Skip to main content

Two for Tokyo

By
We're all wondering ... who will make the Russian team this autumn? With Mustafina out of the mix, and Komova looking doubtful, it will surely be down to Dementyeva and Nabieva to provide the fireworks, Afanasyeva the backbone ... but who will back them up?

Will the Russians look to well-tested veterans like Kurbatova and Semenova to baseline the team, or will relative newcomers provide some zest and depth to round out the picture? Can the Russians surprise us by progressing some of their juniors to senior level?

The names of Maria Paseka and Tatiana Sovolyova come to mind ... Paseka vault and floor, Sovolyova bars and beam. It's quite some time since either have been seen competitively, but I dare bet they will be encouraged to train as hard they can to take their opportunity ...

Tatiana Sovolyova, beam, Moscow championships February 2010



Or watch it on Youtube.

Maria Paseka, floor, Russian championships December 2009



Or watch it on Youtube.
Labels:

Comments

  1. singingtelegram18 June 2011 at 05:48

    I would cry with joy if Semenova and/or Sovolyova were at Worlds. I do expect they'll take Belokobylskaya after her success at Euros.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Queen Elizabeth18 June 2011 at 08:43

    Hi Mr Singingtelegram, what tune is your comment set to?
    I agree actually - unaccountably Belokobylskaya slipped my mind as I was preparing this post. But she is a wonderful gymnast on floor and on beam - I think she will be in contention for a place on the team.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous18 June 2011 at 10:03

    Paseka is reportedly out with injury for the remainder of the year.

    ReplyDelete
  4. singingtelegram19 June 2011 at 06:04

    I like Belok... Yulia very well. She has beautiful gymnastics and I wouldn't mind at all seeing her at Worlds. I would just be soo happy to see Semenova or Sovolyova competing there because I love them both so much. Does that answer your question?
    It's Ms. Singingtelegram btw. Lol)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Queen Elizabeth19 June 2011 at 10:40

    Aah. I'll be careful to set your comments to a tune that don't require a baritone, then. x

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Svetlana Boginskaya: I was always a bitch* in gymnastics

By
Svetlana Boginskaya, 15 years old, with her medals from the Seoul Olympics Nico translates the latest interview with gymnastics legend Svetlana Boginskaya, during a recent visit to her home country of Belarus. Svetlana Boginskaya: I was always a bitch* in gymnastics, so now I ask for forgiveness from everyone who came in contact with me. The National Olympic Committee of Belarus held a press conference with three-time Olympic Champion in artistic gymnastics, Svetlana Boginskaya. The meeting was devoted to the 25th anniversary of the Olympic Games in Seoul. In South Korea the Belarussian won two gold medals in the team competition and vault. As a gift to the Olympic Hall of fame, the famous gymnast, now living in the United States, donated one of her trophies that she won at the 1990 European Championships and a pennant for Best Female Athlete of the USSR in 1989. How happy we were when we could share with such stars as Boginskaya, Scherbo, and Ivankov,...
14 comments
Read more

Mustafina Interview 2 of 2 : 'I will only perform under the Russian flag'

By
Argumentyi i Fakti interview with Aliya Mustafina Translated by Marina Vulis ‘I have no fear’, says Aliya Mustafina.   ‘My father [Farhat Mustafin, the bronze medallist in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1976 Olympics] took me to my first gymnastics class.   In his opinion children need to do sports, and he saw gymnastics as useful for my general development.   He had no goals – just to let us practice.’ It did not end with ‘just practice’ – she became the World Champion at 16, but then had an ACL injury the next year (2011) at the Europeans.   Even just returning to gymnastics is a feat; then she came back to win four medals at the 2012 Olympics. Aliya Mustafina – That injury.   I do not know why I was ashamed – so many people were watching me and I could not even walk.   My parents!   They saw everything on TV (the coach had to carry her from the podium).   Of course I was aware that anything could happen in gymnastics, but I di...
4 comments
Read more

Fact or fiction? The press, gymnastics and pregnancy doping

By
It was a Sunday morning.  I was drinking my coffee and contemplating the day ahead - a workout at the gym, shopping for groceries, an evening reading a book, or catching up on last night's episodes of crime thriller The Bridge .  How nice it was not to have to think about work for a day. Then I saw it - a story about the history of doping in The Observer .  Interesting reading. Of course, cheating is as old as the hills.  It is, unfortunately, human nature for some people to try to gain easy advantage in any kind of competition.  That is why we have laws, rules, ethical guidelines.  People who cheat should face justice and shouldn't complain when they are found out. But the story about pregnancy doping bothered me.  Hadn't that been found to be fictional?  The author began with Olga Kovalenko's allegations made in 1994 - but the rumours had started way back in 1991 with the documentary series More Than A Game .  The practice...
3 comments
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more