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Mustafina will perform all four in London - Andrei Rodionenko

Thanks to Alan who alerted me to this English language radio interview with Head Coach of the Russian team, Andrei Rodionenko.

Rodionenko has a lot of thinking to do before the London Olympics.  Picture courtesy of the RGF.
 Rodionenko's key points were as follows :
  • For the Russians the Europeans were a control test for a young inexperienced team rather than the endpoint.  Sometimes the Europeans are the most important competition but this time round we have the Olympics in plain view and the main goal was to collect information to help decide what kind of team to take there.  
  • He was happy to see the Romanian team so good and taking gold.
  • This was not the final team that will go to London; Afanasyeva and Dementyeva were both sick, and in London Mustafina will perform on all four pieces of apparatus.  The fact that she competed on only three pieces in Brussels significantly affected her psychological preparation.
  • Will the team be ready in two months?  Rodionenko replied that 'we must fuel our athletes.  50 per cent of our planning wasn’t very good.'  It's a very serious conclusion for them: the preparation of athletes, 'their feeling and their realisation of the situation', needs work. 
  • It was acknowledged that the Russians had sacrificed this championships for good performance at the Olympics – they just wanted to see Russia’s newcomers in action and who can make the remaining two spots
  • The Russians will take three all arounders with them to London - Mustafina, Komova and Grishina - the remaining two spots will be allocated either in a three and one or two and two formation, and will be decided from Afanasyeva, Inshina, Paseka, Dementyeva.  [Please note : I did not hear Rodionenko say Sidorova but this may not be significant - she is with the team in Sochi so I am guessing she is still in the running and this may just be my defective hearing of Rodionenko's English.]
  • Rodionenko emphasised the difficulty of making a decision whilst working across effectively two different competition formats - in qualifications 5-4-3 and in finals 5-3-3.
  •  Results from the Russian Cup, to be held mid June in Penza, will be part of the final decision process and they hope to find a solution there to their selection.


Comments

  1. Дауж здоровья нашему славному Андрею Родиненко и терпения как и всем русским тренерам !
    Мне бы так хотелось что бы наша сборная по спортивной гимнастике мужская и женская победили не олимпиаде и взяли много золота, но пока что это похоже на пустые мечты : (
    Конечно я верю в наших ребят и девочек , очень надеюсь что они будут достаточно здоровы для для борьбы за лидерство вот только огня им не хватает ! Ошиблись и сразу сдаются ну нельзя же так,хотя мне бы критиковать сама не выступаю.
    Надеюсь наши спортсмены копят энергию для мощного взрыва : )

    ReplyDelete
  2. Spasibo, thank you for your post, and so sorry I do not speak Russian.
    What the comment says (broadly, from a Google translate) is :
    Here's to the health and continued patience of glorious Andrei Rodionenko and the other coaches!
    I would so like our men's and women's teams to win lots of gold at the Olympics, but so far this looks like an empty dream :=(
    Of course I believe in our guys and girls and hope that they will be healthy enough to fight for the leadership but maybe there is not enough fire to them! Well, you can not give up.
    I hope our athletes are saving energy for a powerful blast:)



    I feel the same way! Let's hope they can pull together their strength and surprise us all! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow thanks a lot for translating my comment !
      And thanks to the whole team for fast information, for impressive written and translated articles
      Such support should be admitted
      I like this blog a lot !!
      Hope that you can understand my so called "good" english : )

      Delete
  3. Go Russia! Let me quote Vikuska's recent status: 'just because something is difficult, it doesn't mean it's impossible. It just means that you have to bother.' I have never lost faith in our girls and I'm sure they have never lost faith in themselves. We are coming for that gold, whether it's clear to this so called gymternet or not!

    Oh, and I agree that the kind of support and resource this blog provides is admirable. Great work. Спасибо!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you both and please keep reading and commenting.

    There is always more to do ...

    Do either of you plan to go to Penza for the Russian Cup?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah i really want to go there but cannot do this .I will be very busy this month
      So as the most fans of this sport i will read results from blogs ,than later watch video available on youtube or on official gymnastics russian site if there will be live translation as before
      Maybe in 2013 i can help to collect information from championships
      If you need it of corse : )

      Delete
    2. That's a nice thought. Email me on elizabethbooth136@btinternet.com if you would like to contribute something to the blog!
      I hear that Europeans will be in Kazan in 2013 - I think it's time for me to stretch my legs and visit Russia ;-))

      Delete
  5. I hope the Russian Cup will be live streamed as it was Russian Championship on http://www.sportgymrus.ru/.
    In Brussels we didn't see much of the Russian coaches supporting the girls, I didn't see Alexandrov or others, only the coach spoting them on UB. I wonder why.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have wondered that too ...
      Perhaps it's simply really obvious, like that they preferred to send Sidorova's coach onto the floor as it was that gymnast's first time in an important competition?

      Delete
  6. it would also be great if judges at the Olympics were fair

    ReplyDelete

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