Natalia Kapitonova - personal travelogue to Rio

Natalia, seen left here in this personal picture with team mates Angelina Melnikova and Maria Paseka, is a relative newcomer to the senior national team, but not its youngest member - having turned 16 in May (Angelina only celebrated her 16th birthday a few days ago).  She is Russian Cup champion on the uneven bars - and strong enough in the all around to provide a good back up, as first reserve, if back up is needed.

The famous gym club in Penza - home to 2014 World floor champion Denis Ablyazin - is where Natalia has trained since childhood under the direction of the Starkin family - who also direct the training of Russian team captain, Aliya Mustafina.  Despite her relative lack of experience internationally, Natalia has shown herself to be a steady and optimistic team mate.  

The flight to Brazil - over 12 hours - was the longest of her life.  At first she slept, but she also read, watched movies and listened to music.  She says that the team weren't too worried about whether they would be allowed to compete; they felt reasonably confident about the IOC decision.

'I can hardly believe that I am in Rio!' said Natalia to local newspaper Penza Sight.  Everything has happened very quickly.

Natalia is sharing a room with Evgenia Shelgunova, and the two reserves are housed in a separate accommodation bloc to the main team.  They haven't had a chance yet to see much of Rio - just the gym, the supermarket and their hotel.  The main thing now is to stay in good form for the Games - no time for much rest.

Source - http://penzavzglyad.ru/news/11419/natalya-kapitonova-do-sih-kazhetsya-chto-ya-ne-v-rio-de-zhaneyro

Please visit RRG's Facebook page for more pictures of the team in Rio, and follow my Twitter feed (RussianGymnast) for quick updates.  With thanks to the Gymnastics group page on vk.com.