Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Aliya speaks warmly of the many video montages presented on her website - so nice to hear that she has been encouraged! I believe that both Aliya Mustafina and Viktoria Komova are currently in Germany. Aliya is undergoing an assessment of her rehabilitation progress, while Viktoria has undergone arthroscopic surgery to her injured ankle. (Thanks to Alan Owen for this information.) Reading between the lines, I think there is fair reason to be optimistic that Viktoria will compete at worlds this autumn. Aliya's recovery was always going to take longer, but seems to be going well. She is obviously determined to compete in 2012 and it seems to be pretty much a business-as-usual attitude from her. With Tatiana Nabieva also taking a rest to recuperate her painful back (due back in full training on the 25th May) the Russian team seems to have been beleaguered by injury recently. Well ... I suppose injuries are part of the sport; and it might actually be beneficial for the top...

International Gymnast reports on a Moskovsky Komomolets interview with Valentina Rodionenko.  Rodionenko gives some quite specific information regarding the injury to Viktoria Komova and suggests that she wasn't fully ready for the National Championships which took place last weekend; furthermore, her place on the team for Berlin is under question.  The current line-up includes Dementieva and Mustafina (all around) with Nabieva and either Belokobylskaya or Komova providing specialist back up.  Let's see how things turn out!  Still early days.  A team with Komova providing specialist back up on beam would indeed be very strong ... and quite a good tactical decision, I'd suggest. In the full version of this Russian language interview which you will find here , Rodionenko also discusses the men's team selections.  Maxim Devyatovski is the top all arounder for the Russians at present, and they are hoping for a medal for him.  David Beliavski and Nikita...

Russian nationals has closed with impressive shows of strength and skill from now established national team members.  A new star also shone for the first time this weekend.  Tatiana Nabieva and Anna Dementieva  strengthened their positions on the Russian team by becoming dual gold medallists, Nabieva taking gold on vault and bars, Dementieva a further gold on beam to complement her all around win.  And with silvers on bars and floor, Dementieva must surely be considered Russia's top female gymnast of these championships.  First time senior Yulia Belokobylskaya took floor gold and silver on beam. Full results are available at the Federation website .  It's unclear what implications these championships have for European team selections as the results ask so many questions, in particular regarding the form of Viktoria Komova, who has clearly faltered somewhat here.  The gymnasts' competitive schedules are busy over  coming weeks, with Mustafina ki...

Anna Dementieva has been crowned national all around champion of Russia!  Full results are available here . Anna won by dint of being the most consistent gymnast around, performing strongly on bars, beam and floor, and pretty much predictably on vault, her weakest apparatus.  Anna took the highest score on the floor exercise (15.1) the third highest on bars (14.65) and the second highest on beam (14.35).  The highest bars score - 16.7 - was registered by Viktoria Komova, who had an otherwise difficult competition, finishing in 35th place after disappointing outings on beam and floor, and a final withdrawal from vault.  I hope she isn't injured.  Tanya Nabieva came second on bars with 15.05, and is second on vault with 14.85, behind none other than Anna Pavlova (14.9).  Leading the stakes on beam is Yulia Belokobylskaya (14.55). The top six placings are as follows: Anna Dementieva 58.05 Anna Pavlova       56.2 Alena Poly...

International Gymnast alerts me to this interview with Ludmilla Korolenko, former coach of Ukrainian 1996 Olympian Liubov Sheremeta.  Korolenko now works for the Russian federation as a coach, primarily for the junior team, specialising in beam preparation, and also judges at major international competitions. There is a lot of meat in this interview if you can get past the Google translate.  Korolenko discusses recent changes to the Code, and refutes the idea that judging is subject to deliberate corruption and cheating, preferring to think of controversies such as those surrounding Mustafina's vault valuations as simple errors or misinterpretations, something she says is quite a common occurrence.  She also highlights inconsistencies between rule applications in men's and women's gymnastics.  Errors in women's gymnastics, she suggests, are penalised twice as deductions are made for poor execution and the move is downgraded.  If I read the translation correct...