Kapitanova or Tutkhalyan? The ever changing seas of Russian gymnastics

Tutkhalyan and Melnikova - gymnastics dynamite and Russia's not so secret weapon for the Rio Olympics

Just as I was about to go to bed last night one of our readers posted a link to a Tass article in which Valentina Rodionenko repeats the team membership for Europeans, but with a significant change, replacing Seda Tutkhalyan with Natalia Kapitanova as a reserve.  This Allsport article, linked on the RGF website this morning, still includes Seda as reserve.  I give up; there is never a final word.  Team selections are a difficult thing and especially so with injury rates in the sport as high as they are.  Media reports are unreliable.  Or Valentina changes her mind as often as she changes her fur coats.  Only one thing is for sure.  We will know who will compete when the teams walk out into the arena on Wednesday 1st June.  Maybe.

Aside from the obvious observation - how must it affect the girls to be so unsure? - I'm going to repeat again how disappointed I am with this team selection* - so predictable and conservative it makes me want to yawn.  Have the coaches lost sight of their goal of gold in Europeans?  Or, more to the point, have they lost sight of the need to fight for gold - rather than avoid the ignominy of defeat?  What kind of lily-livered team is Russia these days?

How exciting it was to watch the first days of the Russian Championships and see the emergence of a new guard in their women's team.  The duo of Melnikova and Tutkhalyan - ambitious, fiery, with real top-class potential.  Skrypnik - always such a graceful competitor, one who - to me - has a surprising, Khorkina-like ability to pull out her best performance when really needed.  Kapitanova - brilliant bars work, a reliable all arounder to date.  By comparison the performance of the veterans seemed stale and unpromising.  Afanasyeva had a foot injury that prevented her full participation, Paseka was recovering from an illness or injury and unable to show her best work, Komova wasn't there - again.  Apart from the naturally brilliant Mustafina this group of veterans is a ghost team.   

This is not a criticism of these great Olympians who have contributed so much to gymnastics worldwide over the past few years and who no doubt are training very hard.  I certainly hope to see them fight for a place on the Russian team in Rio.  However, granting them assured 'locks' to Europeans at a time when the team needs to be strengthened from within, and young, vigourous talent is emerging, seems wrong.  First of all, what team can survive when there is no competition?  Secondly, how to motivate those youngsters whose efforts are making Russian gymnastics appear vibrant and exciting for the first time in some years?  Thirdly, how about blooding some new talent on the international scene?   What happens if the veterans get injured, are tired out, out of contention by the summer?  Then the team is left with no choice but to select youngsters for the Olympics who will have no major international experience at all.  Silly.  Just silly.  Europeans is a competition that the Russians can risk losing - for the sake of giving her youth a taste of the top level.  It's now or never.

All gymnasts fall.  The ones who succeed are the ones who keep going.  Shushunova, Khorkina, Biles, Mustafina all know this.  It's time that the coaches recognised this as well.  Have some confidence in your girls, and in time they will have more confidence too.

Come on Russia, let's fight!

My only prediction for Europeans - Romania will win.

WAG team for Berne - Mustafina, Melnikova, Afanasyeva, Paseka, Spiridonova.  Reserve - Tutkhalyan/Kapitanova

Related post -

RRG on the team announcements for Berne.


*I just want to say here - I am dissapointed with the selection - NOT the gymnasts - who are all magnificent.

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Melnikova leads the Russians to Berne

15 year old Angelina Melnikova will make her major senior international debut in a few weeks' time

According to an interview by Alexey Zubakov with Valentina Rodionenko, the final line-ups of both the men's and women's teams for the Berne Championships have now been determined.

MAG has been previously announced - Denis Ablyazin, Nikita Nagorny, David Belyavski, Nikita Ignatyev and Nikolai Kuksenkov.  Emin Garibov will be the reserve.

WAG - Aliya Mustafina, Angelina Melnikova, Maria Paseka, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Daria Spiridonova. Seda Tutkhakyan, who is competing on beam and floor today at the Osijek Challenge Cup, will be the travelling reserve.

Viktoria Komova is continuing her rehab after a period in hospital in her home town of Voronezh with back pain.  She returns to Round Lake on the 3rd May where she will continue to prepare for the Olympic Games under the watchful eyes of her coaches.

Although I will be excited to see how young Angelika fares, I'm overall a little disappointed with the WAG selection.  It is rather conservative and will be relatively weak on beam and floor (remember, Andrei Rodionenko has said that Mustafina will not have the stamina to do floor in Berne; even if she does pull out a defiant showing she is unlikely to have top difficulty).   I had hoped to see Russia try out its new talent - Seda Tutkhalyan and/or Maria Kharenkova in particular.  The team will meet some stiff competition in Switzerland, however, and I think that the coaches have opted for reliability rather than risk flair.   But Spiridonova's inclusion limits the potential on beam, and weakens the team on floor.  An on-song Tutkhalyan adds potential on both these pieces, even if her reliability may be at question, while Paseka could keep up the average on bars in finals.

This probably won't be the last word on the team - there is always the possibility of a last minute substitution.

As things stand, line-ups might go something like this.  Euros is a team competition with EF this year, no all around competition. 

Qualifications

Vault - Mustafina, Melnikova, Afanasyeva, Paseka

UB - Mustafina, Melnikova, Paseka, Spiridonova

BB - Mustafina, Melnikova, Spiridonova, Afanasyeva

FX - Melnikova, Afanasyeva, Paseka, Spiridonova

Finals 

Vault - Mustafina, Afanasyeva, Paseka

UB - Mustafina, Melnikova, Spiridonova

BB - Mustafina, Melnikova, Afanasyeva

FX - Melnikova, Afanasyeva, Spiridonova

The source of the team announcement is - http://vpsfund.org/114-7/

You can follow live scores of Seda, Natalia, Maria, Nikita and Emin at the Osijek Challenge Cup at http://osijekgym.com/live/ now (Friday pm).

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Komova still in contention for a spot at Euros, Kuksenkov selected for Berne

In an interview with Tass correspondent Albert Starodubtsev, Valentina Rodionenko has refreshed ideas of those in contention for the upcoming European Championships. 

MAG - 25 to 29 May - registrations will be sent to the UEG tomorrow.  The team will include Nikolai Kuksenkov, David Belyavski, Nikita Nagorny, Nikita Ignatyev and Denis Ablyazin.  Reserve is Emin Garibov.  Ablyazin is suffering from some health problems but it is hoped that he will recover in time, otherwise the team is in 'good shape'.  The RGF received notification from RUSADA on 15th April that Kuksenkov's temporary suspension had been lifted.

As previously announced, the women's team (comp begins 1 June and registrations will be made formally next week) will include Ksenia Afanasyeva, Angelina Melnikova, Aliya Mustafina and Maria Paseka.  The final place will be contested by the Viktoria Komova, Daria Spiridonova and Seda Tutkhalyan.  (Ed's note - Seda is competing this weekend at the Osijek Challenge Cup alongside team mates Natalia Kapitanova and Maria Kharenkova - I wonder if that final spot is even more open than we are being told - I personally would be looking for consistency from Tutkhalyan and Kharenkova.). Valentina says that Viktoria is 'recovering'.

http://tass.ru/sport/3235857

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'Brazil will miss Romanian gymnastics' - Valentina Rodionenko

In an interview with sports analyst Alexei Zubakov, Russia's head coach Valentina Rodionenko has commented on the state of WAG Gymnastics at the Rio Olympics, following on from yesterday's qualifying event.  

'We are very sorry ... for four decades one of Russia's main opponents was the Romanian national team.  Brazil will miss the Romanian style of gymnastics.  Undoubtedly, the absence of their leader, Larissa Iordache, affected the team's performance.

... In the team competition USA and Russia will compete for first place, and for third - China and the UK.  The remaining teams at the moment are a long way behind the strongest four.

...There is a clear favourite in the men's competition, Japan.  Also competing for medals will be China, UK, USA, Brazil and Germany.  Russia will also be competing for a team medal.

http://vpsfund.org/115-6/

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A changing of the guard

I certainly wasn't the only one who observed events in Rio yesterday.  And what a sad day, to see Romania fall out of contention for a team place in the Rio Olympics, so suddenly and so brutally after months of anticipation.  Although the team's performance was consistent with their result at the Glasgow World Championships, it was especially hard to hear how they fell at the very first hurdle, to read of the failures on bars, for so long a bugbear of the Romanian system.  After that, the team spirit was set and it was always going to be hard to lift them to more winning ways.  

Romania's fate really echoes so much that has happened to Russia in recent years: an over reliance on a handful of star performers, many of them now injured and veteran; juniors difficult to transition to senior level responsibility; distinct technical weaknesses on one or two apparatus; and, for the Romanians especially, a volatile internal political situation resulting in frequent staffing changes to the coaching team.  In Romania also (as in Ukraine) funding is a big problem.  I wonder if, like Ukraine, the great tradition of Romanian gymnastics will now fail.  Their men's team has also, more quietly, fallen out of sight.

 

Interestingly, all of the twelve nations who have qualified full WAG teams to Rio are developed economies who have highly organised sports systems whose funding is derived from a variety of sources - corporate sponsorship, private philanthropy, self-generated income and government support.  The Ukraine men's team stands alone across the men's and women's team qualifiers as a nation whose funding and organisation relies almost entirely on the spirit and determination of its athletes and coaches.  Verniaiev and his team are remarkable and I wish for a medal for them in Rio.  Gymnastics is a highly resource-dependent sport, one of the most expensive both financially and in terms of personal commitment.

We can point at Romania and say 'the training needs to improve'.  That is fairly self-evident.  But this will not change while the funding and political situation of the sport within Romania itself remains so uncertain, and while the burden of coaching rests on the shoulders of a handful of long-suffering personal and team coaches.  Whether the wider Romanian economy and political environment can support the development of the necessary training infrastructure is a moot point, and one that I am not qualified to judge; but the general observation is there for all to see - gymnastics at team level is for highly organised countries with the political will and economic capability to make it work.

So we look forward, and send all of our best wishes to Romania and to those systems who are struggling under their current regimes.  

And we celebrate another remarkable athlete, Oksana Chusovitina, who yesterday qualified to her seventh Olympic Games.  Oksana has independently forged her own luck and training framework, with the help of the national coaches to the Uzbekistan team, including her 1992 Soviet Union team mate Svetlana Boguinskaia.  I will hope to see them both in the arena in Rio; what an amazing sight that will be.

With thanks to the fans of gymnastics , and the FIG, who provide the pictures here.  

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It's official - Kuksenkov can compete!

The Russian Anti-Doping Agency RUSADA has now lifted the temporary suspension of Nikolai Kuksenkov, reports R Sport.

This follows on from an announcement by the World agency, WADA, detailing the terms of a possible 'amnesty' for athletes with very low levels of the drug Meldonium in their bloodstream, who had not taken the drug since January.

In related news, Russian team doctor Vladimir Timonkin has explained that the Russian women have not taken Meldonium for some years.  Timonkin says that the benefits of the drug were insufficient to justify its use.  He is a well known and trusted face on the Russian national team, and has been team doctor for fifteen years.

R-Sport's report on the official lifting of Kuksenkov's suspension - http://m.rsport.ru/artist_gym/20160415/913522428.html

WADA ruling on Meldonium excretion rates - implications for Russia - http://rewritingrussiangymnastics.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/wada-ruling-about-meldonium-excretion.html

Interview with Vladimir Timonkin - http://www.mk.ru/sport/2016/04/14/pochemu-khvost-meldoniya-ne-pugal-aliyu-mustafinu.html

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Angelina Melnikova - Tsaritsa of Russian Gymnastics

An interview with the new Russian leader Angelina Melnikova.  She sounds like such a nice, level-headed, serious girl.  I can't wait to see her compete at Europeans.  

Angelina Melnikova from Voronezh has won three top awards in the Russian Championships - in the all-around, exercise, balance beam and floor exercise. After a successful debut at the senior level the 15-year-old gymnast has been included in the national team for the European Championships, which will take place from 26 May to 5 June in Switzerland. In conversation with 'Stadion' correspondent, Alexander Barmina, the athlete shared her impressions from the competition:

- Of course, I am very happy that the competition went so well for me.  I was worried - in fact this is my first "adult" Championship. On Sunday, when the event medals were contested on the balance beam and floor, I was drawn to go first. For me, this is always easier, because when there is a wait, it is very scary, and the excitement builds. When you are first, you don't think about the possibility of falling, you just warm up and go and do everything you can do.   I had a slight error in one of my connecting elements, but otherwise everything else was done properly.

On the floor exercise it was a little bit hard - there was accumulated fatigue - especially in my legs. One of my turns was not ideal. I had to do it as if on "someone else's" leg. Many of them work in training, but it can be difficult to avoid mistakes.

I am considered an expert in the all-around, so that I don't have a favourite apparatus.  I probably don't have a weaker apparatus, either.  However, I don't yet have a second vault.  It is necessary for me to increase my values there, and improve my performance. On the other apparatus, I have simply to "clean up." On uneven bars, maybe I will add some difficulty, "connect" something. This is when it comes to preparing for the Olympics - of course, competing there is my dream.

My grandmother brought me to the gym ten years ago when I was six years old. Immediately I liked everything. When we were young, we all admired Vika Komova. When she came to us in the gym, we would always have photographs. Today I have no idols in the gym.

Source - http://stadium.ru/news/10-04-2016-angelina-melnikova-schitayus-spetsialistom-po-mnogoboryu-lyubimih-vidov-u-menya-net-otstayuschih-toje

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WADA ruling about Meldonium excretion rates - implications for Kuksenkov and Russia

A key document has been published - link here - https://wada-mailing-list.s3.amazonaws.com/2016-04-12-Meldonium_Notice_Final.pdf.   It is worth reading.

Key section is this -

'When a prohibited substance is detected, it is up to the athlete to establish the circumstances surrounding the entry of the substance into his or her body (including the timing of such entry), in order for the hearing panel to be in a position to assess the question of intent, fault and negligence, and to determine the appropriate consequences.

In the case of meldonium, there is currently a lack of clear scientific information on excretion times. For this reason, a hearing panel might justifiably find (unless there is specific evidence to the contrary) that an athlete who has established on the balance of probabilities that he or she ingested meldonium before 1 January 2016 could not reasonably have known or suspected that the meldonium would still be present in his or her body on or after 1 January 2016. In these circumstances, WADA considers that there may be grounds for no fault or negligence on the part of the athlete.

However, given that the presence of meldonium in the athlete�s sample collected on or after 1 January 2016 constitutes an anti-doping rule violation, the disqualification of the athlete�s results shall (even where there is no fault or negligence) be dealt with in accordance with the applicable Code provisions. If the sample was collected in competition, then the results in the competition in question will be automatically disqualified in accordance with Article 9 of the Code.

For all cases where the athlete is considered to be at fault for the presence of meldonium in his or her sample, all relevant criteria to assess the degree of fault/negligence and intention shall be assessed by: the level of the athlete�s due diligence, any medical justification, declaration on the doping control form, etc.'

It goes on to say that if the test were taken AFTER March 1st and there is clear evidence that the drug wasn't taken after the 1st January, the Appeal board may decide, based on the uncertain excretion rates, either to 

1 Hold the suspension until such time as more data is available about the drug's excretion rate

2 Lift the suspension, but then if the findings of the research into the drug do not support what the athlete is saying, all results may be annulled and the athlete disqualified.

So this is a difficult decision, that depends on some abstract science and uncertain timing. If Kuksenkov's hearing goes well, his suspension could be lifted.  Joy!  But then again if the subsequent results of the research into Meldonium don't pay off, all of his results could be annulled - and my guess is that this would include any team results that include the Russian national champion.

Progress, but there is a sword of Damocles hanging over the gymnast's head.  I wonder what Andrei Rodionenko will have to say?  If WADA rule that Kuksenkov's suspension can be lifted, will the Russians be ready to take the risk?  

I expect we will hear from the Russian Ministry of Sport about this soon.

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Ten gymnasts in training for Rio; Swiss lawyers will defend Kuksenkov's innocence

Head coach Valery Alfosov has unreservedly supported Russian AA champion Nikolai Kuksenkov, naming him to a group of ten gymnasts eligible for participation in Rio even though the gymnast's selection for international competition is currently impossible due to a positive drugs test.

The RGF is employing Swiss lawyers to defend Kuksenkov's 'honour and innocence'.  Russian gymnasts stopped taking meldonium last August 2015 although the drug is known for remaining in the system for long periods of time.  Other gymnasts have shown traces of the drug in their samples, but Kuksenkov's was 'scanty' but minimally over the limit.  No Russian gymnast should have this problem, says Alfosov. (Rodionenko earlier pointed out that gymnasts only take those supplements and medications given to them by the team doctor; they are not even permitted to buy over the counter cold medications or to self medicate at all).

Alfosov said that five gymnasts would travel to Rio, and two reserves, 'off list', who would act as reserve in the event of illness or injury.  The final selection would be made on the basis of performance at the Europeans and Russia Cup.

The ten gymnasts training for Rio are - 

Denis Ablyazin

David Belyavski

Nikita Ignatyev

Emin Garibov

Nikita Nagorny

Artur Dalolyan

Ivan Stretovich

Vladislav Polyashov

Dmitri Lankin

Nikolai Kuksenkov

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Nikolai Kuksenkov has tested positive for meldonium

Initial reports coming out of Russia suggest that Kuksenkov's absence from today's event finals at Russian nationals were the result of his withdrawal on the basis of a positive drugs test taken on 15th March.

Valentina Rodionenko says the test showed a 'minimal' measure and stresses that gymnasts stopped taking Mildronate last August.  Investigations are taking place to understand how long the substance can remain the bloodstream after withdrawal.

This is obviously disappointing for the gymnast, coaches and the wider team.  We wait to hear more and to consider the implications.

Source - http://www.allsportinfo.ru/index.php?id=102904

Update 3/4 - WADA conducting research into the rate of excretion of meldonium.  Decisions about athletes' guilt are pending.  http://www.sports.ru/biathlon/1038710792.html

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