Skip to main content

Pancake Day at Round Lake is delicious - Ksenia Afanasyeva

Thin blini with jam - a favourite of Ksenia Afanasyeva, especially when made by her grandma

VTB has been doing some great PR for Russia recently, covering some traditions that will be familiar to us in the West as shared rituals.  'Maslennitsa' - Shrove Tuesday - is celebrated in Russia in much the same way as it is in the rest of Europe, by the eating of pancakes ('blini').  Then afterwards there is Lent, 40 days of fasting.

Ksenia Afanasyeva says : 'Maslennitsa certainly isn't the 'right' holiday for gymnasts, but it is delicious! Don't think that we only look at the pancakes or pinch a small piece off the corner.  Since childhood we have celebrated the feast, and made pancakes with mother, but my grandma's are the best, simply delicious.  Since we lived in different houses, it meant we got to celebrate more than once.  

I like thin pancakes with jam.  With caviar or salt fish is still good, but sweet is best.

It is always nice; the chefs at Round Lake make pancakes, and we have them for lunch.  I will allow myself exactly two - I won't worry about the calories, because I will burn them off in the gym.  It is always a pleasure.'



Picture of Ksenia courtesy of her fan group on VK.com

Oh and for good measure, the recently happily pancaked Russian team is back at Round Lake.  Aliya proudly announced herself as the first arrival this morning; and now in this picture from Alla Sosnitskaya's Instagram page, we see Alla with team mates Seda Tutkhalyan, Anastasia Dmitrieva and Angelina Melnikova.  Can anyone say who that is having a back rub?


Thank you Alla!  And GOOD LUCK to the entire team as you continue your preparations for this vital year - we are all thinking of you xxx.



Comments

  1. Based on the hair my guess is that is Masha Bondereva getting the back massage

    ReplyDelete
  2. Definitely Masha Bondareva on the floor there!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mustafina, Melnikova and Afanasyeva - Russia’s three divas train together to the tunes of Michael Jackson

M elnikova, Mustafina and Afanasyeva take creative control at Round Lake.     You can see the video on Angelina Melnikova’s YouTube channel. They are discussing a new floor routine for Angelina; she wants to dance to Michael Jackson. Afanasyeva, 2012 Olympic medalist and a world champion on the floor, has been a choreographer for the national team for a few years now.    She says, ‘Gel, first we need to understand the plan—what we’re actually doing.’ They discuss how many tumbles Angelina will perform, and where the tumbles will come in the routine.    Angelina says, she likes ‘Billie Jean’, it’s her favourite … But Afanasyeva has other ideas, linking into the dance shapes she has seen in a video: ‘Thriller . Start with  Thriller . It begins with that image, right from the beginning when it starts.’    She shows us the dance. ‘I suggest taking a 1.5-minute or 1-minute segment of the dance directly.’ They promise to be in touch by email. ...

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

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...

Russia - back to training

Valentina Rodionenko reports that the men's team is in full training at Lake Krugloye. Denis Ablyazin hasn't needed a break and is training 'at full strength' - (and if you subscribe to his Instagram account you will see him practising routines on p bars and high bar). David Belyavski joined training a little late, as he has been abroad on his honeymoon. Maria Paseka is returning to training on the 4th December after taking treatment for a back injury. Rodionenko says that Aliya Mustafina is excused training for the time being - Liubov Baladzhaeva helped with the translation here.  Apparently the gymnasts, as salaried athletes, cannot just take time off without permission from the Federation.  I understand that this means no change to Aliya's competitive status, ie she will not be training or competing for the time being, until such time as she gets bored and decides she wants to make a comeback!  From her Instagram account, Aliya is currently suf...

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more