Tsarina Mustafina Fights A Brave Battle

The senior women qualified for team finals .102 behind Great Britain. I'm not going to delve into the frustration welling up inside of me knowing that Kapitonova sits at home with a bar routine that could've outscored the entire field, a floor routine that would've touched 14, and a beam routine that could have been useful in either qualifications or finals. No, no, it's too painful to feel this miserable. A lot has happened these last two months to make me realize how much Russia is losing its edge in the team standings : Chinese Nationals, Pacific Rim, Japanese Nationals, Brazil's strong outing at the Test Event, and random training clips of what individual gymnasts are doing. I recognized that every team was coming into a greater degree of difficulty and was hitting that difficulty with more and more confidence and consistency. I also realized that Russia had taken one step forward with Melka and five steps back with the health issues of nearly everyone else. If the Olympics were next week, I know who would be on the podium, because they are already at 90% and poised to peak perfectly in August. I certainly can't say that Russia would make a strong showing if the Olympics were next week, but more to the point, I am increasingly alarmed that the drastic improvement we need as a team will not materialize in the mere 9 weeks until the Games, either.  

So instead I'll focus on Aliya.

She was on autopilot today, dredging up years worth of experience to find the strength within her to do everything she could to make a lousy situation bearable. I so appreciate everything she does for Team Russia. She looked haggard, weak, and little disconsolate, but 'clear eyes and full heart' saw her qualify first into bars and beam final, the very events she fell on 6 times in podium training. When the announcer introduced her before her bar routine- "the ultimate Olympic champion of Russian federation, Aliya Mustafina"- I knew that she could never be anything else no matter what the final results came to. The circumstances that make one a champion are enduring: impossible to forget that the nervous jitters in your stomach are normal and can be overcome, impossible to forget how to reach beyond anxiety and pain and perform admirably, and impossible to forget how to conquer a podium. Once you rise to the highest level in sport, it's mental and physical memory that brings you back there time and time again. This gives me peace of mind because I know Aliya will have a dignified appearance at the Olympics no matter how little time she has to prepare. Because being a champion is a state of mind. So congratulations on a successful qualifications, Queen. And to the others, I am not mad at them, just the situation they find themselves in, but speaking only of today, they did very good and can improve (and I expect they will in their own typical fashion). 

In conclusion...

Things that suck: We have two one eventers on a five man team that was supposed to represent our Olympic team, our "best" bars specialist didn't make bars final, our beam specialist didn't make beam final, our floor specialist was indisposed, we didn't average 15 on our best event, no floor finalists, only one vault finalist in an 'easy' field, Melka not living up to her potential today, Seda's career for the rest of 2016, none of the 2015 European champions will defend their title.

Things that rock: Aliya embarrassing doubters again, Afan proving her worth both by not performing floor and by performing vault, Melka's inevitable vengeance in every final henceforth.