Loose ends ...

Anastasia Grishina - will the Rodionenkos treat her fairly and give her a chance to try for the team?

Just a few loose ends to tie up since I last spoke to you post Russia Cup.

Go-Tribe is fabulous! Visit her site for full transliterations of almost all the Russia Cup results, including the men's competition.

Andrei Rodionenko is talking about the Russian team selections for Worlds again, and the complications that Komova's illness has brought to the team.  She mentions Paseka as a possible team member but says it is a real conundrum given the lack of indicators of Komova's readiness, inevitable because of her illness, and the fact that Paseka's strongest apparatus, vault, coincides with that of two members of the team already, Mustafina and Nabiyeva. 

Hold your horses, Andrei - aren't you forgetting that there is another gymnast to be considered - Anastasia Grishina!? Nominative registrations close on the 27th August but the team can make changes till the last few days before the competition.

There is no indication yet who will do all around.  The real problem is that with a good few weeks to go until Worlds, and with little information available on two of the key gymnasts (Komova and Grishina), the working order still cannot be finalised - and it would be unusual if it were clear at this stage.  It is normal to have absolute confirmation of who is doing what on the day before the competition when start lists are published - anything before that is rather speculative.  So I am not sure why Andrei feels it necessary to rush to the press to inform them of this non-news.

As an aside I might add that Russia Cup champion Tanya Nabiyeva has privately mentioned that her coach had set her a target of scoring over 14 on all apparatus consistently - which she has been pleased and proud to achieve.  There is the potential of small upgrades to her routines, but with a target score of 56 all around I think it is really unlikely that she will be chosen for this event at Worlds, and she probably realises that. 

Finally, further to the interview with Nikolai Kuksenkov where the Russian senior, Universiade champion discussed his father's dismissal from the Ukraine national team, it has now been confirmed that his father, Yuli Kuksenkov, will join the Russian team as assistant head coach to men's gymnastics from the beginning of September.  Great news for the Russian team, and good luck to the Kuksenkov family!

It has been hard to decide who to depict on this post - but in the end my heart directed me to add an image of Grishina, who I hope will be treated fairly in the coming days, and given a chance to prove her readiness for the World Championships.