Young Olga in her white leotard and orange hair bows, at her first international competition in Wembley, 1980 I had only been in the Olympiski Stadium, Moscow, for a few moments when it happened: I found myself surrounded by a little army of tiny children, excitedly chattering away in Russian, a language I don't speak. I strained my ears and heard the names : Aliya, Nastia, Ksenia; I was swept along by this blizzard of pigtails, giggles and pretty eyes; and suddenly I lost myself, and started looking for Olga Mostepanova amongst them. She might have been there, but (now in her forties) it is more likely that she was hard at work in her own gym, helping a young gymnast learn how to do a walkover on beam. Mostepanova was always like that, even as a child: her gymnastics appeared like a beautiful daydream, but the reality was infinitely more prosaic. The exquisite plasticity that made her a Champion, the beautiful line for which she is famous, were the product ...
Yay for Aliya! I missed it :( ws too nervous to go watch it. Hopefully will see it later on.
ReplyDeleteFirst gold for Russia since 2000? wow,
Where do you vote for her?
Congrats to Denis again he was really close to Gold in the vault. Congrats to Paseka for her bronze yesterday! forgot to say that.
:-) I've added a link to 'vote' for you to click on.
DeleteEnjoy.
I'm very content for Musty ... I wish Komova were there on the podium too, I was in pain the see her out like that sigh ... hope she makes it on Beam ... Go Russia
ReplyDeleteWhat a great performance by Mustafina. What a great event final today. Vault was a bit of a mess from everyone yesterday but bars was a great fight from several of the girls and Mustafina's routine was flawless. She deserved gold today!
ReplyDeleteSo happy for Mustafina, so devastated for Komova, so not impressed by Douglas' extremely slanted piked Tkatchev.
ReplyDeleteAlso, slightly puzzled as to why Mustafina was wearing the same leo from team qualifications when Komova had a beautiful new one?
I was more puzzled with fact that, during the Floor finals, Aliya come into the event with red uniform and left it with the white one. did she pack both?! 0-0
DeleteThis Gold Medal made my olympics by far...Mustafina has always been my fav gymnast ..she deserves it :-D
ReplyDeleteAnd another bronze today, she has the most medals.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Aliya!! You have the most medals!! You are now my inspiration!
ReplyDeleteI am happy for her, but thought her routine was boring compared to the others.
ReplyDeleteI think you'll appreciate this:
ReplyDeleteFrom ALL of the non-swimmer athletes at these Olympics, Tsarina Aliya is the most decorated, with an unmatched 4 medal count. And I don't think they'll get her on the next days.
So... CHEERS people! Cheers, Aliya! You're golden!
She won medals in every event she competed in, team, AA, bars and floor. If she had gone for the vault final as it turned out she could have done very well. Imagine what she would have done at full fitness.. Her confidence is just coming back too.
ReplyDelete