Andrei Rodionenko - 'there is more competition amongst our men's team'

Montage courtesy of Anna Toporkova

Summary of 8 May interview with Russian head coach Andrei Rodionenko by Maria Staroverova via Allsport.info.ru

The girls team was selected on the basis of those who won event finals at the Russian Championships, says Andrei Rodionenko.  Aliya Mustafina will perform on two or three events, depending on the state of her feet.  Most likely, it will be bars, beam and vault.  Daria Spiridonova - bars and beam. Alla Sosnitskaya - vault and floor exercise. Anna Rodionova - bars certainly, or maybe vault if Aliya doesn't. Maria Kharenkova - floor and beam. 

The format of this competition - three competitors, three scores counting - is tough, I would even say cruel. This is the formula for the team championship at the Olympics.  There are other ways, but Europe wants to be better than that, and wants to use the format twice, both in qualifying and in the final. Of course, the discipline is good, but it's very tough, there is no margin for error.  Generally 2014 is the year the women's team updates and a few new names come forward.  We still won't know the final composition for the Olympic Games though - that selection will be difficult - but we will have a list of names.

- What is the men's working order?

- Denis Ablyazin will be doing three pieces - floor, vault and rings. Alexander Balandin - European champion on the rings, he will go on the rings and parallel bars. Europe does not have the all-around competition this year, so David Belyavski will do five pieces, missing rings. Nikolai Kuksenkov - four pieces, neither floor nor vault. Nikita Ignatyev can perform on any of the six apparatus where the team needs him. It is still very important to note that we bring with us a sixth gymnast, who we can use at any time and on any projectile - Vlad Poleshov is the reserve. The boy is from Cheboksary, is full of promise. However, he still hasn't enough experience.

- There is a prospect of juniors who may already be ready for the first team?

- This is very important!  Due to the fact that this year's championship and the European championship are held together, we have the opportunity to see both adults and juniors. 

After all these events, we will have two gymnasts, one girl and one boy, who will prepare for the Youth Olympics.  We will begin to help them make their transition to the first team as soon as possible. 

Those who come first in the junior team move to senior right away; others progress to the reserve where they are given an opportunity to improve.  Competitiveness is embedded within the system. 

This is the only way we can update the team. The Soviet Union team had a pattern - a change of 33 percent.  There were six people competing every year, and two new leaders of the youth team.  There is more competition to get onto the men's team than the women's, and at the Russian championships next year there will be new names amongst the men, as happened this year in girls.

- Who are the main rivals to our athletes?

- In the girls competition, Romania is number one. But a very strong team is now surfacing in the UK. The benefits of the London Olympics are now being felt.  The guys are also a very decent UK team. They work with good Soviet specialists, and work pretty soundly.

- If we don't win so much gold - would it be an upset?

- The main thing is the Olympic Games in 2016.  Every year we are accountable for the performance of the team, and the important thing is that that those who write the report, understand what has caused good performance in some competitions and failure in others.  The most important thing is not the number of conquests, awards and medals. If we spoke only of medals, Afanasyeva would have fallen by the wayside.  The team is the important thing and we have to make wise decisions about that.

In a separate interview, Pavel Kolobkov, a former gold medal winning Olympic fencer and Deputy Minister of Sport, emphasised that this competition was seen as an opportunity for the young girls to gain experience and prepare for forthcoming World Championships and Olympic Games.  His view echoed that of Rodionenko - it wouldn't be a disaster if the team missed out on gold here, he says, with three gymnasts injured the important thing is the longer term prospect.

It is clear that Andrei Rodionenko has the support of the Russian Ministry of Sport, then.