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Russia's plan - aim for two golds, two silvers, two bronzes

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A happy Russian team launch their team kit : L to R Tatiana Nabieva, Alexander Balandin, Aliya Mustafina, Yulia Inshina, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Viktoria Komova, Maria Paseka, Anastasia Grishina.  Back centre: Nikita Ignatyev
Media coverage of interviews with Viktoria Komova, Alexei Nemov and Valentina Rodionenko provides a slightly varying account of the Russian team's medal expectations in London which I will attempt to moderate here.   Rodionenko announces clearly that the original training plan written in 2009 targetted two golds, two silver and two bronze medals, focussing mainly on the hopes of the women's team. 

The various individuals considered as medal contenders are :

Viktoria Komova - bars and beam
Aliya Mustafina - bars
Anastasia Grishina - bars
Ksenia Afanasyeva - floor.

The Russian girls will fight gymnasts from China, Romania and USA for a place on the team medal podium, and everything will depend on their physical and mental condition in London. 

The men's team, labelled 'dark horses' by Nemov, will fight for bronze as a team, with Emin Garibov, Alexander Balandin and Denis Ablyazin providing the strongest hopes for individual medals.

The Google translate of Viktoria Komova's interview is fairly clear, and I reproduce it here -  edited, not word for word.
[Komova] said that she is trying to "ignore" the fact that she has "high hopes".
 
"Just behave calmly, train and act as normal.  Of course, I am counting the days until July 21 - the day of departure to London. Naturally I am worried, because this will be my first big competition.  And no one wants to pretend that everything is well formed." [I guess she means she doesn't want to take anything for granted.]
 
At the same time Komova noted that she does not have anything special to 'worry about'.
"Training is every day and I do not think about the Olympics, just how to make my programme as good as possible and cleaner" - continued the gymnast. " ... In our team from last Olympics remains Ksenia Afanasyeva - she is also worried but supports us, because she knows what the Olympics are like.  We have to question her, and she says, girls, take it as a regular event. ... We all already know that the main thing is to be there and to perform our routines," - concluded Komova.
I'm a little worried at Rodionenko's continued insistence that Komova is the main all around hope for the team, and the women's team medal hopes are perhaps being played down.  I wonder if this indicates that Komova is the only team member with an Amanar vault?  We'll have to wait and see, but I cannot believe it will be as simple as that. 

Sources

Coaches believe in Komova, Sportbox, 28th June 2012
Nemov sure that gymnasts will compete for gold, Sportbox, 28th June 2012
Komova: gymnasts of China and the US - the main rival of Russians at the Olympics 2012, RSport, 29th June 2012
Russian gymnasts aim at two Olympic golds 2012 - Rodionenko  RSport, 28th June 2012

Picture courtesy of the RGF.




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Comments

  1. Anonymous2 July 2012 at 04:48

    I hope they're downplaying the expectations for Aliya Mustafina! She is the perfect dark horse! I hope she manages to get on the podium! SO EXCITED! Davai Russia!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. M2 July 2012 at 07:13

    Hmm, I think, maybe she thinks Komova has the best chance to try for gold in AA, which may be the case because of her execution of things. I doubt anyone would downplay Aliya's grit and determination or even Grishina's chances. One of the 3 isn't making it to the AA finals, that's for sure though. Truthfully, I don't pay attention to what Rodionenko says to the press, they have expectations like everyone else, it's just words. Everything comes down to how they perform in London and that is the only thing that matters.

    As for who is doing the Amanar, we know both Komova and Mustafina are training it, maybe Grishina as well, whether they perfect it in time for Olympics remains to be seen. Mustafina is adamant of doing it, regardless of we the fans worrying about her getting injured, lol.

    I care more about the team going for gold tbh. I would love for them to break Russia's streak of no team gold. Then I will concentrate on AA. Either way, I just hope they can perform to the best of their abilities.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Queen Elizabeth2 July 2012 at 07:48

    The run up to this comp has been so long and yet there are still 4 weeks to go before it even begins.
    I agree with you both - this is all just hot air and we will only know anything on the day of the comp. I long for Mustafina to be her feisty, imperious self but more than anything I want the team to do well so the Russians can take back some of the initiative and be leaders.
    The sport will just get worse and worse if we have to follow an American model of undiluted athleticism.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. M3 July 2012 at 00:54

      lol, yeah. I also hope for Mustafina's imperious self. I am a huge fan of hers. I had stopped watching gymnastics for a while and then saw videos of her winning in 2010, and decided to watch again, and see how this Russian team will do.

      I also just want them to do well as a team, they always fall short, I just want to see them give it their all.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous2 July 2012 at 23:09

    I'm confused.. has the team been officially announced yet or not? Aliya says it has been 'chosen' but I'm still not sure- is Sidorova out?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Queen Elizabeth2 July 2012 at 23:25

      Alexandrov will announce the final five on.or around 7th July.
      Sidorova is widely believed to have returned home with a back injury. Dementieva has therefore probably been invited to camp but will probably be one of the replacement gymnasts.
      The list of competing gymnasts can be changed right up until hours before the competition.

      Delete
    2. M3 July 2012 at 05:25

      I always wondered this, suppose a gymnast gets injured during competition, can they call on the replacement gymnast or is it that one of the remaining 4 will have to take over?

      Delete
    3. Queen Elizabeth3 July 2012 at 08:19

      Before the comp begins they can make substitutions. Once the comp is underway, they have to make do with the five nominated.

      Delete
    4. M3 July 2012 at 09:13

      Ah I see, thanks for the explanation. Here is a new article, where Rodionenko (the male one) discusses the team, says the team will be announce on July 8th and he also mentions other things, but google translate can only do so much, so I'll leave it up to you :) Here is the link

      http://www.championat.com/olympic12/article-128606-rodionenko-u-nas-net-prava-na-oshibku.html

      Delete
    5. Queen Elizabeth3 July 2012 at 09:25

      Thanks M, I'll see if I can get a translation ;-)

      Delete
    6. MustyFan3 July 2012 at 21:20

      Aliya said today that the team was not chosen yet. Where did you read otherwise?

      Delete
    7. Queen Elizabeth3 July 2012 at 21:59

      Hi Mustyfan, See above, the teams willbe announced on 8 July. O:-)

      Delete
  5. Unknown3 July 2012 at 11:20

    Rodionenko is distracting the media or downplaying because he mentioned some most impossible but left out some most possible medal hopes. Komova is unarguablely an AA contender, w/ or w/o the Amanar. Same case applies to Mustafina. But no way could Komova win a beam medal, though she may qualify for the final. And Afanaseyve's performance this year is just OK but far from satisfactory. She seldom placed among the top on FX in domestic competitions. I predict she won't even qualify for the FX final, because Grishina, Komova and Mustafina can all score higher than her.

    ReplyDelete

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