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| European Champion Aliya Mustafina with national team coach Evgeny Grebyonkin in Friday's all around final |
Mustafina's appearance at last week's European Championships was good enough to secure two gold medals, but her somewhat erratic performance, particularly in qualifications, leaves a few question marks over her readiness for such a high level competition. She herself acknowledges that she came to this competition not prepared to her best, pointing out that on bars, for example, she was not competing her full repertoire of skills. But, she says, it was not her intention to show new routines - merely to compete for her country.
Mustafina's participation in these European Championships has clearly weighed a significant physical strain after taking only a month's holiday following the Olympics. Alexandrov points out that she has been suffering from a painful back injury that has inhibited her preparation and prevented her from competing her full difficulty. And whilst Mustafina herself was ready to appear - and enjoys competition - Alexandrov clearly has some misgivings about whether it was the right thing for her to perform in Moscow, pointing out that competing without proper preparation represents an injury risk.
'In preparation for such major competitions, we would like to conduct a more systematic and thorough job ... I understand that Aliya likes to compete, but we cannot always count on her fighting spirit and boundless energy ... She has already done a lot for gymnastics. And in my opinion: Mustafina should compete only when she is completely ready. We cannot afford to lose her just because of some silly and annoying injuries.'
He goes on to say that :
‘In spite of everything, Aliya was able to collect herself, perform and win important medals. But I want there to be more careful preparations, because if there are any defects, to act is very dangerous - the risk of injury is very high. But Aliya is a soldier, she did everything she could at this time.'
Indeed, all of the Russian gymnasts are under pressure as they prepare for an extremely busy competitive calendar this year, with only Viktoria Komova allowed to rest in the early part of this year. In addition to the usual European and World Championships (April/October) there is also the Universiade (July), which Andrei Rodionenko has explained takes place at exactly the time when the gymnasts would ideally begin training for the World Championships. It would seem that there are significant clashes of interest over who competes when, and at which competition.
This situation is complicated by Russia's relative lack of strength in depth in this (and the next) generation of the national team, and by its dependency on funding from the Sports Ministry of the Russian Federation, who no doubt are demanding high profile medal victories from the Russians to justify their significant continuing investment in the sport. Yet, Svetlana Khorkina points out, Russia's reserves are weak, and young gymnasts are not being prepared to the high level they once were.
Meanwhile, the pressure remains on an injured Mustafina to deliver medals for Russia. But gold in Moscow has not been good enough for Valentina Rodionenko, ‘The victory in Moscow does not mean that you have everything in order’, she reports herself as saying to Mustafina, adding that with the routines she presented at Europeans she might be able to compete for medals in Worlds this year, but probably not next. The routines that Mustafina performed in Europe were the same ones she prepared with personal coach Dina Kamalova, says Rodionenko.
If there is continuing disagreement amongst the Russian head coaches and the former WAG team coach, Alexandrov is refusing to be put into a bend or break position over his exclusion from the podium team at the Moscow championships, and his 18 year old protegee is showing considerable poise in deflecting questions, claiming that the only reason that Grebyonkin was on the floor with her was that he helps her with her bars. (Certainly, all the women's team appear relaxed and at ease with the new WAG team coach, in particular Ksenia Afanasyeva who is blossoming into an accomplished veteran performer.)
The message from those who matter seems to be that there is really nothing much of any significance in Alexandrov's omission from the team roster.
Is there, however, a story behind the story: should Mustafina have competed in Moscow?
Great article, as always. The way things are looking, Russia will potentially have four all-arounders going into Worlds this year (Grishina, Komova, Mustafina and Afanasyeva) and with that much competition, I'm not sure Aliya will even make the AA final. I feel like Euros was worth the risk, but is the Universiade?
ReplyDeleteI would normally agree but the Russian Federation and the Russian team seem to be placing a lot of emphasis on the Universiade, with even Komova saying she hopes to make it if she can pass her exams and get registered for university in time. Also Aliya said late last year that Universiade was one of the key meets she was aiming for. I suspect it probably has to do with some funding, that the Russian team needs to put up a good showing then.
DeleteI should probably have said ... Andrei Rodionenko has now confirmed that Komova will definitely NOT be in the running for the Universiade. So her only major comp this year will be, hopefully, Worlds.
DeleteAh I see. It did sound like a long shot anyway for Komova. I hope we will see a fully fit Komova back at Worlds!
DeleteI think it is important to remember that without a team final, there is no need for Russia to bring 4 AAers. They will be looking at it as who can win the most in Event finals. Musty pretty much has a gold in the bag, as long as she doesnt pull a Maroney, and with her full bar routine, she can outscore the Romanians and even the Americans with their amanars (shes scores higher on bars than an Amanar does). Komova is highly likely to medal in the AA and in as many as three event finals (bars, beam, floor). Then Paseka will hopefully get her vaulting together, and Afanasyeva is already the queen of floor. Not being strong on any event, it is highly unlikely that Team Russia will have Grishina compete ahead of these four. But of course Sept is a long ways away, anything goes. I think doing the AA and bars, skipping floor was a good call for Musty. Hopefully she takes it easy at Uni as well.
DeleteVery glad there is nothing wrong between Mustafina and Alexandrov, they seem to be a good pair together and can 'manage' each other well. I do agree Mustafina definitely did not look fully prepared, she seemed tired and appeared to have back as well as ankle problems. The main problem is that Russia doesn't have enough depth especially with Komova out as well that if they really want medals they have to put Aliya up - Grishina and Afanaseyva are lovely when they hit but are inconsistent. I do hope she rests and is sensible about her training and competing, though it does seem like she is being careful.
ReplyDelete