Russian Championships 2013

The Russian Championships for MAG and WAG begin tomorrow - a good opportunity to judge how training has been going for the gymnasts.  Remember that Viktoria Komova is not competing here as she has a nagging back injury, but we will be able to see  Aliya Mustafina, Maria Paseka, Anastasia Grishina, Ksenia Afanasyeva and senior team newcomer Evgenia Shelgunova.  Tatiana Nabieva and Anna Dementieva are also in the mix.  Personal coach Alexander Alexandrov is on the floor with Mustafina, as is one half of Grishina's new coaching team, Viktor Razumovsky. 

The senior men are there in depth, as evidenced by a video I have seen, but their start lists have yet to be published so I will avoid mentioning names at this stage.

These national championships are part of the qualification process for the Russian teams for April's European Championships, so a lot is at stake.  The Russian Gymnastics Federation will be live streaming some of the competitions, and you will find below details of the promised schedule.  Podium training was transmitted online early this morning.  There were reports of new combinations from Mustafina on beam, though I suppose we will have to wait and see if she uses them in competition this week. 

You can view a brief online news report of the championships here.

The competition schedule is as follows .  All times are Moscow.

3 March              CI & CII WAG 11 am - 2:45 pm
                          CI & CII MAG 4 - 8:15 pm
4 March              C IV WAG 3 - 5:30 pm
5 March              C IV MAG 3 - 6 pm
6 March              C III MAG/WAG (FX, PH, R; V & UB) 11 am - 1 pm
7 March              C III MAG/WAG (V, PB, HB; BB & FX) 11 am - 1 pm

Online streaming will be available at the following times.  Bear in mind, they may be subject to change, or the feed may be taken down unexpectedly if there is excessive online traffic.

3 March               11 am - 8:15 pm
4 March                3 to 5:30 pm
5 March                3 to 6 pm
6 March               11 am to 1 pm
7 March               11 am to 1 pm

Start lists for the competition are available at the RGF website.

Good luck to all the gymnasts!!!

And with thanks to Nora at the All Around Forum, and all on Facebook who have contributed links , translations and information - you know who you are.