Slomannie Kukolki - Broken Dolls Documentary - Part I

im gonna learn

there is a very dark side to this sport. no other sport has such brutal training especially on such little children.

who is the girl at 4:53?

Svetlana Zasypkina was a Soviet gymnast in the late 80s - forced to retire after an injury. Later she played the lead role in the 1988 Soviet film "Kukolka", a story about a top gymnast forced to retire due to injury and the resulting struggle to be just an average school girl, nobody special. So Svetlana was essentially playing herself! This documentary has clips from "Kukolka" and comments from director Isaac Friedberg. Anyone out there know where on Earth this film, "Kukolka", can be found?

That's what the commentator says-Svetlana Zasypkina. She's walking around the gym like walking through a memory-from her childhood.

I have seen videos on Parkette's too who are pretty brutal too, they have a little girl training on a broken ankle and her mother telling her to "suck it up".

One thing I could understand is the sight of little girls in tears as they're being stretched. It reminds me of the little Chinese girls in the China gym documentaries being stretched to tears. That would not be allowed in my country. But every culture is different I suppose. :/

My Russian is pretty weak, but here's a rough summary of that stretching segment: Sometimes Nastia falls and is hurt but it's important that she does not cry. The coaches watch the kids when they fall to see if they will cry or not. If they cry, it means they are weak and the weak ones are not wanted. It is also important that the children are small and very flexible. If one is not flexible enough, the coach will stretch her himself. It is very painful but important that she does not cry.

Thank you for the translation! :)

Thanks for sharing this! Don't understand a word but looks very interesting.:)