Aliya Mustafina and team candidate Seda Tutkhalyan - both from Moscow Five days left before the MAG European Championships open in Switzerland, and Russian gymnast Nikita Nagorny is posting videos of himself practicing a full twisting Roche vault - I wonder if he will compete it in Berne? The men's team seems fairly well prepared and ready to travel as announced some weeks ago - Kuksenkov, Belyavski, Ignatyev, Nagorny, Ablyazin. But the composition of the women's team, who will travel to their first major competition of 2016 next week, seems somewhat undecided. Will Natalia Kapitonova make her major senior debut in June, or will Seda Tutkhalyan, her dynamic yet unpredictable rival, grace Russia's team? Or will other gymnasts be brought into play; will further, unexpected, changes be made? If head coach Valentina Rodionenko's recent announcement is to be believed, it is a simple case of replacing the injured Maria Paseka (a vault specialist) with Natalia ...
Gee, what a contrast. Aliya all smiling, Ksenia slightly more serious, and Anastasia... well, my apologies for asking, but does she ever look happy instead of grumpy?
ReplyDelete:-) She does have quite a sweet smile. Perhaps her nose was itching or something.
Deleteshe is just looking down. It's like when someone closes their eyes as the photo is taken..can make them look real sleepy or wierd. i'm sure we have all had akward photos taken of us we are just lucky (unless when we get tagged of facebook :P ) that they wont be online for everybody to pick on them.
DeleteI guess this anonymous is lifje on the International Gymnast Forum. ;) No disrespect meant to Anastasia, but I honestly hope to see her smile a bit more often. Now her smile is such a rarity.
DeleteNow, now.
DeletePoor Anastasia - she's only 15 and probably very shy. Russians smile much less frequently that we do in the West - I walk around with a silly smile plastered all over my face, partly to try to make my wrinkles curl in the right direction as I can't afford cosmetic surgery. Nastia doesn't have to worry about that just yet.
As an entirely optional exercise, I challenge you both to find a lovely photograph of Nastia with a big beautiful smile on her face (there are some), and post a link to it here.
I never ask people to do things I'm not prepared to do myself. So here's a start.
Deletehttp://russiangymnasts.net/anastasiya-grishina/pics/11nats/05.jpg
yes i am (i'm just anonymous here cuz it seemed easier :P )
Deleteanyway i found out what makes her smile! A hug from Queen Elizabeth! http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/404797_320075864701323_100000967355045_929214_283421317_n.jpg
http://gymnet.org/forum/files/2010_euros_anastasia_grishina_fx_aa_01_172.jpg
DeleteOK, I think this one comes close to a happy looking Grishina.
we want to see the same colored medal decorating your neck in London Aliya!
ReplyDelete