Raising the Bar

RAISING THE BAR

Legendary gymnastics coach, Vladimir Vatkin, was appointed as the Australian men’s gymnastics coach in 2006.

Taking the team to Beijing, he took a break in 2010 to work with the Brazilian team and further expand his skills.

Now the 7 times Gymnastics Australia International Coach of the year is back as the Head Coach for the 2018 Australian Commonwealth Games Gymnastics Team.

Interview with Vladimir Vatkin

• 4 Olympic Games

• 18 World Championships
• 4 Commonwealth Games
• 5 European Championships
• 2 Goodwill Games
• 4 World Cup finals

Prediction

We have several medal possibilities, but it will be a very big challenge for the team having lost Clay Stevens and Luke Watford who got a stress fracture of his leg.”

“Brazil was interesting and there is a lot of potential there, partly because of the number of kids doing gymnastics. In Australia, we have some great potential but lack the numbers at the moment.

Australia has great State Centres and a world class National Centre for the athletes. I think we need more young coaches in Australian Gymnastics. We already have an excellent coach training program and with an increase in motivation, we can compete with the best in the world.

If you watch the Olympic games, many of the athletes in Aerial Skiing and Skateboarding come from gymnastics. Sadly, gymnastics doesn’t get athletes from other sports.

My tip to aspiring young coaches:

Don’t neglect the basics and aim as high as you can.

If you have good kids and systems, then you can achieve anything. It starts with burning desire then requires knowledge.

I have made many mistakes over the years but at the time, they don’t feel like mistakes. It is only looking back that you realise that things could have been done better. So, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. If you are trying hard and thinking hard, then your mistakes become part of the experience and you learn more from your defeats than your victories.” |Vlad