Skip to main content

Provisional Russian team for Glasgow - Mustafina will now prepare, says Valentina Rodionenko

Aliya Mustafina - competitive status has been veiled in mystery.  Photograph is by leading Russian photographer, Sergei Bermeniev


The mist surrounding Aliya Mustafina's official competitive status lifted just a little this afternoon as head coach Valentina Rodionenko first announced one set of names for the forthcoming World Championships, then added another to the roster.  'Yesterday, Mustafina decided to clench her teeth and prepare for Worlds, despite her back pain.  We know her condition and cannot force her to train ... We will take seven gymnasts to Glasgow', said Rodionenko.  Later, Andrei Rodionenko added that ten gymnasts will join a training camp tomorrow at Round Lake to prepare for Worlds - and participate in final selection.  Names are given below.

We will have to look for Mustafina's own words to provide the definitive account of her miraculous return, and of course the only team that will matter is the team that marches out into the arena in October!  But if Aliya eventually says she will be ready ... she will be ready.  We don't know the context and the perameters, let alone the background to all this, but if it turns out to be true, the big questions will be -

-  Will Aliya compete all around?

-  How will her selection sway the chances of other gymnasts on the team?

-  How will her presence impact the results of the team as a whole?  We know of her as a fantastic team captain who can be a stabilising and inspirational influence on the gymnasts.

-  How ready will she be to face the strong competition from overseas, in particular the gymnasts from the USA, Romania and China?

-  Has Mustafina's position been one of indecision, defiance, self protection - or part of a wily master plan devised by the national coaches to secure a seventh berth for the team?   It could simply be a matter of a painful back - but we all want to know more than it is probably our business to know.  It's only human nature to ask : what on earth is this all about?  

One thing is for sure - Mustafina's charismatic presence in gymnastics is strongly missed, not just in Russian gymnastics, but internationally.  We need Aliya, not just for the soft performance quality of the hyper difficult gymnastics she brings to the stage ... Not just for the fantastically creative way she and her personal coaches and choreographer find to maximise the codified value of her routines ... But also for the enigmatic charm and powerful aura she transmits.  It is a relief to hear that she intends to participate - as long as she is properly healthy.  We have to trust her to make that decision.  From Valentina's words - 'we cannot force her to train' - it seems that this point has been made.

We can only get behind this amazing personality and give her OUR best support in the only ways we can - imagery, sound, words and lots and lots of cheers on the day.  It really does make a difference - Aliya and Russia needs you as they prepare for the big fight in Rio.

Don't miss Aliya's riposte - this is still a will-she-won't-she situation - 
http://rewritingrussiangymnastics.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/mustafina-riposte-i-will-decide-if-i.html?m=1
The preliminary teams Valentina Rodionenko announced are

WAG - (AA) Tutkhalyan, Spiridonova, Kharenkova (specialists) Komova, Afanasyeva, Paseka.  Valentina added that there would be a seventh athlete to be announced later, perhaps Alla Sosnitskaya or 'maybe a completely different gymnast' - :-))

MAG - (AA) Nikita Ignatyev, Nikolai Kuksenkov, David Belyavski, (specialists) Ablyazin and Nagorny.  The sixth gymnast is still to be decided - Ivan Stretovich is mentioned as being in the mix, but presumably Mattvei Petrov may also have a say - and perhaps rising star Dmitri Lankin.

Andrei Rodionenko's announcement of the training teams

WAG - Aliya Mustafina, Viktoria Komova, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Seda Tutkhalyan, Daria Spiridonova, Evgeniya Shelgunova, Maria Paseka, Maria Kharenkova, Anastasia Dmitrieva, Allla Sosnitskaia.

MAG - Denis Ablyazin, David Belyavski, Nikolai Kuksenkov, Nikita Ignatyev, Nikita Nagorny, Ivan Stretovich, Dmitry Lankin, Matvey Petrov, Alex Rostov, Vladislav Polyashov.

Sources - Valentina Rodionenko Aliya Mustafina announcement - https://sport.mail.ru/news/gymnastics/23364765/
Valentina Rodionenko announcement of prelim team - http://tass.ru/sport/2276365
Andrei Rodionenko announcement - http://www.allsportinfo.ru/index.php?id=97647
Andrei Rodionenko's training team list - http://www.allsportinfo.ru/index.php?id=97646


Comments

  1. check out Aliya words about Worlds on today's RSport article

    ReplyDelete
  2. sorry i forgot the link on todays Rsport articl http://rsport.ru/artist_gym/20150920/864966470.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you very much - I have added a new post. And now, hopefully, I can get some dinner! :-)

      Delete
  3. bon appetite :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Off topic, but how gorgeous is that photograph?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's one of a series by the same photographer.
      Aliya is a beautiful young woman. To me, these photos bring out a hidden aspect of her character - the girlish side that still prefers to let her hair down and be herself than to get herself up for the cameras. There is something essentially whimsical about her that these pictures capture and to that extent I think these are better than the Bolshoi Sport shoot, which played up to the idea of her as a super photogenic athlete. Aliya will always be more than a fashion model and not just because she is an Okympic champion. Boguinskaia has the same gritty yet playful allure.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

‘We all love her very much’ - Roschina speaks of Mustafina and the need to perfect an Amanar vault

From sport.ru via vk.com.  Google translate  A big interview with Anastasia Loginova from Sport24 with Lyudmila Roshchina following the Strongest Cup, where the gymnast won four out of five gold medals. We quote several fragments, the full version is available on the publication's website, link at the end. ❓ The Strongest Athletes Cup has recently ended. Did you have time to analyze your performances? 💬 I just rewatched the broadcast, looked at my shortcomings. ❓ Did you set a medal plan for this start? 💬 I didn't think about it. Only that I needed to do my program - and then what will happen. ❓ Did you have time to discuss the competition with your coach? 💬 She praised me, said that I was great. She didn't scold me for mistakes on the beam - on the contrary, she supported me. ❓ Can we say that the beam is your weak spot? This is the only final you didn't get to. 💬 Probably yes. I have this apparatus that is a bit unpolished, so to speak. Treacherous. I need to work...

Tatyana Nabiyeva on work and love in China

Some highlights from a long interview with 2010 World champion Tatyana Nabiyeva.  Source: Russian team page on VK.com.  Translation - Google translate A big interview with Tatyana Nabieva about the peculiarities of work and life in China, the bright years of her sports career, a little about modern gymnastics and about love. On the Nabiyeva flight — At the same championship, you presented a new element on the bars, which was later added to the rules with your last name (flying over the top bar with a straight body, difficulty group F. — Sport24). How did you come up with the idea to try something new? — Actually, it happened spontaneously, I think. We worked with Vera Iosifovna [Kiryashova] on the purity of the elements on the bars, sometimes I didn’t fly all the way to the Shaposhnikova element. Once I didn’t fly all the way to the bars either and stood on my feet between the bars, bending my legs in flight for safety. Then Vera Iosifovna said that this was a different eleme...

Angelina Melnikova photo session

Daria Isaeva has done a photo session with Angelina Melnikova at Dynamo Moscow.  Here are Angelina’s words about it.   "  The first time I was on a balance beam I was six years old. I was scared because of the height, so at first I walked hand in hand with my trainer." "The hardest thing on this apparatus is to keep your balance. Usually, when I'm on the beam, I imagine that I'm in a corridor 10 centimeters wide." "You can't be afraid of the beam! Coaches say that if you have fear, you will perform poorly." "The first difficult element I did at the age of eight was a backflip. In adult gymnastics, this element is considered one of the easiest." “I still can’t do a cartwheel on a log; I can easily fall off it, although children can do this element at the age of six.” "It's better to perform on the balance beam barefoot - you feel the apparatus better that way. But to avoid injuries, we sometimes tape our ankles." "It...

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more