Happy Averina Day

It's been a remarkable championships for the twins, as both sisters cemented their debut with rapid and convincing victories. They ended the meet with each adding three European titles to their name. And better news came shortly after the Championships ended: Viner has elected them to be the two representatives at the upcoming Worlds! Arina won the ball and clubs final beating Soldatova in the former and her sister in the latter. Dina won the ribbon and hoop exercise n addition to taking a silver behind Arina in ball, making her the most successful gymnast at Euros. Renowned for their steel of character and stoic reactions in the kiss and cry, relief and exultation finally flowed unhindered on their faces, a sign that the Averina's are no longer wary of declaring themselves the best. The final day of these awesome Euros in pics (with captions):

Arina won ball by seven tenths over Soldatova. Sasha had the higher e-score but did not complete  certain skills and got hammered with a downgraded d-score. Above, an emotional Arina proves her worth by consistently scoring career high's all weekend.

Dina won ribbon with a 17.625. It's her weakest event, and an area Soldatova might exploit 

if she wasn't also weak there. 

Thumbs up

Sasha tangled her ribbon doing the move I complained about yesterday (putting the ribbon between her toes). Now will you take it out of your routine?

It was a close call between our girls and Italy. 

She's so beautiful when she's performing for the joy of it. I miss this spark in competition. 

Why do bad leotards happen to good people?

I thought she and Arina performed clubs better than Day 2 but neither received the 10.0 in max difficulty and lower e-scores. They still hit 19 because it's the Averina way.

I was so sure I knew how I felt about this leo (hated it). But I have to say, in motion it's very unusual...in a good way? In motion it looks like a diagram of the muscular system and when she's hitting those leaps it's an interesting visual effect. But then I see the still images.

SEE. 

Kind of interesting, right? 

No? Just ugly?

 Okay then. 

 

Winner of the clubs with 19.075 and god damn.

When you know you're killing it. The group getting in character to "I Will Survive."

Ah Sasha, this leap should be named after you. Today Sasha outdid Arina in execution but in a code of downgraded body elements she can't afford to underrotate pivots as she did today. I think she's going to change a lot of routines over the summer. By now they should know what's working.

The twins plot to take over the world. But Sasha's not worried, she's got a plan. 

V's happy?  Blessed with Viner's favor, Arina can now walk in the world with confidence. 

Shumilova was not happy when the score came up. For once, her anger wasn't directed at Sasha but towards the judges. Hoop was where I could tell she was very frustrated. Viner didn't seem to care too much, and she never will, as long as a Russian is still in 1st. 

Tears from our princess as she puts on a brave face for the podium. She won silver half a tenth behind Dina in hoop. The quad's just begun but between her and Angelina Melnikova (in WAG) I've burned through four Kleenex boxes. 

"The preparation for this Championships has been serious. The Rio Olympic cycle is over, we won there the highest accolades. Unfortunately, Yanocha and Rita left us. The change of generations is usual. They've been replaced by the Averina's, Dina and Arina, and Sasha Soldatova, who performed at the World Championships. And the twins were just in shock today, it was to their benefit that they won two gold medals each. Today they have received automatic berth to the World Championships in fairness of sport." This means Sasha's out because only two can go to World's this year. A lot can change over the summer so let's see if Sasha rises to the challenge and alters Viner's mind. 

My last comments on these Euros go to Soldatova. Such an excellent gymnast, in her prime in 2016, yet forced to watch others' dreams come true from the sidelines. And now she's not even afforded a World Championships? I have to constantly tell myself that depth doesn't make things easy, but it was premature of Viner to publicly award the Averina's those berths. Yes, they deserve them but to say it publicly only adds to Sasha's feelings of inadequacy and deepens her burden. It also undermines her accomplishments, including the fact that she had a great team competition- much better than Dina. I remember watching the clips of her training in Sao Paolo and realizing that she was in better shape than Yana, who was doing half routines in order to save her injured ankle. But how could she replace the three time World Champion? She couldn't beat Rita often enough to justify replacing her either. Yet there she was on the cusps of the Games looking better than either of them. But it was not to be, and a year later when it should be working out, it is not. Stay strong Sasha, the last Olympics was proof enough that hope comes to those who have the courage to believe in it.