DTB Cup results and video links

Russian WAG at Stuttgart this weekend : national coach Evgeny Grebenkin, Aliya Mustafina, Yulia Inshina, Anna Rodionova, Kristina Goryunova.  Can anyone identify the coach to the right?  Picture courtesy of Schwaebischer Turnerbund on Facebook.

The Russian WAG team had a good time at this weekend's DTB Cup in Stuttgart, finishing in first place.  It is good to see the girls competing well in a friendly, despite some setbacks.  Anna Rodionova suffered an injury on bars in the final and had to retire from the competition, leaving Aliya Mustafina to pick up responsibility on vault (full twisting Yurchenko) and Yulia Inshina to perform on floor.  Kristina Goryunova, freshly restored to the national team after completing an enforced break due to a doping infringement, did some good work on beam.

In the WAG all around, the USA's Elizabeth Price took the gold.  She reminds me of Alexandra Raisman, all power and energy, but look around for photographs of her in flight, all booty feet and bent legs.  It's a terrible indictment of international standards and the Code of Points that, as Rick says on Gymnastics Coaching, Elizabeth is probably the strongest international competing currently, what with the leading Olympians taking breaks from full training. He thinks she could have taken gold medals in London ...

Russia's representative, the hard working Goryunova, finished in seventh with a disappointing score on beam; but she would not have finished higher than fifth at best.  (Rumour has it that Goryunova substituted for Anna Dementieva in the all around, who found she could not travel at the last minute because of visa complications, though I do not understand why the unfortunate Dementieva should be the only one to be unable to secure a visa ...).

In the MAG team competition the Russian men finished second behind Japan, but ahead of Great Britain, counting some fantastic scores from star Denis Ablyazin, but still showing a shocking weakness on pommel horse.  

David Belyavski took the bronze in the men's competition all around behind Germany's Marcel Nguyen and Britain's Daniel Purvis.  Almost incidentally, but very sadly, Phillipe Boy announced his retirement from international gymnastics this weekend.  I will miss him.

You can access the original of this document here.

TamTam1982 has some videos from the competition.

Aliya Mustafina: straight Yurchenko



Aliya Mustafina : beam



Aliya Mustafina : bars



Is Mustafina nursing her leg during that dismount on beam and on vault? 

GymPower has a wider range of video available:

Anna Rodionova floor (qualifications)



Kristina Goryunova balance beam (quals)