Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Seda has posted the following message on her social media sites -  Thank you all for your support ... Of course, not everything turned out the way I wanted it to, but still. These Olympic Games are over for me) I am reading all your comments and posts - there are so many, I won't be able to answer every single one! As it would take a very long time! Once again thank you all for such warm words 😍 I will continue to try 🙈 All LOVE ❤❤❤ RRG says -  Seda, you have made such a difference to the team this year - helping them to a gold medal at Europeans, and a silver medal at the Olympics.  Your progress has been amazing, and your spirit so vibrant and happy.  It is a pleasure to watch you compete, and I think you can expect much success in your future career - and the next Olympics!   We love you and look forward to hearing news of your training, and seeing your next competition. Seda's Instagram account is @tigrilaaa13 if readers want to post pictures and messages ...

Seda had a few words to say about her AA competition - she is so mature. ' Vault went well, bars too, and the beginning of my beam.  But then the dismount went wrong.  And then somehow on floor my strength had gone, I do not know why.  The main thing I remember at this Olympics is when the team stood on the podium. Responsibility for the team is very big, I was nervous that I might fall.  But competing with the team was easier, there is more support, while in the AA it was just me and Aliya. The Americans have good difficulty, they are very stable. We will keep trying - I can still upgrade my routines.' http://rsport.ru/rio2016_gymnastics/20160812/1026087430.html Good luck, Seda, and keep on fighting!  

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...

Angelina Melnikova confirmed her position as Russia's leading AA gymnast today at the Russia Cup in Penza, taking gold over the two days of competition, ahead of her close colleague Seda Tutkhalyan, and Olympic champion from 2012, Aliya Mustafina.  Mustafina surprised by once again falling from her best piece, uneven bars. 'Russia Cup is primarily a step in my preparations for Rio', said Mustafina.  'As a competition, it isn't that important - I needed to try out my AA as I have not competed or trained it for a long time, including trying out my vault.  I met all of my goals, every apparatus went well today, apart from bars.  My failure there is because we have only just begun working on a new set of bars that will be used in the Olympic  Games.  There hasn't been enough time for me to get used to the way they feel, the spring and the grip.  In Rio they will be the same, but there is still time!' Rodionenko later added that Aliya had done more than exp...

Aliya Mustafina and team candidate Seda Tutkhalyan - both from Moscow Five days left before the MAG European Championships open in Switzerland, and Russian gymnast Nikita Nagorny is posting videos of himself practicing a full twisting Roche vault - I wonder if he will compete it in Berne?  The men's team seems fairly well prepared and ready to travel as announced some weeks ago - Kuksenkov, Belyavski, Ignatyev, Nagorny, Ablyazin.  But the composition of the women's team, who will travel to their first major competition of 2016 next week, seems somewhat undecided.  Will Natalia Kapitonova make her major senior debut in June, or will Seda Tutkhalyan, her dynamic yet unpredictable rival, grace Russia's team?  Or will other gymnasts be brought into play; will further, unexpected, changes be made? If head coach Valentina Rodionenko's recent announcement is to be believed, it is a simple case of replacing the injured Maria Paseka (a vault specialist) with Natalia ...

Tutkhalyan and Melnikova - gymnastics dynamite and Russia's not so secret weapon for the Rio Olympics Just as I was about to go to bed last night one of our readers posted a link to a Tass article in which Valentina Rodionenko repeats the team membership for Europeans, but with a significant change, replacing Seda Tutkhalyan with Natalia Kapitanova as a reserve.  This Allsport article , linked on the RGF website this morning, still includes Seda as reserve.  I give up; there is never a final word.  Team selections are a difficult thing and especially so with injury rates in the sport as high as they are.  Media reports are unreliable.  Or Valentina changes her mind as often as she changes her fur coats.  Only one thing is for sure.  We will know who will compete when the teams walk out into the arena on Wednesday 1st June.  Maybe. Aside from the obvious observation - how must it affect the girls to be so unsure? - I'm going to repeat again ...

15 year old Angelina Melnikova will make her major senior international debut in a few weeks' time According to an interview by Alexey Zubakov with Valentina Rodionenko, the final line-ups of both the men's and women's teams for the Berne Championships have now been determined. MAG has been previously announced - Denis Ablyazin, Nikita Nagorny, David Belyavski, Nikita Ignatyev and Nikolai Kuksenkov.  Emin Garibov will be the reserve. WAG - Aliya Mustafina, Angelina Melnikova, Maria Paseka, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Daria Spiridonova. Seda Tutkhakyan, who is competing on beam and floor today at the Osijek Challenge Cup, will be the travelling reserve. Viktoria Komova is continuing her rehab after a period in hospital in her home town of Voronezh with back pain.  She returns to Round Lake on the 3rd May where she will continue to prepare for the Olympic Games under the watchful eyes of her coaches. Although I will be excited to see how young Angelika fares,  I'm overall a little...

As per the original published plans, Seda Tutkhalyan and Nikolai Kuksenkov will compete at next week's World Cup. This is a great opportunity for the gymnasts to test their early year preparations, with both gymnasts in contention for an Olympic spot.  After Maria Kharenkova missed an appearance in Glasgow this week, thanks to what Valentina Rodionenko described - quite grumpily- as administrative problems in the processing of her visa, this will be Russia's female debut of 2016.  On the men's side, David Belyavski competed in the AA yesterday in Glasgow but had an inconsistent competition to finish well out of the medals, while British hero Max Whitlock stormed the gold. Albert Starodubtsev's TASS report makes much of Aliya Mustafina's 'absence' from the World Cup thanks to her continuing rehab, but Russian Championships have always been planned as the gymnast's first competition this year.  It was indeed rather surprising when Valentina ...

This is what I was thinking as I watched the slow, sad drift downwards of the Romanian team in the rankings.  I hadn't envisaged it happening, and it gave me a feeling of foreboding.  Perhaps Russia would succumb to the same forces as Romania and (relatively) quietly drift out of sight of international gymnastics.  I thought - perhaps this was the end for the old guard of gymnastics?  There has been a power shift and America has emerged the winner, while Romania and Russia, the vestigial remains of European dominance of the sport, have finally lost. So I was very much relieved to see the team put on their game face yesterday and produce a far better showing than I had expected.  Team captain Afanasyeva more than pulled her weight and the other Olympians, Komova and Paseka, made their commitment and experience count.  The youngsters, Spiridonova, Tutkhalyan and Kharenkova, also put on a good show.  In particular Seda Tutkhalyan, whose first World C...

Dynamic young Seda Tutkhalyan, a leading gymnast in Penza this week, is finding her feet in senior competition Once again this week the Russian women showed themselves to be vulnerable to errors in the first day of apparatus finals, while the men excelled.  Please see the results below, as ever courtesy of the Russian Gymnastics Federation. On bars, Viktoria Komova performed hors de competition, recording a score of 15.3 - she didn't qualify officially to the final so can't be recorded as champion, but she is consistently now Russia's highest scorer on this apparatus.  Russia are already strong here, and she will need to up her game on other apparatus (Valentina mentioned beam and vault) to qualify to be part of the team in Glasgow. A key fact emerging this week in Penza is the growing strength of Nikita Ignatyev, who for a long time was the unlucky one on the team who would often fall or make unexpected errors.  Gradually Nikita has been improving, until in this...

The Russian team is hard at work, seriously preparing for the forthcoming selection for World Championships, and considering the path ahead to Rio.   It is essential that both the men’s and women’s teams finish in the top eight in order to qualify to fight for medals in the next Olympics. The Russia Cup, an important stage in qualification for the senior national team in Glasgow, begins in Penza, next Wednesday, the 16 th September.   Hopefully, there will be live streaming and I will do my level best to keep you informed of all relevant information.   Check my Twitter feed and Facebook page for instant links; it will take me longer to update the main blog. It has already been established that Aliya Mustafina will not be competing here, and rings specialist Alexander Balandin will also be missing.   After more than a year out of action with a serious shoulder injury, we heard today that poor Alexander has to go for more surgery .   It is hoped ...