The
aim of the Russian championship is to select the team for the European
Championships and for the Summer Universiade in Kazan, - Valentina Rodionenko told us. Not all the gymnasts have yet recovered after the
Olympics. But we cannot yet replace those who competed in London.
Nevertheless, we freed Vika Komova because of an injury. She is feeling
fatigue after the last Olympic quad. We have to preserve her, she is a young
gymnast.
Aliya
Mustafina is recovering. Masha Paseka, Ksenia Afanasyeva are training
well; Dementyeva is recovering after her last injury. Grishina is
showing good results at the control competitions. The men show a better situation than the girls. There is a second team and more competition.
- How many athletes will represent our country at the European Championships that will take place in April at Olympiski?
- At
the European Championships four girls and six men will compete, this
figure is relative to the number of events. Concerning the men, we’ll have
two all-arounders, the girls, three. This year there is no team
competition at the European championships or at Worlds. After the
Olympics, there is a year of individual competitions because it’s
difficult for those who did an Olympic quad to compete again as a team.
The load is huge.
- Will the same team compete at the Universiade?
- Of
course. Mustafina, Afanasyeva, Paseka, Dementyeva will compete. Only
Grishina and Komova are too young for the Universiade. They are not
university students. We hope that Nabieva will stay fit. She was
injured, but she is now training actively. Katia Kramarenko, who
competed at the Beijing Olympics, has come back after an injury and is
working well. Our five best athletes will compete at the Universiade.
- Are any of the young gymnasts ready to compete with our first team?
- We
have a gymnast born in 1997. Zhenia Shelgunova is now starting to
compete with the senior team. She was one of the best juniors.Yet it’s
very difficult to enter the senior team. She is training with the
seniors, but it’s difficult for her. We’ll have her compete at senior
level. In mock competitions she always comes in the first three. The
most important thing is to avoid injuries.
- On which principle will you name the teams for the European Championships?
- First,
we’ll select the all-arounders, the best placed. Of course, we know
their potential more or less. There are no miracles. We want them to
compete. The best on events can make the team. We’ll take into account
the health and the difficulty of the routines. Sometimes at our national
competitions the gymnasts perform easier routines and win. They make
mistakes with more complex routines. But we don’t have so many gymnasts that we do not have to select the best ones
I enjoy your blogs! I hope Komova comes back....she is one of my favorite Russian gymnasts besides Mustafina. Glad to hear that Grishina is improving. I felt awful for her at the Olympics.
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