Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

The final composition of the teams for the BRICS Games (12-23 June, Kazan) will be made at the training camp at Round Lake that began 23 May, says Valentina Rodionenko.  Already selected are Angelina Melnikova, Sergei Naidin and Daniel Marinov.  Belyavski, Nagorny and Dalaloyan will be at the training camp.  Denis Ablyazin injured his knee at Russian Championships and is unable to compete at present.  Viktoria Listunova is not expected to compete.  She still has back pain and doctors have advised only light training for the time being.  Vlada Urazova is also out with an injury.

 

Injury was a main concern for the Russian women at this competition.  Of the Olympians, only Gerasimova competed at full strength.  Both Listunova and Melnikova were suffering with pain; you could see this on their faces and in their movement, by the end of the day's competition.  For Listunova, foot and back pain were problems, while Melnikova had severe achilles pain.  Melnikova is booked in for an MRI as soon as she returns to Moscow after a short break in Sochi, where she is staying with David Belyavski and his family.   Slava Urazova didn't make the competition at all after injuring her knee in training.  Ilyankova has retired.  Both Diana Kustova and Alena Glotova are still recovering from chest infections and Kustova did not compete at all.  Up and coming gymnasts worth watching include Lyudmilla Roschina, Leila Vasileeva (a favourite of mine) and Maria Agafanova.  The standard of execution was generally good, although there were ...