Beam medalists today in Penza ... Daria Spiridinova, Maria Kharenkova, Aliya Mustafina
Not everything went to plan today for the 'big' stars of Russian gymnastics. There were signs of some strain and tiredness as the weakened ranks of former Olympians stepped aside and made room for three newcomers to the medal rostrum ... the interesting Daria Spiridinova (coached by Tatiana Fomkina, who formerly coached 1996 Olympian, Elena Dolgopolova), the feisty Maria Kharenkova (who needs no introduction) and Polina Fyodorova from Cheboksary (highly touted by Sergei Zelikson back in 2013). Winning on vault was Alla Sosnitskaya, who last year won gold in floor at the Russia Cup.
Today's stand out performance was by Maria Kharenkova on beam. She didn't quite match her strongest performance of the team final, but her beam was on another planet to the others as she zipped through her skills with speed and confidence, minimising a very off balance landing in a layout as if she were an American. Toe point is certainly not Kharenkova's métier, a characteristic she shares with the all around world champion. But she shows an ability to turn on the performance in clinch situations, and that could be to the benefit of those shaky Russians.
Also prompting a collective outtake of digital breath was Viktoria Komova, who has returned to competition in good form, bringing her classical technique and elegance to another level with her mature physique and outlook. She finished out of the medals on bars, but outclassed the competition there by the sheer beauty of her swing. On beam she gave a gorgeous display that would have earned her the bronze medal. Still a way to go with the competition consistency, however, which is what we hope Kharenkova may bring to the party and what we need Komova to improve upon ...
Mustafina had a bad day, taking a curious fall on bars (was she trying to avoid hitting that landing mat?) and beam (where she looked very tentative and nervous throughout the first part of the exercise)
These championships form part of the selection process for May's European Championships and ask more questions than they answer. The former Olympians on whom Russia has relied are seriously depleted: Afanasyeva has only been training for a few weeks, Grishina is out with what she has now confirmed to be a partial ACL tear, cartilage damage and a broken bone, Komova is barely on the comeback trail, Paseka looks to be a spent force and Mustafina ... well, anything is possible. One thing is for sure, we will see some new names. There are still weeks left before the final selection needs to be made, so there will be ups and downs and, no doubt, at least one surprise in the team this year.
Full results of the senior competition can be found here : http://www.sportgymrus.ru/Admin/GetFile.ashx?get=1&id=44106
Or if you have good eyesight, here :
