Bulgaria's Golden Team Deserves More and They Aren't the Only Ones

The Bulgarian team won a much deserved gold in the mixed group routine today. But we all saw that the judging in the all around and ball final was not great. While fans are not experts, fans are the heart of this sport. If nobody watched gymnastics, gymnastics would not exists. And if fans watch a routine with mistakes that gets an unexpectedly high score, fans have every right to feel indignation and anger.

I write about the issues with judging here not because I like certain gymnasts more than others. I have always written heartfelt and inspired posts here, not just about Bulgarians but about gymnasts Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Italy, Israel, South Korea, USA, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and many other countries. Even about gymnasts from countries that do not have a strong tradition in gymnastics, like South Africa, Australia or Argentina.  But I am getting really tired of watching teams make serious mistakes and still win medals.  The Bulgarian team has tremendous difficulty built into their routines. When they perform cleanly, they should not be outscored by teams with mistakes. The situation is very simple and the injustice is visible for all of the fans. I would imagine that the gymnasts themselves want to win fairly, not receive medals from "gifts" from judges, as fairness is the fundamental principal of athletic competition.

Many fans, myself included, are also getting tired of the sisters Averini making drops, stumbling on pivots, and wiping the carpet with the ribbon, only so as to win another gold. We have fantastic gymnasts like Linoy Ashram and Katya Galkina who have routinely been prevented from winning gold when they deserve it. The truth is that if we want fans in this sport to still enjoy it, all of this should stop. These comments don't mean that Dina and Arina are not wonderful gymnasts. They are.  But if they want to continue to earn the admiration and respect of fans, they need to win fairly and be scored fairly. Just like everyone else.

Sports should be an opportunity for those who are the best to win, not a place where scheming and machinations among judges determines the winner.  If the interpretation of the code of points  or the code itself results in unfair treatment, we need to revise the code to make our sport attractive and loved by the viewers, rather than mocked and despised because of constant drama related to judging. It should not be that hard to see those who are the best take the podium!

Bulgaria Back on the Gymnastics Carpet with Strong Hope for New Beginnings

This year Neviana Vladinova and her coach Branimira Markova brought hope and joy to the hearts of thousands of gymnastics fans who like to see original and very risky routines. Neviana is showing skills that are, compared to both modern gymnasts, and the tradition of the older Bulgarian school, a true higher level of mastery. Her beautiful coach, Branimira, was world champion in the team event in 1993 alongside the European champion Yulia Baitcheva and the three-time world champion Maria Petrova. On some pictures, Branimira and Neviana look somewhat alike, but in gymnastics terms, the difficulty of what Neviana demonstrates is several times times greater.

Neviana has truly challenged herself and brought lots of attention onto the Bulgarian school and style once again. She deserves a spot in the top 8 and, in the future: medals. For now we simply wish her to be strong, inspired and calm!

Meanwhile, Tsvetelina Stoyanova's recovery is progressing well and she is working with physical therapists to increase her movement range and recover to a very large extent the quality of life she had before her accident. The rhythmic group could not have prayed for better news than this. As this amazing group steps on the carpet to fight for a medal, they should be proud of how much they have endured and how much they have achieved. The value of becoming a better athlete, a better person and a better friend beats any medal, but they are also ready to battle for any medal. This is a very important year for Bulgarian gymnastics where we plant the seeds of new success and move past hardship and disappointment. 

Forward!

Tsvetelina Stoyanova Reported Better

According to the Bulgarian papers, Tsveti, has left the intensive care unit and will stay at the neurosurgery department of the hospital where she will focus on recovery and rehab.

The other members of the Bulgarian group are in Rio and think of her with great love and care. The hardest part, for both Tsveti and the team, appears to be over. 

Fans have expressed high hopes that now the team will actually be able to focus on is routines and enjoy living the Olympic dream, for which they worked so hard. As for Tsveti, the best of her life is yet to come, and her success and joy will surely go well beyond sports, but the sense of team effort and belonging as well as the strong spirit gymnastics builds will remain to help her keep moving forward in life.

The Big (but not fat!) Israeli Team Controversy

Team Israel has won gold at the European Championship, but the practices of the head coach Ira Vigdorchik have been under fire. Allegedly, she verbally abused and even physically hit some of the girls, made them train outside where there were holes in the grass, restricted their food intake and even prevented them from using the bathroom. None of these accusations have been proven but it has become known that the team has refused to work with her and even gotten a lawyer involved in resolving the conflict.

Here is the blog post that provoked me to write this:

http://myau3.tumblr.com/post/147464984579/theres-a-huge-scandal-now-in-the-israeli-rg

First, I'd like to say that I feel pain every time I read horrible stories about our favorite sport. We have listened to false rumors for many years and there is no doubt these rumors have scared away many prospective gymnasts and their parents who have to decide to trust coaches when children are still very young and impressionable. For this reason, I would like to urge everyone to treat this with utmost delicacy and respect for all parties involved.

Second, fans on an online discussion forum have now explained that, following a press conference, the following decisions have been announced:

1. Ira Vigdorchik will fly to Rio with the team.

2. Ira will direct the training of the team by providing oral instructions to other coaches such as Ela Samofalov, Raya Irgo and Aelet Zussman, who will then transmit these instructions to the team. Ira is allowed to decide whether she would like to be present during to training.

3. An administrative commission will, at a later stage, provide formal recommendations about the training conditions and procedures in Israel.

Pictured above is Ela Samofalov, Neta Rivkin's coach who will assist with this process. It remains to be seen whether coaches can be responsible for both the individual gymnasts and the group exericese and how that affects the overall state of preparedness and confidence in the Israeli team.

In the meantime, Neta Rivkin hopes to battle for an Olympic medal at Rio after years of very successful competitions and strong routines. She deserves this but it is not entirely clear who will represent Israel at the Olympic Games. Before we speculate further about the power struggle going on in  the Israeli team, I would like to point out that we are discussing very experienced and talented athletes and coaches and we should give everyone the benefit of the doubt before jumping to any conclusions about what is happening or about what should happen next.  With regard to individual gymnasts, there is no doubt that Victoria Filanovsky is also very prepared and has built a strong reputation for herself with very solid routines all season. "Tori" is holding on to her Olympic chances as hard as she can. I will not hide that my strong personal preference is for Neta but that I see great potential in the future for Tori, who is a young and very energetic athlete.

However, the group is really the team that has a chance to medal and this chance is much greater than what the individual gymnasts can accomplish so I hope the Israeli group stays in good health and with as much peace of mind as possible in what appears to be an emotionally draining conflict.

This team has done nothing but stellar work this year. Their hoop and clubs routine is one of the most original ones in the world and they dazzled their home audience in Holon with strong performances. I would think they should be ready to captivate Rio as well if they have the opportunity to work in a nurturing environment.

Tsvetelina Stoyanova Expected to Leave the Hospital in One Month

The father of the gymnast Tsvetelina Stoyanova, Jordan Stoyanov, has shared with "Bulgaria Today" that Tsveti will be spending approximately a month in hospital recovering. She has been improving with every day that goes by and the prognosis for her future life is highly positive. Tsveti still receives a lot of pain medication so she is sedated for a large part of the day but when is awake she is able to have conversations with visitors. Her grandma Tsetva, brother Nayden, and her boyfriend Alexander are next to her at all times.

Her teammates from the Bulgarian rhythmic group are currently at a training camp outside Sofia and have not visited her in the last couple of days. As the team is preparing for the Olympic Games in Rio, I am sure they will continue to also support their teammate in her recovery.



Below is a picture of Tsveti from a test event when she was still an individual gymnast. I hope deeply that Tsveti will maintain great memories from her illustrious and exciting gymnastics career. From representing Bulgaria at prestigious events as an individual competitor to becoming a world champion with the group, she has shown her love and dedication to this sport and her strong spirit.

"The doctors gave me courage and hope after last week's surgery. All went well and now the most important thing is to pray with open hearts for the health of my child, " said Jordan Stoyanov. He has also expressed a concern over false statements flooding the media and has shared that this is the reason he is trying to keep his statements very brief.

Her teammates will no doubt also keep her in their thoughts and prayers. The picture above is one of the last ones of Tsveti with the team at her last event with the rhythmic group during the World Cup in Guadalajara, Spain. Best of luck to Tsveti and the team!

More Than Bronze, More Than Words

Today the Bulgarian national team won the bronze medal with hoops and clubs at the European Championship in Holon. In their fairy-tale blue leotards, they quietly reminded us  that this sport is not about glitter and pirouettes. It is about strength of character as much as any other sport. And, just like in any sport, actions speak more clearly than any words. 

We all saw this team act as the moral winner by the standards of both sport and life. They did not give in to false accusations, to the pressure of sensation-seekers, and to the hypocrisy of former supporters.

  

A reserve gymnast going to her first big event on a short notice of several days. A team captain, who had take her team out of the carpet and then proudly held up a medal for an injured teammate. A  dedicated coach who was blamed for a tragedy she did not cause and did not back down from her professional duties.  In this championship they acted as one. They held together as a team and held to the value of their work.

Why did they choose to perform despite the tragedy? The answer is that this performance was about standing up for what you believe and what you have strived to become. Winning a medal is not the reason. Saying that you support a teammate is not the reason. The will to do your best, in the most distressing of circumstances, is the real and the greatest achievement. 

Many people outside the Bulgarian team needed to see this lesson in honor and courage. This team will continue to perform professionally, ethically and with respect to those who deserve it. The coaches and the gymnasts will work together  and they will make decisions together.  They will not allow anyone to be made a scapegoat. They will go to Rio with the same mental strength and zeal.

The greatest support we can give them as fans is to try to be like them.

Germany's New Coach is a Former Bulgarian Group Competitor

As you may have heard, Ekaterina Dulamova will work with the German rhythmic group in 2016. She has previously worked in Greece and I found this gala routine showing some of the girls she trained:



It would be very interesting to observe how the style of the German group will change with the new coach given that they have been a constant contender for the world's top 8.

Ekaterina Dulamova was born in 1979 in Plovdiv where she trained with coach Irina Cherneva. She became part of the Bulgarian national team in the mid 1990s. Good luck to the new coach and the German team!