Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Maria Paseka in flight  Courtesy of the RGF It has been a curious European Championships so far, for the Russian women.  A team somewhat depleted of new talent is looking to its veterans to carry Russia into the future.  It is a tricky year : with the Universiade coming up in the summer, and Worlds in the autumn, last summer's Olympians face a hectic and pressured time.  You get the feeling that the girls are almost reluctant participants in this, the earliest major competition of the year.  There has just been so much extra curricular activity going on; instead of focussing on the gymnastics, the girls have been at the centre of what at times has resembled the plot of a soap opera. Regardless of the reality of their everyday training, the picture presented of their lives in sport is far from ordered.  For Mustafina, there has been an unsettling circumstance surrounding the status of her personal coach, Alexander Alexandrov, a man she last year cal...

Andrei Rodionenko's 8th July announcement shows the rapidly changing fortunes of the Russian women's team, who left the 2008 Beijing Olympics empty handed.  Only floor specialist Ksenia Afanasyeva, who turns 21 this September, has survived the last four years at the highest level.  Of the remaining gymnasts one - Aliya Mustafina - made her senior debut in 2010, while Viktoria Komova debuted at last autumn's World Championships.  Newcomers Anastasia Grishina and Maria Paseka have no previous experience of major world level competition.  Yet all five gymnasts promise something unique and exciting.  This is a risky team, but the Russians will not win in London by playing safe. Score predictions show the Americans as the overwhelming favourites for the team title in London.  But these calculations are based on home judging and in London marks will be awarded on level terms for all the teams.  Predictions can also never take into account the effects - pos...