The Russian Championships for MAG and WAG begin tomorrow - a good opportunity to judge how training has been going for the gymnasts. Remember that Viktoria Komova is not competing here as she has a nagging back injury, but we will be able to see Aliya Mustafina, Maria Paseka, Anastasia Grishina, Ksenia Afanasyeva and senior team newcomer Evgenia Shelgunova. Tatiana Nabieva and Anna Dementieva are also in the mix. Personal coach Alexander Alexandrov is on the floor with Mustafina, as is one half of Grishina's new coaching team, Viktor Razumovsky.
The senior men are there in depth, as evidenced by a video I have seen, but their start lists have yet to be published so I will avoid mentioning names at this stage.
These national championships are part of the qualification process for the Russian teams for April's European Championships, so a lot is at stake. The Russian Gymnastics Federation will be live streaming some of the competitions, and you will find below details of the promised schedule. Podium training was transmitted online early this morning. There were reports of new combinations from Mustafina on beam, though I suppose we will have to wait and see if she uses them in competition this week.
You can view a brief online news report of the championships here.
The competition schedule is as follows . All times are Moscow.
3 March CI & CII WAG 11 am - 2:45 pm
CI & CII MAG 4 - 8:15 pm
4 March C IV WAG 3 - 5:30 pm
5 March C IV MAG 3 - 6 pm
6 March C III MAG/WAG (FX, PH, R; V & UB) 11 am - 1 pm
7 March C III MAG/WAG (V, PB, HB; BB & FX) 11 am - 1 pm
Online streaming will be available at the following times. Bear in mind, they may be subject to change, or the feed may be taken down unexpectedly if there is excessive online traffic.
3 March 11 am - 8:15 pm
4 March 3 to 5:30 pm
5 March 3 to 6 pm
6 March 11 am to 1 pm
7 March 11 am to 1 pm
Start lists for the competition are available at the RGF website.
Good luck to all the gymnasts!!!
And with thanks to Nora at the All Around Forum, and all on Facebook who have contributed links , translations and information - you know who you are.
Great thanks for the links. I did see Alexandrov with Aliya. I also saw Grishina's old coach walking around.
ReplyDeleteDo you know who is the beam coach?
Hi M, the new beam coach is Marina Bulashenko, who assisted Arkayev for many years and helped to coach both Lyssenko and Kochetkova to Olympic and World beam titles respectively.
DeleteAh thanks, I remember seeing a lady talking to Aliya a couple times while she was on beam, so I was wondering who she was.
DeleteDamn she has a pedigree, hopefully that helps Russia out on the beam.
So since they have coaches for all apparatuses and also personal coaches. I assume personal coaches work to make sure everything comes together, while the apparatus coaches work on a new routine with the gymnast?
Hi Elizabeth, how are you?
DeleteThis is Sinhue.
I would like to ask you, once the team is announced, is there any way they change their mind? Let's just say someone called Pavlova has an amazing competition, can they change the national team?
Thanks for your blog!
Take care!
Sinhue.
Hi Sinhue, I think sadly, no matter how well Pavlova performs here or anywhere else, she will not be allowed back on the national team ... just a gut feeling but based on years of evidence of the team management denying her presence - she has not even been indicated as a possible for the World University Games in the summer.
Delete2007 calamity, Kramarenko, has obviously managed to regain some favour and is training with the national team ... but Pavlova remains firmly on the sidelines.
i wanted see komova in this competition! =(((
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, on that RGF website, I noticed a news article dated Feb 28th with a short interview with Valentina Rodionenko. I ran it through google translator and can garner the basics of the article but of course it's still pretty much jibberish when using that basic translator. Do you have someone that can translate this article? I would be curious to see (in clearer English than I can get) what Valentina had to say as it appears to offer her opinion on the current standing of the London team members. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteMustafina has just claimed the Russian Championship: Scores: V 15.300, UB 15.500, BB 15.450, FX 13.600 = 59.850
Alfi
where is Anastasia Sidorova????
ReplyDeleteSidorova has a knee injury and is recuperating at home ... same with Anna Rodionova and her poorly foot, and Viktoria Komova and her poorly back ...
DeleteThanks for the results, Alfi ... and I will try to get some translations done, but am focussing more on my academic work at present, so please bear with me.
What a disappointment with Mustafina's work! Whoever coaches her, can't they have her use her arms correctly in turns and transitions?
ReplyDeleteDon't they ever watch films of their routines?
The Russians have more artistry, we all agree on that. Yet you have to work on it, again and again. Artistry is not only wearing tons of make-up.
ReplyDeleteThe Russians have forgotten how to work on beam. So many useless stops! Mustafina is not going to cope with the new American's level. She has too many problems in twists, links and vault.