Skip to main content

Aliya Mustafina - 'I'm glad we didn't hit'


Speaking on the Nanning official website, Aliya Mustafina had a few words to say about the day's competition:

On being in the first Subdivision:
“That was our strategy, to go first and have it over and done with, so with the qualifications out of the way we can relax and see what other teams are going to do. It is just so much easier when you have already started; it takes the pressure off you.”

On the Russia team performance:
‘I am actually glad we did not hit it perfect today. Now we know what we need to fix and where we need to put in extra work. The team has now been exposed to actual competition; we got to test all the apparatus in real competition, so we can improve further for the finals.”

“We were not tasked with making it to the finals; we just had to do the program we'd tested during the actual competition.“

On Sunday's biggest difficulty:
“It is toughest to finish on the balance beam. The emotions tend to wear thin towards the end of the session and fatigue is catching up with you as well, while you have to be super-focused. That’s a tough call."

On her own performance:
“I am most happy I had a clean workout with no falls.”

On the pressure of being the team leader:
“I do not feel the pressure, in fact the very opposite. It gives me pleasure to help my teammates. It is much easier for me this way.”

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What's going on in Russian gymnastics ... May 2026

All the latest people news from Russia!  With thanks to the gymnasts and coaches whose social media posts fuel this article. The teams from Russia are enjoying a recovery break in Antalya, Turkey, this week and last. Elizaveta Us took this selfie with Liudmilla Roschina, Milena Kaiumova, Anna Kalmykova, Viktoria Listunova, Alena Glotova ànd Zlata Osokina. Senior coach of the junior team, World and multiple Olympic Champion Aliya Mustafina is also with the team, and has her daughter with her. Meanwhile, in his home town of Ekaterinberg, David Belyavski is training every day to prepare for his national championships. He expects to compete on parallel bars and pommel, although he admits he doesn't really know ... it depends how his training goes. David is now 34 years old and a dedicated father to his daughter, Alyssa, 8. Alyssa too trains every day, as a tennis player, and has already taken part in her first tournament. David says that he wants her to understand that if she love...

UPDATE 23/9 - Russian WAG team for Nanning confirmed

Daria Spiridonova will compete at her first World Championships this autumn.  Picture : RGF Natalia Kalugina has confirmed the Russian team for Nanning : Aliya Mustafina, Maria Kharenkova, Tatiana Nabieva,Ekaterina Kramarenko, Alla Sosnitskaya, Daria Spiridonova.  Reserve : Polina Fyodorova Here is a paraphrased translation of a comment by Natalia Kalugina on her Facebook page : 'Aliya has confidence in competition and she is, kind of, a coach to this team.  In Europe she succeeded in this role and she has told the coaches that she even liked it. The main fighting force will be Kharenkova, Sosnitskaya and Spiridonova.  Accordingly, the strongest apparatus will be beam (Marina Bulashenko With God!).  The Chinese women, of course, have been known to win that apparatus, but if one falls, they all fall.   Alla Sosnitskaya could compete in the vault final, and - in theory - on the floor. On bars, of course, Russia will probably lose to the Chinese women, but the...

Interview with Andrei Rodionenko

The four men and four women who Andrei Rodionenko says are 'guaranteed' selection to Russia's Worlds team.  The final full selection will be made before the team travels to Nanning on 27th September.  Pictures courtesy of the RGF. Key points summary of an interview between Maria Vorobyeva of R Sport, and Russia's Head Coach Andrei Rodionenko, dated 11 September 2014.  Link to Russian language - http://m.rsport.ru/interview/20140911/771553414.html Upon completion of the Russia Cup in late August, the Russian national team coaching staff announced a list of eight athletes - four men and four women - guaranteed participation in the World Championships. Aliya Mustafina, Maria Kharenkova, Daria Spiridinova and Ekaterina Kramarenko; Nikita Ignatyev, David Belyavski, Nikolai Kuksenkov and Denis Ablyazin.   At the World Championships 2013 Alexander Balandin won a silver on rings, and Mustafina won the balance beam and took two bronzes - in the all-around...

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more