Happy 21st Birthday Viktoria Komova

After all these years she is still one of my favourite gymnast.

I truly think Komova should have only won UB gold at 2015 worlds. Such a beautiful routine.

Also it's a routine like this that makes Komova a special gymnast.

 

Quick Thoughts on Glasgow 2015

Oh man I don't know where to start. I'm a lazy blogger :P.

Overall I liked this world's championships. I liked how they introduced the gymnasts into the competition arena. I was able to watch almost all the competition live. There were many intense moments in MAG team finals and AA. I was thrilled for Japan finally winning team gold and it was nice to see team Great Britain celebrate history winnings for both MAG and WAG.

I loved Kohei Uchumura and Simone Biles showing that they are the bosses. Sometimes I wish the winners didn't make visible errors because sometimes it's anti climatic but it doesn't really matter because it also shows how dominant a team or individual is.

I think this might be the first time that I agree and is happy about all the medal rankings. There were many great gymnastics. I don't even know where to begin with. Check out my tumblr to see the things I liked agymnasticsfan.

One thing that did bother me about this championships was the 4 way tie. I know, I know it's nice to see people tie and it's positive but I honestly think the judges could have tweaked this final a lot better. I mean it's nice and all and it was Halloween but 4 way tie, argh. I know there are possibilities for ties but I suspect tweaking going on. That's just my opinion. I would have place Viktoria Komova the true winner above them all. I know she has her flaws but I prefer hers out of all the other three girls. If anything Fan Yilin was my other favourite except for the dead hang. I really like her elegant bar work.

And of course I was nervous for all my favourites but they all pulled through :). I'm happy Afanasyeva was able to keep her nerves calm and perform her routine to clinch 2nd after the amazing Biles. I just really like Afan. She has this presence like no other that night. She gets away with movements and style. She just has it. Her routine has really grown on me. I like how she moves.

Viktoria Komova Glasgow 2015 UB Podium Training

What a beautiful routine. This is getting me into the spirit of world championships :P.

Viktoria Komova Russian Cup 2015 UB Exhibition

This was the event finals but Komova only performed an exhibition routine since she didn't qualify in qualifications. The reason for exhibition is for more practice and assurance that she can hit a routine. The dbl dbl tuck dismount is back. She is a gorgeous gymnast with beautiful lines and toe point but I hope she keeps getting consistent and confident. This routine was good. I think her height causes her to have some execution problems and I hope she will get used to her new height as she continues to compete. Stay strong.

6.8D + 8.5E = 15.3

 

Komova BB Prelims @ Baku 2015

Oh Komova. She still has that lovely line. Lot's of wobbles but she fought and that is a very good sign. She made no finals but she got to win team gold as prelims was also used as team finals.

I really like the camera angle around 0:33 . It captures the standing Arabian, leap series, 180 split turn, and front tuck. I like the angle because it shows how well balanced a gymnast is. These athletes are daring and strong.

Mustafina & Komova DLO FX @ Baku 2015 Prelims

Mustafina and Komova both debuted double layouts for the first time. It's exciting to see these new upgrades from them. I suspect that they will get better at performing DLO's as they keep training and consistently compete them.

I was most surprised that Komova did the DLO. I have heard in the past she trained it but I have never seen videos. Mustafina on the other hand. The gymternet has known that she's been training DLO's and in my mind I had suspected that she would one day debut DLO. It was nice to see it here.  Her new floor music is slow pace which will help her with endurance. I'm not sure if I like her routine yet as it's new music and skills. Hopefully it will grow on me.

I'm not too convinced with the scoring on floor. I know comparing scores from say this year's European Championships to European Games is kind of moot. Since different judges and maybe different rules but I can't help but compare scores from other competitions from this year and try to understand what the judges are doing. I love Mustafina but in my personal opinion her score should be lower even with the -0.3 deduction. I know I might sound negative and I was not planning to put my opinion about this but it doesn't matter. At least I'm saying what I feel. It's nice to see Mustafina back again though. Team Russia really needs her.

 

Viktoria Komova European Games QF UB

It's good to see her again at a more major competition. She upgraded pak + vlw and brought back the toe piked Tkatchev. A bit messy on the vlw and other areas but it's nice to see her back in action. I hope she keeps getting better and more confident again. I like Komova a lot.

 

Happy 20th Birthday Viktoria Komova

One of my favourite bar routine from her, London 2012 team finals.

 

Viktoria Komova's UB EF @ 2014 Hungary Meet || Layout Jaeger Gets Credit

It's so nice to see Komova back at an international meet again. It's been too long. She's getting the layout jaeger credit as E so that's encouraging. We'll see what other judges do at bigger competitions. To me it's layout enough too :). In my opinion I think she'll be able to get the double double tuck dismount back.

D 6.5 + E 8.650 = 15.150

 

Komova BB D-Score || Russian Championship 2014

This was an exhibition routine as she didn't make event finals. I am so happy to see Komova back in action. She does an exciting ff + Arabian + leap combo. It might not have been connected enough with the leaps but that is what she was intending to do. She only has one acro series so she will have to hit that connection all the time. All in all she still has time to perfect her routine and I'm excited to she her at her full potential again.

L-turn + Front Aerial + Sheep + Back Tuck (C+D+D) 0.4
FF + Arabian + leap series (F) 0.3
Dbl Turn (D)
Front Tuck (D)
Side-somi (D)
2 FF + Dbl Tuck (D) 0.1

3.3 + 0.8CV + 2.5CR = 6.6 D-Score! Pretty impressive.

 

Komova QF UB - 2014 Russian Championships

She's BACK! Haha sorry about the lame excitement, it's for humour effect. Hopefully it was funny but actually it's really nice to see Komova back in action. She is looking really good. She still has a nice look to her gymnastics. Seeing her bar routine I think she will still be able to bring back the big skills like the piked tkatchev and even the dbl dbl tuck dismount. I mean Tweddle was able to do it at age 27 so there should be no doubt that Komova could regain it back again. I hear she has a new skill on bars. Can't wait to see what it is. It looks like she finally took out the giant 1/2 before the dismount. The cast 1/2 was a bit iffy but it seems she really is not good at that change and honestly I have gotten used to the giant 1/2 that it's not even an issue for me. If it works for her it works for her but if she's intending to do the cast 1/2 hopefully she will improve on it. I heard she scored 15.000 for this routine. Seems reasonable.

Most of the video quality are not the best because of the live stream. I'm grateful for the Russian fans who recorded the live feed as this competition is too early for me to watch. I haven't check the results but based on pictures Mustafina won AA. For results you guys can check the official website. And for the full coverage you guys can check out luchinho84 youtube.  

Komova II + Pak Salto (E+D) 0.2
Komova (E)
Inbar 1/2 + Layout Jaeger (D+E) 0.1
Inbar 1/1 + Tkatchev (E+D) 0.1
Tsuk (D)

3.6 + 0.4CV + 2.5CR = 6.5 D-score

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 19th Birthday Viktoria Komova

This is one of my favourite routine from Komova. To date, I think this was her best floor performance of her life. It was one of my favourite floor routine of the 2012 quad.
Victoria Komova,FX Final Individual from javier collados on Vimeo.

News Roundup - Komova Making a Comeback & Uchimura Training TTY Again

Yesterday I first saw these news on tumblr. I gotta love tumblr yet sometimes I hate it but I like it more than hate. Okay so Komova is training to make a comeback again. She grew a lot and is looking vibrant and strong. She seems really positive. I hope this will be the year for Komova. She is such a beautiful gymnast. Word on the gymternet is that Mustafina will be taking a break from Round Lake. She will still be training at her home gym but not at Round Lake. Maybe she will miss Europeans? Here is the wonderful uploaders tumblr page lakekrugloye.

On the Japanese front Uchimura is training the TTY again which is named after Kenzo Shirai and Kim Hee Hoon. You can also see snippets of Shirai on pommels and rings. Kameyama, the reigning world gold pommel horse winner can also be seen doing a Kolman on high bar. I got this news from gymfanjapan's tumblr.

Just Because...Komova's BB @ Russian Cup 2011

One of my favourite beam routine from Komova.

 

Gymnastics Horror Story Montage

This montage is based on a popular TV series called American Horror Story. I think it's a pretty cool montage. Perfect for Halloween time. Made by SuperGymmie

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

Here are gifs of Viktoria Komova's switch leap and sheep jump on balance beam from London's AA. They're just beautiful. Gifs made by podkopayevas

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

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.