New trendsetters in rhythmic gymnastics

The May holidays were gracious in Minsk. In early May the capital of Belarus held the European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships. Girls from 35 countries were competing for the title of the best athlete on the continent.

The national team of Russia took the audience by storm. It displayed perfect performances in all four types of competitions. The Russian athletes not only managed to get into all the finals, but also won the team competitions. As a result, the Russian team won six gold medals out of seven and won the unofficial team competitions, as well as the silver medal in the junior team competitions. Jana Kudryavtsea won three gold medals, Margarita Mamun – one gold medal; and one gold medal was earned by Alexandra Soldatova. The Russian girls devoted their successes to the 70thanniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

It was obvious that the Russians would be leaders ahead of the competitions. It is difficult to defeat Jana Kudryavtseva or Margarita Mamun, as they are the leaders of the Russian team and in the European ratings this year.

The hosts of the Championships also performed successfully. Melitina Stanyuta and Ekaterina Galkina gained 7 medals; two other medals (gold and silver) were won by the junior team.

However, the Championships showed another side of a medal as well. Many experts noted that this season the list of athletes who deserved to win medals was longer. Soon it will be difficult for the Russian gymnasts to be the leaders, as competition is growing. Along with the Belarusian and Ukrainian girls, who won one bronze medal and one silver medal at the Championships, Israeli, Bulgarian, and South Caucasus athletes came close to the leaders.

The only medal of the Championships in the individual competitions beyond the Russian-Belarusian-Ukrainian trio was won by Azerbaijan. Today Azerbaijan plays a favorite role in various championships, and this is quite expected, as few countries pay such attention to the development of gymnastics. The Gymnastics Federation is headed by the first lady of the country, the president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Mehriban Aliyeva. A gymnastics area which has recently been built in Baku is thought to be one of the best in Europe.

It's no surprise that the leader of the Azerbaijani team, Marina Durunda, the face of Azerbaijani rhythmic gymnastics, shows stable results this season and gets into the top six of the best athletes on the stages of the World Cup. Russian and Belarusian experts spoke about the high level of Durunda ahead of the Minsk Championships.

“Even though she is young, she is one of the best gymnasts in the world. She treats the subjects well and makes no mistakes in the programs. She has her individual style in catching the subjects, and she makes no mistakes in it. Marina has room for development. She is working with an outstanding highly-professional coach, who is able to boost her potential. We will look forward to her steps ahead,” the Belarusian media wrote in April.

The Azerbaijani team attracted fans and spectators of the European Championships not only by its gracefulness, but also the excessive strictness of the judges, who almost deprived the Baku gymnasts of medals. The last program was performances with a ribbon. An emotional combination with complicated choreography was successfully performed by the leader of the Azerbaijani team Marina Durunda; but after the end of the competitions her final score was only fourth (17.900). The coaches of the Azerbaijani team lodged an objection, and the jury of the European Gymnastics Union satisfied it, and Durunda’s score was changed to 18.000. It enabled her to gain the bronze medal.

We don’t intend to judge the activities of the championships’ jury, but we should say that it was the only case in the Minsk European Championships when the judges corrected a mistake after a protest. The head coach of the Azerbaijani team, Mariana Vasileva, told Vestnik Kavkaza that she was disappointed with the judges: “I cannot understand, during all these seven years, why people do not want to give a chance to those who are honest and doing creative work.”

The President of the European Gymnastics Federation, George Gelzek, also spoke about the unobjective evaluations of the judges. He stressed that there were always problems with judgment; the human factor plays its role, and nothing can be done about that. Objective judgment is one of the main problems of modern sports. It is especially topical for such kinds of sports as rhythmic gymnastics.

A sports journalist of Belarusian television, Darina Zapolskaya, admitted that gymnastics is a subjective kind of sport, and nobody hides this. “But I think a gymnast should work on her skills, leaving no chance for the judges. If you add complicated work with subjects, the judges will have no opportunity to ignore this. One or another country always dominates in world gymnastics. Azerbaijan is doing a lot to develop this kind of sport. The first lady of the country manages the process. I believe sooner or later the girl [Marina Durunda] will gain medals. It is about time,” Zapolskaya told Vestnik Kavkaza.

She agreed that the Championships showed another level of the world rhythmic gymnastics; and probably in the very near future we will see new trendsetters in the kind of sports. “I have had a thought today that probably if there is gymnastics boom in Azerbaijan, and it will become a country which will influence significantly these kinds of sports, like Russia or Ukraine in the past. Considering all efforts which are taken, it will come true,” Zapolskaya says, noting that the potential will enable us to speak about the great future of Caucasus girls.

“Marina is an actress, primarily. She had brilliant choreography in the performances. It is great. Since choreography was included in the competitions, the performances have become more interesting. The modern trend in rhythmic gymnastics is that either you work with a subject or with your body or you try to combine these things. Certain schools and gymnasts tend to pay attention more to one or another direction. Marina’s school, as well as that of the Ukrainian girls, pays more attention to the work with the body. They have magnificent turns, and the audience likes this. It is great to watch a ballerina on the carpet, everybody says so,” Zapolskaya said.

She believes that Georgia and Armenia are also growing year by year. Azerbaijan also surprised the audience with its second number – Ayshan Bayramova. “They noticed Ayshan at the Championships. It’s great. There would be no positive views, if she didn’t deserve this. There are common lows in gymnastics: if you don’t show up, unfortunately, nobody will give you high scores. A reputation should be built during some period, and Ayshan’s score was good, even though it’s her first championships. Of course, her performance was unforgettable,” Zapolskaya said. Azerbaijan also has Gyulsum Shafizade, who looks decent against the background of Melyutina Stanyuta and Ekaterina Galkina.

The Minsk gymnastics festival was great. The next major competition for gymnastics and representatives of another 20 kinds of sports will be the first European Games in Baku. According to the head coach of the Russian team, the gymnasts Kudryavtseva and Mamun will almost certainly represent the country at the tournament.