Hilly’s Russian Adventure

Coach Hilly made a welcome return to Dover for her winter break after spending four months in Russia as part of her degree course.



Hilly has already completed two years of a degree in French and Russian Studies at Birmingham University and is spending this, the third year, abroad, to develop spoken fluency and to experience the life and culture in Russia and France.



Back in September 2007 Hilly went off to Moscow and lived in a Khozyaika – a shared house with a live-in landlady.

When Hilly got there she discovered she was living very close to the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, which is where the CSKA Moscow – elite national gymnasts train.

Hilly made some enquiries with team coaches and was allowed to watch the junior team train once a week.

This was an eye-opening experience for Hilly as she explains: “It was a privilege to be let inside to see the team train which is not something outsiders often get the opportunity to do.”

“There is a completely different ethos in Russia with gymnastics training, compared to Britain. In Russia it is a national sport, and it is considered an honour to be selected to train to compete for your country.

Their approach to training reflects the serious regard in which it is held and it is not uncommon for the young gymnasts to spend many hours of intensive training every day.”

That level of training was clearly evident when the CSKA Moscow junior team travelled to England for the 26th Rosebowl competition late last year, and won by an amazing ten points. Their success was featured in the Dec 07/Jan 08 issue of The Gymnast magazine:

 

13-year-old Aliya Mustafina (pictured below, left) came first on every piece and won Gold in the individual all round – and her 10-year-old sister, Nelya (pictured below, right), came second.



Aliya, and some of her junior team mates look set to be in the 2012 London Olympics.


(above two photos courtesy of Paul Seaby)

Whilst in Russia, Hilly also got to go to the Voronin Cup – an international gymnastics competition held at Dynamo Sports Club and named after Mikhail Voronin. She managed to take a photo of Russian national senior gymnast Anna Pavolva receiving a medal:

Hilly goes back to Russia in February, this time heading to St Petersburg where she will stay for four months.

She will then spend three months in France to complete her year abroad. When Hilly graduates from her course her ambition is to work as an international interpreter for sport.

She has already put her name down to volunteer as a language specialist for the 2012 Olympic Games and 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.







Page updated on 28 March 2008