Bars gold medallist Daria Skrypnik in Tuesday's qualification competition
Russia continued their dominance of Europe's junior championships today by making a 1, 2 on uneven bars (Skrypnik, Melnikova) and a first place on beam (Melnikova). Britain took the remaining two medals in the power pieces of vault and floor.
Tiny Seda Tutkhalyan (1999 born) gave her all here but was unlucky enough to have errors and miss out on medals. Her full twisting back somersault on beam is excellent and throughout the competition she showed real spirit, good technique and good difficulty. Hopefully she will get a chance to show her real mettle at the Youth Olympics later this year. Anastasia Dmitrieva performed nicely enough on floor, but just didn't have the big skills necessary to medal at this level under this Code.
Melnikova and Skrypnik, both 2000 born, will just be old enough to be eligible for Rio assuming they transition to senior level safely and well. Melnikova, who has a look of Zamolodchikova about her, trains in the same Voronezh gym as Viktoria Komova and Yulia Inshina. She will therefore be well known to head junior coach Olga Bulgakova, who worked in Voronezh before coming to Round Lake. Apparently a willowy type, Melnikova's body is deceptively strong and powerful, and she seems to have a tiger's eye during competition. Hopefully that will continue. Skrypnik, who looks about 6 feet tall but in fact is miniature compared to the British girls, is a magnificent bars worker of great skill and talent. She comes from Krasnodar.
Vault result http://www.longinestiming.com/File/Download?id=00000D0000010002FFFFFFFFFFFFFF10
Bars result. http://www.longinestiming.com/File/Download?id=00000D0000010002FFFFFFFFFFFFFF20
Beam result. http://www.longinestiming.com/File/Download?id=00000D0000010002FFFFFFFFFFFFFF30
Floor result. http://www.longinestiming.com/File/Download?id=00000D0000010002FFFFFFFFFFFFFF40
There have been two interviews with Valentina Rodionenko about the Russian teams and I am so unhappy with their content I want to remind people what Alexandrov said about her :
' ... Any coach who does not repeat what she says and kiss her behind becomes an enemy. Valentina is used to being the boss, and likes flattery very much. She completely destroys her enemies.'
Valentina says that 14 year old Tutkhalyan is a disappointment, calls out Rodionova and Spiridonova for their mistakes, acknowledges that the British did well but criticises them for their lack of aesthetic on grounds of their size. She criticises the judging and fails to praise Mustafina to the skies for her determined and dedicated contribution to world gymnastics.
There are reasons behind what Valentina says about the judging and the aesthetic of the sport and they could be argued, but the manner in which they are said makes them indefensible and, therefore, counter productive. I would never describe a gymnast as a 'disappointment' when what they do every day is so difficult and I just hope that this experience helps all the girls to develop an extremely thick skin.
Perhaps the words come across in Russian more softly than they do in this admittedly short summary, that leaves out some of the more positive things she said - about Britain's improvement, for example.
'Valentina has not actually coached a day in her life'.
Mustafina is a better spokesperson for the Russian team and I hope she will be head coach one day. Coaching is in her blood, it shows.
I am really disppointed about what Valentina has said about her team and other teams. The Britains, though lack the grace and perhaps artistry, have the guts and creativity to find ways to make themselves suit the CoP. Their spirit is very good, and though I personally may not totally agree to their styles, I respect and admire them 100% for the effort to excel and how humble and happy they are.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't blame on others for things you cannot succeed. Surely there must be a reason. Instead of blaming and moaning, why not use that effort to think how to become even better? I am sure there is always room for improvement.
As for the Russians, its Seda's first meet, and she has huge difficulty. Of course the risk is much higher. As a first time European competitor, she has done pretty well. For the senior team, yes its disappointing that there are mistakes, but what's the root of them? Ask herself, is her plan really good, did she give those young seniors enough chances to compete, is she as good and encouraging as Alexandrov.
Aliya is practically the head coach. She has filled up what Valentina fails to do. I hope Valentina will realise some day that she could have done better for the team. I believe this day is near, and I hope she can fix it before Rio.
I pity the Russian team. They could have done much better without Valentina. But well, sport is not just sport. It is always filled with conspiracy, jealousy, evilness..... Whatever they do, the ones who are affected are the athletes.
Lack of artistry???? Have you seen the British floor and bars lately? They are fantastic! Unique, every one.
DeleteI agree. An opinion I have noticed often is that anything by a Russian is just assumed to be artistic. I find a scrappy but original, energetic and engaged performance by Harrold, Tinkler or Fragapane to be much more artistic than that by a Russian who waves her arms and points her toes beautifully but looks bored out of her mind. Of course there are fantastically artistic Russians and spectacularly unartistic Brits, but I find the idea that 'Brits lack artistry' is simply untenable nowadays.
DeletePlease note that this comment was not meant as an attack on the original commenter (Anon 18 May 11:33). They make a balanced and fair statement, it just prompted we to make my comment.
In your honest opinion do you think they'll send her to YOG now? I say Bondareva has been given a blessing.
ReplyDeleteHahaha well said! According to Valentina's history I think Seda will become another victim....
DeletePoor Seda...
DeleteI'm sorry to say this, but Seda f***d up 3 routines out of 4 in the AA and also all the event finals.. If that isn't a disappointment, then what it is? I agree that Valentina can be harsh, and she doesn't like Seda way before this disaster because of her armenian appearance. But I think we can all agree that Seda underperformed big time and it's completely understandable if they decide not to send her to YOG. But I hope they do. Bondareva is too weak and Dmitrieva is going dooown lately. It's a shame Melnikova can't go. She is the best.
DeleteBAD STATEMENT: You're a disappointment
DeleteWHY? because it goes beyond the individual's unsatisfying actions and implies that this person's very existence is inadequate.
GOOD STATEMENT: We were disappointed with Seda's performances/ We are disappointed Seda didn't manage to keep up her qualifying scores/ Seda had a disappointing competition but she has time to improve for the next one
WHY: because it speaks specifically to what you're let down about and nothing more.
For once they have a powerful gymnast, she makes mistakes!!!
ReplyDeleteI didn´t like the bronze medal of course , but considering the inexperience of this team, any medal is a victory . But what left me happiest is that the final result was fair . The Romanian were clean , the routines were a combination of great difficulty and they were rock solid . The British were rock solid and routines with difficulty . The Russian team made avoidable mistakes . Considering the inexperience of the young gymnasts , errors were not a surprise . Of course nobody wants to errors in the final of a championship , but it happens . However , I want to highlight that I had never seen the Russian team with so much talent potential : Sosnitskaya , Kharenkova , Spiridinova , Melnikova , Seda, and Skypnik ... How Alexandrov says they need a lot of work yet to become champions. But all of them have an incredible potential . I think the VK Bank is beginning to reap the fruits of their investments , and Russia 's Yeltsin was leaving behind. I do not know what Valentina expects with these destructive and envious statements . Alyia gave their health to save this team . Excuse me, but I still think the Rodienkos should take pleasure in sinking the Russian team and the confidence of their gymnasts .
ReplyDeleteOf course she throws them under the bus, no surprise. For some, it is their first big meet, they did really well to get on the podium, yes there were mistakes but sorry even the veterans were prone to mistakes esp in the finals or did she forget about 2010 World Championship, which they won but there were falls same with 2011 Championship etc, where others fell as well.
ReplyDeleteThis experience will help these young gymnasts and they don't need their head coach throwing them under the bus.No need to be so harsh with them esp Seda who is young, they are doing well. It is a new cycle she can't expect them to just win gold. She should support the gymnasts.
By the way, what was the positive she did say?
DeleteValentina is that stupid to realise that if it hadn't been for Aliya, they wouldn't have been on the podium at all? Aliya encouraged the girls and was besides them all the time.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's too soon for me to say, but the main coach ( I know his name, but don't know how to spell it) isn't doing a good job. He is an excellent UB coach, but per all, I haven't seen major changes in the girls' other routines. The vaults are meh. The balance beam is ok, but only Aliya and Maria are doing great, and only when they hit. The floor is too weak.
These new juniors are good, but so were Kuzmina, Baturina and other gymnasts. But only Maria is left of that junior team from 2012. I don't have high hopes tbh.
The 2012 team wasn't that great. Only one of those girls had DTYs - this team has three. (Skrypnik has foot issues right now and didn't vault.) Kharenkova was the only one able to break 56 in 2012. Tutkhalyan got above 56 with a fall, and Melnikova got 57. I'm sure Skrypnik will be up there soon, too.
DeleteI can see not having high hopes for Bondareva and Dmitrieva, but the other three are miles ahead of the entire 2012 team.
I believe in a team with Skrypnik, Melnikova, Seda, Kharenkova, Sipiridinova, Sosnitskaya, but they will need Alyia Mustafina for a long time. Valentina must kiss Alyia´s feet.
DeleteCongratulation to the russian junior team they have got four of the six gold medals available in Sofia ... well done.
ReplyDelete