ICYMI
Owing largely to
a miscommunication error, a newspaper published an erroneous announcement that
Nabieva, Grishina, and Kramarenko had retired. Nabieva already angrily refuted
the rumor on VK, and Kramarenko still trains in her club, though I've no idea if
her aspirations are for Rio. Perhaps both girls plan to continue in the sport but not at
the national team level. Predictably, Grishy has been silent on the matter so
unless the words come from her I won't say she is retired.
Maria Kharenkova
and David Belyavskiy will participate in the Glasgow World Cup on March 12.
Maria needs to show she can be reliable on UB/BB and with a respectable AA
score. What would be an AA score that would make you happy? If she can reach 58
[or more] I would be pleased. Do you think she can win?
Bruno Grandi wants you to know that your fave will be judged fairly at the Olympics. People have often told him that he's obsessed with justice which is the first I'm hearing of it.(x)
RG: The Senior Group and Alexandra Soldatova are in Israel for a training camp.
RG: The Senior Group and Alexandra Soldatova are in Israel for a training camp.
I think Kharenkova will score a low 57 if she hits all her routines. Skinner and Fragapane should be putting up similar numbers, so the fight for gold will be tough!
ReplyDeleteSorry for the late reply, I've been super busy! Re Kharenkova; her career high internationally is 57.698 and I'm hoping that the Olympic year sees a DTY in her repertoire so I pray for a low 58. Her beam is such a hit and miss that I'm curious if upgrades are going to further derail her stability. But the truth is she needs to upgrade on her strongest event is she's to make a case for Rio. She was training a DLO last year so I think that should give her a boost on FX, if only to get her floor to a 14.000.
DeleteI think you're right about the fight for gold being between the three gymnasts you mentioned. Imo, Fragapane didn't stun in the all-around aspect last year; as a specialist she's an asset, but she's been a 55-56 type of AA gymnast. She tends to tack on the upgrades quite ambitiously (tho that has its risks) every year so we shall see. Skinner is... interesting; a cheng and a potential 6.6 fx make her a contender but her bars/beam aren't great, though she has improved on both events. I think it will be about her going super clean on UB as she did at US Classics and staying on the beam if she's to rise above the field. I do think Maria is the most- shall I call it- "evenly distributed" AAer. With a dty, she could be scoring high 14's to low 15's on three events, which makes her different from the other two girls who are strong on 2 apparatus, weak on the other 2.