Skip to main content

Russian gymnastics teams for London 2012 are announced

Image
By
Komova, Nabieva, Mustafina, Inshina, Afanasyeva - all included in the team selection for the London Olympics


Head National Coach Andrei Rodionenko on Sunday announced the names of those gymnasts who will be preparing for the forthcoming Olympic Games in London (reports Eurosport).  The gymnasts were selected according to three criteria :

  1. Results at the Russian Championship, European Championship and Russia Cup. 
  2. How the gymnasts had implemented their routines, and their compliance with 'model characteristics', complexity and quality of execution.  
  3. Moral, strong-willed and feisty qualities at the highest levels of competition

WAG : Ksenia Afanasyeva, Victoria Komova, Aliya Mustafina, Anastasia Grishina, Tatiana Nabieva, Maria Paseka, Anastasia Sidorova and Yulia Inshina

MAG : Denis Ablyazin, Alexander Balandin, David Belyavsky, Emin Garibov, Konstantin Pluzhnikov, Nikita Ignatyev, Sergey Khorokhordin, Igor Pakhomenko 

Of the eight gymnasts selected for each discipline, only five will appear at the Olympic Games, with four competing on each apparatus in the qualifications stage.  

The WAG selection controversially omits 2011 European Champion Anna Dementieva, a strong beam worker and all around competitor, who has suffered a rocky competitive programme since last spring.  Dementieva has suffered injury and illness since, and it seems likely that her consistently poor performance in criteria 1 and 3 has, sadly, led her to lose out on this occasion.  

The MAG selection is noteable for the exclusion of vault and floor specialist Anton Golotsutskov, who unfortunately is suffering from a back injury and in hospital, and was unable to compete at the Russia Cup.  It is expected that Golotsutkov will retire imminently.  Former Russian Olympian and European Champion Maxim Devyatovski has also retired following a year of training independently at his home gym in Siberia.  This was presaged by his non-appearance at the Russia Cup.  

Thus Russia goes forward to London with only three experienced Olympians on their training squads - for the women, Ksenia Afanasyeva, for the men, Konstantin Pluzhnikov and Sergei Khorokhodin.   This is not unusual for gymnastics, a sport where youth appears to have a distinct advantage.


Good luck to all the gymnasts - I wish them the very best on their way to the Olympic podium!


Picture courtesy of the RGF.
Labels:

Comments

  1. M20 June 2012 at 20:36

    Yeah disappointed for Dementyeva but if she suffers from injury and illness, then makes no sense to take her. Still would have preferred her to be on the training squad at least.

    As for criteria number 3, the only one who fits all of that is Mustafina and Ksenia. The others crumble at times.

    However, I have faith that all will be well at Olympics.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

UPDATE 23/9 - Russian WAG team for Nanning confirmed

By
Daria Spiridonova will compete at her first World Championships this autumn.  Picture : RGF Natalia Kalugina has confirmed the Russian team for Nanning : Aliya Mustafina, Maria Kharenkova, Tatiana Nabieva,Ekaterina Kramarenko, Alla Sosnitskaya, Daria Spiridonova.  Reserve : Polina Fyodorova Here is a paraphrased translation of a comment by Natalia Kalugina on her Facebook page : 'Aliya has confidence in competition and she is, kind of, a coach to this team.  In Europe she succeeded in this role and she has told the coaches that she even liked it. The main fighting force will be Kharenkova, Sosnitskaya and Spiridonova.  Accordingly, the strongest apparatus will be beam (Marina Bulashenko With God!).  The Chinese women, of course, have been known to win that apparatus, but if one falls, they all fall.   Alla Sosnitskaya could compete in the vault final, and - in theory - on the floor. On bars, of course, Russia will probably lose to the Chinese women, but the...
57 comments
Read more

Komova should have won!

By
It was a very tight battle in the North Greenwich arena today, with American Gabby Douglas beating out Viktoria Komova by a mere 0.259 points (see results below) and the legendary Aliya Mustafina sealing her comeback from that career-threatening injury with a well deserved bronze medal. Yes, she suffered a fall from beam after her Arabian somersault but elsewhere she was at her best, a real endorsement of the work of the Russian coaches in nursing her back to almost-top form since that fateful day in 2011. Komova had a faultless competition apart from a step on landing her Amanar vault. Frankly, she must feel utterly shattered after coming second once again by a very small margin to an American who was treated very generously by the judges. Komova soared and took every beam move to the max, rounding off with her rare double Arabian dismount in fine style; Douglas literally sidled along the beam, seeming frightened to take her feet off the apparatus for all but her somersaults. Kom...
45 comments
Read more

Judging Komova and Douglas - like comparing the Mariinsky Theatre ... and a Disco

By
  Lupita translates an article about the women's all around from today's Sovietski Sport. OLYMPICS OR LAS VEGAS CASINO? Aliya and Vika waited for Viktoria’s score for her floor, which closed the AA competition. Gabriella Douglas was completely alone, biting her lips. Douglas was not sure of anything, except that Aliya Mustafina, who stayed in gymnastics like a heroine, had won bronze and Komova…  In this instant it was decided to be, or not to be.  To be Olympic Champion, or not to be Olympic Champion. It’s over.  Vika drops her head on Aliya’s shoulder.  The judges have decided: Douglas! I choose the sentence "Douglas has been named Olympic AA champion".  I can explain when this happened.  It was not when Komova didn’t land her Amanar vault well. Her mistake on vault was not fatal.  It was still possible to make it up. They just didn’t allow her to do so. Douglas performed with pleasure and with luck.  She was overscored f...
35 comments
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more