Valentine's Day in Soldatova's Red

Aleksandra Soldatova looks spectacular with her new red leotard and hoop routine. Soldatova is one of the most talented gymnasts in the world and it was unfortunate that she could not participate in the Rio Olympics.

This year Soldatova will have her chance to win more medals and to establish herself as the top Russian gymnast and possibly as the best gymnasts in the world. Her strongest rival will be the illustrious Ukrainian, Ganna Rizatdinova. My personal preference is for Soldatova, who I think could be unbeatable if she had more original and exciting choreography. Overall, I think she is the more versatile and artistic gymnast of the two.

I love watching her and I am really looking forward to seeing he win. So, for today's Valentine's Day, I would like to wish you:

• to surround yourself with talented people who bring you joy and excitement;
• to truly show your love to those you love;
• to do the things you love better than ever;
• and, of course, to see your favorite gymnasts win! :)

Soldatova Dominates, Linoy Shines for Israel, the Ukrainian Teams Needs New Decisions

The Grand Prix in Eliat, Israel, brought no surprises but it did confirm that Linoy Ashram from Israel now takes the stage with an absolutely bright and original light of her own. She is fast, she is clean, her jumps are "explosive," and.... she actually moves with the music. Linoy is the best gymnast in Israel right now. The judges will, eventually, recognize this.

In the meantime, for several years now, the Ukraine has chosen to trust Viktoria Mazur, and Viktoria Mazur, who is an absolutely elegant, talented, beautiful girl, has never really had a competition where she did not make at least one completely disastrous mistakes. This time it was worse because, in the spirit of very poor decision-making, she went and picked up the "reserve" apparatus, while her hoop was still on the carpet and she actually thought she should perform with one hoop, while the other one is lying in the middle of the carpet.  It would have been one thing to lose the original hoop outside the carpet but not going after it when it is 2 steps away? I have never seen this. 

Here she is, holding one hoop and the other is right there. It would be like an artistic gymnast getting off the beam and going on another one.

If she had been inexperienced, I would still think it is highly unusual, where by "unusual, " I mean: not logical at all. But she did it and  she has been in competition for about 5 years now.

Either she needs to get some additional training that works with her psychological stamina, teaches how to react to the unexpected and how to avoid disasters like this, or, honestly, in all of the Ukraine, there has to be another elegant, talented gymnast like her.

The judges were not impressed:

Really, there is no excuse for someone who was born with quite obvious physical advantages over others to keep making poor decisions at every competition.

And, then, speaking of decisions, I still feel sad that Soldatova did not go to the Olympics. She is beautiful in everything she does, a true spectacle of a gymnast, with strength, grace, and passion all at once. I can't get enough of her. She brings more amplitude and more amazement every time she performs.

Of course, I always root for the underdogs, too, and, in this case,  Elizaveta Gamalejeva from Latvia is a great choice for a gymnast who keeps getting better, though still shy of the top spots. She did a very expressive ball routine where, for the first time, I think the music choice did justice to her personal charm and presence on the carpet. If she had cleaner lines, she would get higher scores, but I can tell she loves what she does. And that is always inspiring.

Gorgeous Mamun Keeps Making Mistakes...

...but I still like her, especially her jumps!

I think it is difficult to observe how a formidable competitor, such as Yana Kudryavtseva, keeps improving. I think Rita Mamun gets nervous at competitions now because she knows that, even if she does not make mistakes, Yana is still very likely to get a higher score. If we want to outplay Yana, Rita and her coach Amina Zaripova have to somehow outsmart her. Performing in a stable and consistent manner will not be enough. They need to find something Yana doesn't have and show case it.

Would you agree?

Also, how many of the fans like this leopard print? I have developped conflicting emotions about this choice of print. I used to like it on Ulyana Trofimova but I am not sure it is such a great match for Rita.

Anyway, thanks to my dear and wonderful friend Dimo Dimov, I got hold of these absolutely stunning pictures. Enjoy:

Take The 90s Gymnastics Quiz and Win a Gift

Crazy Fan's 90s Rhythmic Gymnastics Quiz

If you lived in the 1990s, a glorious gymnastics decade, I dare you to take this quiz.The person, who gets all correct answers first will receive a free Crazy Fan gift in the mail. Please take the quiz and send me a screenshot of your score at grashkina@gmail.com. Good luck!

1. In the early 90s, which gymnast won her first all around European title with 4 perfect 10.000s?
Oksana Kostina Maria Petrova Alexandra Timoshenko Bianka Panova
2. Which gymnast shared an all around European title with Alexandra Timoshenko?
Oksana Skaldina Dimitrinka Todorova Yulia Baitcheva None of the above
3. In 1993, this gymnast had to miss the World Championship in Alicante due to an ankle injury
Elena Vitrichenko Olga Gontar Amina Zaripova Larissa Lukyanenko
4. Who was the 1993 junior European champion?
Olga Gontar Diana Popova Yanina Batyrchina Ekaterina Serebryanskaya
5. When and where did Natalya Lipkovskaya become world champion with hoop?
1996 in Budapest 1998 in Seville 1997 in Berlin She was never a champion with hoop
6. Which Spanish gymnast won gold in Alicante?
Carolina Pascual Almudena Cid Tostado Alba Caride Costas Carmen Acedo
7. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, which gymnast received a deduction because her zipper opened?
Diana Popova Irina Deleanu Oksana Skaldina Maria Petrova
8. What apparatus did Ekaterina Serebryanskaya drop when she became the 1996 Olympic Champion?
Ribbon Clubs Rope She did not drop
9. Which 90s Ukrainian gymnast was known for her long and flexible feet?
Tatiana Popova Elena Shamatulskaya Elena Vitrichenko Tamara Erofeeva
10. When did Alina Kabaeva become European champion for the first time?
1998 2000 1997 1996

The Impossible Mission of Always Igniting the Crowd

Happy 35th birthday to a gymnast, who made everything exciting, including the rope:



The perfect combination between Russian technique and Bulgarian choreography.It makes me wonder how someone like Titova or Selezneva would look, if a more daring choreographer created their routines.

Watch her pirouettes! She would have easily won medals in 2014, under the new code, which puts high value on the change of leg position while turning.

If you are looking to engage the audience, look no further than perfect technique and bold choice of music, but, also, of course, a strong personality.

Legendary Gymnast and Coach Irina Deriugina Urges: Please Don't Allow Blood to Be Spilled

In a one-minute address to President Putin, the world champion and coach of many champions, Irina Deriugina of the Ukraine,reminds everyone that Russians and Ukrainians are brothers and sisters:



"Dear Russians, I address you because we were all born in the same country. I turn to your President and to those who have the opportunity to influence your President so that no mistakes are made.I turn to you because we all are so close, by blood. We have a relationship of people who belong to the same family. We are brothers and sisters.Please do not allow blood to be spilled. Please do not allow more lives of our brothers and sisters to be taken away.Please. I represent rhythmic gymnastics.In our two countries, we have the best athletes in this type of sport. Beauty always had a certain power. Try, please, to preserve all the beauty, all the richness of our people and your people. Don't allow, please, that blood be spilled."

Irina Deriugina was born in 1958 in Kiev. She became an all around world champion in 1977 and 1979. She is also the 1978 European gold medalist with ball. This is Irina, 25 years ago, performing.

Fairy-tale Mamun Flies in New Routine

I really like Margarita Mamun's new ribbon routine. She obviously has a lot of "cleaning up" to do but this routine has difficulty, and expression. And a red ribbon looks strong and elegant at the same time.



I would really like to see better pivots from her and I am looking forward to a more polished version of this jewel of an exercise! Keep it up, Rita!

My Top 4 Routines in 2013

Now that the first two strong tournaments of the year, one in Estonia and one in Moscow, have finished, I can say I watched the new routines of most of the world's best gymnasts. I have made my picks as follows

1. Top Ball Routine: Margarita Mamun. This is a lyrical, brilliant, light-as-a-feather routine, in which I think Rita Mamun displays some of the best arm movements in the business of dance and gymnastics. We see risk and we also see expression:



2. Top Clubs Routine: Alexandra Merkulova. This is one of the few routines with a vocal and with words that I actually enjoy. Sasha Merkulova takes the credit for looking like she is having tons, tons of fun performing and not like she is pretending to dance. I really feel sad when so many gymnast just move their hips around because now you have to include "dance elements" and they are not feeling the music, or the mood, or anything at all. Joyful dancing aside, this is a routine full of small movements and tricks with the clubs, which is what every routine should be. None of the elements look static and a few are pretty original. The routine covers the entire carpet and matches the music:



3. Top Ribbon Routine: Melitina Staniouta. A classy and classical routine beyond any doubt. As we know, all of Melitina's leaps and pivots are some of the strongest in the world and she has put a lot of effort into interpreting the music and making this routine very "alive" and fluid. Melitina Staniouta is, physically, the best gymnast in the world right now. If her expression matches her physical fitness, she should be winning gold after gold. But mostly with this wonderfully sophisticated ribbon:



4. Top Hoop Routine: Ganna Rizatdinova. Ukranian gymnasts completely "own" the hoop as an apparatus. Maksymenko has presented a strong hoop routine as well but Ganna's pirouettes and her dramatic, yet, not drama queen-ish interpertation has put it over the top of me. She is truly flying high like her hoop here, taking over all the emotional space she can: