A Difficult Circumstance To Comprehend

For the past fortnight, I've been debating with myself over whether or not to make a post on the rumors that have been circulating about Aliya Mustafina's status in the sport. Even writing that sentence is weird...just three months ago she was on a comeback trail of glory at the 1st Euro Games and appeared happy and content. 

But after that meet she took time off with both the MAG and WAG team, who vacation separately, and it was clear that she would have a lot of heavy training ahead of her if she wanted to add a point or more to her AA score for World's. It recently became clear that heavy training is just about the opposite of what Aliya has been doing since she came back from vacation. She was missing from the Georgia competition, V-Rod claimed, because she was conditioning after spending 4 weeks on vacay. There were fans who questioned why her IG was filled with pics of her travelling all over Moscow or to various cities when she normally posts from Round Lake a few times a week, and in fact was supposed to be there while the team was away in Batumi. After about ten days of no pictures surfacing of her at Round Lake a sort of panic hit, fast and hard. Seda then deleted her sprashivai account because she was being harassed about rumors on upgrades and questions concerning Aliya, specifically why Aliya had deleted her own sprashivai account. Seda's answers to these types of questions got lost in translation (literally) and people thought that she said Aliya had retired from the sport. That wasn't true at all but the damage was done.

Even after that got cleared up, the fact that Aliya still wasn't at Round Lake, a facility she trains at three weeks per month, or at Penza with her coach, made people wary. Was it a ruse? Injury? Lost desire for the sport? People's various responses to the debacle were very extreme because no one knew how to react to a situation that was the exact opposite of where we assumed things were headed after the Euro Games. I mean, who wins three golds then loses the fire to continue? It was ridiculous to comprehend. I myself decided that I would wait for the Russian Cup to give me answers. If Aliya was on the start list, everything was fine. If she wasn't then I would have to question just what in the hell was going on either with her or the head coaches of the senior women's team. 

Today, it has been confirmed by Valentina (not that that means much) that Aliya will NOT be at the Cup and furthermore might miss World's, though she is allowed to tryout for a chance on the team at the camps if she so desires [and if she looks good they will take her]. The reason for this sudden and bizarre development is said to be Aliya's old nemesis, her back pain. Additionally she is said to be suffering from fatigue and overwork, and they just want to preserve her for 2016. I can well believe she is suffering from those things as she is the only Olympic member who continued straight after London without a break.

Don't believe me? Let's take a sojourn. Aliya competed in London in August and in November was at the Stuttgart World Cup. In March, she went to the Russian Nats, then was assigned to the Stella Zakharova Cup later that month. This was followed by Euro's, Universiade, and World's. Keep in mind that her former coach, Alexandrov, let it be known that post-London, Aliya was told to take it easy by the Rodionenko's, thus her fitness (and subsequently her program) suffered. She sometimes went to competitions with illness or back pain, yet often won gold medals. But even then, fans could see her AA score dropping at every meet and by World's she was no match for either Biles or Ross. The bad pacing that started after London has continued to haunt, and define, Aliya's career. She was the most decorated gymnasts at the Olympics and 2010 World's so we know her level is high. Getting older in the sport presents new challenges but it should have never been this hard for her. 

Okay, let's get back on track. Aliya will definitely miss the Cup and maybe World's, which is absolutely devastating for Team Russia's medal potential. Last month, Andrei Rodionenko said that their goal in TF was a medal but he didn't think gold was possible at World's and he hoped to set Russia up nicely for a more aggressive assault on the gold next year. Now that Aliya might miss the World Championships, what should fans expect? What can we expect? She has been a mother figure, friend, confidante, and coach to the girls during team meets and her presence takes some pressure off their backs because they know her competitive scores give them a safety net. In 2014, she was the most consistent performer in the TF, putting up big numbers on all the events and giving the girls advice on the sidelines. I think both the younger girls and the veterans like knowing they have "our champion" with them at competitions. 

The absence of Mustafina from World's has wider implications. Without her there, Biles will likely soar ahead of Aliya's medal count in World Championship medals this year. She already has more golds than her, [so she's already ranked higher by the FIG], but now she'll have the overall medal count as well. 

The most distressing piece of information I've received concerning this drama is that injury is a just scapegoat excuse for what's really happening. According to The Gymternet founder, Lauren, Aliya had an argument with Valentina,  possibly over her program, and ended up sassing Valentina which led to a temporary suspension from Round Lake. But Aliya, always stubborn, always proud, refused to come back once the ban was lifted, lol. That IG post at Round Lake was just a visit on her own part according to Sosnitskaya on sprashivai. In a newer IG post you can see she's wearing regular clothing flanked by Vika and Masha in gym clothes. She's apparently content to make Valentina recognise what she's missing and fret. If Aliya was really having back problems they would've sent her to Germany by now and, as she always does, that journey would've been documented on her social media. I also know that Lauren is not someone who would lie about what she knows and her source comes from someone close to the situation, albeit not involved in it themselves. 

I know that Aliya has dogged Valentina's bullets in the past, but back then she had Alexandrov willing to fight with her and for her. I dont know too much about Sergei Starkin to remain as confident (I recall one interview where he admitted he'd been scared to tell the Rod's that Aliya had asked to be his pupil and was happy when they responded well). Aliya remains too high profile to be prohibited from competition ever again, but it infuriates me that the management that is supposed to be supporting her is the main cause of her every breakdown. 

Just one more question. 

Would Marta Karolyi ever treat her ace this way? 

Here you can find the main article in which Valentina speaks on the situation. This is the only factual evidence. All other rumors and theories are presented as such and were taken from social media accounts. Believe what you will :)