Television channel Russia 1 covered the departure of the Russian team from Sheremetyevo Airport, Moscow, yesterday. The Russians are now safely arrived in Rio, [the pictures are of their arrival, from the Asahi TV channel website] and installed in the Olympic village - even if conditions aren't as good as they might be. Valentina Rodionenko has had a few words to say about that, and I'll be covering them later on but in the meantime enjoy this video - and there is a brief summary of the main points in English below.
Even though they didn't know whether or not they will be allowed to compete, the Russian athletes have continued training for the Olympics. The first representatives of the national team are on their way to Brazil. The sport is gymnastics, and they took off from Sheremetyevo this morning.
There is a fighting spirit, and a will to win. Behind the scenes, they are working to their limits, overcoming injuries - and two months ago they showed they are the best in Europe. Now they are flying to Rio, to have a say in whether they can be considered to be amongst the best in the World.
"We are in a fighting mood," - says Daria Spiridonova.
The main team is made up of ten people - five boys, five girls. Then there are four travelling reserves. To earn a place on the team took blood and sweat. At the last minute silver medallist at the London Olympic Games, Ksenia Afanasyeva, had to retire with an ankle injury. She was one of the best in the world on the floor exercise. Maria Paseka, world champion on the vault, had to take a break from training with injury, but managed to confirm her title as Queen of the apparatus three weeks ago at the Russian Championships. There, in the all around, the confident 15 year old Angelina Melnikova won - the Olympic Games will be just the fourth senior competition of her career.
"There is a fighting spirit and I very much want to compete. The most difficult thing is to manage the nerves and excitement. Everything is going well!", said Angelina Melnikova.
Aliya Mustafina, captain of the women's team and winner at the last Olympic Games of a gold medal on the bars, had to take a long break from the all around with a knee injury. Doctors would not allow her to compete on vault. In order to recover, she has had to show complete commitment - in the past few months, you could almost say that she was living in the gym.
"Now everything is all right, I have recovered. All we have to do now is to go to practice and get used to the apparatus"- says Aliya Mustafina.
The male half of the team has shown consistently good results, according to the coach, and is now on top form. Nikolai Kuksenkov, team captain, looks focused and confident. At the Russian Championships, he confirmed his position as the best gymnast. At one time, he was almost barred from participating in the games due to a positive doping test for meldonium. But then the news came at the last minute, the case against him has been dismissed.
"I've been training with the team and I think everything is going well, so I hope for the best results. You shouldn't think about medals and the marks as being the main thing - you should just do your job, that's all, and leave the rest to the judges to decide ", - said Nikolia Kuksenkov.
The gymnastics competition, where 14 medals will be awarded, will be held from 6 to 16 August. The head coach of our team, Andrei Rodionenko, has every confidence in the team. He jokes that the most difficult thing is the long flight.
"All being well, we'll catch a transfer flight from Amsterdam and then it will be another twelve hours before our arrival in Rio. The gymnasts just need to do what they can do," said Andrei.
The team's arrival has been planned to give them time to rest and get back into shape and used to the new apparatus. Russia's fencing teamwill fly out a few hours later. It's still not known whether the athletes will suffer the same fate as the athletics team. Later today, the IOC will announce its decision and then we will know whether Russian athletes will be able to compete for Olympic medals.
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