Picture courtesy of Viktoria Komova fan group on VK.com
'An interview with Valentina Rodionenko. Important information she shares:
- The flu has been going around Round Lake. Those who will not compete at Nationals are Aliya Mustafina, Emin Garibov and Alexander Balandin, although is not because of flu but because of recovery from injuries.
- Komova really wants to compete all around, but they have decided against it and she and Afanasyeva will just do two events.
- Kharenkova, Spiridonova, Bondareva and Dmitrieva all look very good. Tutkhalyan is increasing her difficulty on bars still.
- Candidates for European Championships will be considered from the top 3 athletes on each event. Even with mistakes at the event, they will look at potential and invite them to the camp. Final decisions will be made then.
- Main contenders for the Euro team are now Afanasyeva, Komova, Spiridonova, Kharenkova and Sosnitskaya. For all around are mentioned Kharenkova and Shelgunova. Elizarova is also named as a serious contender.'
Thanks to lakekrugloye for the translation
And thank you to Corneliu who noticed this!
Nico of The Liukin has added -
Some other stuff:
-Komova recently pulled her back, so she isn't training floor for a while.
-Denis Ablyazin looks good on floor in training, but is still recovering from surgeries.
-The men in contention for Euros: Belyavskiy (AA), Kuksenkov (AA), Ablyazin, Nagornyy, Petrov, Ignatyev
Some information about Anastasia Grishina?
ReplyDeleteI have it on good authority that she will compete, but that is all.
DeleteI cannot wait to see Anastasia again!! What a lovely gymnast :) Do you think Ksenia will perform 2 vaults?
DeleteVery odd she doesn't mention Sosnitskaya as an all arounder or that she is doing well, hope she dosen't have a nagging injury. Any update on Anna Rodinova? The last I heard of her was that her ankle was troubling her.
ReplyDeleteI also thought that it was weird that Alla was not mentioned as an all around contendor. She is technically the 7th best all arounder in the world and with Russia's depth, probably the top AAer after Mustafina. Maybe she forgot to mention her?
DeleteI'm excited to see Komova, I expect better handstands on bars and upgrades on beam. However, I wouldn't be surprised if she pulled out of these championships or Euro's so at this point I am not believing that she is competing anywhere until I actually see her there.
Everything is on a wait and see basis at this point!
DeleteOne more thing: Seda is not in contention for Euros says Valentina. no explanation why (but she never liked the girl so not surprising)
ReplyDeleteShe says Seda is upgrading bars right now. Valentina is to blame for many things, but why do you invent things she has never said?
DeleteIt's pretty well known throughout the Russian-speaking gymnastics community that Valentina is not Seda's biggest fan.
DeleteSeda's coach, Marina Uliankova, supports the Rodionenkos.
DeleteKareharpies, Valentina does not mention Seda as being in contention, but she does not specifically say that she is not in contention ... :-) A subtle but important difference.
DeleteValentina is often/always very general in what she says. I do not think you can really draw any conclusions, except for that what she says reflects the state of her mind and emotions at the time of the interview. As a Russian 'grandma', she has significant family power and will be highly respected because of her age and experience. However, considering the frequency that the story changes, we know that she does not always have the final word ...
I am sure that Valentina does not realise how deeply her words are analyzed and deconstructed around the world. She certainly can't understand why so many of us are interested, no obsessed, with the details of who is training Aliya, whether Vika's back hurts today, or if she likes Seda.
We all want predictions, but predictions do not even exist in gymnastics. There is only what happens on the day of training, competition, selection ... Our expectations are at fault as much as Valentina's rather gauche PR ability.
In understanding the Russian, or indeed any, scene, there is not only the problem of translation, but also culture and, of course, representation. What interests us may not be the most important thing to the object of our attention. What anyone tells us is only what they feel they can say in public. Whether it comes from Valentina, Alexandrov, Alfosov or Rodionova herself, all we ever read or hear is only one viewpoint, heavily edited for acceptability and the consumption of the auditor! It is important to contextualise to try to consider the whole picture. We are always dealing with uncertainties.
What really intrigues me is whether the power of the Rodionenkos is being subtly eroded as the end of their contract approaches. No one has ever spoken out in quite the same way as Alexandrov did, not just to this blog but also to IG and in the Russian language to Vaitsekhovskaya, one of Russia's leading sports journalist in this area. But there is so much to demonstrate that his account reflects the truths many must confront regularly. Alexandrov's outspoken narrative may have galvanized some quarters of Russian gymnastics. Powerful people like Arkayev and Latynina have voiced concerns. My impression is that there is a rebalancing of power.
There have been changes to the list of national coaches. The Starkin family, Valeri and Sergei, have accumulated power with two of the country's top gymnasts training in Penza in a School headed up by Valeri, where the national championships regularly take place. The School has been noticed and rewarded by the Sports Minister.
Selections for Euros will be made on the basis of the results here, and the pre-Euros training, taking into account psychological and physical preparedness, and competition experience. This gives the Rodionenkos lots of scope to select who they want for the team, but does it also give them enough rope to hang themselves?
Seda's possible sidelining is intriguing as she is coached by Ulyankina, the same coach (Paseka, Sosnitskaya and before that Malikova) who was so vocal in criticising Alexandrov, and was at the time an ally of Valentina Rodionenko.
I would like to see Seda win the AA today.
Nabs?
ReplyDeleteTatiana hasn't been preparing at Lake Krugloye but is making her way to Penza from St Petersburg with her local team mates. We will have to see whether she is travelling as a competitor (national or local) or in a supporting capacity.
DeleteAlla Sosnitskaya is mentioned, as well as Shelgunova, as AAers.
ReplyDelete