London Calls for Mayhem

I'll admit I didn't watch the London World Cup in full. One, it was too long to hold my interest (over three hours!). Two, the women's competition didn't pan out to be as interesting as the roster teased it would be. And while I normally can depend on the men, competing at the same time, to deliver some exciting moments, most were doing pretty terribly as well. Three- and this is the most important- I hate having my hopes dashed against the wall and that's exactly what happened when Angelina Melnikova was unable to win the AA in what I thought would be an easy contest. I can't ignore that this is the fourth time she's not been #1 [and i SWORE this would be her year] and the third time she's failed to reach the podium altogether. Oy. Let's look at where Melka went wrong and try to discuss reasons, if any, this pattern is happening to her.

On vault, her measured run still didn't generate the power needed for two rotations but it seems to me that her form was what really did her in. She starts the twist very early, essentially as soon as she blocks off the table and her legs pike much sooner than advisable. In the slo-mo you can see how far down her shoulders are when she should be prepping for landing (and at 1:06 in the vid below you can see the end result of that). In the slo-mo the height seems adequate for a dty but when I watch it in real time I think twisting too early forces her to have to speed up that second rotation which leaves no time for spotting, one of the most crucial aspects of landing acrobatics safely.

From vault, it only gets worse. She needed an extra half turn for balking a 1/1 toe-on and took huge shin grazing lunges after the the full-in dismount. I wish Angelina had a more exciting routine. As efficient as she normally is on bars, I'm bored to tears by this typical ub layout. If she added a seitz 1/1 (i.e. the seitz with a full turn; another skill that ought to bear Mustafina's name) that alone would make it exciting for me to watch. I'd love to see her do an endo, something in combination, like an endo half circle (after the van leeuwen up to the high bar) before her inbar+jaeger sequence. It's not about upgrading, it's more about my desire to see something different. But 2017 wouldn't be the year for those dreams, I suppose. Unless she upgrades over the summer I don't see UB changing [but it's nice to speculate about the long term potential].

Melka gave a nervous performance on beam, and only once she'd fallen did she manage to calm down enough to execute the remainder of it very well. It was when she fell on beam that I knew the coaches made a mistake sending her to all these competitions. After Nationals, I opined that Angelina's lack of conditioning might produce a chain of unfulfilling meets which would shake what had not, until that point, been shaken: her confidence. No one should have blamed her for her rough time at Nationals when previously she spent the winter on vacation and healing from an injury. Sure it was a shock to see her so low in the rankings... but kind of understandable. A bad performance need not be so upsetting to us fans if there's a worthy reason for its cause. But to keep forcing her to re-live that disappointment over and over, week after week, on the international stage is insufferable! The close proximity of these competitions means she's had no time to strengthen and condition, to drill the necessary number of repertoires, to focus her energy and mindset on what she's doing. Without focus, there's no clarity, no motivation, no improvement- only doubt, and that's mainly what she's been showing since early March. If they had kept her home and worked on her til now, a different Melka would've shown up in London. With little time to spare, I don't know what type of competitor we'll see in Cluj.
                                                                        Could 2016 Melka stay on?                     Perhaps not.

Even though she had no chance of reaching the podium (unless others fell) she went for full difficulty on floor, including the double layout, double arabian, piked full in, and double pike as her four passes. The choreography- a marked change from her past routines- is engaging but Melka moves too fast for me to appreciate it and she's out of sync with the music. I know she's out of sync because there's a pivotal dance scene (1:13) that's supposed to be in tune to the music happening at 1:15 which is how she performed it at Nat's. Even though she moves beautifully her demeanor is more preoccupied with contemplating the next move- I like it on beam, not so much on floor. But these are minor things, and issues I suspect she'll grow out of as she matures into a seasoned classical performer. Not so minor is the fall on the piked full in. She was winded after two major tumbling lines and even on the double layout it was a close run thing.

PRINCESS WHY?
It's upsetting to see how badly this quad has started for her. I mean, if she gets it together for the second half of the season none of this will matter (and that's an important perspective when we visualize the long term too). Just knowing how solid she was last year, and seeing her struggle now, it's a hard sight to behold. They've sent her to meet after meet in the hope that continuous effort would unleash the champion of yesteryear. But if she can't rest, work out, or train properly how can the change occur? The time to get it right has been uselessly wasted on barely surviving each competition under the strain of so much fatigue. And now Euros are in five days and she's got all this worry and stress to add to the still prevalent expectations they have of her. I hope after Euros she can get the time to recover and replenish her body and incrementally amp it up in the gym for the second part of the year. Ahem, a word to the coaches: if you want this girl to be your new number one you have to give her the conditions that make someone the best they can be. Wearing her out when her endurance level wasn't sufficient to begin with is not smart strategizing. To Gelya, you've tried very hard to overcome your obstacles and in moments of great routines I've seen your strong determination come through but don't EVER agree to a schedule like this again, okay? Everyone adores you, but tenacity can only take you so far, and what you're doing right now is akin to a car burning through too much fuel to function right. We know your talent and believe it's still there once utilized the right way, so please keep your interests at forefront in future negotiations. Don't worry about the Rod's blacklisting you...they need you.

Good luck Princess Gelya🤞 . You're always my number 1!😘