Plans for the Olympics, the family cat, how Aliya managed her nerves in 2012 and much more - translation on Liubov's blog
In the end, it was as predicted : Simone and the others, with Simone's teammate, Alexandra Raisman, providing the back up. I do not need to point out that, by definition, the Americans are scoring significantly higher marks than the rest of the field. Congratulations to them! Aliya Mustafina finished in third place. The 2012 bronze medalist led the competition after vault and uneven bars, but had a very nervous outing on beam that might have taken a less experienced gymnast out of the medals. A bravura performance on floor brought Aliya back though to confirm her third place all around. From her senior debut in 2010 to today, Mustafina has continuously set high standards of grace. It is the first time since 2000 that a gymnast (Amanar) has medalled in the all around at two consecutive Olympics, and if Aliya can medal on Saturday's uneven bars final, she will once again be Russia's biggest medal winner of the women's gymnastics. Russ...
Aliya handles it graciously, but I wish Russian sport journalists would stop going on about Simone and the ADHD medication all the time. It's mean-spirited and unsportsmanlike, like when American sport journalists used to constantly prod about Chinese gymnasts possibly being underage.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the the mental state that helps Aliya compete so well comes across in interviews. She talks about gymnastics in a similar way to Kohei Uchimura, interestingly.