Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Anna Rodionova will compete in her first Worlds this autumn. News of Russia's embattled WAG team is now being confirmed in the Russian press, and we are all grateful to Lupita for translating the key points from this article , an interview with team coach Evgeny Grebyonkin. 1)       Dementyeva is not going to retire. She went home and has now decided to continue. 2)       Komova is recovering in hospital (note: I have read elsewhere that she will leave hospital on the 27th September, but won't be able to train for anything up to two or three months).  In a mock competition prior to her illness, she had scored more than 60 points all around. 3)       Afanasyeva will compete in Mexico in November. Surgery went well. 4)       Mustafina has a cold. She has upgraded bars, beam and floor and has added a vault (note: elsewhere , Mustafina's bars D value is said to be 6....

The RGF has posted a gallery of pictures from the Universiade, a few of which I'll share with you here, along with some videos of the competition. Did you realise that every member of this Russian team has a chance of winning medals at this Championships?  Possibly even, gold?  There is hardly the competition here that there will be in Antwerp later this year, but I hope the team takes encouragement and motivation from this rare opportunity to shine. With the exception of Afanasyeva's fall from bars (apparently she has ripped hands - 'not many people would even have the courage to compete', says Rodionenko) the team performed without major errors.  Even in Rotterdam 2010, where they took the team gold medal, there were two falls, so this is an important improvement, even if they were not performing full difficulty. The team will take a short holiday soon, from the 12th July, before heading back to Krugloye to begin preparations for Worlds.  That is a mere twelv...

Aliya competed this weekend in Ukraine - probably our last chance to see her before Euros in just over two weeks' time.  I haven't seen full results yet but even with a fall on floor, Aliya won the all around, with Russia taking gold in the team competition ahead of Ukraine and Japan.  Competing with her on the Russian team were Anna Dementyeva and Polina Fedyorova.  Ukraine's Oleg Vernaev won the men's competition, leading the winning team ahead of Russia and the Netherlands. Thanks to Alexandra Kuznetsova for videos, and for the pictures in this press report .  Aliya Mustafina floor Aliya Mustafina uneven bars Aliya Mustafina beam Aliya looks to be concentrating on developing new combinations for her beam routine and I guess that her competition goals this year are somewhat longer term than Moscow Europeans which are coming earlier in the year than usual. I'm feeling a replay of 1987 Europeans may be on the cards, with the feisty veteran lookin...

A few days ago I posted a link to a video of Maria Paseka training tumbling and bars, crediting the video to the Maria Paseka fan page on Facebook.  In fact the video was produced by Esther, or Requena89 on Youtube, who has since posted a whole collection of wonderful videos of the Russian team, including Dementyeva, Nabieva, Komova and Mustafina.  Do take the time to visit Esther's Youtube channel to view these videos, which are giving arise to much speculation as to the possible content of the gymnasts' routines in the coming year!  And many thanks Esther, for taking the time to record, edit and post these valuable video records! The team who travelled to Mallorca included Tatiana Nabiyeva, Alyona Polyan, Maria Paseka, Viktoria Komova, Anna Dementyeva, Yulia Belokobylskaya, Yulia Inshina, Aliya Mustafina and, some sources are saying, Anna Rodionova.  But no Ksenia Afanasyeva who seems currently to be involved in some extra mural political activity, and no An...

I'm pleased to confirm that the Russian Gymnastics Federation is providing live streaming for the important Russia Cup competition.  Go to the RGF website and follow the link, which will be in red when the transmission is live (if you can read Cyrillic the word you are looking for is 'translatsya').  The second session of the women's competition (tomorrow) will begin at 2.45 Penza time. Start lists for today's competition (MAG) and tomorrow's (WAG) have been released at the website also.  I am providing an image of the WAG Olympic selection squad's working order below.  Of particular note is Anastasia Grishina, who will be performing on bars only due to leg pain.  Thus with the exception of Grishina,  Maria Paseka and Tatiana Nabieva, who will both present on bars and vault only, all other national squad members will compete all four pieces of apparatus.  Head coach Andrei Rodionenko has said that at the Olympics the WAG selection strategy will focus...

Thanks to Alan who alerted me to this English language radio interview with Head Coach of the Russian team, Andrei Rodionenko. Rodionenko has a lot of thinking to do before the London Olympics.  Picture courtesy of the RGF .  Rodionenko's key points were as follows : For the Russians the Europeans were a control test for a young inexperienced team rather than the endpoint.  Sometimes the Europeans are the most important competition but this time round we have the Olympics in plain view and the main goal was to collect information to help decide what kind of team to take there.   He was h appy to see the Romanian team so good and taking gold. This was not the final team that will go to London; Afanasyeva and Dementyeva were both sick, and in London Mustafina will perform on all four pieces of apparatus.  The fact that she competed on only three pieces in Brussels significantly affected her psychological preparation. Will the team be ready in tw...

Ksenia Afanasyeva is officially now out of the running for the European Championships thanks to a nasty case of tonsilitis, reports national team coach Alexander Alexandrov via Sports .ru The three core gymnasts now progressing towards places on the team are Anastasia Grishina, Viktoria Komova and Aliya Mustafina, with the final two spots open for a decision over the coming week.  My guess is that Anastasia Sidorova, Maria Paseka and Anna Dementyeva are in the running for the two spots, with the two younger gymnasts probably being favoured to give them experience.  Dementyeva looked a little tired in Switzerland and was limping quite heavily after almost every exercise.  The Europeans are the final big step on the way to the Olympics for the Russians and I don't expect they will show everything of which they are capable.  Russia Today has released the following news video shot at the recent press tour of Lake Krugloye.  It includes brief interviews with Ale...

The Russian team of Mustafina, Komova, Grishina, Dementyeva,Sidorova and Paseka won the tri-meet this Friday relatively easily, with a total team score of 177.30, almost two points higher than they achieved at last October's World Championships, although comparison is somewhat distorted as the competition formats were different.  Aliya Mustafina, performing only a portion of her full difficulty, won the all around with a score of 58.95 ahead of Grishina with 57.7 and Dementyeva at 56.55.  Observers (Maddie at the All Around forum and Trudi at the IG Forum) noted in particular the excellence of Mustafina's double twisting Yurchenko (15.2 with an execution score of 9.4).   Komova, performing only on bars and beam, acquitted herself well with a 15.85 on bars and a 15.2 beam.   Dementyeva's contribution of a 15 on beam should also not go without note. Maddie has posted videos of every Russian routine on her Youtube channel and you can read a report at the Couch G...

  Picture of Anna, by permission of the Russian Gymnastics Federation . Anna Dementyeva is a name that many overlook when considering possibilities for next year's Russian Olympics team.  This quiet, but feisty, gymnast is recognised by national team coach Alexander Alexandrov as the hardest worker on the Russian team.  Fans appreciate Anna for her balletic power and precision.  Dementyeva was an indispensable part of last year's Russian team gold medal at the Rotterdam World Championships.  She anchored the team with a confident performance on beam, and set the scene on floor with a routine that was unrivalled for its expression, line and amplitude.  Despite a below par competition at the Tokyo World Championships this autumn, Anna is also amongst the most decorated gymnasts on the Russian team, as reigning Russian, Russia Cup and European all around champion.  Anna, born on the 28th December 1994, trains with her coach Elena Zhiganova in her home...

Putting aside worries about injuries, we have seen this year how the deselection of certain gymnasts from competition rosters can influence competition outcomes and delay the often simplistic conclusions we gym fans want to draw.  Komova's lack of appearance on the senior front leaves us completely befuddled and Mustafina's sudden withdrawal from the European Championships beheaded Russian, European and, arguably, World gymnastics.  We are unsure whether these two gymnasts can possibly make it back to their former level and Dementyeva now appears as the poster girl of the forthcoming Russian Cup competition.  However, she might as well have a giant question mark over her head for all the credit she is given for her achievements. Similarly, the recent EYOF was without its top contender (Anastasia Grishina) and her closest domestic rival (Anastasia Sidorova), leaving us wondering how the results would have been affected if the Russian team had included those we consider t...

It's about time someone wrote something about this talented gymnast.  Despite the common perception that she's leading the Russian team only by default, I consider this jewel of a gymnast to possess unusual strength and artistry.  My blogging colleague Kristal at Double Front has similar ideas.  Perhaps the hardest worker on the Russian team (according to Alexander Alexandrov in May's IG) will soon get the full recognition for her beautifully performed routines - I certainly hope she doesn't risk injury or compromise the balance of her presentation by over inflating the difficulty content of her routines. The Russian Gymnastics Federation website has an English language translation Moscow News interview with this enigmatic gymnast.  Anna speaks here of her mother's interest in sport and of her relationship with her coach, Yelena Zhiganova.  It adds just a little colour to a picture of a rather under-rated gymnast who I hope will continue gracefully and add...