Montage courtesy of Anna Toporkova Summary of 8 May interview with Russian head coach Andrei Rodionenko by Maria Staroverova via Allsport.info.ru The girls team was selected on the basis of those who won event finals at the Russian Championships, says Andrei Rodionenko. Aliya Mustafina will p erform on two or three events, depending on the state of her feet. Most likely, it will be bars, beam and vault. Daria Spiridonova - bars and beam. Alla Sosnitskaya - vault and floor exercise. Anna Rodionova - bars certainly, or maybe vault if Aliya doesn't. Maria Kharenkova - floor and beam. The format of this competition - three competitors, three scores counting - is tough, I would even say cruel. This is the formula for the team championship at the Olympics. There are other ways, but Europe wants to be better than that, and wants to use the format twice, both in qualifying and in the final. Of course, the discipline is good, but it's very tough, th...
Reporting and analysing Russian gymnastics since 2010. Includes original and exclusive interviews with leading coaches and gymnasts, and historical issues dating back to the Soviet Union. The first blog to report extensively on the sport using Russian language sources. I read, I argue, and I have opinions. Be warned.