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.