Russia's head gymnastics coach Andrei Rodionenko tells "Sports Express" who will represent Russia at the European Championships in Bulgaria and why most of the leaders of the women's team will not be able to perform at this tournament (which will be held in Sofia from 12 to 18 May).
- Andrei Fedorovich, is it true that silver medallist of the London Games, Viktoria Komova, is still listed among the injured gymnasts?
- This is true, but I would add that this relates to the ankle joint, which has been an issue for some time. Vika has been treated, recovered, operated, but maybe the last treatment was not entirely successful. Perhaps the fact is that Viktoria is still going through puberty, and therefore everything that is connected with joints is extremely problematic. Now we will have a deeper examination, a final diagnosis.
- Where will the investigations take place?
- In Germany.
- In the same clinic as Anastasia Grishina is currently?
- Yes, Nastia just today (April 23) had surgery. Grishina injured her knee during the execution of floor exercises at the Russian Championships in the final of the team championship. How long it will take Nastia to recover is still unknown, but we expect it will be a long time before she can return to the competitive stage.
- World champion Ksenia Afanasyeva is also not able to help the team?
- Yes, she is still recovering.
These are all those girls who for years went through a pretty high level of training and competitive pressures. Now they just need some time for a normal recovery and to bring their musculoskeletal system back to normal operating condition. This is a normal phenomenon for gymnastics, especially at the end of the Olympic cycle.
Now a new generation is coming into the arena, so those who are older can recover and heal injuries.
- Don't you think that the process of recovery has been rather long? It is almost two years since the Olympics.
- Are there any criteria that determine how long recovery should last? This question is for a doctor, not me. This question is not about athletic training, but is about biomedical support. Questions of recovery are in the hands of doctors, not coaches.
- The only Olympic gymnast who can go to the European Championship is London Games champion and three-time world champion Aliya Mustafina. What about her preparation? Didn't she take some time off this Winter?
- Aliya did not stop training even when absent from Round Lake. She trained on an individual basis, whilst working to pass her January exams at the University. Aliya did not miss a single start last year - she won the Universiade, the World Championships, Europeans. Fatigue ... it really accumulated. After she had finished her break, Aliya resumed full training.
- Should we expect that at the European Championships in Sofia, Aliya will gather most of the awards?
- Not necessarily, let's see. She will perform at the level she can. It's better now not to build any expectations or illusions. I can say that Aliya has fully prepared, but she also has some problems with her programme, and her health. She's just a human being.
- Who will make the rest of the team that went to the tournament in Sofia?
- It's all of those who became champions of Russia on their apparatus. This European Championships does not include an all around competition, only event finals. Virtually all the national champions are new. Alla Sosnitskaya won vault, bars went to Daria Spiridonova, beam to Maria Kharenkova. They will be the backbone of the team. Polina Fedorova won the floor exercise, but unfortunately is having problems with her musculoskeletal system. The problems are small, but appear at higher loads of training. We want to preserve the athlete, so she won't go to Bulgaria.
- Who will go instead of Komova?
- There are seven people in contention for the team. Next week we will begin control training, then model training based on the schedule of the European Championships. After this the Board of coaches will determine the final composition of the team.
http://summer.sport-express.ru/gymnastics/reviews/43746/
I wonder what readers think? Can the new generation of Russians win any medals in Sofia?
ReplyDeleteWho will be standing and able to represent Russia at Worlds in China this autumn?
Do you agree with everything Mr Rodionenko has to say? Do you have more questions?
One question, the reference to Mustafina having health problems, is that a reference to something in particular beyond fatigue? I was thinking maybe the flu before Universiade..?
DeleteHi Queen E,
DeleteI think the Russians can win medals. Surely they are a favorite for the podium in the team competition - which color is unknown - but I favor GB, Romania and Russia over Germany, Italy and the rest.
Soskitsnaya has a pretty good chance to win a medal on vault. van Klaveren is not going to Euros, so really only Steingruber and Berger are the only medal favorites I can think of. Soskitsnaya will have to fend off Iordache (I'm assuming she'll do a Tsuk as a second vault), Bui and a few others - but I don't think anyone has two high SV vaults beyond Steingruber - and Berger's difficulty is just ahead of Soskitsnaya.
Spiridonova has to be a favorite on bars as well. She has good difficulty - only Tunney, Downie, Scheder and Komova were competing equal (Komova, Scheder) or higher (Brits). She'll also have tight competition from Adlerteg and Seitz, and perhaps Rodionova, if Rodionova is sent. I think she has pretty good chances. I'm also curious if Mustafina compete her 6.3 that she used last year before making major upgrades for worlds. If so, I would guess she might also contend for a medal.
Beam will be a tougher competition for Kharenkova and (Mustafina?). The Romanians have Iordache and Munteanu who are probably favorites and I believe Sanne Wevers will be back - so beam should be a very tight competition for Kharenkova. Similarly, it will be hard for them to win a medal on floor with very powerful routines from Iordache, Ferrari, Popa-Nedelcu and Steingruber - but I think a clean Sosnitskaya or even Mustafina (with the whip series back in) could contend for a medal there.
I guess once the team is actually known, we can make final predictions - but I think it will be an exciting competition regardless
I'm really looking forward to the competition.
All this is fiction! Right now they don't know what Mustafina can do in two weeks. Russia should be competing at friendly meetings with full routines, as the Romanians are doing. What is the Russian approach to competition? Only saying that the doctors will tell when the gymnasts are fully recovered.
DeleteHe is certainly down playing the injuries. End of cycle weakness? Hello! we are almost half way through the new quad! Also, I thought Kramarenko was a for sure thing. How old is this article? I wonder who else they are considering....
ReplyDeleteThe article is dated 23 April - it says that on the blog post.
DeleteNo team is a certainty until they turn up on the day. Nominative registrations can change until very close to the competition.
Shelgunova is injured. Afanasyeva is still recovering and won't compete. I personally don't consider Paseka as in contention given her backwards progression since last year - Sosnitskaya is more reliable. Kramarenko offers multiple possibilities to fill in gaps though she is not likely to win an individual medal.
I think Rodionova is the unknown quantity. But we will have to wait and see. It's not unfeasible that the team will change even more in the next ten days or so, that is just the way these things work.
Nothing has been said about a Mustafina injury, I expect he is being cautious. All gymnasts have a delicate balancing act to keep especially when there is an old injury, But their training is so heavy it is not unusual for them to suffer aches and pains daily. In fact, as Korbut once said, it would be unusual if something didn't hurt.
Rodionenko won't have a definitive answer to questions like these, as he said the final team isn't even decided yet and there are control competitions to be gone through.
I wonder which 7 ladies he is talking about. I'm assuming Maria Paseka because she is valuable on vault and bars, Afanasyeva if she's recovered her skills, Kramarenko, Shelgunova and who else?
ReplyDeleteHi All
ReplyDeleteI believe he is being sly as a fox. He is throwing all the responsibility and commitment on everyone else; first about injuries of the team (This question is for a doctor, not me), then the team composition decision (the Board of coaches will determine the final composition ) not him. What is he doing in there then? credit claiming? A ship without a captain is a lost one. Alexandrov is a good captain, taking responsibility, giving targets, has an eye to pick talents, knows team exact status, and puts his team in a gold medal contention and targets gold medals all the time. in comparison, what do we have here? Mr. Rodionenko who loves being in power with the wifey (thanks to son in law ) where their pictures are in the media claiming credit but dont know what to do, so they drop the responsibility on everyone else. The question is what is this guy accountable for ? Ironically, Russia best hope for any gold is Alexandrov's product, Mustafina, other than that their best shot is bronze medals at any competition. Gold will mainly be coincidental, depending on other teams messing up something.
Alfi
While I take your point about the side stepping, in my opinion it is oversimplifying things to seek to place blame on Rodionenko for the state of a Russian gymnastics. The problem with strength in depth has its roots in a historical legacy of poor participation rates that began during the Yeltsin years. Also, Russia has been very poor at transitioning its juniors for many, many years, going right back to the 1990s. Romania does much better with two or three talented youngsters than Russia does with ten, in many ways.
DeleteThe process of team selection has always been committee-based.
The men's team is much stronger. We also perhaps are guilty of judging Russian gymnastics by its brilliant Soviet precedent. The women don't do badly, and it might be a positive thing to give exposure to some new names. I really hope so.
Finger crossed and i hope so. With Russian Govt (through VTB) being generous to the gymnastics programme, the problem is not longer financial. To me it sounds like no plan is in place. What really bugs me is that the olympic cycle is halfway but the Russian team looks like the olympics is last night. With Alexandrov by this phase in 2010 the team was kicking ass (execuse my english). Now, I feel the team has just arrived from home to start warming up for the next olympic cycle. Every other nation is working as hard except Russia. If no hope to get back Alexandrov, Russia, BRING BACK ARKAYEV. HE WAS BETTER.
DeleteAlfi
Arkayev was better but I think he is very happy in Saransk and I doubt you would tempt him back to the tension of Round Lake :-)
DeleteIt's funny, not haha funny but funny peculiar, because it is hard to see exactly what the cause of the Russian women's malaise might be. Or even if there is a malaise, perhaps just a normal cycle of competition is taking place and there just isn't much talent at the moment. The men's team is coping much better.
But then again, the men's sport as a whole is thriving. No one complains that the Russian men don't bring home more than one gold from each major competition (which is the women's record, and one that they cannot match). But then again the health of the team seems much better and there does seem to be a strategic direction in that gymnasts like Ablyazin, Petrov and Balandin are working up original and very difficult routines.
It isn't just Russian WAG that seems to have lost direction recently; perhaps the sport as a whole has. Looking in particular at vault, the foundation of the USA's success, how many countries seem able to emulate their success? Vault gives them a hefty lead in every competition. They are phenomenally good at it. Who else in the world can compete? At last year's Europeans, only 11 gymnasts attempted to qualify to vault finals by presenting two vaults. I wonder why?
The strong and sturdy Americans cope with landings off the vaulting table, while many others struggle. My perception is that the rate of lower leg injuries (in particular knee) has increased since its introduction. Injury avoidance has become important, and the only team who seem consistently to be able to risk a full on approach to the apparatus are the Americans.
This can't explain why Russia don't look confident or well prepared any more but I wanted to throw it into the mix. It also isn't just Russia looking underprepared, it is also other countries looking better prepared. I'm going to come full circle here and back to the coaches : perhaps it is the Rods after all, as Alexandrov says. Because Valentina exercises excessive power given her lack of coaching skills and experience, thus undermining the scientific approach to training that has always seen the Russians look physically well prepared. Anyway, hopefully our fears will not be realised and the Russians will do well in Sofia :-)