Gymnastics can learn such a lot from ballet. Imagine beam and FX with such wonderful leaps and turns ... And these are on a hard floor!! https://www.facebook.com/stpetersburgguide/videos/1063907796967276/
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Saturday, October 24, 2015
A hypothetical stance amid nerdy calculations. China come 8th, Holland third. Russia wins!
USA. 46.966 44.649 43.198 44.198. 179.011
Russia. 45.433 45.566 43.432 41.599. 176.03
GBR. 44.865. 42.066 41.699. 43.2. 171.83
CHN. 44.698 43.298 42.033 42.133 172.162
ITA 44.024 40.699 41.699 42.465 168.887
JPN 43.933 41.699 41.599 42.766 169.997
CAN 43.8 41.999 41.516 41.266 168.581
NED 42.116 42.133 43.232 41.766. 169.247
I also worked out that without Biles, USA would stand marginally behind Russia. A hypothetical stance I know.
USA B. 46.099 43.049 42.232 43.633 175.013
I thought it would be interesting to work out the execution scores standings. These show an even bigger change, with NED leaping into third place from eighth, ITA moving up from fifth to fourth, GBR finishing fifth, and China dropping all the way to eighth. Maybe somebody else wants to work out the scores from ninth downwards to see what the true standings are ...
Of course China did have a very bad day. I worked out Romania's E score and it was less than 3 points below China whose D scores saved the day for them. I didn't see Romania's routines, but their e scores on uneven bars in particular seem brutal. They competed in the first subdivision; surely scores crept upwards especially towards the later part of the second day. But that can't account for it all. Mistakes are mistakes but this looks like a hatchet job to me.
USA. 28.566. 25.749. 25.532 26.066. 105.913
RUS 27.433. 26.266 25.532. 24.699. 103.93
GBR. 27.465. 24.066 25.166. 24.9. 101.597
CHN. 27.232. 23.332. 24.033 24.033. 98.63
ITA 27.624. 23.899 25.299 25.432 102.254
JPN. 27.333. 24.333 24.599. 25.266 101.531
CAN. 27.233. 24.266. 24.233. 24.766. 100.498
NED 26.816. 25.233. 26.032. 25.274 103.355
A calculator in my hands is a dangerous thing. E&OE.
With thanks to Gymcastic for the picture of the scoreboard.
Maybe it's the end ...
This is what I was thinking as I watched the slow, sad drift downwards of the Romanian team in the rankings. I hadn't envisaged it happening, and it gave me a feeling of foreboding. Perhaps Russia would succumb to the same forces as Romania and (relatively) quietly drift out of sight of international gymnastics. I thought - perhaps this was the end for the old guard of gymnastics? There has been a power shift and America has emerged the winner, while Romania and Russia, the vestigial remains of European dominance of the sport, have finally lost.
So I was very much relieved to see the team put on their game face yesterday and produce a far better showing than I had expected. Team captain Afanasyeva more than pulled her weight and the other Olympians, Komova and Paseka, made their commitment and experience count. The youngsters, Spiridonova, Tutkhalyan and Kharenkova, also put on a good show. In particular Seda Tutkhalyan, whose first World Championships this is, fought hard, with determination for her team.
Would Mustafina have justified her place on the team under the circumstances, even if she had been healthy? I doubt it. Until the great champion is able to pull herself back to her best form, able to train fully, improve her routines and her competitive consistency, she has been outstripped by the current team. Physical injury has hampered her significantly in preparing for these Games - and she deserves a break - but it works two ways. It is true to say that Mustafina has - through no fault of her own - fallen short of her usual standards. It is also true to say that the current team has outstripped their leader - at least in the short term. I hope that they realise this. With junior Angelina Melnikova due to step up to senior level from January, Mustafina will have to fight hard to regain her position on this team. One thing that the Russians have been able to achieve over the past four years is a relative improvement in their strength in depth and time always takes a toll in gymnastics.
The competition is not over for these girls - they will all contribute to the team final on Tuesday and then all but the unlucky Kharenkova will have all around and event finals to contribute to. But the team has done its job - the main mission of the current competition was to qualify direct to Rio without having to go to the test event, and that has been comfortably achieved. A real test of their competition readiness will be the punishing 3-3 format of the team final, and this is where Mustafina might have had an edge, for she always had the grit to pull out bravura performances precisely when needed and exactly when you didn't expect it.
We still do not know the final outcome of the qualifying competition, which continues today. The USA will compete from 4.30 pm. They are expected to take first place easily and certainly if Biles delivers and the rest don't falter, they will have the upper hand.
There has been a strong Americanisation of the women's sport over the past twenty years and it is now considered almost inevitable that the USA will win team and AA competitions in most if not all major WAG competitions. Other countries do have a say, and we do see some distinct styles - the sharp technical lines of the Chinese, the pyrotechnical acrobatics and stability of the Americans and the classical presentation of some of the Russians - but broadly gymnastics has become a fight to perform the most difficult 'tricks' regardless of the aesthetic, and to avoid a list of movements that are prescribed as errors. I hope it's not considered insulting to suggest that this is largely a North American construct of the sport.
Gymnastics is known as 'artistic gymnastics' in the English language and there is an assumption of the aesthetic contained within the rules and heritage of the sport. We, as athletes, coaches, judges, fans and observers, have spent a lot of time and energy trying to understand this. We have also tried to fathom why the sport is so much less appealing these days as an art form, than it was twenty or thirty years ago.
I do not think we can use this fact as a whip to punish our gymnasts and coaches with, but there is no artistry left any more in women's gymnastics. I hear discussions of artistry today and the vocabulary that is used - 'toe point', 'great line', 'entertaining choreography' - is really only a superficial description of what artistry used to be like. In practice it describes an attempt to provide an appearance of artistry that, for the most part, is merely surface. Continuing to call the sport 'artistic' is a denial of the true status of the sport today. I would argue that that is a travesty and is very much something that we should all be thinking about and talking about, regardless of who is winning. Or it very well may be the end for artistic gymnastics, especially when you think that there is already a sport out there called acrobatic gymnastics, and how the Olympics so frequently look to cull and edit their lists of sports.
Is artistry a mere frippery, an adjunct to the main thing; even - given the emphasis on women's gymnastics - a degradation of sport designed particularly to hobble strong, athletic women in obtaining the correct esteem and credit for their participation in an incredibly demanding sport? A way of insisting that women comply with their defined societal role as ornamental, fragile and pretty chattels of a masculine society? I think that to try to come up with the answer, we have to look more broadly than just gymnastics.
Maybe readers will have more examples to contribute, but I can draw on a film I saw quite recently, Red Army, a documentary about the Soviet ice hockey team of the 1980s. They won almost everything, and were wonderful to watch. Listening to the stars speak about their training and competition strategy - coach Tarasov drew ideas for the team's game play from ballet and chess - you came to realise that the artistry you saw on the ice came from an utter, intimate grasp of the most complex shots and manoeuvres. It involved complete commitment - physical, mental, emotional - from the players and the coaches. There was no room for mercy and only sacrifice led to these great, unforgettable performances. I'm no expert on ice hockey, but watching them compete on the big screen was mesmerising, entertaining, captivating. Artistry here was not about a deliberate, contrived aesthetic, but about a consummate grasp of the sport that elevated its performance to a point of perfection that was capable of appreciation on many different levels, beyond the sporting.
In gymnastics, you don't have the same game play and unpredictability as in hockey, but you do have a combination of the breathtaking and inconceivable - I will call it the technical dimension (difficulty) - with the intangible elegance of movement - I will call that the aesthetic dimension. Neither dimension, taken on its own, is artistry. Toe point and line contributes to the aesthetic dimension but is not artistry. You cannot contrive to be artistic, you simply have to be brilliant beyond all belief.
But there aren't any female gymnasts who can achieve both technical and aesthetic artistry these days. The sport has simply reached a point that it is out of balance and the demands of difficulty are so great that only one or the other can prevail. What's the point of gymnastics, unless it looks great? Biles, the great trickster, is amazing and captivating in her reliable performance of ultra difficult tumbling, but her work lacks a certain aesthetic dimension. Afanasyeva has great posture, line and expression but her work is less strong on a technical level. Combine Biles and Afanasyeva and you have artistry. Anything less than that is merely satisfying different levels of artistry.
Is there something wrong when the sport's Code is demanding more than can be delivered on a technical level, whilst maintaining the aesthetic? In men's gymnastics, there is - somehow - a better balance, and so gymnasts like Kohei Uchimura - well, Kohei Uchimura - can present the more consummate grasp of both technique and the aesthetic that amounts to artistry. That's my way of saying that, fundamentally, men's gymnastics is now, by and large, more artistic than women's.
Female gymnasts who can combine the aesthetic with the technical - such as, for example, Elena Produnova - exist in the past. No gymnasts can compete with the advancing levels of difficulty whilst also maintaining the aesthetic appearance of the work. The technical dimension has outgrown the aesthetic. There is too much difficulty and the aesthetic is relatively too unimportant. This is a problem with the conceptualisation and operation of the Code, not the fault of the judges, coaches and gymnasts. Can we find a way of improving matters?
So I have drifted and meandered through a wide ranging discussion of the current state of the competitive field in gymnastics, the likely winners and losers of the competition, and the state of gymnastics today. What I would really like to say, from my heart, is 'take heart' to the gymnasts of Romania. You are too good to remain the shadows for long and I am sure you will do better very soon. I would like to say 'well done' to the Russian team, and to encourage them to keep working in the same way. We will be supporting you every inch of the way. I would also like to say 'good luck' to the rest of the teams competing, because it is always so nice to see everyone do their best.
To my readers, if anyone has got this far, I would like to say, 'keep thinking and chatting' as you all have valid opinions about the artistry debate. Also, 'enjoy the world championships' - because they happen all too rarely, and because once they are over, we won't be able to wait for the next big competition and we will be chatting and opining all about what will happen in a few months' time in Rio. Every cloud has a silver lining, and in a very selfish sense at least Romania's problems will mean that we will be able to see a good competition in six months' time, at the Olympic test event. I would also like to think that whatever the final outcome of this competition Russia will go home, train hard and, in their inimitable way, find a way of combining difficulty and artistry so that they can take gold in Rio.
Friday, October 23, 2015
Russia leads qualifying (for now)
The Russian girls have achieved their aim of qualifying for Rio, the main objective of the World Championships this year. I think it is true to say that they performed somewhat better than expected. At present the team leads vault, bars and beam but is in sixth place on floor ... Russia has to begin to address its problems there, but that is a longer term issue and the girls should be pleased with how they performed overall.
Paseka and Tutkhalyan are in first and third places respectively on vault; Spiridonova, Komova and Paseka occupy the first three places on bars; Komova, Tutkhalyan and Kharenkova are in 2nd, 3rd and 4th on beam and on floor Afanasyeva is in 2nd. But to illustrate Russia's lack of depth there, their next gymnast is Paseka, 22nd.
Young Seda Tutkhalyan avoided major errors in her first senior competition and has clearly qualified to the AA final in 2nd. But for Spiridonova a place in the competition is in doubt - 11th place so far with many other teams still to compete both today and tomorrow.
Russia has done well considering their own self doubts and has shown that they can hold a competition together. I do not know what will happen in the highly pressured all-or-nothing finals. It all matters so much less now the team knows they will be in Rio, everything else they can achieve will be a bonus. I think they may well come home with a better overall performance than last year - they have to do their best, for Aliya.
Sadly, it is almost certain that Romania will need to go to the test event to qualify for Rio as a team. If they don't make it, it would be the first time in my memory that an Olympics took place without the birthplace of Nadia Comaneci being represented. Romania really missed the moral boost of Ponor, who is injured, and a late injury to Ocolisan tore the heart out of them. Surely we will see a comeback from these spirited girls soon.
We will have to wait and see now what the final positions are.
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Start lists for WAG quals
Available here. http://www.longinestiming.com/File/Download?id=00000E0001000100FFFFFFFFFFFFFF00
As Valentina said, only Spiridonova and Tutkhalyan do AA in this model. Although things can always change ...
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Russian team predictions from Valentina
Ksenia Afanasyeva in podium training yesterday
Reserves are confirmed at this stage as Dmitri Lankin and Evgeniya Shelgunova.
Competing AA will be - WAG - Daria Spiridonova and Seda Tutkhalyan; MAG - Nikita Ignatyev, David Belyavski and Nikolai Kuksenkov
It will be tough for the men's team as the top six are extremely competitive. To be realistic, the men are not likely to finish in the top three. The American men are very strong, also the Chinese and Japanese, other teams - she mentions Brazil.
The women can compete for one of the top places. Of course the Americans are out of reach but they are on the same level as the Chinese and Romanians so there is a chance. But they will have to be clean.
On the AA, it's another picture; the gymnasts can compete for a medal. For the men, David Belyavski and Nikita Ignatyev. It will be harder for the women as both Daria and Seda do not yet have extensive international senior experience.
It is expected that Viktoria Komova will compete in three apparatus (vault, bars, beam). Ksenia Afanasyeva has the ability to perform at the level of a medal in floor, and Maria Paseka on vault. The odds on Seda Tutkhalyan AA are longer, but she does have one apparatus - beam - where if she performs without error, she has a difficult routine and may be in the battle for a medal.
David Belyavski has a good routine on p bars, and Denis Ablyazin on floor, rings and vault. They expect a good competition and a medal from Nikita Ignatyev - perhaps on high bar or on p bars.
This is really only a preliminary assessment of the team's readiness - there are still a few days left to polish the routines.
source : http://www.allsportinfo.ru/index.php?id=98577
I think Valentina's ideas are pretty much what I would say - nothing unexpected. Good luck to all the gymnasts! We are looking forward to supporting you!
Sunday, October 18, 2015
The teams are more important than individuals, says Rodionenko
Viktoria Komova receives her team medal at a ceremony last week.
- A key theme of the interview was the refreshment of the teams who both have a young contingent.
- Three very young girls come to the podium, and all that is expected of them is that they avoid mistakes. Their routines are complex and ready for the Rio Olympics - they do not have to do any more.
- The girls will fight, but 'it will be difficult without Mustafina'
- Glasgow should really be considered as Komova's first serious start since her comeback. Yes, she competed in Baku - but she was very nervous there ('trembling'); she has become more confident since, and they hope that she will compete for a medal on the uneven bars where she has a very strong routine. She may compete on three pieces of apparatus. She has grown significantly since London 2012 and had to start from scratch on bars because of the parameters and dimensions of the apparatus but they hope she will do well.
- The experience of Komova can't be compared with the youth of Kharenkova and Tutkhalyan. Komova was trained in the classical school of gymnastics. Seda Tutkhalyan is different again, has more power and different potential. 'If Tutkhalyan does not falter, she could compete for a prize in the all around.'
- Maria Kharenkova has to develop a stronger psychology, but they hope for good work from her. She was second in Europe all around.
- Next year's team will be strengthened. They mention Angelina Melnikova as having potential for the Rio team.
- Ablyazin, Belyavski, Ignatyev, Kuksenkov are leaders; perhaps they have worries about Kuksenkov but he has lots of experience and is strong; they have adjusted his training programme.
- Ivan Stretovich has good p bars, pommels and high bar. Nikita Nagorny is strong on the vault.
- The women should finish in the top three. The men will compete for a place from three to five.
- All of the athletes are now working for the team. Gymnastics is changing very rapidly and the team needs to be prepared to compete strongly on all apparatus.
http://www.olympic.ru/news/news-russia/news-federations/valentina-rodionenko-nadeemsia-chto-rossiyskaia-molodej-ne/
In other news, the FIG has announced that Oksana Chusovituna will compete a Produnova vault! Davai Oksana!
