All Gymnasts Cleared for Competition
The best news is that AG, RG, & Tramp are all cleared to compete today by the FIG! I'm so proud that gymnastics- a heritage sport in this country- is one of the cleanest sports in Russia. So far, the the only other sports that have approved the entire Russian team are equestrian and shooting.
The bad news is that the WAG team is in tatters (what's new?): http://tass.ru/sport/3489095
To backtrack a bit, Vika recently confirmed that her back injury will keep her out of the gym for six months, but afterwards doctors think she'll be able to train again. While I do want her to follow her heart, the idea that she can make a serious comeback, when it's clear she has chronic pain, makes me wish she'd keep involved in gymnastics through a different route. It just hurts to know how much she hurts.
Maria Paseka is also feeling a bad flare up of the back pain that took her out of '16 Euros contention. Doctors will examine and make a decision regarding her ability to compete on August 3. Valentina rightly worries about this development because we have no other person who can fill her vault role.
The rumor that Melnikova had a hamstring injury is true. Valentina confirmed that Melka will be forced to downgrade her routines to not risk upsetting her pulled hamstring muscle any further. Melka's leaps have been pretty bad since her original injury a year ago, but I thought she was regaining better form and could up her e-score by Rio. She averages low 8's internationally right now, but that could drop very sharply if she's not showing proper form on her dance skills. I'm inconsolable. Her chances for individual medals have declined and the team is dependant on her and Aliya's AA scores as the base upon which the specialists will build around, so maybe a TF medal won't be happening for our girls after all. I'm trying to stay optimistic- believe me, I want to enjoy these Games- but so much has happened to this team over the last twelve weeks and eventually something's gotta give. But I know the girls are remaining strong, so I will follow their example and continue to vocally support them through all media and think positively for good results.
The bad news is that the WAG team is in tatters (what's new?): http://tass.ru/sport/3489095
To backtrack a bit, Vika recently confirmed that her back injury will keep her out of the gym for six months, but afterwards doctors think she'll be able to train again. While I do want her to follow her heart, the idea that she can make a serious comeback, when it's clear she has chronic pain, makes me wish she'd keep involved in gymnastics through a different route. It just hurts to know how much she hurts.
Maria Paseka is also feeling a bad flare up of the back pain that took her out of '16 Euros contention. Doctors will examine and make a decision regarding her ability to compete on August 3. Valentina rightly worries about this development because we have no other person who can fill her vault role.
The rumor that Melnikova had a hamstring injury is true. Valentina confirmed that Melka will be forced to downgrade her routines to not risk upsetting her pulled hamstring muscle any further. Melka's leaps have been pretty bad since her original injury a year ago, but I thought she was regaining better form and could up her e-score by Rio. She averages low 8's internationally right now, but that could drop very sharply if she's not showing proper form on her dance skills. I'm inconsolable. Her chances for individual medals have declined and the team is dependant on her and Aliya's AA scores as the base upon which the specialists will build around, so maybe a TF medal won't be happening for our girls after all. I'm trying to stay optimistic- believe me, I want to enjoy these Games- but so much has happened to this team over the last twelve weeks and eventually something's gotta give. But I know the girls are remaining strong, so I will follow their example and continue to vocally support them through all media and think positively for good results.
your blog lately becoming nightmare just bad news after bad news
ReplyDeletehopefully you mean the content, and not my blogging. I wish I never had to write bad news, but I record these things so that we can fully appreciate a Russian resurgence when it comes.
DeleteThanks for keep your readers up to date with the latest info. I really hope the Russian team does well despite some injuries.
ReplyDeleteyou're welcome :)
DeletePoor girls. I hope Angelina is all right, she's at least appeared in the small training footage we have conditioning whereas Paseka is completely MIA. But I'm worried this is 2012 with Yao Jinnan/Larisa Iordache all over again....
ReplyDeleteI love this team and will support them all the way, and I want Aliya to go out in style, but a large part of me is SO ready for this quad to be over. But you are right, there is a certain level of stress inherent to being a fan of Team Russia (and this is also true for some other teams, like China) that makes the bright spots so rewarding when they happen.
Ditto on being 110% over this quad. I'm so happy I follow other disciplines of gymnastics besides AG, since Russia does quite well in T&T, Acro, Aerobic, and dominates RG. Plus, our current MAG potentiality is looking the strongest it has all quad, so while the women's fortunes have gone down, I can't say everything is doomed. But if you only follow gymnastics for WAG, then yes, Russia is a boulevard of broken dreams.
DeleteI will recap ALL the disciplines, including Tramp(!!!), for the Olympics.
Russia should really treasure Seda because she's never injured. I swear like every Russian gymnast is a Madison Kocian. They're always getting injured!
ReplyDeletelolz
Deleterumours about viner is the next Minister of Sport
ReplyDeletepls let this happen
Viner already denied it! She said that like her mother, she prefers to reign over a smaller domain and "specialize," meaning she helps Russia more by making one sport dominant than she would by managing all the sports.
Delete