Catching Up With A Whirlwind Week

Necessity took me away from the blog for a week but now I'm back, and while artistic gymnastics was wrapping up its championships, Nationals was just beginning for the rhythmic girls. I'm glad to be back, for what a week it's been for all the gymnasts.

To start with, Viktoria Komova will miss Euros because she's been readmitted to the hospital for further treatment on her back. The best option is to send Seda or Kharenkova to Euros but head coaches value Daria greatly so I'm curious to see who the fifth member will be. As for Vika, as soon as she is able to she will commence training for Rio. I regret saying this but I want her to drop AA; my reasoning is that it's better to have Vika in Rio on two events than no Vika at all, right? I'm worried about the strain she is under... 

Valentina believes that the fight for Olympic team gold will be between USA and Russia while China and GBR are left to fight over bronze. Very condescending, considering Russia has yet to beat China in TF this quad (and China's winter upgrades currently have them with more difficulty on EVERY apparatus over Russia...again). She doesn't believe any other team has the level of these top four contenders which is a bit of selective memory on her part because Japan's recent competitions have proven they can most definitely beat GBR and even Russia (on an off day) with their latest upgrades. Many teams are making an impressive final push so I hope the Rodionenko's vision becomes more goal oriented, instead of looking at only the USA. There are other competitors out there, and it's unwise to lose sight of them and their progress. (If you're curious about Team China's upgrades please message me in the comments)(x)

Daria Spiridonova was captured by the cameras training at Round Lake. Coaches admitted she did not do great in the AA at Nationals but remain optimistic she will do better in the future, for she is a diligent pupil in the gym. For more images see here.

From Daria we learn that her parents were also involved in sport: her dad in wrestling and her mother in athletics. She became involved in gymnastics through a scout who entered her kindergarten class but she did not go to the gym when requested. It was her first coach, Natalia Ilicheva, who happened upon her on the streets while out with her parents who convinced them to bring her to the gym. Dasha was seven. Seeing as her favorite apparatus is uneven bars, it's no surprise she admires Aliya Mustafina and Svetlana Khorkina most. In other sports, she is a fan of skating and enjoyed seeing Evgenia Medvedev and Ana Pogorilaya victorious at the recent World Championships. She is friends with everyone on the base and currently rooms with Seda, which she likes. (x)

Nikolai Kuksenkov has been granted permission to resume training and competing thanks to early evidence that indicates meldonium stays in the athlete's system for many months after withdrawal. I didn't think it was possible for events to turn out so well so quickly but this is the right choice by WADA. He will likely replace Stretovich on the European team. (x)

Melnikova was the star of this news feature on her recent victory at Nationals. I agree with Valentina that many people will love her and be shocked to know that Russia has produced such a gymnast, but it was Khorkina who expressed the most important words in this entire video. The translated interview below is kindly produced by Olya Terenteva.  

Valentina Rodionenko: “She is the girl who smashed in for the team, became an AA national champion. She is the 5th member of the future Olympic team though in this team she is not 5th number, she is one of the leaders… AA leaders”.
“As for Komova I’d like to say that her coach called yesterday and said she had been taken to hospital again to undergo a medical examination. And the question whether she will compete at Europeans is taken off. But she will still be preparing for Olympics, everything is up to her diagnosis”.

Angelina Melnikova about Komova years ago: “I was watching her, she was doing Giants in black gloves…and I was just watching her, was afraid even to say hi”.

Svetlana Khorkina: “I want her to understand she is a serious competitor, she is a contender to all the girls in a team and you must not be afraid of how good you are. Bcz oldies should understand that behind their back there are younger girls. She should go to the Olympics and fight. When I was watching her at Nationals, I saw some important details in her performances. Details which only professional can understand. She does fight for every landing on floor, she fights for each tenth of a point”.

Angelina’s mom: “She was very impressed when she went to Khorkina’s competition. She saw her on TV before, but when she met her and then came back home saying: “Mom I took a pic with Khorkina!” - it impressed her a lot.

Her school teacher said that in her class there were many young athletes but only Angelina reach this kind of success. (Probably this school is next to some Sport club or smthing).

Angelina Melnikova: “It’s hard…sometimes it’s hard. You are competing with older gymnasts. They are more experienced and you are so small *giggling* … walking around always afraid of something”.

Spiridonova about Melnikova: “She is kinda cute girl. Like a blowball/dandelion or something…”.

Valentina Rodionenko: “For now her best event is beam. She will go to Europeans and I think will be a sensation, discovery for many people that there is such a gymnast in Russia”.

Angelina’s mom: “When she was 8, coaches were saying she is a very strong kid. Her arms were developed so good, she could climb the rope with her hands only without using legs”.

Her coach: “She was explosive. Explosive power. You need this in modern gymnastics. If you are only beautiful you may not do some hard acro successfully”.

Onto RG, where we learn that the new members of the group after Skomorokh's injury are: Anastasiya Maksimova, Maria Tolkacheva, Anastasiya Bliznyuk, Anastasiya Tatareva and Kseniya Polyakova. Kseniya made her debut in Russian National Championships last weekend. Captain of the group, Anastasiya Maksimova, said that Kseniya was “a good choice”. On the groups first performance with Ksenia she had this to say: "In principle, we're satisfied with the competition. We coped generally well, of course, there were errors, but they were not so drastic. And Irina Viner was pleased with our performances." Ksenia is featured in the above image in the outermost left. I believe this is a new leotard for the team?

Alexandra Soldatova makes a very strong bid for Rio by besting Russia's second best AAer and World silver medalist, Margarita Mamun, for a second time this year and at Nationals to boot! I find her movements too rushed to have any rhythm and the execution can be indelicate, even rough at times, like how her dance steps always look like she's running after the apparatus instead of in control of it. But she is more consistent than Mamun these days, her routines evoke a greater audience response than Yana's or Rita's, and the judges are in love with her hyperextended body elements. I dislike this amount of contortionism, because it tends to dwarf the other more important aspects of RG, but it does allow Sasha to do skills no other gymnasts can do. She was never my favorite because she seemed so unpolished but 2016 is her year and she's looking stronger than the traditional frontrunners at this point so, go Sasha!

The Averina twins continue to impress as well, scoring multiple routines in the 18's despite being first year seniors. Mind you, they are putting up scores it took years for Rita and Sasha to get to. Their apparatus handling's are so complex and their body elements so breathtakingly difficult, I think they will easily trump Sasha, Rita, and maybe even Yana by next year (they have the best traits of each of the three girls). My one complaint is that they lack emotion and seem on autopilot when performing, but they're still very enjoyable.

Daria Skrypnik's coach informed us that her pupil can be very hard to deal with sometimes because she get's offended easily and might refuse to do something in practice. She may be all that, but she's also level headed; when asked about being the National UB champion, she replied, "Of course I'm glad I beat her (Aliya), but I think she will upgrade."

As for Aliya, she will upgrade her UB and BB for Euros but will determine adding additional apparatus based on the expertise of doctors and her own physical comfort.