Keeping Up With the Russians
 |
| Ribbon final podium. I chose this pic for Agiurgiuculese!!! |
World Cup Pesaro concluded and Alexandra Soldatova has once again managed to hold off an assault from Dina Averina. Sasha scored a 73.1 with her lowest score coming from ribbon (17.8) and Dina ended less than a point behind despite having a 16.650 ribbon counted. Both girls had mistakes across each event, as well as every other girl in the final, even the groups (this whole comp sucked tbh). Full results can be found here and here.
In artistic gymnastics, teams have been finalized for Euros. The men's team will be: David Belyavskiy, Nikita Nagornyy, Artur Dalaloyan (AA), Nikita Ignatyev (AA), Dmitry Lankin and Kirill Prokopyev. The women's team came with a surprise when 2012 and 2016 Olympic vault medalist, Maria Paseka, was suddenly added to the roster. Her name hadn't been in contention but after dismal showings from Spiridonova, it seems Paseka is the safer one trick pony (this is a disservice to her longstanding 3-event contributions but I digress) and that's saying something because no one has even seen Paseka in competition this year. Is Russia bluffing or will Masha have us reliving 2015 Euros all over again? The women's team is: Melnikova, Eremina, Kapitonova, and Paseka. It's absolutely crazy how Russian WAG goes about choosing teams but I dig it. I do.
Did Valentia send my girl Seda to a new planet..no world cup, no Jesolo, no Euros.. I'm not giving up on her until I see there is no hope..
ReplyDeleteAccording to Eremina’s coach, Seda injured her ankle in March. She’s still training at RL but not jumping :/
DeleteOh no!
DeleteWill paseka even be ready to compete since we have not seen here this year?
ReplyDeleteI'm 90% sure she's gonna be a hot mess haha. The whole thing is baffling but then you gotta have that 10% possibility that it'll work out because it's Russia. I'm not one of those Paseka haters who detract from her accomplishments, it's just...she's not in shape, and sending her to Euros is the kind of short sighted endeavor that constantly deprives Russia of its depth since everyone has chronic and/or overuse injuries. She's recuperating from a serious back problem that almost needed career ending surgery, so how could she be ready? Baffling indeed.
DeleteHi :)
ReplyDeleteCould you write an article about how do you think russia's nat. team would be diifferent (gymnastics style wise) if Alexandrov would be still Head Coach there) That would be great! I like your blog
I sure could write one, after RG and AG Euros when things aren't so busy. But fyi, after Rio a lot of coaches under Alexandrov were brought back on board so perhaps there's no need for further speculation.
DeleteIf both would have no falls, who would you say wins - Eremina or Kapitonova?
ReplyDeleteEremina for sure. She has a higher combined difficulty and the judges are gaga for her artistry so I she has Kapi beat on both E and D scores. But we live in reality...where Kapi is [typically] more consistent lol.
DeleteHow do you think Russia will do at Euros?
ReplyDeleteAliya Mustafina: "100% want to go to the Olympics in Tokyo, to help team Russia!" at today's radio interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3wITW06eY0
ReplyDelete