Skip to main content

Ksenia Afanasyeva takes retirement


Leading Russian gymnast since 2007, Ksenia Afanasyeva has retired from gymnastics for medical reasons, reports Alexei Fililov from R Sport.  

Valentina Rodionenko explained that Ksenia has a serious kidney illness. She is in hospital and will take not just days but weeks to recover.

Afanasyeva is not just a brilliant gymnast but also a kind, humourous and intelligent team captain.  Her presence will be missed by both spectators and fellow competitors in Rio.

Ksenia's place on the Russian team travelling to Rio on Sunday will be taken by the experienced and well prepared Evgenia Shelgunova.

RRG would like to wish Ksenia a full recovery.  Get well soon, Ksenia and we will look forward to hearing about your next steps in your new life.

http://m.rsport.ru/artist_gym/20160721/993115276.html

Comments

  1. Big interview from Valentina Rodionenko about all that happen now and if IOC will ban full Russian team from Rio http://sobesednik.ru/sport/20160721-trener-sbornoy-otstranenie-rossii-mozhet-privesti-k-raskolu

    ReplyDelete
  2. I must have spent hours rewatching her floor routines. Her artistry and the maturity of her performance were unmatched. Her elaborate and daring choreography will be missed.
    She truly is one of the greats.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Deeply sorry to hear this about Ksenia. It is time for her to move to the status of the Russian Greats to survive Valentina. So the Russian team is getting extinct one by one. Valentina prevails once again. Since Marta is retiring after Rio I think the Americans should consider Valentina. Great choice! Love that scenario ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've loved Afan. Most stoical Russian gymnast at 2012. I wish her a speedy recovcery and all the best for the future.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This woman was truly an artist, and will be missed. Get well soon, Ksenia!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I really hope that she decides to make a comeback after the Rio Olympics. Her artistry and elegance on floor are absolutely unique and when I used to watch her routines I'd get a funny ache in my stomach because her routines were just so beautiful. If she really is retiring I hope she ends up as the principal dancer in the Bolshoi Ballet so we all still get to see those gorgeous movements that she does

    Kat

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ksenia, one of my all time favorites to watch on the FX keeping russian ballet style of dance a strong force and a vital element in WAG a must. great execution, balance, and always wonderfully woven together with her own personal flare. Just amazing!!!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

USSR is a mighty sports power!

Once upon a time sportsmen were heros and role models, a shining moral example for all of society as to the values of a strong work ethic and a healthy body. USSR is a might sports power!  B. Reshetnikov, 1962  Picture courtesy of A Soviet Poster a Day I love these Soviet era posters and the way they capture the spirit of the time, something special about the purity of the collective sporting effort.  Of course today, sport is about different things.  The political and behavioural symbolic value of sport has been replaced by sport as a commodity.  Sports stars exist as brand heroes in our shopping centres and glossy magazines, the sometimes lurid details of their everyday lives trumpeted on the pages of such magazines as Hello! and the gossip pages of the internet. Compare photographs of Olympians Svetlana Khorkina (1996, 2000 and 2004) and Ludmilla Tourischeva (1972, 1976): Khorkina is in all her glamour shot, sexually charged splendour; Svetlana Khorkina, undated Tou

UPDATE 23/9 - Russian WAG team for Nanning confirmed

Daria Spiridonova will compete at her first World Championships this autumn.  Picture : RGF Natalia Kalugina has confirmed the Russian team for Nanning : Aliya Mustafina, Maria Kharenkova, Tatiana Nabieva,Ekaterina Kramarenko, Alla Sosnitskaya, Daria Spiridonova.  Reserve : Polina Fyodorova Here is a paraphrased translation of a comment by Natalia Kalugina on her Facebook page : 'Aliya has confidence in competition and she is, kind of, a coach to this team.  In Europe she succeeded in this role and she has told the coaches that she even liked it. The main fighting force will be Kharenkova, Sosnitskaya and Spiridonova.  Accordingly, the strongest apparatus will be beam (Marina Bulashenko With God!).  The Chinese women, of course, have been known to win that apparatus, but if one falls, they all fall.   Alla Sosnitskaya could compete in the vault final, and - in theory - on the floor. On bars, of course, Russia will probably lose to the Chinese women, but they should be able to hold

Russian Nationals 2024 : Part 2 WAG Team Finals and Individual Qualifiers

Injury was a main concern for the Russian women at this competition.  Of the Olympians, only Gerasimova competed at full strength.  Both Listunova and Melnikova were suffering with pain; you could see this on their faces and in their movement, by the end of the day's competition.  For Listunova, foot and back pain were problems, while Melnikova had severe achilles pain.  Melnikova is booked in for an MRI as soon as she returns to Moscow after a short break in Sochi, where she is staying with David Belyavski and his family.   Slava Urazova didn't make the competition at all after injuring her knee in training.  Ilyankova has retired.  Both Diana Kustova and Alena Glotova are still recovering from chest infections and Kustova did not compete at all.  Up and coming gymnasts worth watching include Lyudmilla Roschina, Leila Vasileeva (a favourite of mine) and Maria Agafanova.  The standard of execution was generally good, although there were lots of mistakes, especially on beam.  On

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more