Aliya Mustafina
The Russian World Championships team was selected following the conclusion of the 2014 Russian Cup, the Information Telegraph has reported.
Quadruple gold Russian Cup medalist Aliya Mustafina will headline the team, which also includes Maria Kharenkova, Maria Paseka, Ekaterina Kramarenko, Alla Sosnitskaya, and Daria Spiridonova at the moment.
The choices are not surprising, though I don’t think Kramarenko was on many prediction lists prior to the Russian Cup. Where she impressed, Anna Rodionova made mistakes and didn’t show readiness.
Of course, Viktoria Komova was also left out. She competed just bars at the Russian Cup, hitting above 15 only once after hitting her feet on the bar in qualifications and showing form breaks in her team final routine.
Valentina Rodionenko has stated in the past that there would be no one-event athletes this year – those who want to be included on the team must show readiness on more than one event. However, she hasn’t quite left Komova out of her plans for China.
“Her participation [at World Championships] will depend on whether she can get her vault back in the weeks leading up to the competition,” Rodionenko said, again reiterating that “we can not take an athlete with just one event.”
It’s interesting that she said she wants Komova back on vault and not on beam, though technically Komova has a beam set, which she performed at Russian Championships in April. It’s possible she knows Komova’s beam is something she can trust, but with a weak selection of vaulters, I can see why they’d place importance on having a solid vault.
Rodionenko said that Rodionova and Tatiana Nabieva aren’t completely out either, noting that the final team will be announced at the end of the final Round Lake training camp before they leave for Nanning. Ksenia Afanasyeva, who has been out with injury, is also in the running, according to Rodionenko in an interview with R-Sport. She is “training hard,” says Rodionenko, but because she’s experienced, all of her work is spent working on getting her old routines back rather than on adding anything new. Vault and floor are going well for her thus far, but they’re not going to push anything.
Overall, Rodionenko was pleased with how the athletes performed in Penza, adding that they did especially well considering the daily training and competition start times, which were scheduled to take into account the time difference between western Russia and China.
Article by Lauren Hopkins
Photo thanks to the Information Telegraph
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EKATERINA!!!!!!!!! Yasss! I really hope she stays on the team for the final cut!
Also, you put Anna Rodionenko instead of Rodionova, fyi. I know how easy it is to confuse those last names!
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LOL I do it all the time!!
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Happens to me too because I rarely write out their entire names. I usually call Rodionova just Rodi, and the Rodionenkos are usually just Valentina, ValRod/ARod, the Rods,
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Off topic but I just want to say you guys are doing an incredible job! I can’t believe how up to date and professional you guys are and in such a short time of running! Just shows you how great the gym community is and we all appreciate your hard work!
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Thank you so much!! We’re trying…of course, we launched right as every competition in the world was getting underway but I’m glad we can provide coverage for people who love gym!
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Thegymternet, gymnastic, the community on twitter….so glad to see such other passionate gym nerds like myself!
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It’s such a great community! Especially because that’s exactly what it is. I love how everyone is so good with sharing information and helping other people learn. Definitely much better than growing up without any gym fan interaction at all, as it was in my case!
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Hello, I am Avi from Israel and I want to echo the flattering comments made befor me – You have a great blog, high quality, professional, updated – well done and thank you!
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Thank you so much!
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Apparently Aliya’s boo doesn’t get any favors for being Aliya’s boo, lol. I thought he had a chance of being considered for the World team after doing pretty well in the rings final, but nope.
Can I just say that it was a little weird to see the vault podium without Pavs? Pavs has won vault or medaled on vault almost every year she competed.
Missing Afanasyeva and Grishina as well.
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You’d think with Aliya as his girlfriend, Denis as his training mate, and Starkin as his coach, that Pavel has all the resources to get him on a major team line up, but nope! He’s only consistently good on rings while his vault and p-bars are fair enough if he hits.
On a WAG note, I’m sure the Rodionenkos are regretting it a bit more every day for blacklisting Pavs. First the vault medal at Euros, and now this glaring weakness on vault and floor for the Russian Worlds team.
Did anyone see that article where Valentina even brought up Afan’s name as possibly in Worlds contention? They’re so desperate for better vault/floor workers that Sosnitskaya/Paseka are not entirely locks for those roles. Weirdly enough, they’re even suggesting that Komova would need her DTY as well, but I’d think a beam routine would be easier to recover in light of her ankle issues.
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Speaking as a huge Pavs fan, I’m rather relieved she no longer has the Rodionenkos breathing down her neck. It sucks the circumstances came down to that, but Pavlova really enjoys the new and relaxed atmosphere competing for Azerbaijan now. It seems everything worked out for her. She can do what she wants and enjoy it. Vault was really the only thing she could contribute to the Russian team anyway.
I think Valentina has been hitting the cheap vodka on sale that has more cleaning fluid than actual alcohol.
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