Yana Might Miss The Early 2016 Season

Yana Kudryavtseva had a surgery on September 30th- her birthday- to fix an inflamed ankle she suffered two weeks before Worlds. She's now back home, in Moscow (from Germany), and is in a boot. "The plaster is not imposed but she is still on crutches. She wears orthopedic boots" according to her coach. 

                                                

According to Karpushenko, it's too early to say whether Kudryavtseva will have time to recover for the first part of the Olympic season. "We will try to keep up in time. We are already thinking of ideas for her program. But we will follow the recommendations of doctors. By the end of the sixth week we remove the boots, have a re-consultation with the surgeon, and then start active recovery."

While they haven't won every World title (and sometimes don't even qualify for Group finals), Russia always does well at the Olympics. Various countries have sometimes snatched the gold medal from them in the intervening years between an Olympics, but every four years, Russia always manages to sweep the event, in both group and individual. Yana is supposed to be the next bearer of that golden legacy, securing Russia a sweep in the individuals, so her foot injury is causing some anxiety. I still think she'll win the AA in Rio, but by a smaller margin perhaps. It takes time to recover from these things, and training goes very slowly in order to not risk upsetting the recently healed delicate ankle. Hopefully, she recovers her difficulty and execution in time but Yana has pulled through ordeals before and proven she can still conquer. She's also reassured us so many times in her interviews- "the bench for reserves in Russia is wide"- meaning Russia's depth is crazy in RG and there is no shortage of girls who could step up and dominate in international competition. While that may be true, you are one of a kind Yana, and I hope that you are the one representing Russia in Rio. Get well.