'Should Mustafina compete in Glasgow, considering her fragile state of health? - aren't the Olympics more important?' are the key themes of this brief news piece by Elena Vaitsekhovskaya, a top sports journalist who has interviewed Alexandrov, Arkayev, Starkin, Mustafina and Rodionenko in the last five years since Aliya won the World Championships.
Elena stresses that this year nothing unusual has happened. Aliya has worked hard with her new coach Sergei Starkin. She did a 'great job', demonstrating her work at the European Games in Baku where she won the all around, bars and team events as well as silver in the floor exercise.
But, says Vaitsekhovskaya, more important than the medals was the fact that Aliya showed a new technical level, began work on upgrades for the Rio Olympics. Just competing in one event - the Baku games - could be enough for a veteran athlete of Mustafina's experience. The body ages in both time - and injuries. Athletes always respond in the same way - exhaustion sets in, old injuries worsen, and the psychological effect of all of this makes things worse. So it's natural that doubts arise in athletes' minds at these times.
Vaitsekhovskaya continues to the effect that these are difficult times when it is important not to give up, but also not to continue at all costs to try to overcome the 'inner apathy'. Accept the fact that the body's reaction - if unpleasant - is natural and, most importantly, temporary.
This is the reason, says Vaitsekhovskaya, that most athletes are only able to peak once a year. The European Games may have been a minor event, but for Aliya, they were a big thing in that she set herself a goal to show that she had returned to her former level - and she did this brilliantly.
This leads to the question - does the Russian team have to include Aliya in its team for Glasgow? Well of course the absence of the leader will affect the overall result, but the Russian team only needs to qualify for the Olympics and with Afanasyeva and Komova coming back to their best form, they should at least manage that. We all know that Aliya has strong fighting capabilities and Olympic goals are worthy of some sacrifices. The main thing is - not to change the goals for Rio.
Aliya said -
'I'm going to continue to practice and prepare for competitions. I will attend camp at Round Lake, and try to restore my form and overcome my back problems. Unfortunately, this injury has not responded very well to treatment. Improvements occur only after a period of complete rest from training. But this does not mean that I'm going to despair. As a reserve I may be able to help the team in Glasgow.'
RRG is of the opinion that Aliya should only compete in Glasgow if she really wants to, and if her health is good. It is exhausting just travelling to overseas destinations, adjusting to time differences and so on, and the pressure of big competition makes it difficult to take cool decisions. What if another gymnast were to be injured during the competition, for example? Aliya would feel it her duty to step in and give her all - and it is clear that her all now has its limitations. The Queen is only human.
I'll reiterate Elena's point that the Rio Olympics are far more important than short term goals in Glasgow. What do the Rodionenkos think of this? Well Valentina Rodionenko has gone public, offering Aliya whatever treatments she wants - if the clinic in Germany hasn't worked, could another therapist do better? But it is clear that rest is the only thing that Aliya feels works properly, and also that Valentina's words in this respect are rather unhelpful. Only Aliya knows how her back feels.
A coach shouldn't use media announcements to pressurise an athlete to train when she isn't ready. You can spray anaesthetic on an aching foot to get through a floor routine, but that doesn't make the injury better - doesn't Valentina know that? Besides, Aliya has to get through weeks of heavy training before Glasgow. She shouldn't have to go through physical and mental pain at this stage of her career, just to make sure that the Russian head coaches achieve silver rather than bronze or fourth position in a competition that really matters very little.
We fans must support Aliya as best we can.
Vaitsekhovskaya's original article - http://www.sport-express.ru/artistic-gymnastics/reviews/919813/
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