Skip to main content

Melnikova, Tutkhalyan, Mustafina

By

Angelina Melnikova confirmed her position as Russia's leading AA gymnast today at the Russia Cup in Penza, taking gold over the two days of competition, ahead of her close colleague Seda Tutkhalyan, and Olympic champion from 2012, Aliya Mustafina.  Mustafina surprised by once again falling from her best piece, uneven bars.

'Russia Cup is primarily a step in my preparations for Rio', said Mustafina.  'As a competition, it isn't that important - I needed to try out my AA as I have not competed or trained it for a long time, including trying out my vault.  I met all of my goals, every apparatus went well today, apart from bars.  My failure there is because we have only just begun working on a new set of bars that will be used in the Olympic  Games.  There hasn't been enough time for me to get used to the way they feel, the spring and the grip.  In Rio they will be the same, but there is still time!' Rodionenko later added that Aliya had done more than expected and could have been given a bye at this final, but that the gymnast insisted on competing,

Coach Rodionenko was delighted to see Seda Tutkhalyan compete at her best in Penza.  'She is beginning to show the necessary accuracy', she said, 'she has made up what she previously lacked, and improved from yesterday to today.  I think she is maturing into a high level gymnast.'

Russian national champion, and now Russia Cup champion Angelina Melnikova, said that she was much less nervous here than she had been in the Spring Champiinships, which had been her first senior start.  She said that she still had work to do on all her apparatus.  

The Russia Cup is a qualifier for the Russian team training for the Olympic Games.  EF will take place on Saturday and Sunday, and the MAG AA tomorrow, after which we will be informed of who has made the final training teams for both men and women.


Melnikova interview -  http://rsport.ru/artist_gym/20160630/966112941.html

Full results (cumulative of two days) - http://sportgymrus.ru/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/mnogobor-e-zhenshhtny-final-summa-2-h-dnej.pdf



Labels:

Comments

  1. Unknown30 June 2016 at 23:14

    What's Mustafina difficulty score on floor?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous30 June 2016 at 23:42

    TASS interview wiht Mustafina about why she falling from uneven bars tow days in a row and AA in Rio to http://tass.ru/sport/3420933

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous1 July 2016 at 08:43

    Queen Elizabeth, according to Rodionenko todays interview Tytkhalyan is on Olympic team now, she will be russia's 3 aaer in Rio. Guess who is out now Spiridonova or Afanasyeva? http://stadium.ru/news/01-07-2016-valentina-rodionenko

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Queen Elizabeth1 July 2016 at 10:15

      I can't see in the article where it says that Seda will be Russia's third AAer ...

      Delete
    2. skv121 July 2016 at 10:28

      I can't see why spiridonova should be on the team. She scores on averages .6-.7 higher on bars than tutkhalyan, but 2 points lower o beam. And since Paseka won't do beam and afanasyeva hasn't done beam in 3 years and is still injured, why would you put spiridonova on the team

      Delete
    3. Anonymous1 July 2016 at 11:24

      Queen Elizabeth, here at the end of the first paragraph of article ;) " Эта тройка призёров как раз и будет нашей главной опорой на Олимпиаде." that means, these 3(Aliya, Angelina and Seda) will be russians main support at the Olympics

      Delete
    4. Queen Elizabeth1 July 2016 at 11:26

      Thank you very much! I so hope to see this. Xx

      Delete
  4. Anonymous1 July 2016 at 18:21

    I can't help but feel disheartened after watching both the US nationals and Russian cup. The Russians seems so weak and unprepared. The Americans seem so ready and strong. We hear excuses and injuries from Russia.
    Seda looked better but she will likely fall and cause the team a medal.
    Queen, what do you think about the difference in level of readiness between the teams? Is this due to training approach?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Queen Elizabeth1 July 2016 at 20:00

      I prefer to think that it is the USA who are currently exceptional, rather than Russia being weak. Remember, they will be competing for medals in Rio and no weak gymnast will participate in the Games. They are still amongst the best.

      America have a psychological, reputational and physical advantage, but the margins are still relatively small. Russia does not have the D values on floor but elsewhere isn't doing badly. It would only take a small deficit from the USA to make Russia look like a threat.
      Seda has made huge strides this year and she is one of the best gymnasts in the world. They are all unpredictable but we should value these fragile young girls for what they contribute to gymnastics. Seda is just as likely to help the team perform well as she is to make errors. Which gymnast never makes mistakes? Whether we are athletes, teachers, students or whatever we do, everyone has their mistakes and moments. Let's just support the girls.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous1 July 2016 at 20:56

      Thanks for the erudite response. I wish all the competitors well. Hopefully the Russian girls peak in Rio.
      The next quad should be even brighter for Russia. With so many promising juniors coming up.

      Delete
    3. Catty2 July 2016 at 05:13

      I have a feeling Seda i going to surprise everyone at Rio. )in a good way :)

      Delete
  5. Anonymous1 July 2016 at 20:44

    Does anyone know what's happened to Maria Kharenkova? Did she get injured or possibly lose motivation since her Olympic chances were slim (it seemed that she had fallen out of favor with the russian coaches after her poor showing on beam at worlds)?

    On another note, why did Mustafina compete a full-in at the russian cup? Is she planning to replace her double arabian with the full-in? The only reason I think this is that she hasn't competed the double arabian since 2014.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Queen Elizabeth2 July 2016 at 05:32

      Maria was present at the Russia Cup, helping the team, but she has a slight leg injury. This is unofficial.

      Don't know the reasons for Aliya's changes. I think it is likely that even she doesn't know what she will compete in Rio at this stage. She used to perform the full in as a junior (I think there is a video of her doing it around 2007).

      Delete
    2. Anonymous2 July 2016 at 15:28

      Thanks for the reply and the insight! Ah that's too bad for Maria- she seems to be injured pretty often. Is she definitely not in contention for Rio anymore then? That would be sad; I was really rooting for her.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous2 July 2016 at 17:36

      Just saw your most recent post- really sad for Maria as she was one of my favorites. Hope she decides to give it another go next quad after some good recovery and rest- who knows maybe she could make Tokyo as a beam specialist?

      Delete
  6. Anonymous2 July 2016 at 09:05

    A team of Aliya, Melnikova, Paseka, Seda and Ksenia makes so much more sense in Rio than any team with Spiri on it tbh.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vladimir Zaglada - coach, author, friend, father

By
It is with great sadness that I report here the sudden and completely unexpected death, on 5th October, of our friend Vladimir Zaglada.  I send my love and condolences to his daughter, Olesya.  My thoughts are with the whole family.   Vladimir was born in Lvov, Ukraine, in November 1944.  His father was a progressive lawyer of great courage who was known to defend those who challenged the Soviet authorities.  Vladimir trained as a sports acrobat under the developing Soviet sports system, working in the same club as Olympic champion Viktor Chukarin.  After moving to Moscow, he became a leading coach of women's gymnastics, supporting the development of high level acrobatics.  He worked particularly closely with the up and coming young gymnasts of the early 1980s - you can see him at work in the video 'You in Gymnastics'.  At the national training centre, Lake Krugloye, he worked with Filatova, Mostepanova, Yurchenko, Arzhannikova, Mukhina and more.   Around the mid 1980s Vlad
Post a Comment
Read more

Who really won the WAG All Around?

By
You will find a link to the FIG's newly published book of results at the Olympic Games here .  This year, they have broken down the judge's execution scores so you can see exactly how each judge evaluated the gymnasts' performances.  It makes for interesting reading - if only I had more time to analyse each judge's marking.  A skim reading already highlights multiple inconsistencies in individual judges' marks and makes you wonder why they bother with the jury at all. I have taken the time to look at the reference judges' scores for the top four in the women's all around.  The FIG explains here what their role is, and how they are selected.  I even used my calculator, which is a risky thing in my hands.  My, how I wish we could have seen a similar document for the Tokyo World Championships. I wonder if anyone can explain how, if the FIG's Code of Points is so objective and fair, it is possible to come up with two different results using two differ
69 comments
Read more

Simone Biles - 'on her way to Olympic gold' in the opinion of Russia

By
Prosport is carrying the following article about Simone Biles, who they tip as a favourite for Olympic gold.  I thought I would share it here (Google translate in italics) as it gives an interesting perspective on where the Russians feel the sport is heading.  Elena Zamolidchikova and Alexander Alexandrov are both extensively quoted. Atypical American. Simon Biles on the way to Olympic gold Simone Biles, American gymnast, turned 18 on March 14, 2015. Shortly before this, the first in US history absolute Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton called Biles perhaps the most gifted athlete in the history of the sport. In 2014, Simon became the first gymnast for 40 years to win four gold at a World Championships. But Biles is not only talent. This is the first gymnast in recent years from the United States, who is not going to earn on its potential Olympic success. Text: Alexander Vladimirov March 15, 2015 9:35 The article on Prosport/Photo: Lintao Zhang / Getty Images / Fotobank.ru Th
42 comments
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more