ICYMI
Aliya, Zamo, and Anton performed in...The Hunger Games?... lol, I am not sure what this is but Viner and the other judges do look like the fashionista city officials from the novels. Watch this bizarre performance here.
WOGymnastikA wrote an article on FIG WAG's president Nelli Kim's contribution to the Soviet legacy (x).
In RG, final results from GP Bucharest are: 1. Melitina Staniouta (BLR) 74.150, 2. Arina Averina (RUS) 73.600, 3. Dina Averina (RUS) 73.100. Dina made mistakes on day 1, mostly on hoop, which impacted her AA but she recovered strongly on the second day. I'm probably in the minority but I don't find Melitina exciting anymore and I think she's getting more generous execution marks now than when she deserved those scores (and didn't receive them) a few years ago. Below, Arina Averina performs one of the most difficult club routines in the word.
Queen Elizabeth, over at Rewriting Russian Gymnastics, had a lot to say on the tentative selection of the senior Euros team. Rumor has it Paseka is injured and that probably won't be the last shakeup. I already said that Vika and Masha were the vets who benefited most from going to Euros since they can be sporadic with their greatness, but if both girls are out, I NEED to see Tut on this team. Also, I feel like I've been condescending towards Spiri's accomplishments so I just want to say I respect her UB prowess but I don't think she has anything new to offer our perspective and I would rather see a well rounded bar worker in her spot, so basically Kapi. If Spirod upgrades then she holds preference over others for Rio, but based on Valentina's last interview, it sounds like Dasha will be doing her 6.7 bars at Euros, so that's why I don't want her at this particular competition. We already know what Dasha can do on bars, as well as we know how she'll do elsewhere, so why not take a chance on one of the younger girls and be pleasantly surprised if she exceeds expectations? The good news about the chosen team is that they will have a chance to defend their respective titles so that's nice.
WOGymnastikA wrote an article on FIG WAG's president Nelli Kim's contribution to the Soviet legacy (x).
In RG, final results from GP Bucharest are: 1. Melitina Staniouta (BLR) 74.150, 2. Arina Averina (RUS) 73.600, 3. Dina Averina (RUS) 73.100. Dina made mistakes on day 1, mostly on hoop, which impacted her AA but she recovered strongly on the second day. I'm probably in the minority but I don't find Melitina exciting anymore and I think she's getting more generous execution marks now than when she deserved those scores (and didn't receive them) a few years ago. Below, Arina Averina performs one of the most difficult club routines in the word.
Speaking of the Averina's, according to their coach, the girls don't expect to be picked for Rio even though they are scoring remarkably high for first year seniors. Instead, she is focused on making sure her pupils will shine brightest under the next CoP: "Actually we are preparing new programs. Fresh ideas are required for the changes in the CoP and how things are evaluated. We're already putting together programs for next season and thinking about costumes, music, and ideas to show. So I am sure there will be new things. I hope it's something grand." Shatalina is amazed, as am I, that both girls are fairly equal in skill, flexibility, masteries, and body elements, and doesn't think one is better than the other. "Each has good and bad days so either can win but if they both perform smoothly they can tie!" says Shatalina.
WAG Qualifications from WC Varna showed that I was right to have low expectations about Shelgy and Dasha. Shelgunova qualified 8th in vault and her other scores were 13.850 (UB), 13.200 (BB), and 14.050 (FX). Finals are currently ongoing so I will update afterwards. Skrypnik had a terrible time of it. Her bars were fine (15.0) but she had a fall- then an emotional meltdown- on beam (12.600) and managed to score a 12.7 on floor without a fall, so there's that.
Witnessing her post beam reaction, I seriously felt bad for her but if it affects you that much then fight harder when it matters dammit! Her performances struck me as someone who didn't care, whether that's about gymnastics in general or just being fed up with the particular day, I dunno, but her distressed emotions after each routine didn't correlate with the lack of effort she put into them. I'm not too keen on Skrpynik but when I started this blog, her winning streak at EYOF inspired me to the first full length article I'd ever written. To see that she's come to this is sad in more ways than one. Varna might've been a reaallyy off day, but she didn't perform much better at Nationals. How could her endurance and accuracy have degraded so much in one year? It's always terrifying to realize the quantity of brilliant Russian juniors whose potential suddenly vanishes into air whenever a transition is made. It makes me a little anxious for her EYOF teammates, Eremina and Iliankova.
The nominative roster for Euros is as follows:
Seniors- Melka (AA), Aliya (UB,BB), Afan (VT,BB,FX), Dasha (UB, FX lol), Masha (VT)
Juniors- Lena, Nastia, Uliana (AA), Zubova (BB, FX), Simakova (VT, UB)
If I had my way, inconsistent Uliana would go down to 1 event (UB) to allow Simakova to do her best ones, VT, BB & FX. Also, can we agree on a nickname for Zubova and Simakova? You would not believe how lazy I can get when typing 
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| Psst, send them to Euros. |
Irina Viner will hold a training camp in Brazil one month before the Games and from there will decide who goes to Rio. While past accomplishments will carry weight, what Rita, Sasha, and Yana do at the camp will be the deciding factor for who is most physically fit and prepared for competition. This is good news for Sasha's fans since she's making mistakes at WC Tashkent (currently ongoing) and some people thought Viner would demote her. No such thing. Each girl has had at least one bad competition this year, so henceforth they must demonstrate their highest level.
Yana is doing great at WC Tashkent, and is currently leading the AA rankings, but her routines come off as stale to me. Unlike her teammates, she's not doing anything new and since this code already values execution over difficulty, I feel like I am watching Yana in safe-mode. Everyone else is taking advantage of their strengths but Yana is relying on what she knows will work because it's already won her gold medals in the past. People used to call her the ice queen in response to her nature* and her lack of artistic expression but now it's the program, not the individual, that lacks passion.
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| Woohoo, Vika's alive! The gang, appropriately attired, in Moscow for the men's World Championships in hockey. Unlike their own beloved sport, this is a sport that is popular in Russia. Good luck to the Russian hockey team who have no option but to win lol. I love the Russian gear! Also, #squadgoals |
Irina Alexeeva, formerly of Russia, competed at the American Classic and won bronze with a 56.1, which recognizes her as an elite athlete in USA and (I think) sees her through to the US Classics.
*Yana famously once said that she pretends to feel nervous (when she's not) to seem normal to her peers. Oh queen...
do Irina Alexeeva have serious potential ?
ReplyDeletef... i hate all the 90s sovit Athletes gold diggers starting with Valeri Liukin
now i see few of them in the russian madia saying "who they love russia and they want to train in russia but cause they Trained in Foreign country the AG Federation won't' let them " but we all know they just looking for job
Well, she's a junior scoring 56 AA so i'd say Alexeeva has potential though I personally don't find her style or execution to be extraordinary. In most other countries she would be the standout junior but not in USA. There are several girls who can beat her but perhaps training at US camps will eventually bring out the best in her ability. For instance, she's training a DTY and her bars and beam are over 6.0 under this CoP so she's not without merit. Regarding her switch to America, Irina wanted to compete for Russia but after spending half her life in the US she couldn't leave her family (and friends) behind so easily as when she was a very young child. I'm confused why anyone would be mad at her for staying in a country where, frankly, it's gonna be harder for her to make the National team. Her parents and coach moved to USA, at the behest of Liukin, and what choice could a 8 year old have in the matter? I doubt the Rodionenko's would presently accept her at Round Lake even if she did desire to compete for them. My understanding is that it's not that she has a strong preference for USA but that it's no longer realistic for her to be on the Russian team and America is her home now so she must try her luck there.
DeleteI can't comment on coaches being banned from Russia because I don't know anything on that subject.
i didn't say anything bad about her !!
Deletebtw I'm not russian
I know you didn't, I spoke in general terms because I've seen comments previously on the internet about her. Nasty stuff on youtube mostly. So I was addressing everything in one comment before any of those people decided to litter my blog with insults. I'm happy you don't hold anything against her :)
DeleteAww, that makes me sad that there are rude comments out there about Alexeeva, who had no say in leaving and can't be expected to uproot herself now. Do I think her old coach deserves some shade/resentment for how that whole ditch-your-students-for-WOGA situation was apparently handled (as in, making no effort to see that they were looked out for and didn't all quit)? Absolutely heheh but that's an entirely different story. And anyway, it's not like she's had anything to do with Irina for years.
DeleteThings worked out all right for Aliya and Masha at least. I hope all goes well for Irina too, now that she's an elite herself! Though I think she's already being WOGAtized, & I don't mean that in a good way.
Yep Dina Kamalova is garbage for the manner in which she left Russia. She waited until the very last minute to tell her pupils she was leaving and many of them quit, but luckily not all of them (else where would Russia be today, eh?). Then when Aliya became a world champion she called Alexandrov and demanded he pay her his portion of whatever money he gets as the coach of a medalist. Could a person be more obnoxious! And to think after all this, she left Irina anyways (which was one of the deciding factors in her move) and is now somewhere in Denver. She's too much.
DeleteIrina is a good Ub worker with one or two nice moments on beam (at least in her 2014 routine, no idea what it looks like now) but she is a Wogette already, and like you, I don't mean that in a good way ;)
You said perfectly what I've thought about Yana this year. I don't know if I'm feeling pushback against her program this year (my least favorite of the 3), or against the idea that RG at the Olympics will once again be a coronation rather than a competition if she goes. But I've yet to be excited by her in 2016 for some reason.
ReplyDeleteIf Lena has a rough transition next year I will be so sad. There's something about her I really like. Skrypnik just looks like she's gotten hammered by puberty in the last year. Maybe she will figure it out in time, but Russia has a terrible track record in that regard.
and I love the hockey picture! For as much as I complain about the current AG management, I do like that the girls aren't locked up in Round Lake 24/7. Maybe my perception is skewed because of social media and because several of them are no longer teenagers, but I've gotten the impression that they have a little bit more freedom in their downtime than they did when Alexandrov was in charge.
Secretly in the depths of my soul I want Rita and Sasha because even if two Russians stand on the podium the final order will be a mystery.
DeleteIf Lena's senior career goes gone with the wind, RIP to me & this blog because I have already given my soul to her. Oh, you reminded me to publish a finished article on her that got buried beneath a lot of other clutter.
Re; Alexandrov, the girls said in a post Olympic interview that they were miserable under his charge in the lead up to London, and Valentina has reiterated that point many times (naturally). Things are probably less intense at RL but additionally the girls aren't babes anymore. In London, only Afan was a veteran with the rest of them still starry eyed about Olympic glory and fiery with passion. Now, they're all young women with lives beyond gymnastics, talented but tempered, and with a track record to prove they don't need to be in the gym as much as their younger teammates in order to compete among the best in the world. Particularly Afan and Aliya, they make magic happen even in rotten health and other circumstances.
Can we agree on Zubzub and Sima for the junior nicknames? :D
ReplyDeleteYass, I love it! I wanted to call her Zubzub but I thought 'is it weird that I prefer to call her a nickname that's longer than her actual name?'
DeleteSima is perfect, why didn't I think of that? Thanks.
Haha, no problem. You could always just use "Zub" if you're feeling too lazy to type the whole thing out. ;)
Delete