Who really won the WAG All Around?

You will find a link to the FIG's newly published book of results at the Olympic Games here.  This year, they have broken down the judge's execution scores so you can see exactly how each judge evaluated the gymnasts' performances.  It makes for interesting reading - if only I had more time to analyse each judge's marking.  A skim reading already highlights multiple inconsistencies in individual judges' marks and makes you wonder why they bother with the jury at all.

I have taken the time to look at the reference judges' scores for the top four in the women's all around.  The FIG explains here what their role is, and how they are selected.  I even used my calculator, which is a risky thing in my hands.  My, how I wish we could have seen a similar document for the Tokyo World Championships.

I wonder if anyone can explain how, if the FIG's Code of Points is so objective and fair, it is possible to come up with two different results using two different sets of judges?  Presumably the reference judges are expected to be highly reliable in their evaluation?  Here is what the result of the women's all around competition would have been, according to the reference judges.  It casts a whole different light on the competition, one which, satisfyingly or frustratingly,  is reflected by the judgement of many on the gymternet.

1   Viktoria Komova                           62.1
2   Gabby Douglas                            61.75
3   Aliya Mustafina                            60.05
4   Alexandra Raisman                      59.2

One of the key differences appears to be in the bars scores, where the e-score situation for Douglas and Komova is more or less reversed by adopting the reference judges' score over the jury's.  Bars scores had seemed particularly inconsistent all week.

Valentina should have a field day with this document.  I am not sure what conclusions to draw, but I hope you have fun reading it.  Do comment, please.

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Svetlana Boginskaya - timeless grace

Take time if you can to view this, Svetlana Boginskaya's 1988 floor routine set to Bizet's Carmen.  Boginskaya was not the most powerful tumbler on the Soviet team in those days, and today the value of her tumbling would be negligible, but her grace and artistry is timeless, rare. 

We speak of 'difficulty', understanding it to mean tumbles, leaps and turns contrived to amount to the highest possible start value.  Boginskaya includes only two leaps in this routine, one turn and three tumbles.  All of these moves are integrated into the narrative of the routine; the choreography varied in shape, style and mood, telling a story that matches the music.  Take out the 'difficulty' and a complex performance remains that goes beyond presentation.



Boginskaya was 15 years old at these Games, facing a growth spurt and handling the pressure of her first Olympic Games.  She contributed to the Soviet Union's gold medal in the team event, took two bronzes in the all around and floor exercise events, and grabbed gold in the vault.  The following year she would win both the European and World Championships, despite losing her coach from childhood - Liubov Miromanova - under sudden tragic circumstances, shortly after the Games.  She went on to win more medals at the 1992 Olympics and 1996 European Championships, ending her career at the 1996 Olympics. 

The aesthetic was Boginskaya's metier.  Throughout her career she practiced high level tumbling elements such as the double twisting double back and double layout on floor.  Her double turn on beam elevated the skill to a dance move.  But she rarely showed these elements in competition, preferring to let artistry speak for itself. 

Boginskaya's skill was unique.  While she was able to match the highest difficulty tumbles seen in today's gymnastics, who else could present a floor exercise of such complexity?  At the 2012 Olympics, only Russian Ksenia Afanasyeva could demonstrate mastery of the lyrical legacy of Boginskaya. 

And view here a brief 'fluff' video of Svetlana made at the time of the 1992 Olympics, featuring interviews with Svetlana and a brief shot of her at work with coach Alexander Alexandrov.

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Aliya Mustafina - I knew that Alexandrov would not leave me

Thanks to M for providing the link to this excellent Sports Express interview by Elena Vaitsekhovskaya.  Lupita here translates - enjoy!

Alexander Alexandrov and Aliya Mustafina in training shortly before the Games began.  Courtesy of the RGF

In interviews that were aired before the Olympics, the Russian head coach - Valentina Rodionenko-  often mentioned that Aliya Mustafina was not the same gymnast she had been in Rotterdam. That she hadn�t  recovered completely after her injury. That she had started to fear competing and complex elements. In London she could win bronze on bars: this would be the limit of her dreams.

Yet, Mustafina came back as a heroine. She rescued the whole team; she competed on all four events, although she had only expected to compete on two in the team final. After the team�s silver, she won bronze in the AA, gold in bars and another bronze in floor. No other gymnast was able to win such an amount of medals...

* * *

 

- Lena (Mustafina�s Mum), how did you stand all this, when you saw that you daughter was competing at the Olympics and that you could do nothing for her?

- I didn�t watch her...

A beautiful young lady lifts her eyes to me and I understand that she�s still at the Olympic Games and she hasn�t yet realized anything.

- At home only our youngest daughter watched TV. My husband was out of Moscow with some families. I couldn�t watch the screen. When Aliya performs, I always think that my eyes can annoy her. And I always fear that Aliya will be injured. But I knew she was well prepared. In those situations she�s always very confident.

- ?liya, how did you feel when you performed at the Games?

- I got very tired. Before the competitions the girls and I only had time to go to a shop near the Olympic Village. I bought souvenirs for my family, some clothes � a dress and shoes. Then, on the first day, I competed all the events in the team qualifying. On the second day, the four events again. The All Around final. The bar final and the floor final. It was very difficult to wait till the end. I was originally to compete only on two events � vault and bars. Yet, after the team qualifying I was told that I had to prepare the four events.

-Why was that?

- In beam Nastia Grishina was asked to compete, but she refused outright. She said that she feared going to the apparatus. She�s still young. She was very afraid. And in floor I got the second highest score among my teammates ...

* * *

- Were you afraid of competing when you came back after your injury?

-The only fear is related to the Amanar, at which I got injured. When I feel well, I don�t fear anything. I fear if I�m feeling tired and I think that I cannot do the vault well. I don�t  feel 100% confident, for instance if I go to vault and feel not very well, I don�t perform the Amanar, only a DTY.

-Do you decide the vault you will do �in flight�?

-Yes, I know that not all athletes are able to calculate this in the flight phase, but I do it quite well.

- Were you annoyed by people saying that you were not as strong as you were two years ago?

- It happened. I heard that the injury had stopped me, that I had lost a whole year. That the leaders of the team were Vika Komova and Nastia Grishina. Although Vika had difficulties: she grew taller very quickly and the muscles didn�t grow accordingly. She had injuries, lack of confidence, and all this went on.

-Did you feel pain before the Olympics?

-Yes, my ankle hurt specially. They told me I needed surgery. But as there was little time before the Olympics, we decided to put up with it. In the spring my back hurt. In February and March. I couldn�t do anything in the training sessions ...

- Did you have the feeling that rivals had overcome you and you couldn�t catch them?

- Not really. I watched all the competitions and I realized that none of the gymnasts was doing something that could surprise me. If I could bring back the routines I performed before my injury, I�d be able to fight with anyone. But I understood the coaches: in the national team nobody had to recover for such a long time.

- In gymnastics it�s the first time an athlete has come back so successfully after this ACL injury.

- Absolutely. For eight months after surgery, I didn�t tumble. The doctors were very clear about that. I tried to convince my coach to try at least to tumble before, I even thought about trying and I would have time to train for the Tokyo World Championships. But Aleksander Sergueievich told me that the prescriptions of the doctors had to be exactly fulfilled.

I think that this is the reason why I recovered completely. I did all the other training exercises that don�t demand loads on the legs. For instance, I trained whole bars routines landing in the pit. I kept conditioning even in the hotel, in the stairs. But, you know, when an athlete doesn�t tumble for six months, you doubt about his or her performances.

-I heard many times that they wanted to transfer you to another coach, because Alexandrov was the national team's head coach. Did you know about it?

-Yes. I was asked many times if I understood that the head coach cannot have personal gymnasts.

-What did you think about it?

- Whom could they transfer me to? Every coach had her gymnast; they didn�t need me, except Alexandrov...

-Did you fear that the trainer would leave you?

I knew that he wouldn�t...

* * *

 

- ?leksandr Sergueievich always helped me, in all situations, whatever happened.

- Did you understand each other instantly?

-It was very hard for the first six months. I played the fool and he was patient.

-What did you play the fool for?

- Alexandrov had come back to Russia to work with the women�s team. It turned out that I went directly to Krugloye. And there � three training sessions a day. I was not used to that, I got very tired.

-Did you win a spot on the national team?

-No. The girls remember that they hated me then. I was used to going it alone when I was a child. Moreover,  I won almost all the competitions I took part in. You need to be at Krugloye for three months to be on the team. We now laugh when we remember that �war�.

- How did the parents experience this?

- I was an athlete, says Fargat.  I understood that in order to have results, you need to be in a training camp, and work, work, work ...

- Did you pity your daughter?

- ...Sometimes. But I told Alexandrov: "Sasha, buy some tranquilizers. Otherwise you can have a heart attack with Aliya ".

Her character is difficult. On the other hand, she is very vulnerable.

-Which qualities in your daughter�s character are the most important for you as an athlete?

- Dedication and sincerity. And sports fierceness, the capacity to compete. Once I went to Dinamo, where some competition was taking place. Suddenly, I noticed Aliya hadn�t seen me. She was repeating some elements, fully concentrated. I understood she wasn�t a kid any longer; she had become a fighter.

- I remember that Alexandrov told: �If Aliya doesn�t like something, she is able to spend hours in the gym, without moving, without talking�. Is it true?

-This was only when I was small. I liked Alexandrov from the start. He looks like a father. I felt I could trust him.

- Do you quarrel during training?

- Of course. About anything. For instance, if I can�t achieve something or the coach has told me something that I haven�t liked. We may not talk to each other for three days.

* * *

- When you became world champion in 2010, were other gymnasts jealous?

- No, not at all. In Rotterdam we had a wonderful team. It was a very strong team. We went into the training gym and on the following day everyone said that the Russians had come to win. They were very happy for me. I was convinced I wouldn�t lose.

-How did you feel in the bars finals in London?

-I was lucky because I competed after the Chinese, after Beth Tweddle, after Vika Komova. I saw that they had all made mistakes and I understood that I could fight with those scores. Moreover, in the All Around I got the best score on bars. When I nailed my routine, I thought that this was a plus, and that my medal would be gold. But when I was waiting for the score, I didn�t think about this.

-The judging is one of the issues that come up again and again. As in Tokyo, where Vika Komova lost in the All Around.

-Vika gave ground. They could have deducted 0.1, but they deducted 0.3. Unfortunately, this happens in gymnastics all the time.

- How were you judged in London?

-Very well. I was stunned with my floor score in the EF. I only got this score once - in Rotterdam.

- Did you ever have the feeling that you were not given the score you deserved by the judges?

- Only once, at the World Championships in Rotterdam. In vault, I was not given the D Score correctly, but the protest was not accepted because it was submitted too late. Too late was 30 seconds. And at the Olympics at the men�s team final, where Ukraine was third and Japan fourth, the Japanese submitted the protest much later. Everyone said that Uchimura�s dismount should not be counted because he did not perform it. Nevertheless, they changed the score.

- Did you feel support from the crowd In London?

-In fact, I wasn�t thinking anything, except that I had to perform my routines. But from the audience I got a pleasant and warm feeling.

- In your sport, gymnasts have to be near the podium all the time. You can see everything happening on the apparatus. Does this create an extra pressure?

-When I was younger, I didn�t like watching the others perform. Now, I don�t care.

- For you where was the border between childhood and adulthood?

- Probably, it�s about a year and a half, when I started gymnastics, and then when I started training with Alexandrov.

* * *

- ?liya, did you feel comfortable at the Olympic Village?

- Of course, it was not like in Krugloye, but the five of us shared a small flat, it was very nice. We are at an age when we want to spend more time with our friends than with our families.

- Does it mean that you miss Krugloye when you come back home?

-It does. For three years I got used to the fact that the biggest part of my life takes place at the training centre. We have everything there. I don�t like partying very much. I enjoy much more spending the whole day liying on the carpet with my computer.

- In your life are you someone lazy?

- Let�s put it like this: I don�t like to do things that aren�t indispensible. Although, in the end I always do the necessary things.

- Have you had time to discuss about your future in gymnastics with your coach?

-Not yet, but I have decided that I will continue training.

- What about your studies?

-I finished school and I will go to State Gubkin University to study law and economics. When I was at school it was simpler: we studied at Krugloye and sat for the exams there.

- I noticed how well you express yourself. Did you have good results at school?

-I never got threes (just pass). In fact, recently I think of what to read and how to read more. I noticed that I cannot speak normally with all people.

- In which sense?

-In the direct sense. At Krugloye, my group of friends are gymnasts. We don�t need a lot of words to understand each other. When you start to socialize with people who don�t belong to sport, I noticed I cannot always find the words to express my thoughts.

-Have you already noticed that your life has changed?

- People pay more attention to me. It�s hard because I don't like to have the focus of attention on me. I�m not used to being recognized in the subway.

-In your normal life do you wear any make up?

-I wear almost no make-up. I wear my hear down. I think that if I always wear a ponytail, everyone will recognize me. I�m terrified about the idea of being recognized in the subway.

- You don�t drive a car ...

- No, but my Dad has promised to teach me.

* * *

Before going to the floor in London in the final where Aliya won her fourth medal, she told the team doctor Serguei Arkhipov: "I�ll go, I�ll dance a little and I�ll come back. Don�t� worry, I won�t be long..."

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Elena Zamolodchikova shares her Olympic memories

Thanks to @Adrian McArdle who shared this Russia Today video with me.

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Russian gymnastics teams rewarded

Courtesy of Aliya Mustafina Online

The Russian women's gymnastics team - Aliya Mustafina, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Viktoria Komova, Maria Paseka and Anastasia Grishina - have been rewarded for their Olympic efforts in a reception including President Vladimir Putin (seen left with Olympic bars champion Aliya Mustafina).   Medallist Denis Ablyazin was also present.

Olympians who received medals have received a fairly substantial cash bonus, and an Audi car ...

There is a library of photographs at Aliya Mustafina Online.

I do hope that all the athletes drive carefully.

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Valentina Rodionenko, Aliya Mustafina and Viktoria Komova - Sovietski Sport/Komsomolskaya Pravda press conference

There is masses of press coverage at present as the results of the Olympics are digested. At an international level, the three candidates for the FIG Presidency are making their bids. Read about this at the All Around.

In Russia, much noise is being made by Valentina Rodionenko. As usual, she seems oblivious to the impression her less than measured comments make on international observers - and her gymnasts. Lupita has made a partial translation of a press conference transmitted earlier this week. I should add that Mustafina and Komova handle themselves wonderfully.

I have yet to see evidence of any competition for the Rodionenko's family job at the head of Russian gymnastics and with Valentina fronting the operation, there seems little prospect of a change in PR policy.



Rodionenko and Mustafina: The best gyms are CSKA and Dynamo.

Komova: in London we made mistakes and we even feared we wouldn�t be medallists. When we saw the results, we cried with joy.

Mustafina: we thought that the men hadn�t competed very well and so we had to perform well for them.

Rodionenko: I want to add something. The gap to the Romanians and Chinese teams was huge. The result was painful because we saw that the girls could have fought for gold. In spite of their mistakes, our girls were stronger than the Romanians and the Italians (?).

Journalist: Specialists think that at these Olympics psychology played an important part.

Rodionenko: I don�t think so. The Olympics is the main competition. Everybody waits for four years. And there�s the pressure of the audience. They supported the Americans as loudly as the British girls.

It�s not about psychology. Here there was Anastasia Grishina�s lack of experience. She told us later that she had problems. Aliya is an experienced gymnast. She�s a fighter. When you are in the position of the runner-up, it�s always difficult.

Journalist: Girls, tell me about your Olympic dreams.

Mustafina: I didn�t have any.

Komova. During the competition I dreamed we had won gold and we were all happy.

Journalist: Rhythmic gymnasts have been given freedom [by their coach Irina Viner] after the Olympics. Did you receive freedom after the competition?

Komova: we only had time to go to Bosco�s, we danced. I�m now in Moscow and I haven�t had time to rest.

In Singapore [when Vika competed at the Youth Olympic Games in 2010] it was easier because the gymnasts were less experienced. There were fewer people, less noise. I competed alone. Now we competed as a team. There was more responsibility and more support.

Rodionenko (about the composition of routines): The composition of routines abides by the FIG rules. There will be a new Code of Points for the new quad. The CoP changes every four years. We expect that gymnastic elements will deserve more attention. Floor is not only about acrobatics. We need a good combination of acrobatics and gymnastic elements. Vika has such combinations. You noticed that the American and Romanian gymnast perform acrobatics only. This is why there�s a struggle. We have our position. For the Americans it�s more difficult to reach our execution level. We fight for this. The judges started to pay more attention, but not all of them.

Komova: I think the rivals will be those that competed at the Olympics.

Rodionenko: Other gymnasts may appear. From Italy. But the main rivals are China, the Romanians have problems.

Journalist: Vika, Aliya, do you have the impression that you are able to stand pain more than the American gymnasts? They didn�t have the injuries that you had. Who is stronger?

Vika: we can compete with them psychologically.

Mustafina: In fact, we don�t know everything about them. We see how they perform, they see how they perform.

Rodionenko: I would like to add that if the Americans knew the injuries our girls had, they would highly praise them for their will. The gymnasts who performed had all injuries, pain.

Journalist: Before the program, you said that the Americans are very confident. Specialists say they are on tranquilizers.

Rodionenko: It�s difficult to say.

Now we�ll analyze the preparation of our first team because we�ve realized things that we didn�t pay attention to in the past.

Journalist: For instance?

Rodionenko: Functionally the Americans were far better prepared than our girls. We couldn�t do it because our girls were all injured. Professor Arkhipov was with them. He�s the best orthopaedic specialist in Russia. He was all the time with our team. He knew what injuries they had. Now they have to heal their injuries. Now they�ll go to Spain to a recovery training camp, we cannot overload them as they do in the US. They wouldn�t stand it. This is why they are so strong, so healthy, except for Douglas.

Journalist: like robots�

Rodionenko: I may not be objective. But their gymnastics are not beautiful. We are for classical, beautiful gymnastics, they are for athletic gymnastics. It�s called artistic gymnastics. It has to be artistic. This is our position. If one of our gymnasts became floor world champion last year, it means something.

Mustafina: My future plans are to continue training. To rest and then�

Rodionenko: There�s a competition in Frankfurt.

Vika: we�ll rest until 3 September.

Rodionenko: They�ll go to a training camp in Spain. I think that until the end of the year they won�t be given huge training loads. Now you have to do a step back. But if they want they can compete in Germany, there will be a World Cup stage. I would like to tell journalists that the Individual European Championships will take place in Kazan. Four gymnasts per country will compete. And the Universiade will take place in Kazan. The Universiade is a very prestigious competition. Russia hasn�t won it for a long time now.

Komova: In London we didn�t visit anything. If the competitions are easy, we go and do some sight-seeing. Usually, we just go to the gym and to the hotel.

Mustafina: It�s possible to do some elements that no one has ever performed, but it�s very difficult. There are so many elements in gymnastics that you don�t have time to learn something that nobody does. There�s an element called Mustafina: it�s a bar dismount.

Rodionenko: We write to the International Federation and they give the name to this element. There�s a Komova element on bars. [She�s silent. She doesn�t say anything.]

Journalist: You said that the audience supported the Americans. We saw the judges supporting them also. Concerning Paseka�s bronze instead of silver� Do you think this is only an impression?

Rodionenko: Unfortunately, yes. Russia lost her position. To come back is very difficult. It always is. The judges get used to the Americans dominating the scene. This is why we always tell our gymnasts that we have to be far better. For instance, Mustafina won gold on bars. If there had been the smallest possibility of deduction, she wouldn�t have achieved gold. And she knew it. We got used to what the judges do.

Journalist: Balandin performed very well on rings.

Rodionenko: I know, there was a very difficult situation with Balandin. The Technical Committee�s president � Adrian Stoica- said that his score should have been 0.3 higher, but now the supervisors and the members of the Technical Committee are split, they cannot change anything. Other sports disciplines have democratic rules. With 0.3 more, he would have won gold. There was nothing to deduct. His D score was lower than the gymnast who won, but the winner had a far worse execution. Unfortunately the judges didn�t see it. Or they saw it. The second place went to an Italian. But the President of the FIG is Italian - Bruno Grandi. We don�t have the right to protest the execution score and we don�t have the right to protest another�s gymnast score.

Journalist: Rules change from time to time. Could we go back to a situation where a judge would be responsible for his or her score?

Rodionenko: There will be FIG elections in November. If Titov is elected, I think that he�ll change some rules. Currently, in event finals we can�t find judges from the countries of competing gymnasts. The best countries are represented in the finals. The judges at the finals are from Qatar, countries where gymnastics doesn�t exist. They give the score that another judge gives. We all know that. We can only be much better than our rivals. When we are the leaders, this won�t happen to us. This is the rule in rhythmic gymnastics, ice skating.

In Mallorca the gymnasts will recover with sea water, light exercise. They don�t need apparatus. The girls may tell you. They have already been there.

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Gymnasts arrive in Moscow

There is a great video report of the gymnasts arriving home in Moscow here (thanks Queensblade).


There are brief conversations with Aliya Mustafina's mum, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Emin Garibov, judge Lidia Ivanova and Viktoria Komova. 

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Russian TV interview with Aliya Mustafina and Alexander Alexandrov

Here it is, Queensblade's video complete with English language captions.  Thanks to Lupita for the link. 

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Sovietski Sport interview with gold medallist Aliya Mustafina - Lupita translates

Olympic bars champion Aliya Mustafina.  Courtesy of the RGF

It�s so wonderful that it seems unbelievable! Aliya Mustafina, who came back to gymnastics after a serious injury, became Olympics bars champion yesterday in London. For 12 years we haven�t had a bars Olympics champion!  The last time, it was Svetlana Khorkina in Sydney.

But it�s not the first time that Mustafina makes history.

by Inessa Rasskazova, Sovietski Sport

 

She is very silent, introverted; sometimes you don�t get two words from her. She has a strong character; she is incredibly talented... and absolutely unpredictable.

Before the Olympics, national coach Valentina Rodionenko told us:

- I expect anything from Mustafina. With her you never know what to expect. This year, after her injury in Berlin, everything has been difficult for her. She cried at every training session. Aliya was doing beam. She fell. She cried. Went back to the beam. Fell and cried again. It�s difficult for her for another reason: Aliya is a talent and she�s not used to hard work. Everything was easy for her. ?nd now she has to work hard. Yet, I have big hopes for her in London. Aliya is able to concentrate in the important moment. The pressure of the audience, the judges, the rivals don�t exist for her when she competes. She concentrates and performs so well you have to take hats off to her!

 

Yesterday, in London at the Greenwich Arena, Aliya Mustafina expressed all her genuine beauty. Unfortunately, Viktoria Komova was not able to stand up to her level. She cried so much that she was not able to explain her mistakes, apart from a not so good dismount. She added that she doesn�t know if she will stay in gymnastics. The two silver medals that she has won in London are not a success for the most talented and polished gymnast in the world.

 

We feel sad for Vika, but we had to wait for Aliya�s performance. Mustafina competed after the most dangerous rivals, including British gymnast Elizabeth Tweddle, considered as the favourite. But Tweddle, after having surprised the audience with incredible elements, didn�t land well.

When Mustafina went to the podium with a steel light in her eyes, the name of the Chinese gymnast � He Kexin � was flashed on the first line of the board. She was first with a high score: 15.933.

Yet we know how Mustafina is able to perform bars. Here, in London, during the AA final, dozens of  spectators shouted with astonishment.

She had to do only what she is able to do.

 -Aliya, when the British gymnast didn�t nail her dismount, what did you think?

I had never seen such a smile on Mustafina�s face.

- Celebrating too early is not good, and I didn�t celebrate her mistake. I only thought that, if my rivals had committed errors, it would be easier for me. I couldn�t make errors. 

She didn�t make any mistake. Nowhere. And she nailed her dismount!

- You are unpredictable for your coaches and � for yourself as well? Do you know what to expect of yourself and when?

- (Laughs) No!

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Mustafina : 'I'm not tired of victories'

Mustafina after winning the bronze medal on floor last Tuesday

Lupita translates a Russian press interview with Aliya Mustafina:

After having won the bronze medal in floor, something that she hadn�t expected, Aliya Mustafina became the most titled gymnast of the Russian team at the Olympics!

 

 

- ?liya did you know that?

- I did, and I am very pleased. You know, I never chase medals, but if I win one, I feel like winning more and more...

- But today did you guess that something like that could happen?

- Neither I nor my coach bet on floor. We only wanted to finish the Olympics on a beautiful note. 

- After your victory on bars, you said that the most difficult thing had been to overcome fatigue. If on that day fatigue was already threatening you, it could have �killed� you in the floor finals.

- ?his is what happened. My feet sank on the floor. But I made myself concentrate!

- I suppose it was difficult to express emotions if your feet were sinking on the floor.

�- I don�t agree with you. Precisely, I was very pleased with my performance emotionally speaking. I lived those moments with delight.

 - You didn�t watch the Olympic champion Isbaza�s performance. She was the one who could leave you without a medal!

- I didn�t watch her. What for? I had done everything I could. If I had finished in fourth place, I wouldn�t have been at all disappointed.

- In London the same thing happened twice to you. With the same score, the medal went to you. This happened in the All Around, and now the Italian Ferrari is in absolute hysterics...

- In those situations the judges take into account the execution score. Mine was higher than Ferrari�s. 

- Rumour has it that you are going to quit after the Olympics. Is it true?

- Who�s said that? On the contrary, I want to continue. I won�t say anything about the Rio Olympics, we�ll see because that�s long�term guessing. In general, I would like to go to Rio. And I would like to compete and win during the next years, I�m not tired of victories. I think that all this is just starting for me. So I�m very serious about it!

 

 

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Interview with vault bronze medallist Maria Paseka

Maria smiles as she learns she has won a well deserved bronze medal.  (Left) silver medallist Maroney reflects.  RGF

Lupita translates a short interview with Olympic bronze medalist on the vault, Maria Paseka

The judges at the vault Olympic final could have given McKayla Maroney a lower score and not the silver medal, said to Ru-Sport bronze medallist Maria Paseka.

 

In this event the Olympic champion was the Romanian Sandra Isbasa, who, after two vaults, got a score of 15,191. The silver medal went to Maroney  (15.083) and the bronze to Paseka (15.050).

"I expected to be one of the medallists because I tried very hard. At the beginning, independently of Maroney�s fall I thought I would win bronze. Later, when I watched the video, I thought I could have been second. But the judges decide everything. Nobody wins crashing his or her vault, and even less a medal", told Paseka in an interview organized in the framework of the BTV project at The Bosco Club.

Paseka won an individual bronze and the silver medal in the team final.

"I could have performed my vault better in the final. Nastia Grishina and Ksiusha Afanassieva made mistakes.  We didn�t perform very well on vault and floor. Without those mistakes, we could have won gold", said Paseka.

The gymnast added that, according to their calculations, with an ideal performance in the team final, they could have lost one point to the Americans. �It�s a pity that we didn�t win gold, but I think that silver at the Olympics tells something. Although we want gold, we always want to be first. It means that we have to work to be first because nothing is easy�.

 

 

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Aliya Mustafina in Tuesday's floor final.  Courtesy RGF

My friend Dr Vladimir Zaglada has composed this tribute to champion Aliya Mustafina, the most decorated female gymnast at this Olympic Games.

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