moving the championships from Bucharest to Cluj Due due to construction delays and nasty politics. There’s also the possibility of moving Euros to the other candidate city, which was Aarhus, Denmark. I did some fruitful Tumblr digging and apparently the Romanian Gymnastics President, Mr. Stoica, made the bid for Euros at the behest of politicians... during an election cycle (and before the arena was built). The earliest the arena can be built now is in January, and even then, Mr.Stoica cannot guarantee it will be done in time. MOST alarming, however, is that President of the UEG, Georges Guelzec, wrote in a letter that he feared Romanian gymnasts might feel the effects of this disaster in the scores they are given at future Euros! If that's not a damning confession of corruption in gymnastics I don't know what is. Because of this, I feel certain it will be a long time indeed before Romania is given the chance to host a major gymnastics competition again. There are real doubts it will be transferred to Cluj Due, either because of geography or lack of potential ticket sales. So, looks like 2017 Euros just became 2017 Aarhus?

That's all for now. I hope your day goes as smoothly as Ivanova's ONODO to FULL TWISTING KORBUT.


*My apologies; Biryulya is a new senior which means her chances of an Olympics (Rio or Tokyo) just got that much harder. Her biggest downfall is, well, falling. Constantly. At the 2015 Russian Cup she received a 14 on UB in the TF. If she could stabilize her other events, she would be scoring 14's on all apparatus (but that's easier said than done). My advice is still the same though the situation has changed: with steady improvement, she may one day prove useful to Russia. It wouldn't be the first time a Russian comes to success as a late bloomer. And Russia is good at taking seniors from the back burner and converting them into useful specialists. 

 *Biryulya has a mix of Kharenkova and Vika on beam, no? Thats including her insufferable tendency to fall at the slightest thing. Child...





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