Neviana Vladinova's New Hoop Element

When I first watched Neviana Vladinova's hoop routine in Moscow, I was at the edge of my sear the whole time. The only time when the hoop stops moving is really at this final pose. She had a couple of unclean catches in Moscow, but no major mistakes. 

I kept thinking that the routine can't get any more risky and I really wished she got a medal for it, though the 4th place at the start of the season was a solid start. But there is more! As if this routine needed additional risk, Neviana is adding one more original throw.




It is very cool and it should probably be named after her:


via GIPHY

Of course, with this kind of risk, there will be times when mistakes will happen. This just comes with the whole endeavor of pushing the limits. Still, she did at a national Bulgarian competition just now and if she keeps cleaning up this routine, it will really change how gymnasts and audiences appreciate the hoop!

Hoop is probably the most dynamic and versatile apparatus because it is fairly heavy and really allows for very high throws, but it can also spin, bounce, and glide as well as allow gymnasts to jump through it and combine all of these options in a routine. Very few routines actually demonstrate that, but the 2017 hoop routine that Neviana is performing has all of those aspects, at their absolute most spectacular expression.

I hope luck is on her side with the risks. After all, don't we say that luck usually favors the brave!

22 Years Later, the Bulgarian Style Lives and Evolves

Over the decades, rhythmic gymnastic has evolved into a much more physically demanding sport, which is also a lot more exciting to watch. The athletes display both flexibility and strength, more complex routines, new and original music choices, including music with voice and words, very elaborate leotards and make up, even new hairstyles to bring more excitement into the sport.

What has remained the same is the value of strong choreography, original elements and risky, spectacular routines.

In the 80s, the gymnastics of the Bulgarian Dilyana Georgieva was innovative and ground-breaking. She was the first athlete to show certain elements that had not been performed in competition. She was also known for her deeply personal and passionate interpretation of the music, great speed and very clean performance, even of the smallest movements. As many in the Bulgarian school, her technique with the apparatus, especially with ball and clubs,  was way ahead of her time. While the gymnasts in the 1990s and later took gymnastics to an even higher level, some of Dilyana's routines remain unforgettable as stepping stones to new levels in the sport.

So, the two-time world champion Dilyana Georgieva performed this absolute piece of art back in 1985. Notice the speed of the two forward rolls, the high throws, and how the gymnast handles the ball so that it literally never stops moving:



In 2017, set against the same music choice, a modern routine with great risk and a lot of drama takes up the carpet. This time it is performed by Bulgaria's best gymnast currently, Neviana Vladinova:



Same music, different difficulty and different audiences, the same deep passion. And most importantly, the same universal language of sports as a form of art.

Katrin Is Ready to Show Playful, Glamorous Style

I have been following Katrin Taseva for a couple of years. I think the Bulgarian Federation made a mistake by not including he in the national team earlier and by not sending her to move international competitions last year.

Katrin is very flexible, has made a lot of progress with both her pirouettes and leaps, and, this year, she also has a lot more originality. Some of the risks with clubs you can see in this routine, despite the minor mistakes, are very different from the what most other gymnasts show on the carpet. Also, she is expressive, playful, and just fun to watch.

I am excited that this season she is showing off new and routines with very new and beautiful leotards that bring out her personality and style. I think she can be a real gymnastics diva, who can do perform to some very fun and fast music, and also really engage the audience, while not losing her focus on the difficulties that she is showing. I think these sparkly but elegant leotards will look even more beautiful with medals!


From the competition in Espoo, Finland, I like her clubs performance best, even though it was not the highest scored. This is very clearly a routine that has the potential to be remembered when Katrin becomes more confident.

This year at the Espoo International Tournament, Katrin got scores mostly around 16.8- 17.0. I think if the judges had seen her more last year, she would consistently receive over 17 even with some minor errors, just because at this point in there development she has enough difficulty to earn that. She usually appears very confident and I am pretty sure the mistakes will go away with time, too. At this stage, I definitely think Katrin has made more progress than Sara Staykova, who is the other candidate for the number 2 spot on the Bulgarian team. Sara had the chance to compete at a lot of events last year, and although she is very beautiful to watch, some of the inconsistencies in performance that we saw last year appear not to have changed at all.

I wish the Bulgarian Federation would consider investing some more time and effort in Katrin's international presence so that the judges will not perceive her as a brand new gymnast or as a "reserve" on the team, but rather as a competitor who can claim spots in the finals in the not so distant future. I have really enjoy how Katrin handles the clubs with her feet at the ending of this routine and I can't wait to see her perform it even better.

If Somebody Ever Told Her This Could Not Be Done, She Would Have Kept Spinning

Teodora Alexandrova is the 1995 European Junior Champion, who also won gold with hoop, and silver with rope, clubs, and ribbon at this European Championship. She started rhythmic gymnastics in 1986, which is before the time current gymnasts were born, but she has a lot to show in terms of her pirouette technique, her risks with the apparatus, and the overall brilliant, perfect control and confidence she demonstrated.

I have watched Teodora in practice for many hours and I always felt amazed to see that her enthusiasm keeps shining in her eyes even after 8 hours of doing the same elements. The same elements, which most gymnasts in the world would never dare to try. I have two amazing routines for you. In one of them, you can barely hear the music because of the Japanese fans screaming. Well deserved. Unforgettable.






Many theories attempt to explain why some gymnasts have better technique than others in terms of pirouettes. Does height have to do with it? Is it natural, or all learned?

In Teodora's case, we can say that she had all the natural talent imaginable, but it would not have been enough for her to execute these routines if she didn't have the impenetrable psychological preparation that came with them. Can you tell that her center of gravity is somewhere deep in her beautiful mind, so nothing can shake it out of balance? :-)

When Is the Last Time Someone Took a Risk?

For many years now, club routines bore me. This is by far my favorite apparatus and one where skills and coordination can really shine. Kudryavtseva has stellar technique but she doesn't risk as much as she could. Silvia Miteva had some strong club routines but nothing like what the Bulgarian school used to demonstrate in the past. The Ukrainians are flirty and playful, or, for that matter, dramatic, but they hold on to the clubs and dance with them mostly. Perhaps Kondakova came the closest to a dynamic,interesting clubs routine, though she almost never did it cleanly.

I have purposefully picked an event where this amazing gymnast, Stela Salapatiiska, actually did not perform as cleanly as usual. I have watched this routine hundreds of times live, and she made it look so easy, you almost didn't notice how crazy it is. I have literally seen her do it and then walk of the carpet without being short of breath. Astonishing:



I am waiting for the moment when a gymnast would be this brave. The fans deserve it.