Gymnastics News: Komova Out, Afanasyeva In & Out, and Nabieva Maybe In?

Over the last couple of days information has been filtering out from the Russian camp and primarily from the mouth of Valentina Radionenko. The major news revealed was that Komova was ruled out of the 2014 Worlds because of the danger of preparing a second apparatus was too great. At first I thought she was fragile and something might be wrong but the more I read the more I realized that she has been ruled out over the two apparatus rule. The two apparatus rule is a freak rule made up by Valentina and one that she is sticking to no matter what.

The rule seems to have emerged since last year's World and the previous one - back in 2011. The Russian team would send strong gymnasts but would end up with many injuries and the team would be left in an uncomfortable position. Since that time the team directors have wanted a team made up of gymnasts that can fill in if an injury were to emerge to anyone. I think that it's an idiotic move when the team is made up six members as opposed to the Olympic standard five.

I think that Komova can add a high standard bars set with a high probability of a hit routine. If it was up to me I would make room for her but then again they might not be able to have that privilege. All I want to say is that I hope that Ekaterina Kramarenko better be used on at least one piece to justify her inclusion.

The second big news of the first article was the sudden reappearance of Ksenia Afanasyeva. Valentina mentioned her as a possible replacement of the now injured Maria Paseka. Along with Ksenia, Tatiana Nabieva's name was mentioned. It was thought that Ksenia was working on a vault and a floor routine for the Worlds. A few days after the original article came out the doctors ruled her out. It appears they had a major mock meet and it probably showed everyone what we all had assumed. It is really in Ksenia's best interest to do what she wants and not what Valentina wants - we know how it ended last time.

Maria Paseka is nothing to Valentina and it shows by the way she is spoken about. It appears Maria twisted an ankle or injured it in some way resulting in swelling but not a serious injury. Valentina mentions a lack of confidence and so forth which lead to her removal. There was a real good reason for her lack of confidence and that was her horrible Russia Cup performance. It wasn't horrible but for where she's supposed to be it was to me. The sad thing is that her business is being aired out in the open like nothing is wrong with that.

Nabieva is the only real option unless the emergence of Polina Fedorova is a serious option. The Polina option shows that the team is searching for a beam worker and not a bars worker. Tatiana is weak on beam and Fedorova has only ever shined on that piece if with low 14s. That's not convincing to me which explains why I think that Nabieva is a likely candidate to fill that last spot. I only hope that she doesn't fall of the bars like she did in 2010 and upgrades her difficulty.

The Russian camp is a serious mess and it is screaming 2013 all over again. There has got to be something wrong with the way something is being done in Russia. More news is sure to filter out and I'll withhold predictions until then.

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.

Gymnastics News: Vika Is Back!

Viktoria Komova is back! A video has surfaced online showing the 2011 World Champion on uneven bars performing a full bars set. The video is of a routine that is almost exactly the same as the one she performed at the Russian Nationals with a few exceptions. The video has made its way around the gymnastics blogs but they have all seemed to have missed one small detail, actually a big detail. Vika has dropped her Komova I release and is doing a Chow with 1/2 turn. That is very telling as in a previous post I wrote that she was probably training that element to connect it with from the Pak salto. She has replaced an E element with a much easier E element.

This particular bars set is hovering around a 6.4 and 6.5 D-score. The problem with the set is that she has a very piked jaeger and is probably going to get that element devalued. She probably has a 6.4 D-score at the moment but with the connection of the Pak and Chow 1/2 she could have 6.6 D-score. I don't think this is the bars set she will perform at the Worlds but could be close to it.

She is training bars and beam at the moment and needs a strong performance at Russian Cup later this month to make the team. I will keep my fingers crossed for her to make the team and show the world that she still has it.

Gymnastics News: Injury Update

Sam Oldham, British team member and 2012 bronze medalist, suffered a bad injury while performing at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Sam was attempting a new vault, a Dragulescu - it is a handspring double font vault with a half turn out. The vault is a favorite of the Ukrainian men's national team, specifically performed by Oleg Verniaiev and Igor Radivilov.

It is one of those vaults that really requires a lot of air to complete that last half turn or else you could snap your ankles back. At the 2014 European Championships, I believed that Oleg Verniaiev would for sure injure himself on that vault. He was heavily taped and it was very scary to watch. Luckily for Oleg he ran extremely fast giving him bigger air. I think that the FIG needs to downgrade the vault to discourage men who shouldn't be performing from attempting it.

Sam Oldham performed the vault and from eyewitness reports landed it but shortly afterwards fell to the floor in pain. It is like that Kerry Stroug moment in 1996. The news coming out is that he has torn some ligaments and his chances of competing at the World Championships are in serious doubts. His scores aren't impressive but he fills in at spots where the British team is weak.

I won't really talk about Men's gymnastics all that often but I do want to leave my opinion on the matter of this injury. It is in my opinion that the Great Britain team, in their attempt to catch up to the two top teams, the Chinese and Japanese, are pushing new skills without fully preparing them. The team only recently lost their gold medal at the Euros to the Russians and know they need higher D-scores if they plan on medaling. I would like to end on this note, Max Whitlock was training the triple twisting yurchenko for over a year before he performed it in competition. I have serious doubts that Sam prepared it for that long.

Video below is of Oleg Verniaiev - he looks like he's in pain after performing the vault. First picture is from Gymnastics Coaching and the second one is from Cambridge News.

Russian gymnasts have too many athletes injured and/or recovering from injuries, surgeries, etc. The latest news coming out of Lake Krugloye (Round Lake) is that Viktoria Komova is back to training beam, previously was only training uneven bars. She had a surgery, not required but recommended, on a problematic ankle that was continuously getting aggravated. Let's hope for the best because Vika needs to be performing her lovely gymnastics. Rewriting Russian Gymnastics has an fully translated interview for those that are interested here.

Gymnasts like Aliya Mustafina and Anastasia Grishina are back in training - the latter only at her home gym. It is really unlikely that Grishina will be going to the World's for political reasons while Mustafina has a bye from Russian Cup. With the emergence of new bars workers Grishina is being pushed and will need to have a good beam and floor set to challenge for a spot.

Video of Grishina's injury - she looked like she had enough air and great form but probably didn't have enough air. 

Evgeniya Shelgunova and Emin Garibov are both still out of training due to surgeries and/or injuries. It is quite sad not to see Evgeniya as she has only been a senior for about a year and a half now and has been injured for about half of that time. She was rumored to have been training an amanar before her injury. Coincidentally both are said to have shoulder issues, Emin for sure but she possibly.

US Gymnasts seem to be all good with the exception of McKayla Maroney and Bailie Key. Maroney opted for a surgery that would clear her for an Olympic run. I would classify her move as similar to Komova's but more necessary than not. Bailie Key is recovering from a mysterious minor surgery. The information being filtered out is shady at best. It is like news on Ohashi, nothing much.