(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
We have now received a confirmation of sorts. One of our readers posted our story on the WWGym message board, where it was picked up by a poster called SFPFCT10, who is in touch with now former Uzbek national head coach Svetlana Kuznetsova. After reading the news, SFPFCT10 e-mailed Kuznetsova to ask if it was true. She confirmed the story, after which SFPFCT10 posted her e-mail on the message board, apparently with Kuznetsova's consent.
Judging from the e-mail, Kuznetsova does not bear Chusovitina any grudges for replacing her as the national head coach under such unusual circumstances (the e-mail ends with a sincere wish for Chusovitina's well-being). However, she does express bafflement at the new arrangements, which she feels are unworkable, and added that not all the national team members will join the training camp which Chusovitina is supposed to supervise in Germany in early February. According to Kuznetsova, six girls and one acrobat will fly to Germany, without their personal coaches (i.e. without Kuznetsova herself or her assistant, her daughter Elena). Apparently Luiza Galiulina, Uzbekistan's sole representative in Beijing (60th in prelims), will not be among the six girls who will make the trip to Germany. According to Kuznetsova, Galiulina will stay in Tashkent, where Kuznetsova herself will prepare her for the Cottbus Grand Prix.
We can't help sharing some of Kuznetsova's concern at the new situation. We have no idea how Chusovitina is supposed to coach the Uzbek team while representing Germany herself. Unless the Uzbek girls and their personal coaches move to Germany for a longer period of time, the plan doesn't sound feasible to us.
However, one thing is for sure: Chusovitina keeps making history. We don't think any athlete before her has represented one country while coaching another country's team. If you know of any precedents, do let us know!
Yes, it is really hard to believe that... I do believe now, but I still don't know how Chusovitina will arrange everything so she can still be an elite gymnast.
ReplyDeleteLet me just add that me and many Brazilians read this blog, although many of us don't comment. It's not because we are not interested or something like that, but sometimes we don't know something well enough to talk about it and some people don't feel comfortable with writing in English. Anyway, your work is very much appreciated.
You ladies do great work!!!
ReplyDeleteI didn't comment because a)I didn't believe it and b)I don't understand how it's going to work. She's the head coach of a country thousands of miles from Germany but competing for Germany... it kind of doesn't seem fair.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all of your great posts! This makes it so much easier to find news about foreign gymnasts since most articles aren't in English.
ReplyDeleteI did read your other post about Oksana I just didn't comment on it. I was surprised to hear she will be coaching them while living in Germany since the two countries aren't even close to each other and I thought she said she didn't want to coach elites in the past. It sounds very expensive.
I'm pretty sure Svetlana was Oksana's former coach so this situation must be weird for her. Do you know why they didn't rehire Svetlana for the job?
I just posted but thought of another question for you. Do you know what Oksana's arrangement is with Germany? Like does she have to or want to compete for them for the rest of her career or is there a possibility that she could go back to Uzbekistan someday?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJust to clarify, the introductory paragraph to our post was not an appeal for more comments! We were merely surprised that our original post largely failed to elicit comments, since it was such an extraordinary story. However, if your response to our little crisis last week taught us anything, it is that we are being read, even when people don't comment. No need for confirmation on that score! :)
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, Svetlana Kuznetsova is indeed Chusovitina's former coach. If we understand the situation correctly, Kuznetsova will continue to coach the national team in Tashkent; she just won't be the official head coach anymore. We expect there will be a degree of cooperation between Kuznetsova and Chusovitina, although the details remain sketchy for the time being. Hopefully, we will learn more about the arrangements after the Uzbek girls' first training camp in Germany.
We don't know the exact nature of Chusovitina's arrangements with the German Gymnastics Federation, but we believe she is committed to competing for Germany until 2012. We don't think a return to Uzbekistan is very likely. Chusovitina may settle in Tashkent for a few months every year to do some training and coaching, only to fly back to Germany whenever her services are needed there, but we believe she will spend the majority of her time in Germany (which is pretty much what it said on her club site). We think it's unlikely that she will ever compete for Uzbekistan again.
Add me to the list of those who were reading but did not comment!
ReplyDeleteI am curious to see what will come of this situation... she is, as you have said, an impressive lady. Maybe she'll pull it off! It seems really complicated though.
So you basically don't know what's going on and are just guessing? Or do you really have inside info here?
ReplyDeleteI just can't wait until the training session begins.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, we have no more information than what is contained in this post and the previous one on this subject. We know that it has now been confirmed by someone in the know that Oksana Chusovitina is indeed the new Uzbek head coach. We know Chusovitina is planning to run the program from Germany. That's all we know for sure.
ReplyDeleteThere's also a rumor that Kozich will compete under Chuso for Uzbekistan for 2 years,, but after watching the scene of UZB training center I'm too astonished to believe it.
ReplyDeleteWe're aware of that rumor, but until we get any confirmation, we're not going to credit it. It's just too bizarre.
ReplyDeleteQuick addition: in an interview published just a few days ago, Kozich mentioned nothing about competing for Uzbekistan. Her plan as stated in the interview was to join the circus. Perhaps she has changed her mind since then, but if she has, we've seen nothing to confirm it in the Ukrainian media.
ReplyDelete