London buses, legacy and a legion of highly impressed soldiers

Ksenia Afanasyeva, watched by Maria Paseka

I had a bit of a moment yesterday.  Sat on the shuttle bus on my way to the North Greenwich Arena, I looked around me, and everything was so pink and shiney and clean and sweet scented, the volunteers all so helpful and smiley.  The sun was even shining.  I was really moved by that bus, and began to weep quietly in my corner, hoping my fellow travellers wouldn't notice.

Perhaps LOCOG had arranged it that way in order to enhance the emotional experience of event goers.  The experience of buying my tickets at the last minute and the relief I felt at being able to attend the world's leading sporting event in my home town was certainly beyond overwhelming.  I probably wouldn't have had that feeling if I had been able to book in advance successfully on any one of the dozen previous occasions I had tried, and been told that tickets were sold out.  Never mind.  Who cares.  A lifelong ambition to attend the gymnastics competition at the Olympic Games has been realised.  It really didn't disappoint at all.  It exceeded my expectations. I now really believe in the Olympics as a power for the good, thanks to that bus, and I hope that all the buses in London are like that forever more.   Isn't that what legacy means?

I wonder what the legion of soldiers who were drafted in to fill the seats on one side of the arena thought of the opportunity of watching teenage girls in tight leotards cavort around the apparatus in daredevil manner?  I do hope they were seriously impressed.  If not, I can think of a legion of gym fans around the world who would willingly have given their eye teeth to be in that arena.

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Tickets!!!

Queen Elizabeth would like to announce ...

That she has tickets!! 

Assiduous searching of the London 2012 website finally paid off.   I will be in the North Greenwich arena tomorrow, equipped with my inhaler, ready to shout as loud as anyone ever thought possible.  I will try to tweet, but it's likely my hands will be shaking quite a lot.






One Queen knows another, and our Queen Mustafina needs some celebration ... this girl is the spirit of the Russian team - God help her and her colleagues tomorrow as they begin their defence of Russia's gymnastics pride.


UDACHI Russia!!!  All the luck in the world - you deserve it!!!

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Russia are back!

19 year old Denis Ablyazin, from Penza, qualified to three event finals

Five young men of Russia have confirmed their return to the top level of artistic gymnastics by putting in a spirited performance, without a backward glance to their country's somewhat changeable achievements over past years .David Belyavski, Emin Garibov, Denis Ablyazin, Alexander Balandin and Igor Pakhomenko seem to have turned the tide of decay in the Russian gymnastics programme, presenting solid, occasionally brilliant, often beautiful gymnastics to finish in 2nd place as a team, just ahead of a British team who were at times equally stirring in the emotional intensity of their presentation.  Yes, both teams, and the USA who finished in first place, were helped by the unaccountably bad days experienced by both Japan and China, long time leaders of the sport worldwide.  I expect that Japan at least will improve significantly on Monday and give the rest of the field some problems in maintaining their current positions.


But Russia look strong and feisty.  In the team final, on Monday, things won't go all their way - no, that is not the nature of gymnastics.  The oldest member of the team, Balandin, is 23.  No other team member is older than 19.  And they will fight.  Remember this when you watch Russia - they are a developing power in the world of gymnastics.  And watch the coaches too - assisting 59 year old Valery Alfosov, a veteran coach of Soviet days, is 30 something Sergei Starkin, personal coach to Denis Ablyazin and evidently a rising star on the Russian coaching scene, trusted sufficiently to appear on the podium at this critical competition.  The Russian programme is looking to the future and a new generation is taking over.

Wednesday's all around final promises to be interesting, with David Belyavski qualified in 2nd place, and Emin Garibov in 8th.  Again, these positions have been helped significantly by the unexpectedly poor performance of gymnastics God Kohei Uchimura.  A great signifier of the health of the Russian team is that they have qualified at least one gymnast to every competition in the men's gymnastics:

• Ablyazin managed to squeeze into floor final in 8th place despite a .3 penalty when he stepped out of the area ... and was there a time penalty as he struggled to finish all that difficulty in one routine??
• Belyavski qualified to pommel horse final in 7th place ... what a turn up for the books, Russia is notoriously poor on this piece
• Balandin and Ablyazin qualified to rings in 3rd and 5th place, respectively
• Ablyazin goes to vault final in first place.  He was quite brilliant here.
• Garibov progresses to parallel bars final in 4th place
• Garibov also qualified to high bar final in 6th place

In all cases, the margin between first and 8th qualifier is so small that almost any gymnast could win the final.  I'm beginning to believe Valentina Rodionenko ... it looks as though Russia has halted the decline of its gymnastics programme, and more ...

Find complete results here.

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Start list for WAG qualifications

2010 World Champion Aliya Mustafina will play a vital role

The FIG has now published a start list for tomorrow's WAG qualification (interestingly, it shows Romania's Iordache doing the all around, so perhaps her heel isn't that bad after all ...)

Remember in qualis, the format is 5-4-3 so there is a little less pressure than in the finals, where every routine counts. 

The working order for the Russian girls is as follows :

Floor : Mustafina, Komova, Grishina, Afanasyeva
Vault : Grishina, Komova, Mustafina, Paseka
Bars : Grishina, Mustafina, Komova Paseka
Beam : Mustafina, Grishina, Komova, Afanasyeva









Mustafina appears as a 'table setter' on floor and beam where she is expected to do a solid job. Captain Afanasyeva has to carry the pressure both on floor and beam as the final gymnast there.  I'm guessing it will be a close battle between Mustafina and Grishina for the second all around spot, assuming that Komova does her job.  Although I would love to see Mustafina lead this team if not the entire competitive field, and believe that her spirit makes that entirely possible.  If the gymnasts all perform to potential, this is a very powerful team.

Judges' assignment for qualis can also be found here.

Looking forward to the final round of men's qualifiers in about half an hour.

Good luck to the Russian team in London!!!  UDACHI!!

Picture of Mustafina, courtesy of the RGF.

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Who's Who - Russia's Women Artistic Gymnasts

Russia come to London as underdogs in the women's artistic gymnastics, the fearsome, powerful USA the most likely contenders by far for team gold.   Saddled with a reputation for alarming inconsistency and an under power team with little reserve, Russia seem unlikely to stem the tide of efficient, stable athleticism that is the strength of the American gymnasts - and of the resurgent Romanians, who beat them at the European Championships in Brussels this spring.

But Russia are ruffling some feathers in London.  The amplitude, expression and technique, always a characteristic of their work, has now been joined by a sassy, confident attitude that has often found more expression on the girls' personal Facebook pages than on the gymnastics podium.  The Russian gymnasts have begun to show their character on the podium, as well as off it - and it is much appreciated by the ground swell of gymnastics fans who have been willing them for so long to show their class and grab at that gold.  Maybe, just maybe, the Americans have had all the credit they are going to have for their athleticism.  Maybe, just maybe, it will take more than 'clean routines' to win this Olympics.  The Russians are the ones who offer the added value of artistry to their gymnastics -  complete with the super-added extra of surprise upgrades.  Keep your eyes open and watch quick hits at the Gymnastics Examiner.  The Russians will be on at around tea-time.

Team captain Ksenia Afanasyeva

Ksenia Dimitriyevna Afanasyeva
born 13th September 1991
Home : Khimki, Tula
N S Nabakova, M V Nazarova, S O Gaidorov

World Floor Champion Afanasyeva goes to London as team captain, her maturity, concentration and determination marking her out as ideal for this role.  She is the only team member of have competed in the 2008 Olympics - where the Russian women came away empty-handed. 

Afanasyeva missed European Championships with an ankle injury, but managed to place fourth all around at the Russian Cup and is still amongst the team's strongest performers on beam and floor.  Her fearsome athleticism and artistry remains untainted and she is expected to contribute strongly in London, where she will unveil a bold and entertaining new floor routine.

Afanasyeva remains the Russians' fourth all arounder in this team configuration - but may be replaced by Paseka on vault if the latter is regularly landing her difficult Amanar vault.

Anastasia Nikolayevna Grishina
16th January 1996
Moscow
O E Sikorro, S B Zelikson, R M Ganina

Grishina is the youngest, least experienced member of this team - but her competitive edge has been tempered by appearances at the Olympic Test Event and European Championships.  A minor leg injury kept her out of the Russian Cup competition, but her selection for the Olympics seems unequivocal.

Strong, solid and graceful, Grishina has that special edge that enables her to improve at every new performance.  Her bars talent is well known, but watch out for her as a dark horse in London, particularly in the all around and on the beam.  Revealed in the last few days is also a rare and highly difficult floor skill - double twisting double back somersault.  If Grishina competes this it will make her a front runner for qualification to the floor event final, and also reinforce her all around efforts.

  
Viktoria Alexandrovna Komova
30th January 1995
Voronezh
G B Elfimov, O M Bulgakova, V V Kolesnikova, N Y Fedina

17 year old Komova - daughter of 1985 World Championships gymnast Vera Kolesnikova - has yet to show her full potential at senior level.  The fact that she is 2011 World Vice Champion all around, and  2011 World Bars Champion. speaks volumes for that potential.

In recent training since arrival in London, Komova has successfully performed a two and a half twisting Yurchenko vault, a double twisting double back dismount off bars and a half twisting double front dismount on beam - all significant upgrades to the partial programme she showed at the Europeans.  

Komova's strengths are her power and grace - the one quality belying the other as she makes her ultra difficult routines look easy.  She also really, really hates finishing in second place.

Aliya Fargatovna Mustafina
30th September 1994
Moscow
Brigada (coaching team), A S Alexandrov, R M Ganina


Since tearing her ACL at the 2011 European Championships, Mustafina has been promising a legendary comeback at the London Olympics.  The first daughter of a 1976 Olympic medal winning Greco-Roman wrestler has inherited some of her father' grit and spirit - and then added some more of her own.

A concentration on bars training during the early months of her rehabilitation means that 2010 World Champion Mustafina has recreated herself as a world-leading bars specialist - and now returns as a super-motivated all arounder.  Mustafina's post-recovery routines may not so far show the polish or difficulty of her pre-injury gymnastics - but her ambition has only grown.  Somehow, somewhere, Tsarina Aliya will find a way to deliver something very special at the Games. 

Maria Valeriyevna Paseka
born 19th July 1995
Moscow
M G Ulyankina, V N Ulyankin, I A Savosina 

Paseka made her senior international debut at this spring's European Championships, where she contributed on vault to the team's silver medal behind the resurgent Romanians.   Her even temperament could make her a useful addition to an otherwise potentially fiery mix of personalities in the likely cauldron of emotions in the North Greenwich Arena.

Paseka has been regularly landing the difficult two and a half twisting Yurchenko vault in training.  This makes her extremely valuable in the team final because of the high start value of the vault.







Pictures of Anastasia Grishina, Aliya Mustafina and Viktoria Komova were drawn from an online picture gallery of the July 6th and 7th control competition at Penza, courtesy of the Burtasy School of Gymnastics.  
The picture of Maria Paseka is courtesy of the Russian Gymnastics Federation.
The picture of Ksenia Afanasyeva is courtesy of the FIG.

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Who's Who - Russian men's artistic gymnastics

The Russian men's team looks likely to make more of an impression here in London than they did in Beijing four years ago, where two bronzes were their total accomplishment.  If team coach Valentina Rodionenko has it right, the team has halted their decline since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Russian gymnastics is ready to make a statement.  For the men, this is likely to mean medals in apparatus finals.  Less likely are medals in the team or all around contests, thanks to a team weakness on the pommel horse and the competitiveness of the international field, where four teams can fight for bronze (Russia, Germany, Britain and USA). 

But the team does look ready to compete.  Yesterday's quick hits from men's podium training emphasised the team's strength on rings and vault, with the fiery Denis Ablyazin looking a likely contender for gold on floor and vault.  Russia perform charismatic gymnastics and add excitement, charm and beauty to their arsenal of high difficulty skills.  They are young, inexperienced and ambitious - tomorrow's qualification rounds will be the first phase of a fascinating competition.


 

Denis Mikhailovich Ablyazin
born 3rd August 1992
Trains at - Penza, Moscow Dynamo
Coach - Sergei Starkin

Triple European bronze medallist Denis Ablyazin is the firecracker of the Russian team.  He has the world's highest difficulty level on floor and could well compete for gold there and on vault. 

Detractors complain that Ablyazin's floor routine packs in fast-paced acrobatics at the expense of grace and elegance - but the Code requires difficulty and explosiveness, and Ablyazin delivers both in abundance.

Alexander Sergeivich Balandin
born 10th June 1989
Dynamo Petrozavodsk, Karelian Republic
V N Bubnovski, S G Zagorski


European rings champion Alexander Balandin is expected to contribute high scores on his specialist apparatus as well as qualify to the event final there.  He also contributes good quality routines on parallel bars, and may well be called upon to contribute to the team's efforts on pommel horse.

David Sagitovitch Belyavskiy
born 23rd February 1992
Ekaterinburg
V N Lomayev, P A Kitaiski

Graceful David Belyavskiy is one of two all arounders on this Russian men's team.  A poor performance at the European Championships this year was caused by a painful shoulder injury, but Belyavski showed his class by coming back a few weeks later and taking the all around title at the Russian Cup, a key milestone in the Russian gymnasts' preparation for the Olympics, ahead of team mates Sergei Khorokhodin and Igor Pakhomenko. 

Emin Nadirovich Garibov
born 8th September 1992
Moscow Dynamo
A I Sabyelin

At 19, Garibov is the youngest member of this team, yet in competition shows a self confidence beyond his years.  He is perhaps the Russians' most likely chance of an all around medal and, as European Champion on the high bar, bears responsibility for delivering a good score on the event.

Igor Alexeivich Pakhomenko
born 10th June 1992
Leninsk-Kuznetsk
D D Chunasov, T V Popova, E R Saifulin

Pakhomenko, a solid all arounder who came third in this year's Russian Cup, is important to the Russian team for contribution to pommel horse, a real weakness otherwise.  












The pictures are of the Russian men at the control competition held on 6th and 7th July and are copied here from the Burtasy School of Gymnastics, Penza, where you will find a photo album.

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Media link to Voronin Cup all around and team results/pictures of recent Russian Gymnastics Federation conference ;-)

Einselka at the all around forum provides this link to details of the all around and team results at the Voronin Cup.

In the meantime, the Russian Federation has found time to revamp its website which is now far more colourful than before.  I am particularly excited to see a page of pictures of a recent conference at which the Federation President, Andrei Kostin was re-elected.  Everyone looks very worried in these pictures, and I am tempted to invite a caption competition for pictures number 4 and 8. Have they cut Rodienenko's head off? 

There are second and third pages of these pictures, including some which are temptingly labelled with officials' names.  However, for some reason the site refuses to play with my computer tonight and I have been unable to refer to them a second time to enable any form of comment.  I blame the weather, but then surely Russian websites should be able to cope with a little snow?

It is clear that Russian sports are very male-centric at the administrative level, despite the predominance of their female gymnasts in world sport, and the fact that many of the girls' coaches are now women. 

I also feel forced to raise the important question, whatever happened to Alexei Nemov's dress sense?   Is he going the same way as Alexandrov?

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Media link - Valentina and Andrei Rodienenko interview in Sovietski Sport

There is a long and interesting interview with the Rodienenkos in Sovietski Sport today. 

The Google translation is rather difficult to make complete sense of but the interview addresses the prospects for the Russian team at the 2012 Olympics (they are targetting six medals: two golds, two silvers, two bronzes); discusses the reasons for the Russian team's improved performance and the different rates of recovery between the men's and women's teams; and relations with Leonid Arkayev, who apparently is much more relaxed and happy now.  When discussing the performance of Aliya Mustafina, Rodienenko emphasises that her immediate future revolves around training and competing, not celebrity performances and modelling!

They were keen to emphasise that they returned to Russia as they were, fundamentally, homesick.  Alexandrov's family has remained in the United States and he now has an American passport.  The coaches do not work in Russia for the money, but because they wish to contribute to something larger.

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Viktoria Komova named Voronezh athlete of the year

Albert of the All Around Forum reports that Viktoria Komova has been named Voronezh region athlete of the year.  A local news site gives the details, and explains that thanks to Vika's achievements the Government has agreed to build a new school gym in the region.

The page also shows links to other news stories and interviews with Vika.

Congratulations Viktoria!  Well deserved!

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