Russian Cup: Pre-Podium Training Training?

Russian Cup is this week and it appears as though the gymnasts were given a day of podium training before the official podium training. Luckily for us The Couch Gymnast had a reporter in Penza and reported on some very interesting tidbits. With that said this appears to be a much more interesting Russian Cup than last year's almost no show by any of the top Russian gymnasts.

The reporter saw Viktoria Komova but did not witness her training but rather talking to Andrei Rodionenko. There shouldn't be anything read into it because it isn't the official podium training and this is the same gym that the Russian Nationals were held for the previous couple of years. I wouldn't make it a big deal until something otherwise makes it one.

The other major gymnast, Aliya Mustafina, appears to be taking Russian Cup more serious than was lead on. Valentina Rodionenko had previously said that Aliya was the only gymnast that was going to receive a bye for this event and it seemed like she wouldn't even show up until last week and now she might even do more than a bars set.

Even more appears to be going on as it was revealed that Aliya has put an arabian, on beam, back into her routine. She had been missing a lot of the connections in her routine lately and could do with the extra bonus that an arabian is worth but is a big risk. There appears to be other little changes in her routine which could be a test for potential World routines.

Maria Kharenkova was mentioned as performing solid sets on beam which isn't a surprise given that it's her signature piece. Alla Sosnitskaya is still having issues with her beam routine but is adding interesting combinations. The biggest surprise was the mention of Ekaterina Kramarenko, the vault flop girl. She hasn't been seen much since the 2008 Olympics but could be making a comeback. She was mentioned as having added a Pak salto to a Van Leeuwen or something of the sort. If that was true then she is really going for it on bars.

I'm really interested in seeing the action start on wednesday. It is guaranteed to be a fun-filled week of gymnastics.

via The Couch Gymnast - for the full in-depth rundown.

Vika in Penza with some awesome looking pants.