A Queen Without A Throne

At the artistic gymnastics championships, Aliya Mustafina performed very well despite having back pain and admitting her doctors were furious with her participation, which went strictly against their orders. It was a pleasant surprise to see how far along she was in skill acquisition- she doesn't seem too far behind her Euro Games program, at least on UB and BB. Once again, Aliya was able to prove that no setback disqualifies her as an asset to the Olympic team. But last weekend, the same could not be said for the other queen of gymnastics, rhythmic superstar, Yana Kudryavtseva. The three time World AA champion is burning a legacy in RG as bright as Simone Biles' dominance in AG. Then an injury she suffered right before 2015 World's forced her to get surgery in November. Her first serious competition was only weeks ago at WC Peasro where she won the all-around title over Mamun by a few tenths. Remarkable, because Mamun upgraded and Yana had only competed once before then, at a competition were she did not even perform jumps or leaps because of renewed ankle pain. Sadly, Yana was not able to mimic her performances in Italy at Russian Nationals held over the weekend. Her trademark ease of work and consistency seem in jeopardy. This mightn't be so much of a worry if not for young Soldatova suddenly scoring the same numbers that traditionally only the Queen, and Rita, put up (77+ in AA!). She started as a challenger, but now that Soldatova is a serious contender for Rio, the Yana camp is feeling the pressure and its affecting the way she trains and competes. Below, her error ridden hoop routine (how eerie this music's become in light of her predicament).

Yana missed the podium and wasn't seen during the award ceremony.
On the podium you have the veteran who's always been on her tail,
the most improved who is now matching her scores,
and the newbie who scores higher than Yana did
when she was a first year senior.

Soldatova has always been on the cusp of greatness but this year, she's come into her own and has now beaten both Yana and Rita- the most obvious choices for Rio as of last year- a few times. Yana's coach, Elena Karpushenko explained the situation: "Of course we are worried about the participation of Yana at the Olympic Games. Of course we want all the routines to work, and [for her to have] the mental strength to do them. But we try to not think about it and dream positively. Honestly, Yana deserves to go cause she has fought so much against her injury. She is alway saying to me when I'm worried 'Come on! Do not hold your breathe!'.  It is necessary for Yana to go to the Euros in June. Before, we are going to Tashkent, and then why not Spain and Bulgaria. Yana will work during the whole month of May. I have no doubt, we did the right things for Yana."

Yana has to train everyday seeing the girls who might
take her spot. Sadly, Viner often boasts of liking this
pressure environment and admits she tries to turn
the girls against each other. In the documentary,
'Winner Takes All' Vinver says "I tell them
'be careful what if she beats you?'"

You can tell Elena is feeling the squeeze from Russia's incredible depth in this sport. Last year she was confident Yana would recover quickly and that no one could replace her. Now she sounds more defensive of her gymnast and is using the 'hard worker' clause to justify inclusion in Rio. In Russia, that's not enough. But I believe the more poignant argument Yana could make is that she has given Russia almost 20 world medals this quad and as she grows healthier her consistency will return. No one should match her execution when she's at her best. The dilemma is knowing if there's enough time for her to return to full health (and confidence). 

The saying is "in Vinerstan, girls come and go," but Yana is no girl. She is the queen who rules over the other girls, so get well beauty, a larger throne awaits you in Rio!