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The Beijing quad, when beauty just wasn't enough

At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Russia was THEE team to beat. They were an impressive group, composed of power workers on every apparatus and had the potential to go 1-2 in at least two EF's if they did their best. Then they bombed team finals. Womp womp. But three golds in vault, bars, and floor (as well as additional medals) proved they had what it took to be the golden team...at least on paper. But by 2004, a very different Russia showed up to Athens, one complacent enough to be happy with any color medal the team might receive. Head coaches had struggled for three years after Sydney to find enough reserves to back up the remaining veterans, Khorkina and Zamo. The program was broke, the domestic populace had long ago become unenthused, and there simply wasn't enough talent among the new NT members (excepting Pavlova, who was a godsend [even if her medal record doesn't show it]). 

Most of us, I think, know what happened to Russia in the proceeding years of Athens, the Beijing quad; how the program received new sponsorship but failed to comprehend the newly crafted open ended code, how the team struggled to place on world podiums because of lack of difficulty or headcasing, and finally, how Russia left the 2008 Olympics with no medals. In 2014, Khorkina confessed that while broadcasting at the Games she felt so mortified for the girls she wanted to put a leotard on and help them. For those of us who witnessed it live, we probably wished she was out there competing, if only for the comfort factor her presence brings to fans. Looking ahead to the Tokyo quad, I'm glad to say that 12 years of VTB financing has led to a multitude of improvements in the WAG program. There are so many well funded pre-elite and KMC level competitions, the headquarters at Round Lake are up to date, medical trips to Germany are allocated to the most deserving athletes, intl competitions build experience while intl vacations bring team bonding, and prize winnings are significantly better than what they were in the early 2000's (especially for the Olympics). 

What hasn't changed is that the team once again finds itself in the unenviable position of saying goodbye- probably permanently- to all of its veterans, and having to start from scratch. An exciting venture if you ask me. Exciting and terrifying. I guess the question is, will Russia perform insecurely, like the young teams of 2005-2008, or do we actually have the burgeoning talent to see us strongly through the next two quads? 

No questions were immediately answered last weekend when Seda Tutkhalyan and Angelina Melnikova competed for the first time since the Rio Olympics. Their performances at the Swiss Cup and Memorial Blume have no factor on what either of them has in store for 2017. For one, neither is in prime competition shape. Secondly, they've not worked out their new programs and adaptations for the next CoP. And lastly, the competitions are too insignificant to expect real effort to be on display. With that being said, Melnikova is the most fit "out of shape" Russian I've ever beheld. Her routines at the Swiss Cup make me intolerably sad when I think of how well she would've done in Rio if she hadn't gotten injured. I'm already pissed that her name is tagged with Grishina's as a first year failure; so unfair when two different circumstances produce a similar result. The fact is, Grishy was a mess leading up to the Olympics, with the sole exception of Euros bar final, and she continued to have so-so or downright lousy performances into 2013 as well. Melka was hella consistent as a utility player in Stuttgart and Bern, and as her injury heals you can see how her performances are getting back to where they were at Nat's & the Cup. Until she does something major to convince me otherwise, I'll maintain that she is a consistent gymnast and was worthy of the hype built up around her. 

This pic seems to capture the different personalities & competitive mindset of each girl.
How will these girls fare without the formidable Aliya to guide them?

Angelina is one of the best All-Arounders Russia has and I'm hoping she'll age like wine. At the Swiss Cup, she renewed my faith in her potential by posting 14 on fx, 14.3 for a watered down beam set, and 13.6 with a fall on bars. If we consider her normal vt and ub scores (14.7+) then we have a front runner for the 2017 AA podium. I'm definitely not predicting things, I'm just saying if she's healthy and repeats or betters these performances she should be on the shortlist, and held in the same respectable esteem as whichever Americans will be vying for the throne. Seda had a horrific competition, falling on beam and bars, nearly touching her shins to the mat on vault, and barely getting through an underwhelming floor. It was all so terribly Seda. And yet, she is the only gymnast- besides Daria- who's not had an injury through three years of serious international competition. That alone makes her a reckoning force. I honestly don't think there's anything to freak out about regarding Blume, it was an unimportant competition that she wasn't prepared for. Yes Seda always falls, but she doesn't typically look so rough while doing it either. Tbh, this is how I expect the Russians to perform at this time of the year- when are they ever ready before they need to be? 

My feelings for Seda vary between 'she could be excellent' and 'she's all we've got' so here's to hoping that becoming a team leader calms her down and anchors her over the coming years. The other All Arounder's to consider are Elena Eremina and Anastasia Ilyankova. The latter is a more beefed up version of Spiridonova, with a usable floor and beam. But Spiri's proven she's got staying power and without a dty in training Nastia might fade to irrelevancy anyways. Then again, with two additional Olympic spots for any World Cup winners, Nastia and Daria could compete separate of the main team. Ah, but who knows? I feel dizzy just thinking about all the work Russia's in for to have medalist worthy specialists by 2019. There are some 2002 and 2003 girls that tease us with their potential, that's true enough. But for right now, I'm focused on the right now, and what I see in Elena and Angelina are two girls who seem determined to shape their own destiny with or without the assurances of veterans. I hope they can become a stable foundation upon which a remarkably beautiful team is built. If there's anything I've learned from Beijing to Rio, it's that bad circumstances produce victims and survivors. And the people who see themselves as victims of their situation don't amount to much while those that find strength in surviving save themselves by helping themselves. They are our champions, and may we ever produce them.