2012 Olympians Viktoria Komova, Anastasia Grishina, Ksenia Afanasyeva, and Nikolai Kuksenkov will compete in the Voronin Cup, Moscow, 15-17 December.
Aliya Mustafina, Emin Garibov, Denis Ablyazin and Alexander Balandin are out with injury or in recovery - expect them back next spring.
http://itar-tass.com/sport/1629215
Yes!!! Another look at Komova and Ksenia and Finally!!! Grashina! I hope Grashina can make a full comeback but stronger than before (Obviously not at full strength by now but by worlds this years hopefully). With their return, pretty much all of Russia's Olympians are back in competition.
ReplyDeleteSo excited to see Ksenia and Grishina make a comeback. Ksenia in particular is really strong in floor -an apparatus which has been a real weakness for the Russian team - and manages to combine difficult routines with edgy and graceful choreography.
ReplyDeleteI am too excited about Komova, Afanasyeva and Grishina coming back, especially Grishina. Hopefully we will see a more confident and "reborn" Grishina with great routines.
ReplyDeleteDo you know of any streaming info for Voronin? :) I would love to watch Anastasia's comeback meet!
ReplyDeleteKomova is now out - recurrence of her painful leg and she has been sent to Munich to treat another, different injury.
ReplyDeleteRe the leg - the surgeons have said nothing wrong, she just should expect this as part of returning to full training. I don't think the second injury is anything serious - cyst removal - they probably decided to do it now as the least disruptive option.
I am now even more convinced that Viktoria is only in gymnastics to fulfill the ambitions of those around her. Sadly I don't see her making it back to the top level again,
Hi Elizabeth,
DeleteI know it may be obvious to some, but I have to ask- why do you say this about Viktoria?
Just my opinion. After more than two years out of competition, she is still finding reasons not to compete. Some of them valid, but some less so. I said more here : http://rewritingrussiangymnastics.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/does-komova-need-gymnastics.html
DeletePlease feel free to express any disagreement :-). I would love to be wrong.
I honestly don't think Komova is coming back either. I mean Honestly, I don't know that she even wants too. I mean, look at Aliya. Aliya Has suffered from multiple illnesses that have lead her to be hospitalized, has been dealing with 2+ years of back pain, a nagging knee pain from her Acl tear, an ankle that will probably forever bug her forever, on top of carrying the entire Russian Gymnastics program on her back and still, She finds it in her to compete ad actually get medals. Aliya Has been competing essentially 1/2 broken for the most part of 2 years and she is still fighting strong! their just ZERO comparison between Komova and Mustafina. Honestly, it would be an insult to Aliya who even through pretty much the universe fighting against her, she is still able to beat the universe and keep on fighting and never giving up. Heck, she hasn't even had a coach for over a year and she is still here!
DeleteKomova just doesn't have what it takes to be an olympic champion. That's why she probably will never reach such a feat. Like obviously talent wise, other than Biles, Komova is the most talented that you get. A girl as skinny and small as her who can pull of an Amanar and compete the hardest pieces of gymnastics across all 4 appartus is just, unheard of. Even biles fails their because biles doesn't have a good UB while Komova had great connections on floor and huge dismounts on UB and BB and even an Amanar vault, on top of being extremely graceful and artistic, truly she is unparalleled as far as sheer potential goes in gymnastics as a whole. All this with a nagging ankle at the olympics but still was to die for. Like Honestly, komova's sheer talent isn't mached by biles and mustafina because Biles is weak (real weak) on UB and Mustafina never had good form on her twisting. Komova has no weakness as far as display of skills and form goes! and Komova doesn't have Simone's body type to be able to build muscle and get great power yet she was still able to pull of that super difficult vault. Talent wise, A komova will not appear for decades, someone who is extremely good on all apparatus AND who is graceful.
However, The big difference here is that Komova's mental strength is pretty much non existence. I think all the success she has had to this point is just because she is just That good! Not because she is a fighter. If she had Mustafina's Mental strength she would be olympic champion twice over atleat guaranteed with her talent! The reason mustafina didn't get there was because of the ACL tear, and even with that she still won gold. Komova needs to want it as bad as Mustafina because honestly she has no excuse. She has a coach and a somewhat painful leg. Mustafina has had knee problems, back problems, ankle problems, poor health, no coach and still Mustafina is winning medals at the highest stage of the gymnastic world.
Hi Elizabeth,
DeleteI've read the article you referred me to. I can't agree nor disagree. If I'm honest, I don't have the depth of knowledge or experience that you have with the sport. However, it is hardly unexpected for Komova to shy away from competition for as long as possible or for her to take longer to recover. She didn't blow everyone out of the water on her come back but neither did Mustafina. What I see now though is a competitor that is more willing to fight until the end. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, because speculation leads nowhere, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see! I sincerely hope that if her heart is no longer in it, she will face up to this fact with courage and honesty. Komova has already given this sport so much and she has so much more to give in the future, but it really has to come from her and not those around her.
P.S ^^^ that long reply wasn't from me >.<
I hope that you prove right!
DeleteIt isn't speculation if there is evidence ...
I think hat Komova was overworked from a very young age.
DeleteReminds me a little about Katelyn Ohashi, when Valeri Liukin said 'the sky is the limit for this young lady' and it wasn't. She was doing the most difficult stuff and doing it well - but still too soon. That simply took it's toll.
So Komova peaked at the Youth Olympic Games. And she did more difficult stuff even earlier.
But with such a fragile body, there comes a time when it's too much. She gave it her all in 2012.
I would have liked to see both, Komova and Mustafina - take serious time off after London.
And by that I mean 6 months +. I truly believe that they'd be healthier and better by now - they just wouldn't have collected as many medals. But during a time where artistry is lacking, I'd love to see them healthy and be able to show off beautiful russian gymnastics rather than collecting medals around their neck.
I'm really worried for Mustafina, since she's always jumping right back into competition. I'd hate to see her break down completely. But I see that happening when she keeps pushing like that.
Hi Elizabeth,
DeleteKomova said she has leg pain and it seems sensible to fix it now. Maybe I'm not reading between the lines or maybe you're jumping to conclusions, but this can hardly be considered 'evidence.' No one knows what she is thinking or what the future holds. Personally, I'd be more worried about Grishina's return to the sport.
No conclusions are drawn - and this is not the evidence I am talking about.
DeleteI am told Grishina will return - I do not have the evidence for this, but it comes from a reliable source.
To the second anonymous with the big Komova rant: What the hell?! I agree that sometimes you have to compete through pain and is not like she hasn't done that before because for what we know the 2012 team was on pain pills to deal with whatever problems they were having at the moment, but ignoring issues could lead to big consequences. Isn't this the issue with Mustafina now? I would say I rather see Komova make a comeback with new pain and in this upcoming year all the way to 2016 instead of making injuries worst two year before like Mustafina has done.
DeleteThis blog's comments on Komova are totally unfair.
DeleteKomova, as far as we know, has not given up. She is still training. She won bars at the Russian Championships last summer. She competed in Hungary with downgraded routines, but had good height in her tumbling and good twisting form.
Where does this idea that she only wants to please other people come from?
She may not be a fighter, but still she is a perfectionist and was SECOND in the London AA, and the Russian Champion before the Olympics.
People seem to forget that sometimes bad luck exists in sport.
The athletes with the best technique are not always at the top.
Concerning Mustafina who always receives support, can't she do something with her technique? If she was American, she would be blamed for her form. She can introduce new spins but she is not able to perform a correct double twist.
I completely agree that Komova should not compromise her health.
DeleteBut does she want to continue at all?
She would not be the first young woman to be struggling with decisions about what to do with her life.
What if she would rather do something else? It is presumptuous to assume that she wants to come back just because of her talent ...
This is the "original" anonymous- it gets complicated doesn't it?
DeleteElizabeth- honestly, I still don't see any evidence about Komova. Sorry. I think it's unfair to expect athletes to compete through severe pain, especially at small meets. Like the last two commenters, I'd rather see her take it easy for now than to not even make it to Rio. None of us know what level of pain she is experiencing. Can you say without a shadow of a doubt that what Mustafina has been doing, i.e. competing through pain, was a smart decision? I can't fault Mustafina for being a fighter, for being disciplined but at what price? Surely, the decline of form and energy hasn't gone unnoticed?
And why are we assuming she doesn't? If she didn't want to comeback, then she wouldn't even be training. Seems to me that she is doing the opposite of that. Looking at her condition compare to other Russians who went to worlds she has more chance of going to Rio than them.
DeleteLet's agree to disagree for the time being.
DeleteSome good news - there is live streaming of the Voronin cup at http://www.mgo-dynamo.ru/news/3005.
Nico has posted :
Tomorrow's comp schedule in Moscow time
9:00-11:30 MAG (seniors+juniors) Sub. 1
12:00-14:30 MAG (seniors) Sub. 2
15:45-17:45 WAG (juniors)
18:30-20:30 WAG (seniors)
Have you found a competitors' list?
DeleteMany thanks.
Evidence? Come on, gymnastics is not a science!
DeleteWhere do we get the evidence?
We are not attending the training sessions and the information we get is not objective.
A little late but,
DeleteI think that Komova is scared. I do believe she wants to comeback and to be successful, but I also believe that she is scared of failure. She has probably been told her whole life that she was destined to win the Olympics, but she didn't. Throughout her Youth she dominated every competition she went to. It was a shock to her that she didn't win. She had never tasted defeat before cause she always won. I'm sure her last few competitions were humbling. I think that once she finally does comeback and musters the courage, with everything that has happened she will be a much stronger and more mature gymnast.
Didn't Komova say in an interview that she is going to stick around until Rio? I think i've read it on this blog site. And I'm gonna take her word for it. I've seen her clips on Youtube performing in Mexico and Hungary. She still has it. She is a little bit slower and not that much explosive as she was in London but she can still master Cheng vault and triple twist off beam (instead of Patterson dismount) to remain competitive for high places. CHENG RUSSIA! CHENG! :)))))
DeleteOff topic: I still don't know why Amanar vault is "the it" factor for the podium. Cheng vault is such a better choice and I recommend all Russian coaches to start teaching it. I mean, if Sosnitskaya can manage it, Mustafina, Komova, Afanasyeva, Melnikova and other girls can do it as well.
I think the Cheng vault is not taught as often as the Amanar because it's easier for most gymnasts to twist backward than forward. Also the intricacy of half turn on to the vault can incur a lot of form deductions (leg separations, piking in flight, etc) if not done with correct techniques. Even Cheng Fei herself consistently scored better with an Amanar than with her own Cheng vault throughout her career.
DeleteWith that said, I do agree with you that more coaches should teach the Cheng vault if it works for the gymnast. It'll be nice to have the variety and it has even more scoring potential than the Amanar. :)
Further update - Grishina has confirmed that she will NOT be on the roster for the Voronin Cup.
ReplyDeleteShe was in Thailand on holiday at the time that this announcement was made, and hadn't even attended the relevant training camp. We think this must have been some kind of reporting error ... a pity, but it seems this was never even on the cards ...
Thank you for the live streaming link! Afanasyeva was beautiful and ejoying herself on the floor yesterday. Very pleased too see her performing with such a charisma and be back in full spirit.
ReplyDeleteStop comparing Mustafina and Komova,please!!!
ReplyDeletePersonally,no matter what,I m going to support Vika,as gymnast competing or not competing.
I wish her all the best,good health,happyness.
#gottaloveyouvika