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 are satisfied - Aliya Mustafina

Photo credit: RGF An Allsport interview today with Aliya Mustafina : http://www.allsportinfo.ru/index.php?id=83075 'I think that we are to be congratulated on this bronze medal, we are more satisfied than frustrated', said Aliya Mustafina. 'We were a new team, all the girls are young, and it's their first time in such a serious competition.  I think today we performed to the best of our ability.  Yes, we have had two falls today - on the uneven bars and balance beam.' 'The young girls failed  psychologically, but  the first time you compete on the senior podium - it's not very easy.  No  one is sad.  I  am very pleased with such a performance.  Everything  was fair enough, maybe not everywhere and in all things, but overall it was quite as expected, both our rivals, and the judging.' 'I began to experience more pain in the ankle - continued Aliya Mustafina. - To do the dismounts I had to muster all my strength and clench my teeth.  ...

Elena Gerasimova retires, invited to coach junior national team

Valentina Rodionenko speaks to TASS.  Google translate - Tokyo Olympic participant Elena Gerasimova has decided to end her career in the Russian national artistic gymnastics team. This was reported to TASS by the senior coach of the national team Valentina Rodionenko. "Lena Gerasimova has decided to end her sports career, but she wants to continue competing in student competitions," Rodionenko said. "The athlete has been plagued by injuries in recent years, which made it very difficult for her to endure the training loads that the members of the national team experience. Gerasimova is a very honest and very responsible person. That's why she came and said that she wants to end her career and compete only in student competitions." "I know how responsible and hardworking this girl is, so we suggested that she think about becoming a coach of the youth team on one of the apparatuses in the future. We will count on her. And now she works as a coach at the Anton ...

Listunova interview

 Google translate from VK.com -  Match TV talked to Victoria Listunova about the Olympic summer without participating in the Games, recovery, and memories of Tokyo three years later. We are copying several fragments, and the full interview is available on the Match TV website ❓ Victoria, how are you feeling? How was your recovery from the injury? Was it an old problem or some kind of force majeure? 💬 The injury may have been cumulative, it was not immediately revealed, I am now trying to train in the same volume as before. I am restoring my program. It took a long time for rehabilitation. From April until mid-summer, I was completely without loads, so that the injury would heal and never bother me again. But it is not like I was resting all summer. I was constantly present at the training camps, went through all the recovery procedures. At first there was complete rest, then I trained as much as possible without pain. So there were trainings, but in a minimal mode. In the sum...

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more