Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

After winning her silver medal on vault yesterday, Maria Paseka said she does not want to end her career, and will take a decision later, based on her health. 'I will go to Germany for treatment, then take a holiday in Spain, and then I will look at it', she told reporters. 'I have a drug test now.'   When asked how often the team had been tested - 'on our arrival at the village some of the guys were tested in the morning, then I was tested the next morning.  Angelina was tested on the first and second day.  It was better than at the London Olympics where they did all of the testing at once.  Everyone had to sit in a room and wait. Sources: rsport.ru/rio2016_gymnastics/20160814/1031000911.html rsport.ru/rio2016_gymnastics/20160814/1030991236.html

A few sources in the Russian press have reported Russia's team news.  There is a little bit more information about Viktoria Komova's retirement, or rest break, and some good news about Maria Paseka. The news came clearly from Viktoria's own mouth - I cannot link to the video - and has now been repeated and clarified by her father.  Viktoria has stopped training because of the pain in her back.  There is no chance of her making it to Rio now but if she recovers she may come back later.   Valentina Rodionenko says unequivocally that Vika has retired, but this doesn't have to be taken as a contradiction, just a simpler version of the picture.  (I personally think that retirement is probably right - but why say never?  However, I would feel sorry for Viktoria if she were not being allowed to make her own decisions.) The good news is that Maria Paseka will be competing at Russia Cup - she has recovered from her back pain and is making her way towards qualificat...

Barely two weeks will elapse before the WAG European Championships begin in Berne, Switzerland, and the news we had been fearing has been confirmed : world vault gold medallist Maria Paseka is  off the Russian team while she nurses a back injury.  This leaves Russia significantly weakened for the coming competition, with co-star Viktoria Komova also missing from the line-up.  It is a little disappointing, but it seems the right decision to rest the gymnasts so that they can be at their best when and where it really matters. Who will replace Paseka?  Valentina Rodionenko says that the youngster Natalia Kapitonova, who trains in Penza, has been chosen on the basis of her solid performances at national championships.  Well, we will have to wait and see - these announcements often turn out to be unreliable.   I personally would prefer to see the dynamic Seda Tutkhalyan be given a chance at this level, but Kapitonova has certainly shown herself to be more reliab...

Dynamic young Seda Tutkhalyan, a leading gymnast in Penza this week, is finding her feet in senior competition Once again this week the Russian women showed themselves to be vulnerable to errors in the first day of apparatus finals, while the men excelled.  Please see the results below, as ever courtesy of the Russian Gymnastics Federation. On bars, Viktoria Komova performed hors de competition, recording a score of 15.3 - she didn't qualify officially to the final so can't be recorded as champion, but she is consistently now Russia's highest scorer on this apparatus.  Russia are already strong here, and she will need to up her game on other apparatus (Valentina mentioned beam and vault) to qualify to be part of the team in Glasgow. A key fact emerging this week in Penza is the growing strength of Nikita Ignatyev, who for a long time was the unlucky one on the team who would often fall or make unexpected errors.  Gradually Nikita has been improving, until in this...

The Russian team is hard at work, seriously preparing for the forthcoming selection for World Championships, and considering the path ahead to Rio.   It is essential that both the men’s and women’s teams finish in the top eight in order to qualify to fight for medals in the next Olympics. The Russia Cup, an important stage in qualification for the senior national team in Glasgow, begins in Penza, next Wednesday, the 16 th September.   Hopefully, there will be live streaming and I will do my level best to keep you informed of all relevant information.   Check my Twitter feed and Facebook page for instant links; it will take me longer to update the main blog. It has already been established that Aliya Mustafina will not be competing here, and rings specialist Alexander Balandin will also be missing.   After more than a year out of action with a serious shoulder injury, we heard today that poor Alexander has to go for more surgery .   It is hoped ...

It was almost a symbol of the contemporary struggle for the identity of gymnastics.  First, we saw Britain's Claudia Fragapane, completing with verve and energy the powerful tricks and tumbling that gained the diminutive gymnast the title 'Pocket Rocket'.  Next, we saw the elegant line and gravity defying artistry of the regal Ksenia Afanasyeva, graceful in both her gymnastics and her manner.   They were both compelling, but only one gymnast showed the purity and harmony that was once de rigeur in the sport, and that has frequently elevated artistic gymnastics above a form of energetic, cheerleading contortionism.  Thankfully, at least, the judges recognised the differences in what they were seeing.  Just.  Finally, as the last performer of the day, the 23 year old Afanasyeva was crowned Europe's Floor Queen once more, repeating the award she won two years ago in Moscow.  She was delighted, danced a little jig, and threw herself into the fatherly embra...

Picture of Ksenia Afanasyeva courtesy of Daria Skrypnik on Tumblr WAG qualifications, European #Gymnastics, begin in just over an hour at 10.30 Montpellier time.  Follow live scoring at http://www.longinestiming.com/Sport?sport=GG Alla Sosnitskaya has an ankle injury and has returned to Moscow for a check up.  Maria Paseka will replace her on vault and uneven bars while Daria Spiridinova has been scheduled to do all around. Paseka and Afanasyeva will go in the first subdivision.  Spiridinova, and Maria Kharenkova, appear in sub 3, which starts at 4.30 local (Montpelier) time (1 hr ahead of BST).  Link to the start lists is here - http://www.longinestiming.com/File/Download?id=00000E0000000100FFFFFFFFFFFFFF00 Good luck to all the gymnasts!  We will be supporting you! Alla, get well soon!

Polina Fyodorova is now fighting for the final spot on the Russian team As control competitions took place at Lake Krugloye today, Valentina Rodionenko provided an update to the latest selection news, identifying beam specialist Polina Fyodorova as a late addition to the team.    Doctors have also now deemed Ksenia Afanasyeva unready to compete at Worlds as she needs more time to recover from her ankle injury.   Caution is the watchword here as the health of both Ksenia and Viktoria Komova is being preserved for the long road to Rio. Valentina has clarified the status of Maria Paseka, omitted from yesterday's team announcement and the subject of injury speculation.   Maria has suffered an ankle injury recently, and while it is not serious, it has affected the gymnast's confidence.  'The ankle needs time to rest, and bounce back', said the head coach, 'Unfortunately, we don't have that time.  Besides, Maria has doubts that she could perform ... We cannot tak...

Veterans Ksenia Afanasyeva and Tatiana Nabiyeva face a race against time to see who will be better prepared to compete in Nanning.  As things stand at present, both will travel to China and the final team selection will be made right before the Championships.  Pictures courtesy of the RGF. Valentina Rodionenko today provided an update of Russia's team selection, highlighting that Viktoria Komova has been deemed unready to compete at the coming World Championships following a doctor's examination.   The team Valentina said will travel to Russia also differs slightly from the nominative registrations published on the FIG website, as Tatiana Nabiyeva has apparently replaced Maria Paseka.  Paseka is assumed to be suffering a foot or ankle injury after pictures of treatment recently appeared on her personal Instagram account.  Nabiyeva and Afanasyeva will compete for the final spot on the team that also includes Aliya Mustafina, Maria Kharenkova, Daria Spiridinova, A...

The event finals will take place on Saturday and Sunday.  Thank you to the Gymnastics group on VK.com, where I obtained these screen captures. Vault : Paseka, Sosnitskaya, Akhaimova, Nabiyeva, Cheong, Kruglikova, Bikmurzina, Vanyushkina, Scherbakova, Elizarova Uneven bars : Mustafina, Spiridonova, Komova, Kramarenko, Nabieva, Rodionova, Kharenkova, Sosnitskaya, Elizarova, Sidorenko Beam : Kharenkova, Mustafina, Fyodorova, Spiridonova, Sosnitskaya, Bikmurzina, Cheong, Elizarova, Kramarenko, Rodionova   Floor : Elizarova, Mustafina, Paseka, Fydorova, Sosnitskaya, Akhaimova, Spiridonova, Bikmurzina, Kharenkova, Cheong  

I am still waiting for the publication of full results (for some reason the RGF files are missing names, at least when viewed on my IPad) but some of us were awake very early this morning to see Aliya Mustafina confound predictions of her future specialist status, overcome her recent recovery, and win the all around at Russia Cup.  Highlights were her uneven bars routine and a beam where she presented her best combinations with vigour, recording a good mark despite a fall, but she also leads the vault, floor and bars scoring amongst the all arounders eligible for inclusion on the team for Nanning.  (Elizarova scored higher on floor, but is unlikely to be selected as she does not train with the team at Lake Krugloye and has only one strong piece.) Second placed Kharenkova was absolutely outstanding on beam. 1 Aliya Mustafina 14.833/15.4/14.6/14.3 = 59.133 2. Maria Kharenkova  14.1/13.867/16.2/13.667 = 57.834 3  Daria Spiridonova 13.833/15.033/14.233/13.7 = 56.799 4. A...

Flashback to London 2012: Viktoria Komova The Russian Championships for women gymnasts - junior and senior - begin on the first of April (yes) in Penza, finishing on the 6th.  You can see the schedule here : http://www.sportgymrus.ru/Admin/GetFile.ashx?get=1&id=43065 It is a full competition where the regional teams participate and individuals get a chance to test themselves and their early preparation for the coming competitive season.  This year the top women will be competing for places on the European Championships teams (junior and senior) for Sofia, Bulgaria, later in the spring.  It is expected that we will see Viktoria Komova for the first time in many months - which must be the most anticipated comeback for years.  Aliya Mustafina is also hoped to make a show, as well as Anastasia Grishina and Maria Paseka.  There has been an announcement that Ksenia Afanasyeva will compete vault, and I would also be surprised if we didn't see Maria Kharenkova ...

Emin Garibov, Aliya Mustafina and Maria Paseka received national awards this week, in recognition of their team's gold medal winning achievements at the 2013 Universiade in Kazan (9 gold medals out of a possible 14).   Russia's Prime Minister, Dmitri Medvedev, presented the awards. The photographs are from Aliya Mustafina's fan page on VK.com, and RIA Novosti. Congratulations to all the team!  Maladyets! Russia's gold medal winning teams at the Universiade 2013, Kazan: Nikolai Kuksenkov, Emin Garibov, David Belyavski, Denis Ablyazin, Nikita Ignatyev Aliya Mustafina, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Anna Dementyeva, Tatiana Nabiyeva, Maria Paseka 9 gold medals (MAG and WAG teams, Kuksenkov (All Around, Pommel Horse), Garibov (Parallel Bars, High Bar), Mustafina  (All Around, Uneven Bars), Afanasyeva (Vault, Floor)), 6 silver medals (Ablyazin (Rings, Vault), Belyavksi (Parallel Bars), Nabiyeva (Uneven Bars), Afanasyeva (All Around), Mustafina (Beam)), 3 bro...

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....