February 18, 2000

Sports Weekly

http://sports.sina.com.cn/others/200002/1824820.shtml

Most people would not believe Australia could win a gymnastic medal at Sydney for now, but two of Australia's geniuses, only at age 15, already brought hope to the country.

Although Allana Slator and Trudy McIntash have nothing alike in looks, the commercial Australians are starting to call them the "gymnastics twins." What makes them common is, they will be medal hopeful in the Olympics.

Allana (1.44m, 40kg) and Trudy (1.50m, 38kg) are two very different gymnasts. Speed and power are Trudy's strengths, but grace and elegance belong to Allana. In Tianjin, Trudy was history high 5^th on vault, while Allana was 9^th in AA, the first Australian to get in top 10 at World Championships. Trudy also made another record, she successfully performed a 10.0 vault at her first major International meet. That has never happened to any other Australian gymnast.

The American coach leading the Australian girls, Peggy Lyddick, has great expectations from the "twins". She used two words, "power" and "unique", to describe Trudy and Allana respectively. "At their first Worlds, their performance surprised many people in China, except me." She emphasized, "I know their abilities. All I need to do is to help them display their abilities in the competitions, and don't forget, this is just a start."

Peggy thinks that both of them will be Olympic medal contenders. "Trudy has great chance on vault; she could bring surprise on floor too." For the all-arounder Allana, she said: "It seems there's a large distance between 9^th and the medals. But in a certain environment on a certain day, everyone in the final has the opportunity. Especially we will be the home team, who knows what will happen."

Australia's best team result is the 5^th. There's a gap between 5^th and the medal podium, but the Australians women already see their hope. When asked about her forecast of the Olympics, Peggy said: "It's absolutely possible for Australia to advance to 4^th, or even better." She thinks there's still room for improvement. "We have to be more consistent. In the Worlds we have many 0.5 deductions. This must be avoided." Peggy is fully confident, "in the following six months, my job is to bring every one in the team to the level of Trudy and Allana." Seems like Australia has big ambition of getting a team medal.

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November 26, 1999

Chinese Sports Newspaper

http://www.sport.gov.cn/paper/tyb/991126/b504.htm

Brief Note About the Vault Champion Zamolodchikova

There were many surprises at the 1999 Tianjin World Championship. For example, both the men and women's AA winners--Nikolay Kryukov and Maria Olaru, were not fans' favourite pick. The vault finals had similar results. Most famous stars in rumors that were capable of performing 10.0 vaults did not compete to full potential. It was a newcomer Zamolodchikova who won the vault final.

Her Idol Is Khorkina

To the 17-year old Zamo, her teammate and big sister Khorkina is her favourite gymnast. In the 1999 Russian National, Zamo won AA bronze immediately after Khorkina, the AA gold medallist was Elena Produnova. Zamo was very exciting about that. Great difficulty and consistency have made Zamo to be on the Russian team in Tianjin.

Zamo has said: "My biggest wish is like many of the elder sisters on my team, to get an Olympic gold medal. Svet is very tall. To a gymnast, this means inconvenience. However, she keeps training and remains in good shape. She has won many major international competitions. It's good that I can train and compete with her. She is my idol." Zamo has already become a World champion. In the 2000 Olympics, her goal is, without question, like Khorkina, to be an Olympic champion. "I hope I will be in best shape in Sydney." Zamo's hobbies are travelling and listening to music. She was born in Moscow. At the age of 15, Zamo was already a gold team member at the junior European championship. In 1996, she visited South Africa with the Russian national team and competed in one of the invitational competitions there. She was fifth in AA. That was a memorable journey to Zamo, she gained interesting experience which was not found in Europe.

"Travelling is sure more interesting than simply training in the gym and taking lessons in the classroom. I can make friends with gymnasts from all over the world. This is helpful to me." It is ineluctably that Zamo gets bored in the gym some times, but she knows where to have fun during leisure time for a balance. She reads comic books, listens to pop music, and plays golf.

"My motto is: correct a mistake when I'm aware of it; always remain calm; always look for improvements."

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Oct. 29, 1999

Chinese Sports Newspaper.

http://sports.sina.com.cn

Thanks Alison Schwei, Annerin Long, and Beth for informing me the Russian names in this article.

People who know Leonid Arkayev, the Chairman of the RGA, think of him in very different ways. Some say he is a dictator; some say he is an insane man with wisdom; others say he is a nice man.

It doesn't matter what kind of man Arkayev is, his achievements are of world renown. He led the former Soviet Gymnastics team to be unbeatable from 1973 to 1992. The Russian men's team, especially, was a dominating power during that period of time. There are too many stories about Arkayev that are worth mentioning. The following are just a few examples:

1. Staff Pass Changed to a Coach Pass

In the Tianjin World Championship, Arkayev was either in the gym or in competitions all of the time. He is usually a slovenly man; he wore a T-shirt and pants, although everyone knew he was the chief officer of the Russian delegation. To be more convenient for coaching his athletes, Arkayev tried his best to convert his staff pass to a coach pass to get in the gym. Right before the team competition, he temper was livid. No gymnasts or assistant coaches dare bother him an extra word. Once a female coach was not clear about meeting time and wanted to verify with Arkayev, but she didn't dare to talk to him. She rather asked a translator to confirm with him. If anyone from the delegation accepts an interview, he would yell at the person. He makes up the rule that no person should have interviews until the end of the competition.

Athletes' preparation and concentration are the most important factors to Arkayev. Without these, nothing else gets along with Arkayev.

2. Big Temper Incompatible with Colleagues

Arkayev's long list of duties can scare any people. These include the chairman of Russian Gymnastics Association, main coach of the Russian national team, main coach of both the men and women's team, member of the European Gymnastics Executive Committee, a total of five titles. None of these is a general part-time job to Arkayev. Four different persons would serve the first four jobs if it were not for Russia. It is difficult to imagine that he is setting the rules and supervising the process on one hand, while executing the rules on the other hand. Using the words of his pupil, a former World champion, now a consultant to the Greek men's team, Iouri Korolev, "This is very tiring. One person cannot do all of these jobs well." He hopes his teacher to get relax a bit.

In fact, no one forces Arkayev to do all of these. He chose to do all of them himself. His purpose is to maintain the team at a high level, and tries to minimize the effect of the poor Russian economic on the team. He did his best to defend this field. He takes part in every decision, whether tiny or important instants. He was the person who ordered food for the Russian delegation in Tianjin, while the doctor who should be doing the job was very relaxing. There are too many similar examples. Although his will is good, Arkayev's behavior hurts many colleagues. The former Russian women's coach Andrei Rodionenko felt that he was not needed by the team. He moved to Australia and is now leading the Canadian team to challenge the Russians.

3. Pick on Unruliness

Arkayev trains and treats talented gymnasts well is a well-known fact. He has dozens of World champions as his pupils.

He is impartial in training, but if any athlete gets sick, he would have a warm visit and asks the Round Lake cafeteria to prepare delicious food for the gymnast. If a gymnast breaks the rules, Arkayev would not let it go.

Dmitri Bilozerchev was once his pick as an example. Dmitri Bilozerchev was a handsome and smart guy. He soon became a World champion after procedural training, and consequently, became one of Arkayev's favourites. One night, he drived after drinking and hit himself in an accident. Arkayev immediately announced that Dmitri Bilozerchev was to be expelled from the team, even he had many persuaders. Afterwards, Dmitri Bilozerchev showed his regret for the mistake and worked hard in the gym. He got Arkayev's heart back and became a World champion again.

4. Three Treasures in His Cabinet

In Arkayev's tiny house, there're three treasures in his cabinet--two medals and one certificate. One of the medals is from his father, the prize of losing life in a defending war for Russia; another one is the most honorable reward for his outstanding achievements of Russian gymnastics--the Lenin Medal. He got the certificate in 1965 when he graduated from a civil engineering college. Even now, he still shows his love to engineering and indicates that he should have been an engineer like his wife.

Arkayev never uses his strict disciplines on his mother or his wife. He hides all his temper in front of them. He is filial obedient to his mother. After the competition ended in Tianjin, he spent time to choose souvenirs for his mother, his wife, the two daughters and three grandchildren.

Arkayev knows how other people talk about him. I asked him what his plans are, and expected him to answer what he wants to do after the Sydney Olympics. He surprised me by saying that he wants to retire within a year (he is 59). Maybe he was simply making a joke to people who don't know him well. He said he would not coach oversea. His root is embedded in Russia. Talk about love and achievements to gymnastics, he has no equal.

Arkayev is a controversial character. It's this man who makes the Russian a dynasty in gymnastics. His temper is just embellishing for his achievements.

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