Skip to main content

Grebyonkin - all the top gymnasts will be in Penza, except Afanasyeva

By
Young gymnasts line up prior to the first major Championships of the year

In an interview with Itar-Tass national head coach Evgeny Grebyonkin has given us some clues as to the competitors in Penza this week.

'All of the strongest gymnasts will take part in Penza, with the exception of Afanasyeva, who has only just begun full training again after a foot operation', he says.  'Komova, Grishina and Mustafina will compete for the top places.  Tatiana Nabiyeva has been unable to decide about the future continuation of her career, and this competition will help her draw a conclusion.'

The Antwerp World Championships, back in October, was the women's last major competition.  Since then, Viktoria Komova has recovered from a foot injury she suffered at New Year.  Earlier this year, Aliya Mustafina took a two month break, and she is now working towards achieving optimum form at the European Championships.  She has recovered from her break, but won't be doing anything new here.  They will see how things go, then take some decisions.

Afanasyeva has had two leg surgeries, and the doctors have been advising caution.  If she is ready for Sofia that will be fine, if not it doesn't matter, but they hope she will be ready for Worlds in the autumn.

Kharenkova will compete in both the all around and event finals and will contend for a top place on the senior team.  'Masha made us very happy', says Grebyonkin about Kharenkova's performance at the recent Cottbus Cup, where she brought home medals on beam and floor.  Grebyonkin also mentions Anna Rodionova as an improving gymnast who won a medal on bars at the same competition.  She has added three tenths to her uneven bars D score and unfortunately injured her foot before Cottbus but will be competing here, and the coaches will be watching her closely to see what conclusions they can draw.

http://itar-tass.com/sport/1089651
Labels:

Comments

  1. Unknown1 April 2014 at 20:10

    I hope Afansyeva will make it for EC. It's gonna be my first competition and I hope to see the most of it since I'm volunteering:D I am so happy to work for Team Poland, since Marta Pihan-Kulesza is finally being rewarded for her efforts (Cottbus)!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gláucia Sousa2 April 2014 at 23:11

    Dovai Alya Mustafina!!!

    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

Is gymnastics still artistic?

By
Such a lot is said about artistry these days - but you don't really see much evidence of it in the gymnastics.   There are flashing moments of brilliance that some people enjoy - for example, a gymnast like Brazil's Flavia Saraiva is a favourite for her spirited and expressive floor and beam.  Others might prefer the structured work of a gymnast like Kyla Ross.  For me, though, the idea of consummate artistry has been lost almost totally - the last time I saw anything like it was in 2012 when Komova performed her floor so brilliantly in the all around final.  But without a mechanism to reward artistry - something that is absent from this Code of Points - there really isn't much point even trying any more. Aliya Mustafina was interviewed recently while on holiday in Italy and expressed the opinion that artistry was something that was inborn, rather than trained.  She uses a metaphor to describe this - some gymnasts have five gears, not four, and the abilit...
36 comments
Read more

UPDATE 23/9 - Russian WAG team for Nanning confirmed

By
Daria Spiridonova will compete at her first World Championships this autumn.  Picture : RGF Natalia Kalugina has confirmed the Russian team for Nanning : Aliya Mustafina, Maria Kharenkova, Tatiana Nabieva,Ekaterina Kramarenko, Alla Sosnitskaya, Daria Spiridonova.  Reserve : Polina Fyodorova Here is a paraphrased translation of a comment by Natalia Kalugina on her Facebook page : 'Aliya has confidence in competition and she is, kind of, a coach to this team.  In Europe she succeeded in this role and she has told the coaches that she even liked it. The main fighting force will be Kharenkova, Sosnitskaya and Spiridonova.  Accordingly, the strongest apparatus will be beam (Marina Bulashenko With God!).  The Chinese women, of course, have been known to win that apparatus, but if one falls, they all fall.   Alla Sosnitskaya could compete in the vault final, and - in theory - on the floor. On bars, of course, Russia will probably lose to the Chinese women, but the...
57 comments
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more