Just Because || Anastasia Grishina's A Mad Russian's Christmas

Just Because...

I'm going take a break from this blog so here is a video of Grishina's beam from 2009.

 

2014 WAG Russian Championships April 2-6

Usually this meet is used to determine the European team. According to most of the Russian media all of the 2012 Olympian members should be competing.

Recently on tumblr I did a post about when was the last time we saw the 5 Olympians. So I thought I would share it here on this blog. It's hard to let go of the 2012 team and move forward with the new seniors but this is just to show how I'm excited to see the return of some of the Olympians. Hopefully they will all show up.

Russia still has new hope in Kharenkova, Rodionova, Shelgunova, Sosnitskaya, Fedorova etc. Russia will still be one of the top contenders for Europeans.

I won't have high expectations for the gymnasts at this meet. They shouldn't be so perfect early in the season. I'm wishing everyone good health and for them to do the best that they can do.

I'm most intrigue in seeing how Komova has been progressing. I won't have high expectations but it would be nice to just see her back in competition. It's been too long. I'm not sure if I can follow this competition as I might be busy but I'm sure there will be lots of Russian fans posting up to date information. The official website for results is sportgymrus.ru.

If all of the 2012 Olympian shows up it will be the first time since we saw (compete):

Komova in 1 year and 8 months at the 2012 Olympic Games! Favourite routine was 2012 AA FX.

Grishina in 10 months at the 2013 Anadia Cup where she won uneven bars gold.

Afanasyeva in 9 months at 2013 Universiade Games. Favourite routine was AA FX.

Paseka in 8 months at 2013 Russian Cup where her best result was on uneven bars 2nd.

Mustafina in 4 months at the 2013 Stuttgart World Cup on beam in team finals.

Happy 18th Birthday Anastasia Grishina

Currently Grishina has the best twisting form on the Russian women's team. I hope this year will bring her lots of success. I remember seeing this routine for the first time and Grishina really stood out. I really like this routine.
 

CoP - Tip of The Month

CR- Compositional Requirement on BB (balance beam)

On beam gymnasts are required to link, "one connection of 2 different dance elements, one being a leap, jump or hop with 180 degree split (cross or side), or straddle position. Awarded 0.5CR.

Usually you'll see the typical split jump + wolf jump, sissone + split jump etc. Pretty standard and boring. Some gymnasts have come up with some interesting ways to make this often boring CR interesting. In the '08 code I did recall Pavlova/Liukin doing sissone/split + sheep jump but that didn't really appeal to me. I do like Zeng Siqi's switch ring leap + sheep jump but what really got me noticing with the dance CR was when Amelia Racea did the sissone + full turn. I don't know if she was the first gymnast to perform that series but she was the first gymnast that I have ever saw do it. I like the originality.

(Source: n-liukin)

I also liked Grishina's full turn + split jump but really I like her whole Onodi + illusion + full turn + split jump. That is one of my favourite connection on beam.

 (Source: gymnasticsgifs)

Tatiana Nabieva's 2013 Russian Cup BB & Some other Random Rant

Here is part 2 of 2013 Russian Cup EF. This channel has the other part. The Russian stream is getting better but still needs a lot of work. Anyway I'm still grateful for coverage.

Latest news on the Russian front is that the WAG team has been announced. Only three names have been confirmed Mustafina, Afanasyeva and Nabieva. The last spot will be decided between Komova and Paseka. I'm still skeptical of what is going on in Russia but at this point it doesn't matter because it's an individual worlds. I think Nabieva is a good gymnast and I don't want to say anything negative so I hope she proves me wrong. Too bad she doesn't transfer her personality to her gymnastics. She seems very bored. She needs more oomph to her gymnastics. Even some of her boring teammates seem to have more vibrant gymnastics than her. I think Nabieva is coming along good but she is still only competitive on bars IMO. I guess it's good she is on the team because the unpredictable Grishina supposedly axed herself off the team by not wanting to compete at nationals due to back pains. I don't know who to believe, Grishina or Rodionenko. Rodionenko basically said Grishina is no longer in contention because Grishina walked out, hmm. Also I hear Dementyeva is not sure if she'll continue gymnastics, it's a shame honestly. I hope no one was bully to get off the team. I know I'm starting drama but somethings don't seem right IMHO.

To end this post on a somewhat positive note. Nabieva had a rather nice beam routine. I like it because she has potential and I could talk about her bars but we already know she is good there. She has the beam skills she just needs to be less cautious. She's lacking spark and aggressiveness for what could be a very good beam. I hope her AA quest works out for her. I put the whole part 2 up since I can't find a single clip of Nabieva's beam routine. Skip to around 1:06:13

Front Tuck 1/2 (F)
Switch Leap + L-turn (C+C) 0.1
RO + Layout (E) 0.1
Y-turn (C)
Aerial Cartwheel (D)
2/1 Spin (D)
Dbl Tuck (D)

3.2 + 0.2CV= 3.4 + 2.5CR= 5.9 D-scores if she gets everything credit. Not shabby and she won this event.

Just Because

Anastasia Grishina doing Memmel spin + Illusion spin. When I read the new CoP was going to reward spinning combinations one of my dream combo was for a gymnasts to do something similar to this:

Here is Grishina's combo. I'm liking the new spin connection rules. Grishina still needs a little work on the combo but it's nice.

 (source: marycrawleyed)

And here's Afanasyeva's double attitude spin + double spin because why not.

(Source: starkofwinterfell)

Grishina, Bulimar and Shang FX QF @ 2013 Anadia Cup

Yay videos are popping up at piibunina's channel. Here are videos from the qualification round. It's nice to see Grishina wearing the Olympic team finals leotard. It's a beautiful leotard in my opinion. I like Grishina's Memmel + Illusion combination. Too bad I will miss this competition tomorrow.

2013 FIG Anadia World Cup Nominative List

This FIG world cup event will take place in Anadia, Portugal on 21-23 of June. I believe it is only an event finals competition, no AA. The top countries like China, Romania and Russia are sending good gymnasts to this meet. The MAG list is great as well.

Nominative List

China is sending Shang Chunsong and Zeng Siqi. Shang will compete on UB, BB & FX. Zeng on BB & FX.

Romania is sending Larisa Iordache and Diana Bulimar. They will compete on all apparatuses.

Russia is sending the popular Anastasia Grishina (UB, BB, FX) along with new seniors, Ekaterina Baturina (BB, FX) and Alla Sosnitskaya (VT). 2nd year senior Anna Rodionova will be competing too.  It's interesting to note that Rodionova's best event is beam but she is planned to do VT and UB. Alla Sosnitskaya is good on floor exercise with potential. She apparently will only compete on vault.

Check out Alla Sosnitskaya's floor. It's a long video so I won't embed but I marked the link at 17:17 time.

Check out Anna Rodionova's beam from 2012. It's pretty impressive. She does flic flac to Arabian!

The 2013 European AA MAG/WAG Winners

Max Whitlock 2nd, David Belyavskiy 1st, Oleg Verniaiev 3rd

Larisa Iordache 2nd, Aliya Mustafina 1st, Anastasia Grishina 3rd

Some Favourites For WAG European 2013

Okay this will be a post for some of my favourites to win or medal. I just quickly wrote this so it's not a well thought out post. First I'm just going to start talking about Ksenia Afanasyeva, after all my blog is named after her Olympic number. She has made this competition exciting. Let's all admit it we all thought it was crazy when we heard reports of Afanasyeva training the Amanar vault. At her age and knowing her vaulting ability it was just crazy to hear that she could do an Amanar. She does says that she can only do it to pit surface and doesn't know if she will compete it. Later reports on the gymternet reports that during podium training she in fact did do the Amanar, even if some of the attempts weren't successful, it is 100% true that she is training this vault. Reports also says she warmed up 7/2 twists, that's 3-1/2 twists in case you're wondering. Apparently she will do AA. I think she can have a shot at AA but her best shot is floor gold. I'm not sure why she is even trying to do AA or an Amanar but good for her! She is my favourite gymnast so it's exciting to hear all these news.

I love love her spin combination. 

 (Source: starkofwinterfell)

She is taking risks on spins while other gymnasts are taking risks on leaps. Her main competition will be the Romanian gymnasts. I don't particularly like their style but they are very very good on floor. Here is Afanasyeva's winning 2013 French Cup floor. She has posted the highest FIG world Cup score on floor for this year, 14.633.

(Source: starkofwinterfell)

Larisa Iordache VS Aliya Mustafina 2013 European AA

This is a cool edit done by tumblr user mustafinaencounter. It suggests that the all-around final will be a showdown between Romania's Larisa Iordache and Russia's Aliya Mustafina. I won't do an analysis but may the best gymnast win. There are other gymnasts who can threat for gold like Anastasia Grishina. Grishina could surprise.

 

2013 European Nominative List

Ksenia Afanasyeva 2013 Russian Championships

The 5th individual MAG & WAG Europeans will take place in Moscow, Russia. Aliya Mustafina, Anastasia Grishina, Ksenia Afanasyeva and Maria Paseka will represent Russia. Here is the rest of the Nominative Registration 

It's been 3 years since Afanasyeva has been to a European Championships. So happy she made it.

The competition will start April  17-21.

Grishina's 2013 Cottbus Beam

Yes, she finally hits a clean beam routine. Okay the double pike was a bit off but everything else was well done. Her routine was watered down. She is capable of more difficulty, like double turn and switch ring leap. I hope she can re upgrade her routine again but I guess if she is consistent with this set then it's better she focus on consistency than falling off.

Grishina D-score 5.8 + Execution 8.8 for a total of 14.600. 1st place.

RO +Layout (E) 0.1CV
Side -Somi (D)
Front Aerial + sissone + split jump (D) 0.1 CV
Onodi + Illusion spin (D+D) 0.2
Full turn (A)
Switch leap (C)
Dbl Pike (E)

3.0 + 0.4 CV = 3.4 + 2.5CR = 5.9 D-score. Most likely Grishina didn't get credit for her front aerial + sissone combination, hence the 5.8 she got credited for.

Thoughts on 2013 Russian Championships

These are just my opinions and impressions of this meet. I'm basing it on the live feed videos and interviews that I have read. This event was to determine which 4 WAG gymnasts would make it to the European Championships. The full WAG results AA EF.

Grishina, Mustafina, Shelgunova

My impressions of this meet is that it was basically a practice meet for the top gymnasts. They weren't all at their best shape and peak. My theory is that Mustafina worked really hard on her new beam routine and wasn't too worried about getting her other events. With time she will work to get her other events up to par. She was pulled out of day 2 event finals to rest her knee. This is good that Mustafina is gaining more confidence on beam. Her DTY vault is still great as always. Her bar set is still great. Even if it's a watered down routine, in my opinion she doesn't have to worry about upping her difficulty for this year. If she wants to make it to Rio I think she still has time to figure out a new bar routine mid quad. I think it's a smart idea that she is focusing on beam. For floor she might surprise us with some upgrades but for this competition she looked tired and rusty on this event. I don't think she was ready to compete floor at this event and she'll be ready by Europeans. Mustafina is the new Russian all around champion with 59.850.  Russia really needs to keep this girl healthy and safe.

Anastasia Grishina did well enough winning AA 2nd and gold on UB. She does need to get her DTY consistent though. She crashed it in team finals. It seems she is a bit weak in terms of endurance. It's really hard for her to finish up a floor routine without crashing or staying in the corner for a long time. It seems she just needs a lot of repetition and practice to get consistent. Apparently she was feeling fatigue for day 2 event finals so she scratched that finals. I think it's a shame because it seems she is not a strong enough gymnast. Most likely her coaches just wanted to keep her safe and free from injuries as she is most likely to be the 2nd AA for Europeans Championships.

Maria Paseka

Perhaps another reason for letting Grishina off the hook was to give competitive competition for Dementyeva, Afanasyeva and especially for new senior Evgeniya Shelgunova. This was particularly a weak day 2 event finals, well actually day 1 was pretty weak as well. With no Mustafina and Grishina it was a competition to see who would be the other gymnasts to compete with them at Europeans. In day 1 EF, Maria Paseka won vault with a decent enough Amanar. She is in the mix for contending for a European spot. Valentina Rodionenko stated that the team will be Mustafina, Grishina and Paseka. The others must prove themselves worthy, mainly Dementyeva, Afanasyeva and Shelgunova. I still think the team is undecided between Paseka, Afanasyeva and Shelgunova.

On day 2 EF Dementyeva pretty much lost her spot. She fell on her 3/1 dismount off beam and had problems on floor, she botched her Memmel badly and fell. Afanasyeva still proved that she is relevant to team Russia. Like Mustafina, Afanasyeva is doing some interesting new beam combinations. She stayed on beam and looked good enough. Her beam was obviously a work in progress routine. She still did 6 acro skills in her routine so that tells me that this is her chance to just practice and not take this event so seriously. Her routine consisted of Kochetkova + split leap 1/1, truly impressive! Also Onodi + side somi + 1 1/4 spin! The 1 1/4 spin was unexpected for me. This routine is a risky routine but hopefully she'll get it down and figure out which skills she'll use and leave out. I'm guessing she most likely did not get credit for all her connections as her beam score was low 13.775, no D-scores posted. It's encouraging that Afanasyeva is working up the courage to do these combinations.

Goryunova, Afanasyeva, Polyan

Her floor was alright. Could have been much better. She is still the top Russian to have the highest floor difficulty. I think it's a bit sad for Russia but it does give Afanasyeva a better chance at making European and world teams. Her double layout is still sky high and powerful. She had some issues with her difficult whip + whip + 3/1 twists. Her spins are beautiful but at the end of her routine she went out of bounds on her double pike. Actually a lot of the gymnasts went out of bounds on their double pikes, hmm. Afanasyeva scored a low 13.600 and still won! It's great that Afanasyeva is still committed to continuing. It seems she will only get better on beam and floor with more work and time. Oh and she can still do a decent DTY which is good for her and Russia.

New Russian senior Shelgunova may have some bad form and execution faults but she is a steady and consistent competitor. She did a good job of staying on beam and doing an okay floor routine. She won beam with 14.050 and also won 3rd AA. Beam final scores were low but Grishina and Mustafina could have posted huge scores if they competed in EF.

Overall I was impressed most with Mustafina's and Afanasyeva's upgraded beam routines. It's great that Paseka can still do the Amanar, although it still looks scary with bad execution. Russia is not at full strength and they don't have the depth of USA so it's encouraging to see the Russian Olympians competing and getting back into the groove of things. It's early in the season so most of them will hopefully get better when the real competitions are on. I haven't forgotten about the talented Komova who is sitting out due to back injury. Hopefully she will be ready for worlds.

I think the Russian coaches still have a lot of decisions to make for the European team. Some things are still not clear. If they bring Shelgunova she could make AA finals if her other teammates falter but most likely that might not happen and she doesn't have much difficulty to contend for EF medals. So will the Russians just bring her for qualification? Or will they take Afanasyeva who could win a floor medal. Will Paseka still be able to do the Amanar in April for Europeans? As we all know she is not great on any other events. Paseka's bars is okay but if they have Grishina and Mustafina on the team Paseka's bars will not be received well by the judges. So basically she is a one event woman. I think Russia still has some internal competition. Also there are some up and coming world cup events. Afanasyeva and Paseka to the French Cup. Grishina, Shelgunova and Dementyeva to Cottbus Cup. Looks like Aliya will just compete at internal events.

Call me bias but I hope Afanasyeva makes it to European Championships. She missed 3 European Championships in a row, due to injuries or getting back in shape from injuries. Maybe this is her chance again? But on the other hand I feel Afanasyeva has been given many chances and maybe it's best for Russia to give other girls chances. I say maybe Shelgunova does need the experience and Paseka should be rewarded for her Amanar. I think Universiade will be perfect for Afanasyeva. Maybe Afanasyeva missing a lot of Europeans will be a blessing in disguise. Maybe she'll make it to worlds? I hope so.

I'm also glad to see that some other older veterans like Pavlova, Myzdrikova, Kramarenko etc are still competing. Pavlova's regional team won gold :)

*photo credits sportgymrus

Some 2013 Russian Championship Routines

2013 Russian Championships (March 3-7)

Check out the poster for this year's 2013 Russian Championships. Cover girl Aliya Mustafina and cover boy Denis Ablyazin are the featured gymnasts :D.

This competition will start on the same week as American Cup. No Russians will attend the American Cup (March 1-2). This competition will be used to decide the team that will compete at the European Championships (Moscow, April 17-21). Although Valentina Rodionenko has already announced that Mustafina, Afanasyeva and new senior Evgeniya Shelgunova will compete, the last spot has not been named source. The names could change because Russian Championships results will give a better indication of who deserves to go to Europeans. This year's European will only be individual events: AA, VT, UB, BB & FX. No team competition and only four gymnasts can compete for a nation. I'm looking forward to see how Grishina will do, hopefully she will compete this week. There isn't a participation list up yet but most likely all returning Russian Olympians will compete with the exception of Viktoria Komova. Komova is dealing with a back injury and is taking a break.

Schedule: source
March 3rd: WAG QF & AA finals 11AM-2:45PM
                  MAG QF & AA finals 4PM-8:15PM
March 4th: WAG Team Finals 3PM-5:30PM
March 5th: MAG Team Finals 3PM-6PM
March 6th: MAG/WAG EF (FX, PH, SR, VT & UB) 11AM-1PM
March 7th: MAG/WAG EF (VT, PB, HB, BB & FX) 11AM-1PM
-All times are Penza, Russia time.

Part 3: Favourite Things From This Quad

Sui Lu and Ksenia Afanasyeva. Most gym fans consider these two gymnasts "headcases" or basically inconsistent gymnasts. Usually falling and making silly little mistakes. It's not completely a bad thing to be considered a headcase. Most of the time headcases are the type of gymnasts you want to see succeed because they deserve to be recognize for their beautiful gymnastics. They are like the underdogs that you are rooting for. Sometimes I want to give up on these type of gymnasts but it's fun rooting for them. When they hit their routines it can be a special moment.

It was amazing how Sui Lu transformed into this consistent gymnast in 2011. She totally rocked in the WC event finals. Her beam was near perfect. It amazed me how confident she was. When she went to compete FX I was shocked at her upgrade. I was not expecting a stag out of the triple. She lost the gold to Afanasyeva but she proved that she can be an artistic and solid gymnast.

2012 Team Russia Forever

Montage made by SuperGymmie

Evgeny Grebenkin In as New Russian WAG Head Coach

The new Russian WAG head coach will be Evgeny Grebenkin. He was the main coach for the gymnasts on uneven bars through most of the '09-'12 quad. Source

Grebenkin (to the right) helped Mustafina win UB 2012 Gold.

Alexandrov's contract will expire on Dec 30th and it is unknown if he will continue to coach Aliya Mustafina. Anastasia Grishina has departed from her coach Sergey Zelikson. Alexandrov and Zelikson had some kind of personal beef with each other. It will be interesting to see what will happen to Mustafina and Grishina. Heck, I am interested in seeing how Russia will do in the next quad. Source