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Injury updates - Mustafina, Komova, Afanasyeva, and Garibov

A great montage from Team Russia on Instagram.

Many thanks to the All Around and to Laerke and Nico at Gymfever who are keeping me up to date while I am on a Greek holiday in the sunshine.  Please bear with my brevity as I seek to update my readers while enjoying a holiday cup of tea amongst the mosquitoes on my patio .

Andrew Rodionenko has confirmed via Tass

Ksenia Afanasyeva and Emin Garibov will be out of competition for the remainder of the year.  They are currently in Germany where they will remain for rehab.  Garibov has had surgery to both shoulders and Afanasyeva to her ankle.

Rodionenko hopes that Komova (ankle) will be fit to compete at Worlds on bars at least.

Mustafina has had surgery to her ankle, (which has been bothering her since before the Olympics according to an interview with Elena Vaitsekhovskaya published in Sports Express and in translation on this blog back in August 2012).  Mustafina is the only gymnast who will be exempt from the Russia Cup competition - which is the qualifier for Worlds - says Rodionenko, and it is hoped that Mustafina will be ready to compete at Worlds.

My heartfelt good wishes to all the gymnasts for a good recovery!  It has taken a lot of courage to get this far, may we grant you a little more encouragement as you continue on your way.

I suppose this news will prompt much speculation as to the likely teams for this Autumn.  We can assume that Mustafina and Kharenkova will be in the mix and very much hope that a fully recovered and newly energised Grishina will also fight for a place.  

Komova on bars?  Can the Russian team afford the luxury of a one piece specialist?  The men will struggle without a high bar specialist as they are particularly weak in this piece.  

This year it is a full Worlds : 6-5-4 quals, 6-3-3 finals.  

Russia Cup is in August this year so it is premature to speculate ... But what do you think?

PS Nabiyeva has let it he known that she attended the last training camp at Round Lake ...




Comments

  1. So I guess Nabieva is back? or at least trying to get back. She needs to clean up her execution for that. No news on Grishina? is she out for the rest of the year as well? I can't see her being able to do much the rest of the year with that injury. Not sure bringing Komova for 1 piece is necessary esp since Russia doesn't ave the depth for all the pieces.

    Good luck to the gymnasts, hope they recover healthy.

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  2. Honestly I don't think Ksenia Afanaseyva is going to come back. I think that Komova will not make it to worlds just because of bars. Russia needs specialist for vault and Floor, not bars. As for Aliya I just hope they don't overwork her. I

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  3. I don't think it is reasonable to expect Grishna to be competitive at a World's level by October, do you? Even before the ACL tear, she had not returned to her Olympic difficulty, some of which would still need to be upgraded to fit the new code. Her performances at the Championships were about average and she seemed frustrated with that; I just wish the joy of competitive gymnastics would return to Grishina the way it was in her junior years.

    I think Nabieva should stay retired; she is out of shape from her winter retirement and her form knows no end of deterioration, [her return signals dire desperation from the Rod's]. After all, this was supposed to be the year they no longer needed her because all the superstars were supposed to be at full strength by now. It's not like I hate Nabs, i like her spunky personality, but she was being honest with her level of gymnastics when she chose to retire.

    As for Vika, I am not surprised the Rod's are overlooking more reasonable girls to give their "savior" a chance at World's when she can only contribute well on one event. Even tho i appreciate the technicality of Vika's gymnastics I think putting her on a beam at World's is a detonator for Russia's medal hopes. Better to give the underestimated girls, like Rodianova, a chance to upgrade and get that UB/BB slot. After all, who knows if Komova will EVER be healthy...

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    1. And Spiridonova, Grishina, and Rodionova aren't detonators on beam as well? Heck, even Musty is shaky. Russia has never really taken consistency too much into account when choosing teams. They gamble. *couch Paseka 2012* Consistency won't stop them from taking Komova

      This year could be very important. If Komova doesn't make the team, two things could happen, A) She realizes that she must work very hard in order to comeback and it will motivate her, or B) She will become discouraged and it will tear her down. I have a large fear that the latter will happen, seeing that Komova seems to to better with positive reinforcement/motivation. However, if Komova does make it, I would like to see her attain success (strong consistent comp/Bars medal?) as a positive motivation for the future.

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    2. I get what you're saying, and no doubt they're all shaky on BB because it's not a strong event for Russia. But if we start talking about the potential of every Russian to detonate, the only person not on that list is Angelina Melnikova tbh. Russia's nature is unpredictable, but the reason I singled out Komova is because of how she performed on beam at the Russian Champs; she scored an 11 the first day and a 14ish score day 2. I think based on the harsher criteria of intl judging and the stumbles, wobbles and missed connections that she had, an intl event would've scored her a low 13 on day 2.

      I think it's risky to make her debut at such an important event as World's. Why not send her to a world cup to test her at a high level without the severe repercussions if she fails? It's not just Vika, Aliya was the same at Euros 2012 when she made her debut after a lengthy absence and her low scores on BB/FX cost them a narrow defeat in Team Finals. Once Vika's given the green light to train, she'll have less time to relearn skills than she had leading up to RusChamps...

      Saying that her confidence might be destroyed if she doesn't make World's team is her own issue not the coaches; they can't baby her because they don't baby anyone else. If her pride is so fragile that she cannot handle rejection or coming up short, then she truly will never hold a candle to Aliya, a girl who was told she would not go to World's 2011, and has literally been where Vika is now but made her tragedy into her success. Even Grishina is in a worse situation than Vika because the Rod's hate her. If Vika chooses to become depressed and lose motivation, she's only proving to herself what she is worth because elite gymnastics isn't always filled with glory. She stated she wanted to go to Rio after London and win a gold medal; well...if she gives up, that's telling me that she doesn't have the courage required to be a champion.

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    3. @kareharpies Russia didn't use Aliya on beam at any time at all during Euros 2012. As a matter of fact they weren't going to use her on it during London 2012 either but with Grishina not wanting to do the event she was the only one left so they just had to.
      And Aliya's low score on FX during Euros 2012 team finals didn't "cost" them a narrow defeat seeing as she also put up the highest score of the competition that day on bars plus she also had the highest vault score for Russia. Its Komova and Sidorova who really cost them big on beam.

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    4. @jay you're right i forgot my gymnastics for a moment. you know what i was remembering? her qualifications bb from euros 2013. Too much gymnastics in my brain, i need a refresher. But i stand behind the rest of my comment.

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    6. haha her 2013 Euro qual beam was really abysmal. I agree about them babying Komova. I've always felt she gets the baby treatment like no one else. That's one of the things I really love about Aliya. She's tough and can handle rejection really well. And yes, team Russia on a whole is really unpredictable. You never know when they're going to hit. Have they ever even medalled without a big mistake in the mix?

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    7. I am in no way saying that they should baby her for her pride. I was just stating the possible repercussions if she were to be left out and my fear that it will hurt her. Although reading my previous post, I can see how you gathered that.

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  4. Grishina has strong potential and a notice on the Munich surgery website recently announced her imminent recovery. The Rodionenkos don't like her but even with watered down routines she won medals at 2013 Europeans.

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  5. It's good to see that Komova will be forced to compete and earn her spot to worlds. I'd love to see her on that world team, but if she can only do bars well (even if it's the best for Russia), I wouldn't bring her aboard as a one event specialist. However, if she can also do beam well at the Cup of Russia, then I'd consider her for the experience she has. Wonder if she will try to go for AA there or settle for beam/bars.

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  6. The situation is much more complex. Valentina doesn't want Grishina to recover at Round Lake.
    Moreover, Paseka said in an interview that she didn't understand why she was not sent to Sofia, having no injuries and no weight problems.There are videos on YouTube of Paseka training vault and tumbling passes in June.

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  7. I was wondering why Paseka wasn't in Sofia. I think she could've won vault gold. I just don't understand the Russian program, I but love the Russian gymnasts.

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    1. But she didn't even win the vault title at the Russian Championships and her score there is less than Alla's score in the vault final at Euro's.

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  9. I would be thrilled to see grishina again.
    I agree with the other commentator that I doubt ksenia will be coming back.

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  10. Odd that they didn't mention Grishina. I think Sosnitskaya will take Ksenia's powerhouse role on the team, though her scores at euros were lower than I expected. I hope Kharenkova polishes her floor, otherwise I don't think she will make the world team for beam alone, since Rodinova and Daria are probably upgrading.

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  11. Queen Elizabeth, in re-reading this, am I understanding this wrong: "They are currently in Germany where they will remain for rehab. Garibov has had surgery to both shoulders and Afanasyeva to her ankle." So, Afan had another surgery or this is pertaining to the last one?

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  12. Don't worry, no more surgery!

    Just to remind or inform those who aren't so well informed.

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  13. Russian women gymnasts currently bring no Amanars and have mid 13 floor scores. They will be beaten by Americans, Chinese, Romanian and even British ladies. This is what we will probably see in the up coming worlds.

    In order to be competitive at the world level in 2015 for the highest positions they will need healthy and skill regained Mustafina, Komova and Afanasieva. Melnikova and Kharenkova would be my choice to conclude the Russian team of 5 gymnasts to finally come on top once again.

    I like Grishina's gymnastics but she seems too nervous and paranoid every time she is about to perform her routines. You can easily bite all of your nails in mere 2 minutes watching one of her routines.

    But anyway...no Amanars (or any other vault with D score above 6) and no high 14 floor scores means no gold. EVER! I don't know why the Russians can't see this and prepare and train their gymnasts accordingly (emphasis on conditioning to prevent injuries when mastering most difficult skills).

    As mush as we all love baletic posing and finesse it just won't cut it.

    Regards,
    Dyo

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  14. Melnikova will not turn senior till 2016.

    I see Russia competing with China for bronze this autumn unless Romania has injury problems. Britain will not perform as well at Worlds as they did at Europeans.

    If the Rodionenkos will select her, and Grishina prepares well, she is a strong competitor. I agree that in London her nerves showed but you only have to think of the circumstances surrounding her coaching to know why.

    Russia isn't the powerhouse it once was - but there are still some very good gymnasts in the mix. And we shouldn't forget that while Russia may eventually pull together greater difficulty and power, it is their superior grace and elegance (not always balletic) that set them apart - something that in the main their rivals in the USA seem to have forgotten about, and which can't be added into routines as an afterthought.

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    1. In full honesty, I think China has the better shot at the bronze when compared to Russia. Unless Russia pressures there only world-level gymnast (Mustafina) to compete, Russia's chances are slim since they don't have bar workers or beam workers like china. On Vault and Floor they're even weaker at the moment than China who are pretty weak in those two events.

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