Beam medalists today in Penza ... Daria Spiridinova, Maria Kharenkova, Aliya Mustafina
Not everything went to plan today for the 'big' stars of Russian gymnastics. There were signs of some strain and tiredness as the weakened ranks of former Olympians stepped aside and made room for three newcomers to the medal rostrum ... the interesting Daria Spiridinova (coached by Tatiana Fomkina, who formerly coached 1996 Olympian, Elena Dolgopolova), the feisty Maria Kharenkova (who needs no introduction) and Polina Fyodorova from Cheboksary (highly touted by Sergei Zelikson back in 2013). Winning on vault was Alla Sosnitskaya, who last year won gold in floor at the Russia Cup.
Today's stand out performance was by Maria Kharenkova on beam. She didn't quite match her strongest performance of the team final, but her beam was on another planet to the others as she zipped through her skills with speed and confidence, minimising a very off balance landing in a layout as if she were an American. Toe point is certainly not Kharenkova's métier, a characteristic she shares with the all around world champion. But she shows an ability to turn on the performance in clinch situations, and that could be to the benefit of those shaky Russians.
Also prompting a collective outtake of digital breath was Viktoria Komova, who has returned to competition in good form, bringing her classical technique and elegance to another level with her mature physique and outlook. She finished out of the medals on bars, but outclassed the competition there by the sheer beauty of her swing. On beam she gave a gorgeous display that would have earned her the bronze medal. Still a way to go with the competition consistency, however, which is what we hope Kharenkova may bring to the party and what we need Komova to improve upon ...
Mustafina had a bad day, taking a curious fall on bars (was she trying to avoid hitting that landing mat?) and beam (where she looked very tentative and nervous throughout the first part of the exercise)
These championships form part of the selection process for May's European Championships and ask more questions than they answer. The former Olympians on whom Russia has relied are seriously depleted: Afanasyeva has only been training for a few weeks, Grishina is out with what she has now confirmed to be a partial ACL tear, cartilage damage and a broken bone, Komova is barely on the comeback trail, Paseka looks to be a spent force and Mustafina ... well, anything is possible. One thing is for sure, we will see some new names. There are still weeks left before the final selection needs to be made, so there will be ups and downs and, no doubt, at least one surprise in the team this year.
Full results of the senior competition can be found here : http://www.sportgymrus.ru/Admin/GetFile.ashx?get=1&id=44106
Or if you have good eyesight, here :
Well, barring injury - and knowing Mustafina even with injury - Russia can't do without her for Euros. Sosnitskaya has basically earned herself a guaranteed spot at least for FX and VT, and Kharenkova is probably pretty much guaranteed too. Komova at least for bars/beam, though ideally she would have regained vault. If Grishina was healthy she would have slotted in very nicely.. as it is now Russia will probably have to hope like crazy that either Afan is healthy enough to do Euros (and then figure out who does the third bars slot) and/or that Komova can regain her DTY by then + pick another bars/beam girl (either Rodionova or Spiridonova, not sure which they will go for as both can be really shaky).
ReplyDeleteVery pleased with Sosnitskaya though, great improvement over the course of the last year with D scores and she's a steady competitor. Doesn't reach the dizzying heights of say Grishina with scores in the 15s but also equally unlikely to crash and burn with 12+ scores... she's a reliable 14-er. Would be great if she could upgrade her Lopez to a Mustafina.
I think taking the members you suggested and either Paseka or Afan as the fifth member for their DTY makes the most sense. The alternative is to take an all-arounder who can put up a consistent score to give Mustafina a break in team finals - for that position I actually like your suggestion Spirididova for her bars, but also Kramarenko for her silent consistency.
DeleteVT: Mustafina, Sosnitskaya, (Paseka/Afan/Komova?)
UB: Komova, 2 out of Mustafina/Sosnitskaya/Kharenkova (Paseka?)
BB: Mustafina, Kharenkova, 1 out of Sosnitskaya/Komova
FX: Mustafina, Sosnitskaya, Kharenkova (Afan?)
The worry with this team will be consistency and endurance over the meet, but this team probably outclasses the other teams in scoring potential.
Looking ahead, Great Britain will be big competition for Russia, as they are a strong DTY team for vault and uneven bars. They have two excellent beam routines in Whelan and Downie, if they hit. On floor, they are weaker: either they have athletes without difficulty or it is an athlete that is not consistent.
Italy is building their difficulty, but they will probably only muster two strong athletes per event. Romania will of course have Iordache, Bulimar and Munteanu doing everything, except add in a vaulter with a DTY to replace Munteanu. Munteanu's scores on bars and floor may be the low scores for that team. It should make for an interesting competition since no one has an obvious advantage.
Congrats to the medalists. Alla Sosnitskaya hs earned her place on the Euros team. Paseka needs to step up big time, because she only has 1 event and she isn't the best on it either. Kharenkova might also be in the team with Aliya and Viktoria. So I would say Alla, Aliya, Maria Kh and Komova for the Euros team. Poor Aliya again, she will more than likely have to do all events, as I don't think Komova can do more than 3 presently, and they might not let her do vault.
ReplyDeletePoor Grishina, that injury sounds like she will be out for a long, long time, maybe at least 1 year or more before she starts even attempting workouts. I hope she will try and come back, but this might make her retire, as she never seemed to have a big determination (like Aliya has) even when she was healthy
If Grishina really wants to continue then she should do the same thing Mustafina did and start her comeback by working on her bars. She has always been good on bars but not like Komova and Mustafina but she can get better.
DeleteAccording to VK Rodionenko named the team to be Mustafina, Komova, Sosnitskaya, Kharenkova and Spiridonova.
ReplyDelete