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Arkayev, who is also president of the Russian Artistic
Gymnastics Federation, had been rumoured to be considering
relocating to Greece permanently last year by German biggest
news agency Deutsche Presse Agentur (dpa), news which
made major headlines around the world. He denied rumours
that his work with the Greek federation earned him US$ 500,000
a year: "There is a sum in my contract which is a long
way from what was mentioned. I'm not going to tell you what
I earn, apart from me and the president of the Greek Gymnastics
Federation, only my local tax inspector knows."
 Arkayev said the Russian-Greek co-operation
works both ways: "Our contacts and agreements are based
largely on my excellent relationship with the president
of the Greek Gymnastics Federation. Our team has just returned
from a training camp in Greece, and the Greek gymnasts are
due to come to "Round Lake" soon."
 Russia's head coach for men and women
also hinted that the national team might not be preparing
for the 2004 Athens Olympics at Round Lake but in Rostov-on-Don:
"I won't exclude that possibility. After all, the climate
in very similar to that in Athens. They have also just opened
a children's and youth sports school with a hotel and state
of the art apparatus." Rostov-on-Don is traditionally
a strong centre for women's gymnastics in Russia, having
been home to Olympic champions Lyudmila Turischeva, Natalia
Shaposhnikova and Svetlana Grozdova as well as 1983 world
champion Natalia Yurchenko. Elena Produnova was the town's
latest star. Turischeva, Shaposhnikova and Yurchenko were
all coached by Vladislav Rastorotski at the famed Dinamo
club whereas Grozdova and Produnova hailed from CSKA.
masha
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