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| Evgenia Shelgunova. Picture: Olga Terentyeva |
Valentina Rodionenko has outlined the Russian team's plans for the coming months in a recent press statement, highlighting the next major competition for March 2014,the Russian Championships in Penza. This will be the qualifying event for the European Championships, to take place in Sofia, Bulgaria, next spring.
All the team's major players are back in training now, but not at the most intense level, says Rodionenko. The gymnasts are now working with their coaches to develop new difficulty for their exercises, or to change the composition of their existing routines. 'It is very important that all of them begin the new season in optimal condition', said the head coach. 'On the 22nd, the teams will go home after their current training camp at Round Lake. They return on December 4th, and this year they will go home again on the 20th December.'
Olympic all around silver medallist Viktoria Komova has only just recovered from her illness earlier this year, but Rodionenko was keen to emphasise that Anastasia Grishina has completely overcome the problems of back pain that prevented her from contending for a place on the Antwerp World Championships team earlier this year. It is clear that preparing well for next year's competitions and remaining in good health is vital to the aspirations of the Russian team: 'We are not competing against Romania, but the United States', said Rodionenko.
Elsewhere, the Russians have confirmed who will compete in the team competition at the DTB Cup (30th November to 1st December), though it is as yet uncertain who will compete as individuals.
Women
Aliya Mustafina
Tatiana Nabieva
Anna Rodionova
Yekaterina Kramarenko
Men
Dmitri Stolyarov
Daniil Kazachkov
Pavel Pavlov
Nikita Lezhankin
I am glad that Anna Rodionova is getting some competition experience alongside her more senior team mates. She competed at the Massilia Cup this weekend with Ekaterina Kramarenko, Evgenia Shelgunova and Alla Sosnitskaya, but despite her clear potential and superior technique was the only Russian not to take a medal in France. I would certainly hope for better from her in the coming year. Alongside first year senior Maria Kharenkova, she should be able to lead a good reserve for the Russian team in 2014.
In Marseille Kramarenko continued the good quality work shown during her Universiade comeback, taking bronze all around and silver on bars. Newcomer Sosnitskaya did well to take the gold on vault; and Shelgunova, in her first proper outing for the senior team after a long period of injury outages, took bronze on beam. Not a bad weekend for a Russian B team, who were competing against some of the top Romanians including Larissa Iordache and Andreea Munteanu, although I find the regression in vault D scores amongst the Russian team rather worrying.
You can find full results of the team and all around competition in Massilia here, and the event finals here. Piibunina has also uploaded plenty of videos at his Youtube channel.
We also have the Voronin Cup to look forward to, from 1st to 5th December.
Kramarenko has certainly deteriorated over the years, though that's to be expected. Sosnitskaya is actually quite promising, certainly her vault technique is reasonably clean and her floor tumbling looks very comfortable for her apart from the slightly crunched DLO, but a huge improvement from when we saw the routine in training. If she can upgrade those two events she could be useful. Shelgunova has decent D scores esp on beam but her execution on everything is dreadful, bent knees and flexed feet everywhere and it cuts into her E score so much that unless she cleans it up big time I think she will remain B team, particularly once Kharenkova turns senior.
ReplyDeleteI don´t understand or I can´t understand the reason keepping Tatiana Nabieva in the team if she according that she keep it lacked the capacity and competitive level for WC Antwerp. DoesYekaterina Kramare also has not lost the competitive level for the current championships? If the answer is positive, because keeping it on the team? And where is Komova is always announced that she returned to training, but the eve of a championship, she is never ready to compete? I prefer to take risks with girls who represent the future like Sonistskaya and Kharenkova.
DeleteI think Kramarenko is excellent in her execution and is a good team captain for the younger, more inexperienced girls. You can definitely count on her.
ReplyDeleteI think Sosnitskaya will become valuable for vault, especially if she gets a Amanar. Her technique and form are far better than Paseka's and Nabieva's.
I also think Kharenkova will surpass Shelgunova, and I really want Rodionova to become more consistent because I would love to see her more.
Again, I would prefer to take risks who represent the future and as coach, make a hard word to clean their routines, I will take a break to Alyia, and send Shelgunova, Rodionova, SosnistsKaya and Kharenkova.
DeleteThe time to shine to Kharenkova and Nabieva is gone. They don´t have competitive level to nowdays championships.
But both Kramarenko and Nabieva can contribute reasonably on.multiple apparatus, while only Shelgunova and Rodionova of the new generation.have anything like all around ability.
DeleteThe Russians' performance level drops off sharply after the world medal aspirations of the top four, and even then they themselves can be vulnerable. For example, Komova has not now been seen in major competition since summer 2012, and Grishina has yet to prove her mettle.
The team needs reserves. These include the young generation but also, vitally, the experience and relative reliability of such gymnasts as Nabiyeva and Kramarenko,.who can provide some relief in the heavy competitive programme and go to less important comps like Massilia and DTB, and give back.up.at the big tournaments.
They aren't going to win Russia gold, but Russia has become very poor at translating junior promise into senior medals. Gymnasts generally do not make a slow improvement over the years and suddenly begin performing much greater difficulty as seniors. Relying on one gymnast - eg Sosnitskaya - to provide a whole generation's potential on one apparatus is ridiculous.
We are seeing the ragged end of a demographic shift that took place ten years or so after the break up of the Soviet Union. I actually applaud the idea of keeping the veterans on the team as they will be needed up to Rio at least. I cannot remember a time when the Russian junior promise looked so thin, and I cannot see them.surviving as a force (WAG) beyond 2016, although after 2020 may be another story if some of the investment benefits begin to filter through then.
But then again, the only country with any strength in depth is the USA, so Russia may continue its 2nd/3rd standing in the world by default.
The MAG situation is entirely different because of the nature of the sport, the longer shelf life of male gymnasts, and the strength in depth in the sport internationally.
Dear Queen Elizabeth,
DeleteSo, don´t you think the coaches have work hard and try Shelgunova and Rodionova? If the chances of medals are with Alyia Mustafina and Ekatarina Kramarenko.... Sorry, but I don´t like Nabieva. I think her routines were poor and boring in WC Antwerp
I think they all have better chances of success by training well, and the coaches should try with all of them as thy bring different but valuable things to the team. The best situation would be to have to make choices at the next team selection ... Whereas for example for Antwerp, they had run out of options nod the team presented was really the only one feasible.
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DeleteI have added notes Anna Rodionnova , Alla Sonistskaya, Evgelnia Shelgunova and Ekatarina Kramarenko championship in Massilia. Kramarenko ranked first and totaled 54.825 points, ranking 3rd in AA. Evgelnia Shelgunova added 54.55 points, ranked 4th in the AA. Anna Rodionnova was in 10th place and added 53.6 points. And Alla Sonistskaya was in 19th place, adding 53.6 points.
DeleteI still prefer Evgenia Shelgunova and "her dreadful foot and leg" (your words) to Tatianna Nabieva. If judges seems don´t care to dreadfull foot and leg, why do we care????
Simply because we love gymastics and we miss the Soviet days when execution and good taste were important. Shelgunova could compete for any team. She hasn't got the Russian style. She would not make the US team, for one thing.
DeleteOh, I agree. I miss the soviet days, the soviet gymnastics, the artristy, the dance, ....everything!!! They were amazing. When I was child, my heroine was Shushunova. :) Children dreams
DeleteI'm curious as to why Russia is sending their best/better female gymnasts to Stuttgart and an alternative B-team for the men's side.
ReplyDeleteI think that Alla is actually being paced rather well for Rio as a vaulter in particular. She needs a bit more block off the horse to even consider an Amanar, but she has good technique and a nice DTY, superior to Paseka's I think. It's early days yet and given the injuries we've seen this year I'd rather see her move a bit more slowly towards higher difficulty and get secure in her skills and technique than rush forward and risk an injury.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting point in Valentina's statement is when she says that Grishina has recovered from her small injuries. No hint at her lack of willpower! Does Rodionenko realize that they need her? They seem to be very weak in comparison with the Americans. Shelgunova's execution is crap!
ReplyDeleteValentina was very measured in this starement, Let's hope she can.keep up the positivity.
DeleteShelgunova is somewhat maligned. Her leg and foot form is as dreadful as the American Olympic floor champion, but her shoulder, head and arms are OK. Some her skills, for example that Pak, are dreadful.
But she brings to the Russian team positivity and confidence, especially on beam, and no.matter the injury strewn last two years, she does look fit. She is certainly no Rodionova but in terms of the international sport today her failings aren't that shocking. We expect better of the Russians, don't we, but then again the Code doesn't realky reward that. And oh, we have an all around World Champion.whose leg form is dreadful too, even if I admire that impressive power in the tumbling that Shelgunova doesn't have.
Not sure why Aliya is being sent to this tournament when she could be rested. The men's B team is being sent. They overwork her too much, let her get a rest for the end of the year. No one else has done as much as she has this year....geez.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you, Aliya needs a break.
DeleteI agree with you too.
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