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Does Komova need gymnastics?

Komova - a prodigious talent for performance

I have been pondering the nature of gymnastics talent recently, while viewing some videos of 1992 competitions on YouTube - you can find links to them if you like, by visiting RRG's Facebook page.

What was it that made the Soviets so outstanding?  In the videos, you will see three champions, side by side, each competing close to perfect routines almost every time they hit the podium.  No sprung floor, no vaulting table, a Code that (1) required compulsory as well as optional routines to be prepared, (2) encouraged innovation in single moves of extreme difficulty, (3) required balanced performances of artistic as well as technical merit, and (4) recognised and rewarded virtuosity.  

The three champions I am speaking of each satisfied the Code in different ways: Boguinskaia had unique and incredible grace and amplitude; Lyssenko expressed emotional intensity through an amazing combination of power, difficulty and artistry; Gutsu simply showed some of the most reckless, flighty work of any gymnast ever on bars, beam and floor.

These gymnastics champions produced works of gymnastic art each time they hit the floor; while they occasionally made mistakes, they minimised the impact of those mistakes by being practically perfect in every other way. Was their talent any greater than that of current champions such as Mustafina and, in particular, Komova?  I doubt it very much.  

Of course, the Commonwealth of Independent States team that represented the disbanded USSR in 1992 had a far deeper bank of talent on which to draw than today's Russian team.  Only one Russian, Elena Grudneva, made it onto the Olympic team alongside two Ukrainians (Gutsu and Lyssenko ), two Uzbeks (Galiyeva and Chusovitina) and one Belarussian (Boguinskaia).  The selection process had left behind in Moscow the unique abilities of such gymnasts as Groshkova, Kalinina, Kut and Abrashitova, while Latvian stars Sazonenkova and Laschenova were left at home for political reasons. 

Psychologically, it was a completely different game for the CIS gymnasts than for the Russian team of today. As a Soviet, just making the team was the big thing; it was a relief to be selected, and the easy job of competing with the rest of the world lie ahead of you.  What a difference to today, when making the Russian team is a rather daunting prospect thanks not to the rigour of the selection and the depth of the competition, but to the weight of responsibility that lies ahead at Worlds and Europeans.  In a way, it is no wonder that a few of the girls don't seem to like competing that much, suffer from nerves, and break down on the competition floor.  

Svetlana Boguinskaia's medals rewarded her performance and competitive ability.  The team environment in which she participated required and supported peak performance.

Peak performance was demanded of these Soviet team girls almost all the time, yet few of them had time out for injuries.  Lyssenko broke her hand in event finals in 1991 Worlds, but I don't remember her missing a single major event besides that final, despite competing with a tightly strapped leg throughout most of 1991 and 1992.  All three of the girls made appearances at relatively minor competitions such as the DTB Cup and European Cup.  Their career span was perhaps less than is expected of the gymnasts today, if you take into account gymnasts like Ferrari, Khorkina and Zamolodchikova, but then again Boguinskaia made it to three Olympics, and Lyssenko remained close to the top for four years, which is longer than many US Olympians achieve or want to achieve today.

All this got me to thinking about Komova, perhaps the most prodigiously talented gymnast I have ever seen, at least on a technical level.  Gymnastics needs Komova.  That floor routine in the all around final in London told you all you needed to know about her.  Difficulty, originality, technique, artistry.  All the virtuosity in the world in one package : Komova.  Who else in the world could transform an assemblage of the Code-necessary leaps, twists, turns and tumbles into such a spontaneous, expressive and fluent performance?  Which other country in the world could interpret the Code to such beautiful artistic effect?  There is only Komova, and only Russia.  All the rest fade into Code-compliance and efficiency in an attempt to avoid deduction, while Komova creatively leaps over and above the Code into a different paradigm of gymnastics, speaking a gymnastic language that the Code cannot understand or reward.  At her flawless best, Komova is simply unequalled as a performer.

Mustafina - perhaps the fiercest competitor since Shushunova

Yet as a competitor, Komova's psychological game is well exceeded by her team mate Aliya Mustafina.  I do not mean to point the finger at Viktoria and degrade her achievements by referring to her mistakes.  We all make them.  But it is the reaction to those mistakes that makes a great champion.  You only had to watch Mustafina's progress through last year's European Championships to recognise a great champion and fighter in action.  Despite a disastrous qualifying routine on the beam, the young woman came back stronger and stronger every time, till she achieved her objective of gold.  In the team final of the London Olympics, Mustafina's fall from grace on beam pushed her on to greater things as she secured bronze in the all around, gold on bars and bronze on floor, all on the comeback trail from one of the most serious injuries a gymnast can suffer.  Mustafina's ambition, drive - and sense of responsibility towards her team - reminds me of 1988 Olympic champion Elena Shushunova.  

Komova, meanwhile, seems to be a victim of her own nerves.  Her negative reaction to her mistakes is often exaggerated, but it cannot be denied that close competition is far from her favourite way of passing time.  Instead of celebrating silver medals all around at the 2011 World Championships and 2012 Olympics, Komova sadly sobbed in the arms of her coaches and team mates, oblivious to her world beating achievements.  This heartbreaking sight was not a demonstration of poor sportsmanship, but a sincere expression of dismay at falling short of her own - and, perhaps, others' - expectations of herself.  If those expectations are set in terms of gold, silver or bronze, the young gymnast has little chance of experiencing the deeper sense of self-actualisation that presumably strengthens and motivates her team mate through all the ups and downs of her career.  Despite her fiercely competitive nature, Mustafina seems to celebrate every medal of whatever colour.  Any shortcomings or obstacles seem only to drive her on to greater effort and are a step on the way, rather than an endpoint.

The latest news - that Komova now needs an operation to cure another foot injury - seems reflective not only of a career littered with bad luck, but also, perhaps, of an attitude of wanting to delay the moment of her return as long as possible.  In fact, perhaps, of not wanting to compete at all.  Komova's appearance at the Russian Championships did cause an intake of breath in some circles.  The beauty of her work cannot be denied.  But was I the only one to be somewhat disappointed?  After such a long break I had hoped to see this now swan-like athlete burn through all four apparatus and dominate the arena, setting the standard for the rest of this year.  Instead, if anything, she demonstrated her lack of competitive focus with stunning and original work, once again compromised by a lack of stability and confidence.  A champion makes her weaknesses into her strengths; while Komova has matured physically, has an equivalent level of development been achieved on a psychological level?

Does this young woman even want to be an elite competitive gymnast any more?  If not, does she have the necessary support to make a difficult and life changing decision?   Recently, I co-authored a book chapter with some sports coaching students from the University of Central Lancashire about the nature of the coach-parent-athlete relationship.  I learned that each point of this triangle contributes to the athlete's performance and well being, and that power relations between the three have to be in balance for peak performance to be achieved.  For young Viktoria, that balance must be complicated by her family heritage of excellence in the sport, the familial relationship with her personal coach, and the overbearing presence of the national head coaches.  And in the context of a Russian team that 'needs' Viktoria, the pressures to continue must be very great indeed.  A similar gymnast - Ilienko for example, who had a great performance talent but less assiduity as a competitor - would have faced far less pressure in continuing beyond her psychological limits simply because her limitations would have excluded her from the team.

I may be completely wrong in this interpretation of events, of course - please feel free to contribute your thoughts and opinions!

Speaking at a distance, it is impossible to say if Komova's repeated injury is purely physical, or a  manifestation of psychological trauma.  Sympathy is the only reasonable response when anybody claims to be in pain and, presumably, Komova's injury has been diagnosed by a physician and would only be referred for operation if physically necessary.  But psychological or emotional pain can be as debilitating and painful as any physical injury.  Even the most faithful Komova fan must acknowledge that the rate, impact and timing of Komova's injuries seems more than a little unfortunate.  It leads one to think : gymnastics needs Komova, but does Komova need gymnastics?





Comments

  1. Great article !! Its sad to watch Komova always injured specially when a big competition is coming,i started to think that maybe is psycological and is not physical and by watching her at the russian championships is clearly that she wasn't ready for euros..i just hope she's ok whether she decides to continue in gymnastics or not...wish her all the best.

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  2. Komova's physique is not the best for current's gymnastics. She was a supertalent as a junior in Singapore, but later she had one injury after the other. She always competed when she was not 100% ready.
    She looks frail and is now much taller. Can she compete again at her previous level?

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  3. Nice article and I don't want to sound like missing the point here, but, it is well known that the conditioning of the Russian team is poor, thanks to philosophies of the Rodionenkos. Alexandrov highlighted this long ago. Injuries will keep occurring as the current situation reflects, till the system or Rodionenkos change. Otherwise, Russia will keep losing gymnasts. Evidently, this really doesn't matter for them. Valentina Rodionenko reaction to Pavlova and Inshina's departure has reflected this. Would losing Komova make a difference? On the other hand she is getting Kramarenko on board! based on what 2007 Worlds TF results? Or Beijing TF results ? or is she friends with her mother? It is a MESS.

    What is really worrying now is that she is getting her hands into men's program. If any one has noticed, she is the one who announced the men's team for the Europeans. Where is Andrey? no more media showing? Out of all this, the result is clear. Kiss Russia's Gymnastics Program a very big good bye.

    Alfi

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    Replies
    1. I agree, there is certainly an issue with coaching if Komova is injured this often.
      I was looking forward heading into this quad.... Russia looked strong and I thought they would finally be on top, but then Alexandrov left and everything is in the Rodionenkos hands. Looks like 3 more years of USA. I'm still holding out for Romania though, some of these new seniors and junior look promising and I trust Bellu.

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    2. Alfie, your point is absolutely on topic. If the Russian girls trained harder, it would not only reduce their injury rate, but also give them more confidence going into the competitions.

      I hadn't really noticed Valentina's growing spread of influence. I hope Andrei is OK - he at least was always a good technical coach.

      It is a little like the fall of the Roman Empire; corruption, nepotism, playing their part. I just hope that something is left behind after the Rodionenkos go, and that there is someone who can carry the programme forward. Arkayev is a bit old now and besides, I think they need a sound business and development head as well as someone who can manage the performance side. I would love to see Alexandrov come back as performance director, working with perhaps Ostapenko as head coach for WAG and keeping Alfosov in position for the men. They need to bring back Potapenko for the tumbling, and if possible harness Akopian for vault, perhaps on a consultancy level as I doubt he will leave America now.
      But I feel this change will not happen before 2017, by which time it may all be too late.
      Oh, and I think they should reinstate Grebyonkin as bars coach ... He was so good in that role, it was a pity to dilute his influence by putting him a job where his talents aren't used to the full.

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  4. UPDATE. Have seen the result of a scan, difficult to interpret, but it seems that there are multiple problems with the foot (thanks Rachael). I will wait for more official news as the translation is very difficult and it is difficult to judge the severity of any problems. News from Germany might prove more useful if we can get it.

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  5. Queen Elizabeth ,

    Please enlighten me what you wrote : Why do you believe that Rodienkos Head Coaches will remain until 2017 or later ? I thought after Olympic Games, Valentina and Andrei would be gone forever. For good.

    Returning to the point, I agree with your point of view . Aliya has fighting spirit . Celebrates each medal. If Russia wants Komova , she will need a psychologist . She must learn that her gymnastics is beautiful with or without medal. But if the medal does not come, it does not mean that she is the worse one or less special; or if judges underscore her it doesn´t reflect the true beauty of her gymnastics . Komova has a daunting need for self approval.

    On the other hand , I also see that Vika loves gymnastics and think she will not be able to stay away from her, overcoming your demons or not .

    PS : In my childhood , my idol was Shushunova ... I loved the comparison between Mustafina and Shushunova . Two fighters and champions. Aliya won my heart . :)

    PS2 : Gymnastics needs Komova and Komova needs gymnastics :) Life is artistry


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  6. The Rodionenkos' contract runs till 2016. I am assuming it will take the Russian government a few months to review the results if the Olympics, put out the necessary feelers, select and appoint a new head coach - by which time it will be early 2017 at the soonest.

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  7. Looking back at one of the English fluffs about Alka (before WC in Antwerp), her coach, Ganina, talks about the pressures of training at Round Lake. Alka was a world champ and she simply HAD TO do good and that pressure had little to do with coaches, it was Alka putting the weight down on her own shoulders to the great cheer of the coaches. Just after Russian Champs this year, Vika's posts on VK almost exclusively talked about how nervous she was, e.g. when she fell three times on beam during quals, she later commented 'just can't handle the nerves sometimes', when she was selected on the team- 'my nerves just trippled'. But we're not talking about the need to please, she is a runner up world and Olympic champ, SHE KNOWS ABOUT THE NERVES and she knows how to handle them. Did she come across as nervous to you during the Olympics? ANYTHING BUT. The so called nerves then, were simply the prayers for the gold and gold only.
    What you have to understand is that Russians, we keep up appearances. Vika had appearances to keep up at at the recent champs, it was her come back, everyone was watching, she was expected to do great (you, yourself Elizabeth, talk about the under-taste), it's not the US when Nastia comes back, does ONE sort-of-full bar routine and everyone is on their feet, saying 'yeah, she's almost there'!!! This is Russia, no results, no support- that is the politics of Rodionenkos' (talking about gymnasts fleeing) and even some girls on the base. Vika wants to compete, gymnastics is her life, not hobby. When she got injured again, she said 'my brain just melted', she asks people to 'leave her alone, stop trying to read her thoughts', plain english?- she is pissed off. She will not get a chance to keep up appearances, to show the World she's still as beautiful as she was 20 pounds ago. She cares little about the pressure of 'what the world expects', all she cares about is what she is doing to represent her name, how are her goals coming along- and that is why you don't see joy form silvers, you don't see faint, fake simles that cover 'i know i messed up'. Silver is not a medal and gymnastics highest score is exec.10. Don't ever expect her to not want to achieve it, let alone not want to compete!

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    Replies
    1. After reading all you wrote about Russians keeping up appearances and so on, I have just one thing to say: work harder! Before her injury, her performances at the RC were nothing to write home about. One nice element: backhandspring arabian! But she did this with a back layout somersault three or four years ago. Yes, 20 pounds ago. Again it's the Russian system and coaches not being able to train the junior promises to their full potential.
      About nerves: gymnasts from other countries have to handle pressure as well. She is not the only one.
      Ferrari came back after injuries. She is trying hard. She is no longer the junior promise she was in 2006. Still, she performs new elements and enjoys competing.

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    2. Thank you for your answer. I agree, completely. Girls have basically no conditioning and that results in inconsistency and injuries. Coaching system is corrupted. All of the girls have potential and they all live gymnastics as they should, but the panel of support and discipline seems to be missing. Girls enjoy competing and their organic talent tends to take them far, however for a perfectionist, like Vika it's just never enough. There's a lot of blame to place, but I think Vika still has a lot in the bag (especially her new elements on bars she hasn't shown yet) and hopefully Worlds will give her the platform to do it.

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    3. People are over thinking this. Yes, all the Russians need stronger training but if you ask me Komova has better conditioning of most of the Russians out there and that's probably because she has a good personal coach working with her since childhood. Her natinal debut wasn't dissapointed like queen said. We have to keep in mind the illness and injury she suffer and look how good she did on bars and beam at the team final. I expected worse.

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    4. Does Komova need to compete at Russian nationals if she is not ready?

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    5. Komova needed to participate at nationals to prepare and qualify for Europeans (national champs took place weeks ago).

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  8. I love your article,,,,I agree with you Komova does not has bad luck, I guess unconsciously she just want to quit gymnastics, but only because is the easiest way out.... but I'm pretty sure this is not the answer of our problems, just like you said, Mustafina came back against all odds, and I think that Komova's problem is her lack of character, I mean, she's amazing, but she can't bear a little mistake because in that moment she just "throws the towel", the easiest way out.
    As long as Komova has that lack of character, she will continue wasting her time with injuries. By the way I would love if you could write something about the soviets gymnastics, they were so great!!!! I specially love Mukhina. Thanks for posting!!!

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  9. I believe in Komova and I know she's a resilient and tough gymnasts, I knew that after her phenomenal floor routine in london and that determination look on her face before every pass I just can't forget it.
    See you in the worlds Vika and speed recovery and Happy Easter ...

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  10. I don't think Komova has anything wrong with her mentally, I just think she is too thin and delicate to hit all her difficult routines in the AA. Mustafina is much stronger physically and would have won had she not have that major injury.

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  11. Komova had ankle injury in the end of last year and and her foot was in plaster before the end of January. I couldn't be sure, but it seems it was the same foot' as a few years ago and the same result - relapse after inappropriate treatment in Russia after increasing of stress . If she had sent in Germany at the end of the last year she wouldn't have had problems now. This is a question of medical support of Russian team, it is not a question of her competitive spirit.

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  12. All the gymnasts who competed at the London Olympics have money to go to good specialists.

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  13. This is probably the most commented article for 2014? Beautifully written. I think Komova will be back , this is part of lives/ gymnastics obstacles to overcome. The US also have injuries which is less under scrutiny Maroney, Biles and Ross. I hope Russia produces another team with captivating artistic gymnastics which makes us enjoy the sport.

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  14. FWIW, I was pleasantly surprised by one part of her comeback. When she stumbled on beam, she fought like hell to stay on. I've never seen her do that before, she usually jumps off with a defeated look on her face. That fight was delightful to see.

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