Anna Dementyeva might have struggled at these year's worlds, but on floor exercise she has personality enough for her and to spare! The routine that she competed at the Swiss Cup really showcases that and makes the best use of her enthralling charisma!
I am a fan of Demy, she has a great look to her gymnastics and I really like her enthusiasm. In a world of boring choreography and sad floor routines, Demy makes it all just a little bit better...
I don't believe there is any coach in their right mind that would not take a healthy Anna Dementyeva to the Olympics so I hope we get to see this routine in London 2012...
In two words: Anna Pavlova!
Although I am a fan of Marie-Sophie and Giulia Hindermann, Anja Brinker and Polina Miller I would love to see videos of Pavlova's performance. I just really like her work. I, as many others, have always felt for Anna. Her inability to break through has made my heart bleed at times. She is just sooo great, clean, elegant, beautiful... Pav will be competing as a guest for the Eintracht Frankfurt and I am hoping to see her on floor, vault and beam. Bars has never been her forte and has many times kept her off the AA podium, but on the other three apparatus she is capable of fantastic performances. I have been hoping for her to get another chance at a Russian team. Since last year people have been talking about her return to competition and although she won vault at these year's Russian cup, she was not chosen for the team and Alexandrov does not seem inclined to change his mind. Nevertheless if she is really doing some powerful vaults and clean floor routines, Pavlova is a possibility for the Olympics especially if the Russian starts Mustafina and Komova cannot get their Amanars back in time. If they do however Pav's possibility of being on the team declines substantially. Seeing her compete is nevertheless always a pleasure.
Photo by Hannah Johnston/Getty Images AsiaPac at 2011 Asian Games
Huang Qiushuang put an exclamation mark on her World Cup season winning the two last events: Stuttgart and Tokyo Cups. With 185 points Qiushuang finishes the season with the win in the World Cup series. This really helps Qiushuang's case after her inconsistent and erratic performance at the Tokyo World Championships this year. In a deep Chinese team, Qiushuang cannot afford to make mistakes if she hopes to be on the 5 member team for next year.
Qiushuang was very consistent in Tokyo besting Japan's Yu Minobe and Germany's Kim Bui. Bui also finishes the season with a nice standing in second on the World Cup series.
Here are the official results.
It is unfortunate that FIG has announced it will not own up to the prize money it promised the winners of the World Cup series in the beginning of the year as this might have built a solid precedent for next year's series and might have attracted the bigger names. Although the first tear of gymnasts did not appear much in the World Cup series this season I believe the system does work. Aliya Mustafina for instance seemed to be prepared to make a consistent appearance in the series before her injury at the European Championships and Qiushuang herself is one of the top gymnasts in the world. I think FIG should have been prepared to invest in this new format to solidify it in order to make in viable for next year's edition.
Without the promised prize and with the overthrowing of the system that already took place in this year's American Cup, I do not know if the World Cup series will attract much participation next year. It is really a pity since gymnastics is one of few sports that does not have consistent events throughout the season in preparation for the world championship or Olympics which I believe really hampers the younger gymnasts that do not have the possibility of gaining more experience.
Many bloggers have argued for the need of a junior season in gymnastics that would add to the already existing European Championships, Pac Rims (that allows junior participation and has prizes for the best juniors), and Youth Olympics an Junior World series and a Junior World Championships. I feel this is a great idea. With FIG increasing the age limit for participation on the senior level, a junior season would allow up coming talents to get more experience and their time in the sun.
We need to keep publicizing and asking for these changes. If this year's championships has shown anything is that the globalized, wide web world of today allows for fans to express their opinions and be heard by the authorities in the sport.
More soon!
New addition: some videos have surfaced particularly of Huang.
I have to say I think Huang has a problem in her kip technique. If she is slightly under the bar, she just cannot muscle it out like some of the other tiny Chinese. This has happened to her in several routines, like at worlds on the low bar. She needs to figure this out!
The gymnastics season is not over just yet... and Japan is hosting another event. The Tokyo Cup is another Category A World Cup, that is, a world cup with an all around competition. This will be the last event of this series this season and will wrap it up giving us the champion for 2011. Right now these are the rankings:
However not all those ranked gymnasts will be competing in Tokyo. Here is the roster for this competition:
Elizabeth Beddoe
Georgia Rose-Brown
Mary-Anne Monckton
Huang Quishuang
Nadine Jarosh
Kim Bui
Yu Minobe
This means that Huang Quishuang most likely will take the World Cup all around overall title because since the three higher scores are added together and she is at 85 right now, only Kim Bui with a win here will be able to catch her. The all-around champions at each of these World Cup competitions get 50 points, second place gets 45 points, third place 40 points, fourth 35 and so on and so forth. If Bui wins and gets the 50 points she will beat or tie Quishuang. That is if Quishuang does not place second or third.
Whatever the final scoring is, this is going to be another great competition as these girls are really good gymnasts. I am hoping Huang can keep her cool and take this one too, paving her way to the Olympics next year. But most importantly, I hope all the gymnast give good strong performances so that they end the season on a high note and confident for the upcoming season that will be very taxing.
This Visa commercial featuring Lauren Mitchell has been released and it is quite fabulous. I for one really like Lauren, I remember her competing low difficult pristine clean routines at the world championships back in the day. She has come a long way, kept at it, improved her difficulty and has been looking great to go to her second Olympics. Go Lauren!
Looking at this commercial just reminded me of some other moments gymnasts were in the media:
Mary Lou Retton Barbie Commercial
Recent Dairy Queen commercial
Bowling commercial
Energizer
Wheaties
Shawn Johnson's Wii commercial
And an interview with Shawn about it
And another 2008 commercial by Johnson for Hyvee
Nastia Liukin for Max Azria Spring 2009 collection
Nastia Go Visa 2008
Nastia and Nadia Comaneci for Adidas (this one is particularly fabulous!)
Alicia Sacramone in ESPN's The Body Issue
Nickelodeon
Anna Bessonova
Other rhythmic gymnast for Bonaqua
Group of Hungarian gymnasts for Audi
And some really hilarious Gymnast Barbie commercials
What I really want Santa to bring me this Christmas is some strong all arounders for the 2012 Olympics. I want them to be fit, ready, with upgrades so that we have at least a 6 ring circus in London instead of the usual 2 top gymnasts battling it out.
Who I hope to see fight for the AA Olympic title:
Aliya Mustafina
Viktoria Komova
Rebecca Bross
Jordyn Weiber
Ana Porgras
Yao Jinnan
For that to come true however some other stuff needs to happen first:
1. Mustafina and Bross need to recuperate from injuries and start competing well, hopefully with full difficulty.
2. Octavian Bellu needs to find a way to get a DTY out of Porgras and her old bars back.
3. Komova needs to get a sense of urgency and stop slogging around the competition floor.
4. Jordyn Weiber needs to fix her turns and leaps (I know that is not paramount for winning the AA in London because clearly the judges don't care about her bad form on dancing elements, but this is my wish list and I care!).
5. Jinnan needs a bit more competition under her belt and needs to ditch the China syndrome she has momentarily succumbed to in the 2011 Worlds AA.
These six gymnast have a lot of potential. Mustafina and Komova are the classic strong minded, elegant and balletic Russian gymnasts. Bross and Weiber are the traditional powerhouse American athletes. Porgras is a back-in-the-day elegant and consistent Romanian (well she can be consistent again!), she reminds me of Szabo and Silivas. Jinnan has this great Chinese elegance with a subtle power and spring in her tumbling that allows her to be competitive in this day in age. She marries the grace of Li Li and the power of a young Cheng Fei in a very tiny body.
This mix of gymnastics is outstanding and can be a real treat on the floor in London and that is definitely what I want to see.
GymnasticsFan1144 did a montage about the highlights of the month in the world of gymnastics. Is really good and gives a great overview of what is going on:
The competition in Marseille was wrapped up today with event finals. Komova took gold on bars and silver on floor while Nabieva took the gold on vault. Brevet took the beam. Victoria Moors had a great competition with silver on the AA and gold on floor.
Some videos have reached us and I posted them here:
Russians
I have to say seeing Komova's performance on this competition makes me believe that someone needs to light a fire under this girl, after all, time is not going backwards and the 2012 competitive season is just around the corner. If she is injured, they need to rest her. If she is not, they need to work seriously on her stamina because she just is not making it to the end of that floor routine. She needs to be reminded that she cannot afford to fall on her turns, and she has to stop falling on beam. First she needs to fight for it, and secondly, getting frustrated at herself is not doing her any favors so just suck it up and let's see some fight!
When I watched the AA competition at these year's worlds I was not really drawn to Ana Porgras' floor exercise routine. Last year I just really appreciated her balletic and stylish routine, but this year I was so absorbed in the Weiber/Komova debacle that I just looked right through Ana's routine. Now, with a little bit of perspective, I have been able to really look at this exercise. And you know what: I like it! I think it has a very enthralling intensity. The clasp of the hands in the beginning and the nicely hit notes in the music really have won me over. Of course I would have loved it even more with better landings on the last two passes and better legs on that double layout, but I find Ana's turns and leaps very good and I like her artistry and expression. She has great arms, good extension and nice legs and feet.
I hope Bellu/Bitang take it easy on her and let her artistry on beam and floor shine through a little more. Here are her two routines from Rotterdam and Tokyo.
Try to ignore the NBC commentators, they are complete dumbasses and it does not improve from one year to the other. As a matter of fact it has not improved in the last decade and it is not looking like they are going to get rid of them any time soon. I usually watch the competitions on mute because Al Trautwig, Tim Dagget, and Elfi Schlegel's stupidity just makes me nauseous, but on floor because of the music, you just have to work with it. I was happy that the Universal Sport.com feed this year was the international one so it was with the British commentators that I actually do not think are that awful.
Viktoria Komova of Russia. Credit: Adam Pretty/Getty Images
Some results for the International Elite Gym Massilia have come in and there were some predictable scores and some real disappointments.
Anybody who knows anything about gymnastics expected the Russians to take this one, and although they did, it was definitely not as expected.
Komova fell off beam (13.55 BB, 15.7 UB, 14.05 FX, 14.45 VT), Nabieva had several falls on floor (and appears to not have competed UB, although it may just be that her score has not reached us! 11.6 FX, 13.6 BB, 14.3/14 VT) and Grishina only scored on the low 13s on all three apparatus she performed (13.15 BB, 12.9 FX, 13.45 VT).
Team Russia took the team gold and Komova took the AA, but I for one, find these scores unacceptable. Ok, I need to be less mean about this because it is after Worlds and all, but Olympics are just around the corner people!
I like Komova's UB score because it shows that she is consistent on this routine and can score very well. I think a little upgrade would just put it over the edge onto the 16s range. The beam however worries me! I had mentioned on another post (read it here!) that I seriously worry about Russia on beam because they are just not consistent and Nabieva, Komova and Grishina have not done much in this meet to change my mind (and Afanaseyva and Konova at Worlds did not put my mind at ease either!). Even Mustafina who I think is tough as nails has had a lot of problems on beam. They have problems with falls, with turns, with connections! It is a bit of a mess!
Dear Alexandrov, somebody needs to do something about this!
On another note, Victoria Moors of Canada and Emily Little of Australia did a nice job at Marseille this weekend taking second and third in AA respectively. Moors scored a solid 14.55 on floor. Being that it is such a brutal event in terms of deductions, I think it says a lot about her prospects in the sport!
Event finals are yet to come and I hope we will get some videos too!
After Blythe from Gymnastic Examiner has pointed to a great photo shoot by USA gymnastic girls, see here, let's explore what the US team could look like.
Team USA can go different ways because so many gymnasts are returning to competition whether because they were retired or because of injury. But nevertheless I will take a stab at it.
Interestingly enough, the photo shot in Hollywood with the prospective USA gymnasts only included a few, and I find, gives us a clue of who is being seriously considered. But gymnastics is also a game of chance, so we never know. We can attempt to though.
Jordyn Wieber: I am not the biggest fan of Wieber. I feel that a gymnast of her caliber should have better artistry all around. Johnson for instance is a power gymnast that had much better form in her artistic elements than Wieber has ever showed. Nevertheless Jordyn is extremely good, powerful and talented, and pending a crazy injury in the last second that I seriously doubt, she will be in London vying for that team gold and an individual AA gold as well. She will certainly contribute on vault, floor and beam in TF. Wieber has faltered twice on UB in the last to big competitions: American Cup and Worlds so Martha might not want to use her on this event, but she might not a have a chance.
McKayla Maroney: Now a World vault champion, Maroney has a good chance at this team particularly because she has the best Amanar around and is capable of scoring big on it. Her bars is not awful and could be used in the prelims. Her beam was atrocious at Worlds, she is just not strong and confident in her performance. Hers was the only floor routine in the USA team at TF Worlds that I thought was worthy of this name and if she can figure out a way to keep that double arabian under control she can have a high difficulty routine and solidify her place in the 5 member team. It will be difficult for Maroney to rely only on her great vault to make the team so she needs to constantly show that she is a great all arounder.
Alicia Sacramone is in a difficult position at this point. She had a great couple of years, but this serious injury so close to the Olympics may really put her position in this team in jeopardy. She already was fighting with others, like her teammate Raisman, for a spot, and now, she may not have enough time to recuperate. Other gymnasts, like Raisman, will have the chance to prove themselves again in the American Cup and at Pacific Rims and Sacramone just will not be there, so she is definitely at a disadvantage. Also, her best events are vault, beam and floor and a Aquiles tear will keep her out of training for a substantial amount of time on those events. We will have to wait and see.
Aly Raisman: the just-turned-pro Alexandra Raisman is the solid, consistent gymnast Martha Kalolyi just loves. Her ability to compete under pressure is impressive and if she is healthy and competing at full strength I cannot phantom Martha not taking her to London. My opinion of Raisman has always been twofold: on one hand she is a type of gymnast that I love: consistent, resilient, determined and guaranteed to hit. On the other she is the type of gymnast that I hate: the bad form, lack of extension across the legs and feet and with some seriously ugly choreography. At the same time that watching her pisses me off, I cannot help but admire her as a gymnast. Her contribution to the team will be on vault, floor most likely, and beam if the team needs her. Bars is a disaster for her and it is not looking like it is going to improve. It has lost her a medal in the AA at Worlds twice already.
Anna Li has what so many US gymnast lack: a good bar routine. She is capable of a very good, difficult bars and a decent, but not so difficult beam at this point. She really needs to get consistent at her bars and put together a much more difficult beam if she hopes to be a viable choice for the team. I find it hard to believe that a gymnast that can only contribute in one event can make this team. The high difficulty on bars can be a serious asset for team USA, but Li will have to compete with some very strong gymnast for this spot.
Rebecca Bross has had a tough year. At the Visas she looked frustrated, tired, and that led to her injury. But Rebecca is a valuable asset to team USA. Her bars are good, she is very strong mentally and can contribute on beam and floor. However, she already had problems with her vault even before the injury. She had been landing with her chest very low and under rotated for a while. I hope she can come back for Pac Rims and be ready to go because with all the veterans making a come back, she needs to be on top of her game. What she has on her corner is that she has proven herself many times, even when she has had problems, Rebecca always comes back strong and delivers and that you cannot teach, some have it and some don't. And I don't know anyone that does not want a gymnast like that on their team.
Gabrielle Douglas has done herself quite a favor at the world championships. Many did not believe she could hold it together after her disastrous performance at Visas. But she kept her head on her shoulders and did very well. Her bars are also why she is such a good bet for this team. Furthermore she is an all arounder and that counts on a 5 member team. However, just her performance at Worlds is not going to be enough if she continues being inconsistent this year. Upgrading will also not hurt her. With big bar workers like Li and Liukin, Douglas is going to need to upgrade on this event and become more consistent on all events.
Kyla Ross has the problem of being too young and of not competing this year like many of the other of the prospective Olympians. This might come back to bite her, but she is a two time Junior champion with some international experience. Ross is consistent and has competed an Amanar last year which increases her chances of being in this team. She has solid difficulty all around and she is clean. But if Martha will consider her at all, she will first send her to some international competitions to see how mentally prepared she is for this. I really believe Ross is an great asset.
Nastia Liukin is back. How much she can do and how well she can score with what she can do is yet to be decided. I am sure that her and her father had a serious look at this quads' scoring system and changes before making this call, so I believe she is planning some high scoring routines on beam and bars. Whether she will do floor I don't know. Taking under consideration how brutal the judging has been on this event I am not sure it is worth it for Liukin to attempt a come back there and get injured. She can probably put together high difficulty dance elements, but I am not so sure about the tumbling. I feel she cannot compete the all around as I doubt she is capable of a more difficult vault than she has shown in the past, so Liukin will really be a event specialist and bars and beam are her best bet. If she can put together a bar routine to score on the high 15s, low 16s, like He Kexin has shown this year, she is extremely valuable for team USA and might punch her ticket right there.
Sabrina Vega also made her case at this year's Worlds. Although reports were that she was very nervous, she delivered when it counted and started off the US on some tricky events. I honestly find her a little boring, but she is clean and has consistent difficulty in the all around. Her bars, floor and beam are good, but she does not have outstanding difficulty and she cannot contribute with a big vault, so really it will depend on how much she can upgrade and her consistency next year. She is certainly in the running, but definitely not in front. She needs to take out the tour jete half on beam and floor as well as the tour jete half full on floor because they are both atrocious and nowhere near 180 degree.
Shawn Johnson has been back for some competitions this year, but did so without her full difficulty and has yet to show a floor routine in competition. She has improved considerably from one competition to the other. From Classic to Visas to Pan Ams, she got more powerful and more confident in her performances. Her fall off beam in Guadalajara was disappointing and did not help her case, but I think she might be able to upgrade and develop a decent floor. With that and maybe even a Amanar, Johnson can be a great asset for this team.
Chellsie Memmel: Although not in the Hollywood photo shoot, I for one, will never count Memmel out. I believe she has earned that. She is one of the most determined, mentally tough gymnasts I have ever seen. She is a solid beam and floor worker, and although she did not show it this year, has also good potential on bars. However, she was yet another victim of the grueling USA system and had surgery this year on her shoulder which complicates her situation. I hope her all the best because I really admire her and her work.
My Team:
1. Jordyn Weiber
2. Kyla Ross
3. Nastia Liukin
4. McKayla Maroney
5. Rebecca Bross
Alternates:
Aly Raisman
Shawn Johnson
And this is how I see it in 3-up-3-count TF/ in no particular order as this depends a lot on the composition of the routines and the mental game.
Vault:
Kyla Ross
McKayla Maroney
Jordyn Weiber
Bars:
Nastia Liukin
Rebecca Bross
Kyla Ross
Beam:
Jordyn Weiber
Nastia Liukin
Rebecca Bross
OR
Kyla Ross
Floor:
Kyla Ross
OR
McKayla Maroney
Jordyn Weiber
Rebecca Bross
I know I am making some quantum leaps with this team. I am betting Nastia Liukin can deliver massive scores on bars and beam, and that Bross can bounce back to deliver what she used to. Also, I am believing Ross can deliver under pressure and maybe clean up her vault just a tad. More importantly, I am hoping Martha's prejudice will not jeopardize a more balanced team in order to take some of the gymnasts she has shown particular inclinations towards (aka Raisman), but at this point I would like to believe that all is going to work out and that the US will have a solid team that can beat others like the Chinese and the Russians.
What do you guys think?
Gym Massilia is coming up from Nov. 18 to 20th. The competition will feature a team competition, a junior and senior AA, as well as apparatus finals. Russia, Australia, France, Canada, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium are sending teams:
Russia
Viktoria Komova
Anastasia Grishina
Tatiana Nabieva
Ksenia Afanseyva
Australia
Emily Little
Larissa Miller
Nicole Chung
Georgia Rose Brown
Switzerland
Ilaria Kaslin
Conny Guissani
Nicole Hitz
Alice Jelmini
As can be seen by the roster, we are going to see some great gymnastics. Why the US refuses to send gymnasts to competitions like this is beyond me. Martha's excuse has always been that competitions like Jesolo have team finals while the Category A World Cups don't, yet Massilia also has a team competition so sending a team to that should be a idea Martha would entertain. Some gymnasts like Kyla Ross and Katelyn Ohashi that are still juniors could definitely benefit from more international experience as well as seniors like Johnson and Caquatto that could make their case to be back in the A team for the Olympics. Anyway it will be a great competition with promising routines by the Russians, the Australians, etc...
Kristie Phillips, 1987 Pan Ams Silver AA looking very stylish in this photo of 1981!
Dear Martha Karolyi,
Remembering the past allows us to inhabit our on history and understand it better. You should try it... The Olympics are a year away once again.
Let's recount how it all went down in the past:
Since Martha Karolyi instituted this schema to choose the Olympic and World teams, injuries have been abounding.
In 2007 Shayla Worley made it to the World Team after already having battled injury problems, in 2008 she could not recover in time and was left home.
Holly Vise was a great, beautiful gymnast and she could have really contributed to the 2004 Olympic team, but Martha likes her team to be strong, and as low on artistry as she can find them. And so Vise was kept out, good for her that she had such a great career at Oklahoma.
Samantha Peszek is a good, solid gymnast that had a great run in the last quad. Unfortunately, even a power gymnast like Peszek could not avoid injuries after a grueling season. She got to go to Beijing, but it was as a throw away score on bars in qualification, and honestly I was pissed that Martha did not give a chance to one of the alternates in order for Peszek to win a medal. She did deserve her medal though for all that she did for the US team before that. A healthy Peszek could have been a option to substitute Sacramone after her first meltdown on floor in qualifications in Beijing. But because of Martha's decision to keep injured Peszek and Memmel, the truth is: there was no other option so I don't blame Sacramone for their demise in the team finals, I blame Karolyi!
Chellsie Memmel was victim number 2 of Beijing and it was for the second time in a row after a great 2003 and her inability to make the 2004 Olympic team. At least Memmel was there to contribute on bars in TF which was her first responsibility, but as she has said herself, she did not have the Olympic experience she hoped for. I wish her all the best in her third run at the Olympics, she is truly a fierce competitor.
Ivana Hong is such a good and clean gymnast and I really like her style. She has suffered from crazy coaches syndrome, but she has made the decision to move on to college and have some fun with her talent for a change and I think it his going to be great for her. Her precise routines are going to go a long way in NCAA. In 2007 she made the world team, but was injured and visible frustrated in 2008 and did not make the team. After a coaching change and another world championships she was injured again and has struggled to keep herself in the elite rankings. It does not fail to amaze me how the clean, elegant, and artistic gymnasts in the US system just drop like flies before the Olympics. I guess this system is just a way of guaranteeing that Martha can put the gymnasts she likes on this team.
Mattie Larson is also a great gymnast that has been written off by Martha Karolyi because she made mistakes on the world championships last year. This is where the US system, and Martha's pervasive power comes to the fore. A team like China understand that mistakes are part of the game and they teach their gymnasts through experience to be comfortable in high stake competitions. But Martha only accepts mistakes on the part of gymnasts she would like to see on her team, like Sacramone, Patterson, etc. So Mattie is in the outs, and most likely has no chance at the Olympic team which is really unfortunate since Larson has a great marriage of power and style. More good gymnasts for the NCAA as it seems.
These are just a few examples of great gymnasts that fell through the cracks of a dictatorial and overworked gymnastics system that is Martha Karolyi's USA gymnastics. In my opinion USA gymnastics needs to retire her, fast! I am a believer that if she cannot bring the team gold this time around, she might have to step down, but if by any chance they do manage to win it, we might be looking at another decade of ugly gymnastics, injured stars, bad choreography, and just an overall sad situation!
In a interview in Stuttgart Mustafina said this about her injury and confirmed that she will be training the Amanar again. I am torn by this: on one hand, I just love how gutsy she is, her determination is what I like the most about her; on another hand, I worry about Mustafina, maybe she is too determined, too fierce! Interview is by Nils Bohl, see here!
On another note Huang Qiushuang won the AA competition while the Russians took the team gold.
I have always had mixed feelings about Huang. She is great, that is undeniable, but her consistency problems just drive me nuts. Even in this competition where she was cleaner than her usual self, and doing substantially less difficulty, she manages to falter on bars with off line turns in handstand, poor transition from LB to HB, and then to finish off huge step out of bounds on a simple (for her!) double pike in the second pass of her floor routine. I want her to pull through and figure out how to compete consistently because the Olympics are close and China cannot afford her emotional performances. This competition might boost her confidence.
The gymnastic fans are just pumping with excitement for the return to competition of 2010 All Around Champion Aliya Mustafina. There is something about Mustafina that just mesmerizes us fans. It is not that she is the most beautiful, clean, original gymnast ever. It is her persona, her determined look, her trademark Russian fierce and emotional personality. Mustafina stands in for the Khorkinas, Prudonovas... for the tradition of gymnastics, and even for something in the sport that is slowly being lost.
I am not in love with her form on twisting elements and never will accept that sloppy Amanar, but I love her elegance, her mental toughness, her great swing on bars, and her fabulous turns. I die for that double turn on beam. I am a sucker for well performed turns and Mustafina has them.
Mustafina is scheduled to perform this weekend at the Stuttgart World Cup and I cannot wait to see it. Together with Alyona Polyan and Maria Paseka she is competing in the team portion of the competition and appears she will be performing bars and beam. I am looking forward to seeing what she can do after the injury. I am hoping with time Aliya will return to the all around, and I believe it is possible for her, but we never really know with these injuries. She has recovered very well if after 7 months the coaches believe she is ready to go back out there. Also, I think this might be a bit of a strategy in the part of the Russian coaches: everyone knows Aliya is an emotional gymnast and putting her back out there might fire her up to train harder and recover her skills faster. Rodionenko said she wanted to go to worlds, so that means she was capable of aiming for that and they were conservative--rightly so! I am hoping for a clean, stylish outing that will increase her confidence.
I love her 2010 floor routine, I thought it was whimsical and elegant. She has always had difficulty on her connections on beam, they need to figure out a way to give her a routine that she is a 100% comfortable with. I have the same concern about Komova, she does not seem very sure of her connections on beam and it has cost her once already. When the Olympics hits next year, the Russians need to be very confident about their routines... and they need Mustafina's blind determination: that is my opinion. I just don't see them winning without her!
Some of her best work:
That triple twist dismount needs to go! Double pike, 2.5 twist, I don't care, just this under rotated cross legged triple is not going to work.
This is my all time favorite routine by Mustafina, you can see the killer instinct. This HB/LB transition and the combination of skills is outrageous.
Dear Jordyn Weiber, see this thing here in the beginning? It's called a clean triple turn, you should really try it someday!
I have already digressed extensively on all the things I find wrong with the code of points so for now let's move on from that. This series will be dedicated to what we can (or should hope to) expect in London 2012.
The 5 members team (another stupidity of our beloved FIG) is a frugal attempt to return the sport to the all arounders. With the new code of points, 3 up 3 count TF, 2 per country qualifications onto finals, and all, the last couple of quads has been the reign of the apparatus specialists. As a counter measure to the event specialist teams like China's MAG, FIG is yet again trying to remedy the problems with another major change. For some reason someone at FIG thought reducing the team to 5 members was a good idea, go figure!
With that change some figures in the sport, like He Kexin, Tatiana Nabieva, Anna Li, Cheng Fei, Anna Pavlova will find it very difficult to make a comeback. Two event specialists will be very rare, not to say one event gymnasts. If they cannot contribute big time on at least 3 events, I find it hard for us to see these individuals out there competing for the major teams.
So in this series I will be investigating the teams we will see in London, and their possible line-ups.
RUSSIA
Russia has some great gymnasts, but not as much depth as some. The injuries problems are very serious and I have to say I am concerned with the possibilities of further injuries, the likes of Komova, Grishina and the lot just don't look at sturdy as some of us would like.
The possibilities for team Russia:
1. Viktoria Komova: if she does not get injured or has a meltdown, Komova will be in London. She has some great gymnastics, she is athletic and balletic, a combination not easy to find these days. She has had a long and hard year. With the ankle problems that just refused to heal, little training time, and some serious frustration, Komova just did not look like herself at these year's Worlds. It is tough for a top notch athlete when things are just not going your way. But she did it, she went out there and gave what she had, some of us thought it was good enough, others didn't, but she got that under her belt and that is a good thing.
Last year, as a junior, she rocked the Youth Olympics Games, the Junior Europeans, and every other meet she was part of. She had a super vault, the Amanar, which she performed well. This year however the Amanar was not there. Although we saw her training it in Tokyo she went with the easier DTY. She can score very well on this vault, but I really think she is going to need the Amanar and can get it back in time.
Her bars, although they have a rather odd composition these days with that strangely placed half turn before the dismount, are still very good and will probably remain so. I actually think it is great that she has the full double back dismount because she has been very proficient at sticking it.
Beam has clearly been a struggle for Vika. It was the event she had the most problems in Tokyo, but her prelim routine shows the potential she has in this event. Her front tuck is just so high and beautiful, it showcases her technique and ability on the BB. Her floor exercise is just great, it really marries all that she has to offer, artistry and strength. However in Tokyo with not enough training time and just not the stamina to get those floor routines through, Vika was really struggling. Hopefully a year will do her well.
2. Aliya Mustafina: Last year Mustafina burst onto the scene. She also has a nice marriage of balletic ability and difficult skills. She has also something Russia desperately needs: mental toughness. Mustafina did falter on the beam finals in Rotterdam, but aside from that she was Russia's rock. A bit of that would have gone a long way in helping these year's world team. It is not only because of her scores that this team needs Mustafina back, but also because she has this blind determination and unwavering fierceness that we all know just cannot be taught.
After tearing her ACL at Europeans this year however nobody really knows what Aliya will be capable of. I find it difficult to believe she will be back to performing what was already a very sloppy Amanar, as well as her triple off beam and her 3 1/2 on floor. These tough twisting skills may be out of her reach after this injury as she was never very clean on them anyway and cannot afford short landings on twisting elements. I believe her ability on beam and bars, as well as stylish floor will definitely go a long way, and I would not put it pass her to up her difficulty everywhere even without some of her big twisting skills.
There is something seriously good about Mustafina and it is not just her piercing stoic stare.
3. Anastasia Grishina: Grishina is the up and coming Russian junior. She has some seriously good gymnastic, and although she is not as artistic as some of her countrywomen, she can put most of the other gymnasts out there to shame. She is powerful and has great skills. Her bars are clean, and apart from a sometimes dead hang transition from LB to HB, she can score very well here. Her releases are high and she has good transitions, the full pirouette to tkachev into pak can help her get some connection bonus. She is also very good on beam and seems to be more secure on her connections than some of her teammates (Yes Musty I am talking about you!). Her Onodi to illusion turn is really a great, different combination. On FX Grishina is powerful with a double arabian and triple that are just very high and very clean. She also packs up some decent dance elements with the double Memmel turn and the double turn with leg at horizontal. She has been competing a DTY, and she has a tendency to land with the chest rather low so I don't know if there is any possibility of upgrading here. One thing concerns me about Grishina: she has not proven herself in the big girls league. While Komova has struggled, she has been there and done that, and when all that pressure piles up in London 2012 that might count a lot.
4. Anastasia Sidorova: Sidorova is another good junior from Russia. If she did make this Olympic team she would really be chosen for two event: her BB and FX. She can pull a DTY on vault, but Russia has better, cleaner DTY and they are really looking for the Amanars, while Sidorova's bars are quite weak. She does have big skills like a pak salto and high Tkachev, but she has a soft back on her kips and some not great leg form so I don't see her contributing here. Where she can definitely contribute is beam and floor. On floor she has very powerful tumbling with a full in piked. She needs to clean her feet and legs a bit, but she will be a solid player in prelims on floor. Her beam is the highlight of her work, she is solid and has two good tumbling lines and a switch to ring. If Komova, Grishina, and Mustafina are ready to compete in London and are doing the all around I find it difficult for Sidorova to be on this team, as Russia will be looking to add a powerful vaulter and floor worker to this trio, but there is a lot of time left and Sidorova does do the all around so she is a part of this puzzle nevertheless.
5. Tatiana Nabieva: Nabieva did two events in Tokyo, vault and bars, and she did a decent job at them taking even a medal in the latter. However I really feel she needs to upgrade on both events to be in this 5 members team. Whether this is possible or not I don't know. I believe she is capable of it on bars, she showed a very clean set to take the silver in the EF in Tokyo, and she has showed more difficulty in the past, with even a skill named after her last year. On vault her form was never that good was it? And going back to the Amanar might be dangerous and have too many deductions built in to be worth it anyway. Her personality alone should get her a spot on my book, but Russia has a real chance to take the gold in this Olympic TF and they need people to step up, hopefully Tatiana can do so. With only a good bar set she is not going to make it, she needs that big, clean vault.
6. Knesia Afanasyeva: the 2011 floor champion has a great chance of making this team. Why? Because 1. she is fabulous on floor, 2. she has a consistent DTY that has scored very well and in the absence of those Amanars Russia will need every tenth they can get, 3. she is a AA, 4. she has been solid for her team in the past, although she has many times not put it together for herself. Afanasyeva can be a huge asset on floor, a solid vaulter and she can do beam and bars on prelim. What she needs? To stay healthy and keep her head on her shoulders. She has had in the past the tendency to be a bit of a headcase, she needs to keep it together. Being able to compose a solid beam routine that she is capable of hitting, even if it has lower difficulty, would also not hurt her. I think she is competing for a spot against the likes of Sidorova, Demy and Belo, so she needs to be at her best.
7. Yulia Belokobylskaya: Belo is a great gymnast and she has delivered for Russia at the 2011 Europeans and Worlds. Her problem again is that she has a great event: floor, and then everything else is shaky. She is proficient on bars, but not better than Komova, Musty, Grishina or even Nabieva, and her beam, although good, is not as solid. Her floor is great, her 1.5 twist to triple is good and again her dance elements are in the D range. She could use a more difficult leap series and a double pike to end, but she might have some upgrades in mind for next year. Her start value as is in 6.0 so she has better scoring possibility than some of the other contenders, the problem is, unlike Afanasyeva, Belo can only really contribute on floor.
8. Anna Dementyeva: Demy is outstanding, I think she has a great smile and vivacity. She has also good skills and can do the AA. Her weakness is certainly vault. She just has not been able to add a solid DTY to her arsenal, and I think she needs to really work on this. Nevertheless she is efficient in the other three apparatus and as such has a good chance to get that 5th spot on the team. I can definitely see Demy there. Her bars are clean, her transitions are good, and if she can get that Tkachev a tad higher I am going to be a fan for life. Her beam is clean and has good difficulty and so is her floor. If she can be at Euro Champs 2011 form, she can be a good contributor to the team and do the AA in prelims and an event or two in finals. Vault is where she really hampers her position. I don't know how much the Russian coaches are going to invest in having a vault specialist to try to pull their score up on this event. If Musty cannot do a Amanar, and maybe even Komova might have difficulties in getting hers back, the Russian coaches might be willing to take out someone like Demy or Afan to get a strong vaulter in. In this case, although she is a more solid AA, I think Demy would loose her spot as Afan has better scoring ability on floor and vault. What Demy has on her side is that she is a decent floor worker and is more solid than Afan on bars and beam. Between these to I think it is up in the air, in will come down to Musty's consistency on floor and beam as Demy and Afan would replace her on these if there is the case.
Yulia Inshina: Inshina has one thing on her side: she went to Tokyo and did her job. No headcasing, no loosing it, just calm and collected. Even made the beam final and stayed on there too. Her floor is also solid with some good difficulty although not as high as some of her teammates. I the advent of loosing someone like Demy, Inshina would be a great table setter for team Russia. Inshina's bar and vault are not up there, but if people fall along the way she will get her place in the sun.
The wild card: A vault specialist. Maybe Pavlova, some have suggested Polyan, but I really do not see in Russia right now a vault specialist whose score might be worth loosing what Demy can bring on beam and bars, and what Afan can bring on floor, but that is my position. Both Polyan and pavlova can also do beam and floor in prelims. With 2 solid DTY and one Amanar, as well as great bar routines Russia can certainly take the US and China in my opinion.
My team:
1. Vika Komova
2. Aliya Musty
3. Knesia Afan
4. Nastia Grishina
5. Anna Demy
Alternate:
Yulia Inshina
And this is how I see it in 3-up-3-count TF/ in no particular order as this depends a lot on the composition of the routines and the mental game.
