Skip to main content

Russia's plans for 2013 : target Worlds, Europeans, Universiade; change the rules!

By

2010 World team champion Tatiana Nabieva should compete in Kazan this summer

National coach Valentina Rodionenko has given two interviews recently about Russia's plans for the future.

Here, she explains how next March's Russian Championships will be used as selection for the four gymnasts who will compete at the individual European Championships in April. It's a heavy year's competition with Europeans in the Spring, the Universiade in July, and the World Championships in the autumn.  Aliya Mustafina, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Tatiana Nabieva and Krystyna Goryunova have already been announced as being in contention for the Universiade, which Rodionenko says Russia are treating as a highly important competition and which will take place on home ground in Kazan.

Next year, two juniors will progress to senior level - Evgenia Shelgunova [who will have full competitive eligibility for senior competition] and Maria Kharenkova [who will train alongside the seniors in 2013, but still compete at junior level until 2014].

In a radio interview she adds that the team expects to strengthen itself by adding three or four newcomers in time for the Olympics in 2016.  Many regional and national competitions will take place to try to identify upcoming talent. 

Amendments to the Code of Points have been partly favourable, in particular the downgrading of the Amanar vault and improvements to the beam marking, meaning that fine execution will receive a bonus.  However, Valentina criticises new approaches to rewarding artistry in the floor routines: there is much confusion between judges and coaches as to its meaning.  The new Code has identified 'nicely performed acrobatics with stuck landings' as artistry, but the Russians feel that it is more about quality of performance, eg pointed toes and good lines, than acrobatic connections.  They intend to write a letter to the FIG in the near future to try to persuade them to change the rules as they pertain to floor exercises. 

And I don't blame them. 

You can find the new WAG Code of Points here.
Labels:

Comments

  1. Anonymous28 November 2012 at 20:59

    Squeezing artistry out of artistic gymnastics has financial consequences.

    Valentina's latter to the FIG may have been better served by addressing the bottom line, not appealing to their sensibilities. Sponsors have a pretty good idea what is going on financially. But they are unlikely to know why ROI is eroding. Valentina will simply be connecting the dots.

    If sponsors have reason to be risk averse, the FIG has reason to change.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Who really won the WAG All Around?

By
You will find a link to the FIG's newly published book of results at the Olympic Games here .  This year, they have broken down the judge's execution scores so you can see exactly how each judge evaluated the gymnasts' performances.  It makes for interesting reading - if only I had more time to analyse each judge's marking.  A skim reading already highlights multiple inconsistencies in individual judges' marks and makes you wonder why they bother with the jury at all. I have taken the time to look at the reference judges' scores for the top four in the women's all around.  The FIG explains here what their role is, and how they are selected.  I even used my calculator, which is a risky thing in my hands.  My, how I wish we could have seen a similar document for the Tokyo World Championships. I wonder if anyone can explain how, if the FIG's Code of Points is so objective and fair, it is possible to come up with two different results using two differ...
70 comments
Read more

Simone and the others - results and reflections

By
In the end, it was as predicted : Simone and the others, with Simone's teammate, Alexandra Raisman, providing the back up.  I do not need to point out that, by definition, the Americans are scoring significantly higher marks than the rest of the field.  Congratulations to them! Aliya Mustafina finished in third place.  The 2012 bronze medalist led the competition after vault and uneven bars, but had a very nervous outing on beam that might have taken a less experienced gymnast out of the medals.  A bravura performance on floor brought Aliya back though to confirm her third place all around.  From her senior debut in 2010 to today, Mustafina has continuously set high standards of grace.    It is the first time since 2000 that a gymnast (Amanar) has medalled in the all around at two consecutive Olympics, and  if Aliya can medal on Saturday's uneven bars final, she will once again be Russia's biggest medal winner of the women's gymnastics.  Russ...
56 comments
Read more

Aliya Mustafina - 'each medal is very special'

By
'I'm very happy that everything turned out well today  ... Each medal is very special.  The UK team made mistakes, so there was a wide margin [of victory]... But naturally, [what I did] is not enough for the Olympics.  I prepared well for beam and bars but I am not ready for floor, I stepped up to help the team. ... To be honest, I did not look at the scores [when asked how the team reacted to the 6.5 gap before the final apparatus].  Gelya (Melnikova) is a good girl, she did everything and did not falter ... Seda fell on quite a complex element.  There is more work to do, but everything else went well.' [About a protest taken by the coaches on her beam score]. 'I am used to my protests being rejected, everything is normal!' Via vk.com I n other news , the UEG has confirmed that Spiridonova will replace Melnikova in tomorrow's bars final. No reason is given, but it is generally considered that Dasha has a better chance of gold.  This decision also means tha...
63 comments
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more