Rodionenko: We can’t allow average scores on any of the events

In an interview in the latest issue of Gymnastika, the Russian artistic gymnastics federation’s magazine, Andrey Rodionenko talked about the success of the Russian team over the last year.

Q: Andrei Fyodorovich, a very difficult season that culminated in the Tokyo Olympics is behind you…

A: Of course, the Olympic Games are the peak of the quad. Generally, it was the main goal the team was striving for. The results that were achieved makes everything clear. There’s no need for commentary, our victories in Tokyo are deserved. I don’t want to overstate or understate them in any way. What’s done is done.

Q: In Tokyo, you said that after the Games, the coaching staff would analyze [the performance] and make conclusions regarding the competition. In short, what conclusions have you made?

A: First of all, amidst the team competition, our claims for gold in the all-around and event finals for both guys and girls were significantly diminished. This is the part that needs to be worked on. We have a document on the next quad and it’s main point is the goal-oriented comprehensive plan of the team preparation for the whole quad. And I noted in this document – lack of resources to fight in event and all-around finals is connected to not having difficult enough routines to be unequivocally strong and also with the particular difficulty of individual events. Each event needs to be the best. What happened was that after fighting at the highest level in the team competition, we had a claim in the all-around finals, in case of Nikita Nagorny and Angelina Melnikova, for example. But there were not enough resources. You could say that they spent too much energy in the team competition, but it’s not an excuse. After all, the Japanese and Chinese gymnasts fought and had great results in the fight for gold medals and other medals both in the all-around and event finals. And this lack of capacity in our case requires meticulous analysis and separate approaches in each specific case. Each event needs to be upgraded in order to compete for the highest awards and also to be a good and reliable part of the all-around performance. That is, we can’t allow average scores on any of the events in the all-around. This applies to both teams.

Q: And the same goes for individual events?

A: Yes. We sort of look fine but that’s not enough for me or for any of us. And we need to get to the level where, if we qualify to event finals, we have to have obvious medal claims. It’s hard to argue with that. The discussions with coaches and specialists were objective, everyone knows that this needs to be taken into account in the new quad. But another thing to remember is that the team competitions will be much harder because we’re forming the men’s and women’s teams practically from scratch.

Q: Why?

A: This is because our men’s team was supposed to peak in 2020, but we kept it there for another year and the team started to deteriorate a bit. That’s why it was such a nervous competition. In 2020, our advantage could have been more obvious. At the same time, those who are trying to make the team might not get into the required shape. So, there’s a hard race ahead of us in order to catch up with what the Japanese and Chinese reserve teams managed to do for the main team of the previous quad. They have more reserve gymnasts. The bench behind the main team plays an important role now, both for the guys and the girls.

Q: Do I understand it correctly that in 2024, we will see almost a completely different team?

A: The thing is, there will be a new competition format there. While in Tokyo, the format was 4-4-3 (four people on the team, four on the competition floor, three scores count), the format of the next Games and, by the way, of the World Championships as well is 5-4-3 (five people on the team, four on the competition floor and three best scores count). That is, the additional team spot gives an opportunity to have two all-arounders and three event specialists. Or three all-arounders and two event specialists, in order for them to have the best scores. There will be serious reinforcement of the team. So, the higher is the level of the reserve gymnasts, the more chances they have to end up among these five. For example, you choose two all-arounders, combine two specialists for six events between them and one additional person can reinforce an event in the team competition. This applies to both the guys and the girls. It means we’ll have a chance to strengthen the events that will be critical in the team competition.

Q: Are you currently satisfied with the strength of our reserve teams?

A: Let’s put it this way, there’s always room for improvement. The Olympics ended and from the first [post-Olympic] camp, there’s updating of the teams that get invited to Round Lake. And we work with them directly, starting to prepare them for the next Olympic Games. The routines are being upgraded according to the new rules. We moved the juniors of all ages who will try making the main team in one, two, or three years to the camps with the main team. After August, the camps at Round Lake have been aimed at filling the routines of former juniors with difficult elements. Some of them are already moving senior competitions. Those who won’t be age-eligible yet will compete on the junior team at the European Championships next year and at other major junior competitions. But their routines will be aimed only at the Olympics. And, perhaps, this somewhat accelerated approach will allow us to see our updated teams already in 2023. For now, we know only one thing – there isn’t yet a final system of the Olympic team qualification, but we know that the 2022 European Championships will be crucial for the Paris-2024 selection. It’s the so-called continental selection rule which was discussed at the executive committees of the International and European federations. It’s very important because the continental selection rule is now the initial selection, this didn’t exist before. This means that the teams should be formed in a way that Euros will become for us the first step which we will make in the composition suitable for the Olympics.

Q: Did the last World Championships that happened almost right after the Olympics gave you a lot of food for thought [for preparing for the Olympics]?

A: First of all, some of our athletes were just physically unable to compete, that’s why for the guys, we sent a completely new team to the championships. We sent a team in which only two were on the main team before the Olympics – Vladislav Poliashov and Nikita Ignatyev. It was a test team. And it was the guys from the junior team – Sergei Naidin, Mukhammadzhon Iakubov, Grigorii Klimentev who had decent results. That’s the age on which we can rely in 2022-2023. By the way, I can’t help but commend Klimentev who won bronze on rings – a truly adult man’s event – at such a young age. It was the same picture with girls. There were more experienced Angelina Melnikova and Vladislava Urazova at the World Championships. Melnikova won the all-around title, it’s very commendable, she rightly asserted her place among the leaders of world gymnastics. And young girls showed that with proper work on the routines that will be needed in two years they are clearly capable of competing for a team spot. We didn’t aim to win something, we just needed to see our options for the next step.

Q: Even before the World Championships, Melnikova mentioned that she might skip the next season. Were there any other leaders who announced they’d like to do that?

A: “To skip” is not quite clear-cut. Of course, they need to rest for some time mentally and emotionally. We talk to each of them. For example, Nagorny and Belyavskiy continued competing right away at various small competitions, invitationals and commercial competitions. It’s possible to rest a bit at such competitions, there’s less pressure, the requirements are not so high. But Gelya really needs rest, because she also had a couple of small competitions after the World Championships. And she just needs to rest mentally now. It’s hard to say how long this period will be. For example, some want to rest for half a year but already after two months they express the desire to start training because there’s a certain level of physical preparation below which you can’t go. You can’t go too low, they know it well. To rest – yes, but to lose something – this shouldn’t happen. So, skipping competitions, a season, it’s rather in name only, but it’s necessary to lower the pressure to a certain extent. They need to heal and rest and dive into the social life. The past 1.5 – 2 years were very hard because of the pandemic, so they need to take care of their social life a bit, too. In this regard, it’s important to understand that it’s necessary to rest because a lot depends on the centra nervous system, on the psychology. But the “I’ll rest for a year” mood passes quickly. It’s just the first impression after a difficult Olympic quad. Things fall in place after that and real timeframes of the rest period come, but this is already entering the new quad through fitness, through the initial preparation, and resuming the training routine.

Q: You said that Artur Dalaloyan hasn’t stopped training. Many gymnastics fans are worried about his health.

A: Artur is training but he first needs to finish the physical therapy course, the conditioning and functional training, and get to the level required for the elements that need both legs to be in a normal condition. He’s working on that now. Besides tumbling, there’s a need fo static and static-dynamic work, so it requires a special approach. He knows that and we’ll start working on that in January. Gelya has always had issues with her legs, her back also requires additional checkups to some extent, so that there wouldn’t be some unnecessary pain later. We’ll need to prepare the athlete because there’s a high training load from tumbling. So, in this case, the verbal factor (what the athletes are saying) isn’t taken into account, even though it’s needed. They need a certain period of time to get to the conditioning level after which they can move on to the technical training.

Q: You mentioned the changes in the format of World Championships and Olympics. And what do you think about the changes in judging in the new quad?

A: It’s a normal occurrence, the rules change every four years in terms of raising the difficulty, adding new elements. We patiently wait until the list will be fully formed and it will be published. Judging seminars are being conducted now at which people get familiar with the new competition rules. The judges learn, take a test, and receive the appropriate judging category. The changes might be in small details but very significant. In the sense of which new structures or element connections will be preferred. This is the development trajectory of gymnastics which the FIG is trying to regular through corrections and changes of competition rules.

Q: During the Olympics and the World Championships, some were saying that there was prejudice against our gymnasts in some aspects. Have you noticed that?

A: Everything was completely fine. We just need to do our job and judges need to do theirs and everything will be fine.

Q: Aren’t you annoyed by the fact that during big competitions, the Russian team is at the center of a lot of attention [in Russia], and then it all disappears? Angelina also talked about it.

A: It’s the problem with the media. You know, there are these fireworks at first which are hard to contain and then it all cools down quickly. I don’t think it’s quite right because the results the athletes demonstrate require more sustained attention. It doesn’t mean to write and talk about them more. No, it means to treat them with great respect and in the longer term, so that it wouldn’t be a one-day-wonder. I remember how during the Soviet times, there were various conversations and analysis in newspapers, there were more detailed discussions which head coaches joined. It was necessary and interesting not just for coaches and athletes but for gymnastics fans as well. Without talking about a sport, the interest of fans and spectators to it can be lost very fast. I think this long-term coverage depends not on athletes and coaches but on the media space. As soon as some result appears, it attracts a lot of attention, but the result is forgotten right away. Also, this road to victories is never straight, there are losses sometimes, and that’s when lots of unnecessary criticism starts. But you shouldn’t forget that it’s hard to always be on top in our sport. This needs to be taken easy, there need to be positive attitudes towards athletes, people who are moving towards the highest achievements. Don’t put them on an unreachable pedestal and then tear them down after losses. But it’s important to treat them humanely, then they will feel the attention. And last, I’d like to talk about a big injustice: many people just don’t know athletes’ personal coaches. Gymnasts start training with them as kids, progress to victories, but regular spectators don’t know the names of these specialists. Athletes absolutely deserve to be talked about, but coaches are doubly deserve it. They go on this difficult, far from smooth journey together with their pupils and people should know about it. Athletes aren’t conjured out of thin air. They are brought to the gym by coaches, they work with coaches, and later gymnasts leave to train with the head coaches of the national team. Not to talk about the first coaches and treat them without respect is wrong and these people should be known. They shape the level of our gymnastics, it’s important to treat them with respect. It’s a very important issue which is approached in a somehow one-sided way in our country. It’s been especially noticeable after the last Olympic Games and this needs to be made up for.