Ready To Deliver?

On October 2, the prospects on our men's team will be put to the ultimate test as six of Russia's brightest hope to qualify themselves into every final and solidify their placements for next year's team competition. Our Worlds team was picked through a selection process that examined Nationals, Euros, and the Russian Cup performances. 

Here's the most important thing to know about our MAG program: We have depth. Unlike the women's program, coaches rarely look to veterans to "save the situation" since lot's of talented up and comer's vie for the titles alongside experienced leaders. WAG has now evolved to mirror the men but the question remains if either team, a hodgepodge of old and young, can deliver when it's most necessary. As far as the men are concerned, their yearlong stability provides optimism but the recent Russian Cup might give us our finest answers. 

It was a competition that could cement a team spot or completely obliterate any possibility of Worlds. Why was such importance placed on the Cup when the average scores over several competitions would be considered? Well, the previous two major comps didn't feature Olympians, David Belyavskiy and Denis Ablyazin, at full strength. They've been training quietly at Round Lake for months but David was only able to compete pommels, parallel bars, and high bar. He's now returned to the AA which immediately puts a strain on some clutch AAer's really holding their own this year: Nikita Nagorny, Nikita Ignatyev, and Artur Dalolyan. We also saw the comebacks of Olympic captain, Nikolai Kuksenkov, and breakout phenom, Ivan Stretovich. They are slowly making their way back, competing on pet events that might prove useful at an individual World's. They were kept in the mix by the head coach, even as their chances remained unlikely. Next year will be more interesting for them, I'm sure. 

The Team

Nikita Nagorny, David Belyavskiy, Denis Ablyazin, Nikita Ignatyev, Sergei Eltsov, and Artur Dalolyan.

The Breakdown

Nikita Nagorny will represent Russia in the AA and is the most prepared of anyone on his team to win multiple medals- favorably, multiple golds. He hasn't competed AA at a major competition since YOG but if he keeps cool on game day, his difficulty and dynamic execution will make him a likely shot for a medal (even gold if others have mistakes). Nikita won four golds at the Cup and medalled on every event, so he's our top medal prospect for Worlds and is peaking, spectacularly, on time.

Here's the breakdown of his Russian Cup routines:

A speed demon of upgrades, on fx he's now at......7.0 in difficulty, lagging (amazingly, he is lagging) behind supreme wonderchild, Kenzo Shirai of Japan, who has a 7.2 d-score. Nagorny's triple back and 2.5 twisting double back are things of beauty but he may be falling on his own sword if landing deductions keep him from scoring what he's capable of. It's amazing to think that an excellent routine with a 9.0+ e-score could give him a 16 on fx, an edge he'll certainly need in the AA. In terms of the apparatus final, Kenzo has proven he can miss World and Olympic titles so it'll come down to which man keeps focused and has better mastery of his tumbling on that day. 

On vault, Nikita holds nothing back and here is where his power can be admired at full force. It helps matters that he's also got great technique. Vualting a dragelescu that's too easy (!!!) and a tsukahara triple twist, he is not just stunning in the air but steady with his landings and altogether hella more consistent than any other vaulter in the world. He's also training a roche 1/1!

He's also a favorite to make the PB final where he consistently scores between 15.0 - 15.2. The main worry I have for Nikita is that he's very comfortable with doing AA domestically and then competing only his strongest events internationally. The coaches were too impressed by his 5 point lead at the Cup to continue that tactic and I agree that it's time he reacquaints himself with the All Around. I just hope that he can deal with the pressure of six hit routines and that he can pick up and carry on if something isn't going to plan. I also hope his stamina holds up because he's doubling his events (and he'll have to compete them twice) and then he'll have finals to contend with. He's not used to that workload. On a positive note, his highest AA score was accomplished at the Cup, where he averaged an 88.0 with less than stellar scores in some places. Very promising because he can do better. 

Belyavskiy is our second AAer and he presents a nice parallel to Nagorny because David contributes most of his best scores on Nagorny's weaker events. So Russia has two AAer's who could make all the EF's just between themselves if they have a great quals. Nice. Health concerns prevented him from training the All Around at the start of the season but he showed no signs of distress at the Cup where he posted the highest score of the meet on Day 2 with 88.350. His most impressive moments came on HB, with scores of 14.8 and 14.850, and on PB where he garnered huge applause for his 15.250 and 15.450 routines. As he's matured, he's become consistent about excelling where his strengths lay, a necessary characteristic. Sure he still destroys plenty of AA opportunities but he typically makes his errors on his weak events, so it's annoying but it's predictable and understandable. His Cup scores on day 2 demonstrate very even scoring across six events, something he can do again with great success in Montreal. Day 1 pommels was the event that lost him the Cup title (he's normally good on ph) so if he can minimize deductions on his weaker events and excel where he's great, this could be the year he finally adds a World medal to his European and Olympic haul. Check out his elegant high bar routine: 

I'm bummed Artur Dalolyan isn't gonna get a chance at the AA, even though the decision makes perfect sense. But, his lines! His artistry! His foxy grin! I need to see as much of it as possible. At least we'll get to see him fully focused on his pet events, vt and fx. Get ready to swoon over his floaty yurchecnko triple twist and DUN DUN DUN...a shiny new piked dragelescu (note: it's shiny but it aint pretty). On floor, he's upgraded his second pass to include a 1/2 out (so it's now front layout to front double pike 1/2) and comes through with more amazing variety of tumbling such as the double double and a 2.5 to front double twist. I love to watch him twist because whether it's vault or floor, he sets for each skill so nicely and kicks out of it like it was nothing. One of the real pleasures of the Cup was seeing him continue to look pretty stable despite a disastrous HB routine (please don't watch it). In fact, if it wasn't for a 13.0 on pommels and a 12.350 on high bar, his other scores were all in the high 14's and 15's. Even with the disasters, his upgrades allowed his Day 1 total to come within four tenths of his European AA score, which was his best ever. I mean, obviously he's gonna have to do better than 'hey, his other events weren't so bad' but if you only knew where he was coming from you'd recognize the improvement he's undergone. His Day 2 total was more reminiscent of the old Artur: an astonishing 11.0 (!) on pommel horse basically knocked whatever illusions he had about "a  new day, a clean slate" right out of his head. He still finished fourth over two days of performances but he needs to do better than that. His ambition requires it. He is a major contender for a vault medal and he could sneak onto a floor podium since he's super clean and tidy and has a 6.3. Watch him, love him 

Nikita Ignatyev and Denis Ablyazin will each perform on one event so they have no excuses, none whatsoever, they must win at all costs. Lol just make finals ok guys? Denis is a shoe-in for a silver medal (sorry we all know Petrounias is gonna win) on rings and Ignatyev is the second best highbar worker in Russia right now which means... nothing, but whatevs. Do good and there will be no drama. Why would there be drama? Hmph, I'm a little peeved that Dmitri Lankin didn't make this team for his fx. I love Artur but his d-score is four tenths lower than the upgraded routine Lankin debuted at the Cup and I would much rather have Lankin in Montreal than Ignatyev. Why didn't they use Lankin as the third fx worker and have Dalaloyan do vault and parallel bars instead? Artur is capable of wonderful scores there and at the Cup he took silver (on PB) with a 15.2! It is what it is and sometimes someone who deserves a spot doesn't make the most sense in a limited 3-up situation. The team we have now let's everyone get cozy on their pet events whereas Lankin would've effed that up.

Hmph. It might've worked though.

The last member of this team is newbie Sergei Eltsov, sent to Worlds to perform on PB and PH. His work on the pommels is actually incredibly beautiful but his difficulty is way low so a great routine at Worlds will be a positive experience builder, that's all. He's got great hip extension to show off long lovely lines and he moves very naturally, even elegantly, across the horse. After the Cup, Valentina said they were disappointed in his pommels results and would be eyeing him in training which could indicate he hasn't shown all of his difficulty in competition.  His parallel bars, on the other hand, are somewhat competitive as he scored 15.0 in quals and a 15.050 during the final. Again, he has really ling lines that make you appreciate the beauty of a proper handstand. 

So that's the team and they've already finished two days worth of training but I can't find any videos even though there was a live stream from USAG (I think. I hope?). I don't wanna meet with the same problem for WAG.

For me the answer to the question I pose in the title is a confident YES. Yes, I think our men are ready to show the world how diligently they have been working towards this moment. Yes, I think they will do a swell job and make their fans proud. Yes, I believe in them and that they will deliver good results.