Skip to main content

Russia's new all around champion - Seda Tutkhalyan!

Image
By
Daughter of a former Soviet wrestling world champion (Guergan Tutkhalyan), Seda put on her game face and fought for every point, taking a gold medal in today's Youth Olympics all around, just ahead of Brazil's charming Flavia Lopes Saraiva, and Britain's Ellie Downie.

I will post more detail in due course, but big congratulations are in order.  Seda is coached in Moscow by Marina Ulyankina who also takes care of national team members Maria Paseka and Alla Sosnitskaya.  This morning fellow Muscovite, national team captain Aliya Mustafina posted encouragement on her Instagram account : 'Show them who is boss ... I believe in you ...'.  The support showed as Seda was clearly well in control of her competition, nailing all but her final tumble during an ebullient floor exercise.  But this misfortune could not rob her of the gold she deserved.

Seda hasn't just won a competition, she is an Olympic champion all around at a time when Russia has painfully few all arounders.  She overcame significant mental pressure to take the gold.  Let's hope she can convert her junior achievements to senior gold when she progresses to the big team next year - Russia needs her power and competitive attitude!  






Labels:

Comments

  1. M20 August 2014 at 20:54

    Congrats to her, still has things to work on but it is a good step.

    I really liked Flavia Lopes Saraiva and although she didn't compete Rebecca Andrade.

    It will be interesting to see how these 3 and other juniors do in their first year as seniors next year.

    ReplyDelete
  2. K821 August 2014 at 15:59

    Tutkhalyan reminds me of a young Mustafina -- the same combination of guts and grace. Good luck to her. I also like Saraiva. Mustafina's old coach is proving his mettle once again, this time in Brazil. The next Olympics should be interesting.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Russian WAG at the 2014 World Championships

By
The Russians during a team talk in training for the World Championships.  Courtesy RGF Bronze all the way for Russia then.  Beyond the euphoria and surprise of this morning's competition there doesn't really seem to be much to write home about. I am delighted for Aliya personally that the efforts she has made to help the team have provided her with some tangible result, but the principal feeling at the end of the competition is that of relief.  As Vaitsekhovskaya said in her article last week, there were no moments of shock and awe from the Russians, and that's what will be needed if they are to compete for gold medals in Rio (translation available here ). Let's consider a timeline of the competition : before, during and after. BEFORE The promise of a return to the Worlds stage by Viktoria Komova gave Russia a feeling of optimism pre-Russia Cup.  However, Viktoria's performance at this important competition gave little reason for celebra...
43 comments
Read more

‘My daughter likes gymnastics. For us, this is the big success’. Aliya Mustafina talks to Match TV

By
Via VK.com.  Google translate A big interview with Aliya Mustafina was published on MATCH!. We provide a small excerpt below, and the full version is available on the website at the link below  ❓ Aliya, you are now the head coach of the junior artistic gymnastics team. What does your typical day look like? 💜 My current life is similar to what it was when I was competing. In the morning, I have breakfast and go to work by 9:00, we train for four hours, have lunch, rest and train for another three hours. During the training camp, the athletes live at the base. They live and train on the same territory. ❓ Do you manage the gymnasts' personal trainers or do you evenly distribute the responsibilities? 💜 We work in contact with the personal trainers, I listen to their opinions. For example, if the trainer believes that their athlete needs to be given a little rest or do fewer repetitions of a particular exercise, we do so. ❓ Describe the current generation of children. Do they nee...
3 comments
Read more

Who really won the WAG All Around?

By
You will find a link to the FIG's newly published book of results at the Olympic Games here .  This year, they have broken down the judge's execution scores so you can see exactly how each judge evaluated the gymnasts' performances.  It makes for interesting reading - if only I had more time to analyse each judge's marking.  A skim reading already highlights multiple inconsistencies in individual judges' marks and makes you wonder why they bother with the jury at all. I have taken the time to look at the reference judges' scores for the top four in the women's all around.  The FIG explains here what their role is, and how they are selected.  I even used my calculator, which is a risky thing in my hands.  My, how I wish we could have seen a similar document for the Tokyo World Championships. I wonder if anyone can explain how, if the FIG's Code of Points is so objective and fair, it is possible to come up with two different results using two differ...
70 comments
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more