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Komova 1st, Russia 2nd in first day of Tokyo World Championships

Russia did well in the first, qualifying, day of competition in Tokyo, taking 2nd place in the team competition behind a solid USA, with youngster Viktoria Komova taking top position- by a whisker - in the all around.  It was a good performance from a team relatively weakened by the absence of world champion and team leader Aliya Mustafina, and a lingering injury to last year's Youth Olympics Champion Komova.

Newcomers Yulia Inshina and Yulia Belokobylskaya performed a fantastic job for the team as strong lead off gymnasts.  Beginning on bars, the team had no margin for error.  Inshina, starting up, had no previous experience of major international competition but showed no sign of nerves as she went through her routine flawlessly.  She is an enchanting little gymnast who performs her floor and beam routines with her head a little to one side, as if deep in contemplation.  A personal characteristic that adds no end of expression to her work.  A nice reward for Inshina is the place she earned in Sunday's beam final.

Veteran Ksenia Afanasyeva should be in contention for the trophy for the most elegant gymnast at these championships for her expressive floor work and the sheer beauty of her posture on beam.  Tatiana Nabieva has made great steps forward in the last year, presenting sure and aggressive work and providing leadership for the younger members of the team.  Poor Anna Dementyeva had a difficult day yesterday, being somewhat below her usual standards on beam and floor.  But just look at the quality of her gymnastics - deceptively strong and powerful on bars where I think she has made the greatest progress, a feisty attitude on beam and floor and a universal line, amplitude and technique make her one of the best gymnasts in the world all around.  We all have bad days, and I do not think that yesterday was the last we will see of this uniquely talented gymnast from Samara.

It is a long time since I have seen a senior gymnast with all the beauty, talent and tenacity of Viktoria Komova.  She is the best gymnast at these championships by far.  Sadly, mere numbers do not possess the vocabulary to express this adequately, and she has ended up with a measly .152 lead over the nearest 'rival'.  There should be a special competition set aside for gymnasts like Komova, Afanasyeva and Dementyeva - you may nominate your own participants from other countries if you please.  One intriguing thing I noticed when watching the video of Komova's floor performance is that her leotard apparently changes colour, from red to pink and back again, underneath the stadium lighting.  The last time I witnessed this phenomenon was in 1985, during the floor performance of young Oksana Omelianchik.  I am not at all superstitious, though.

Into the finals on Tuesday, I do not think that Russia will go all out to win.  They do have some room for improvement, though, if they can hold their nerves together.  I'm guessing that if Dementyeva is selected for finals she will be stunning.  Komova will perform the only way she is capable, Afanasyeva and Nabieva will fight heart and soul, and the rest will do their best.

The competition will do their best, too, no doubt.  Romania will make improvements - and I hope they get a chance to medal after all the turmoil of the last years.  I do not know how China will perform but I would like to see them rewarded for their technique.  The USA had what I suspect was close to their best performance yesterday, and they should have to earn their scores a second time around.  I can't make predictions.  Too much about gymnastics is inherently unfathomable, and the FIG has contrived to make the sporting aspects terribly shallow and hit-and-miss.  We'll just have to wait and see.


Between the Olympics has produced a not-to-be-missed summary of team scores including links to videos of all the Russians' preliminary routines.  You can also visit the Longines page of results to find detailed results, lists of qualifications, starting orders etc.

As a brief summary, so far, Russia has qualified for the Olympics and for team finals.  Komova and Afanasyeva have qualified to the all around competition.  Dementyeva is just out of the qualification zone and could be substituted for Afanasyeva, although I'm not sure whether the Russian team administration would want to do this, or how I would feel about it if they did.  Nabieva has qualified to vault final, Komova and Nabieva to bars, Komova and Inshina to floor.  Komova is Russia's only representative in floor final.  Afanasyeva is second reserve, so I guess we are unlikely to see her again after team finals.  Such a pity.

Detailed coverage is provided on all aspects of the world championships by such sites as The All Around, Gymnastics Coaching, and the Gymnastics Examiner - you can find links below.  I will continue to focus on the Russians and the Russians only, because they are the only ones I feel are interesting to write about, for the most part at least.

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