Russian gymnastics ... A few issues and questions

Issues and questions still dog the Russian programme despite the optimistic feeling of Komova's return, the apparently rapid recovery of Afanasyeva and the early competition vigour of Mustafina.  By the end of the week, certain factors have been laid bare.  The injury to Grishina makes clear the fact that Russia still largely depends on its Olympians as medal prospects, and they are injury prone and below par currently.  Of the newcomers, only Kharenkova is showing the steel necessary at the very top level, and she is out of the ordinary in transitioning successfully to senior level.  Promising juniors such as Melnikova and Tutkhalyan are not uncommon in the Russian programme, but much less common is the consistency and discipline to raise junior talent to senior medals.  Where, for example, were Shelgunova and Kuzmina this week?

Some good work should be acknowledged.  Spiridinova and Rodionova have made significant progress on bars under the guidance of coach Anton Stolyar (who formerly led the Italian juniors to great things on this piece).  Stolyar appears to be a popular figure with the gymnasts, and regularly accompanies teams on overseas trips for the second level competitions.  Elfimov will no doubt shape Komova as beautifully as humanly possible; the two of them have become as much a compelling partnership as Khorkina and Pilkin once were.  Afanasyeva has the diligent and supportive Nazarova, one of the leading coaches of Russia's new era who regularly fosters new talent on the Russian team.  Kharenkova and experienced coach Olga Sagina (who formerly coached Produnova and Sidorova) appear to be joined at the hip.

But who is on Mustafina's side?  Raisa Ganina certainly supports her in competition and has been responsible for the Olympic Champion's progress on beam.  But Ganina was always a beam specialist and choreographer before Alexandrov's departure to Brazil.  Has Alexandrov left a gap in Mustafina's training regime that has yet to be filled?  Is the Olympic Champion getting all the support she needs?  

I remember a similar situation when Boguinskaia so tragically lost her coach after the 1988 Olympics; no single coach could ever seemed to mentor Boguinskaia in quite the same way as Miromanova had.  So Boguinskaia seemed to benefit from the collective efforts of Alexandrov, Ostapenko and Kozeev, as well as a coach from her Minsk club.  This arrangement no doubt exploited the talents of each one to the full, as well as challenging the complex network of relationships between the gymnast and her coaches, and was dependent on strong management and a clear focus on competition goals and the gymnast's welfare.  

Are the strong working relationships, focus and goals of the Soviet team shared by today's  coaches?  National coach Grebyonkin, who as a bars specialist shaped the Russian team's success on this piece prior to and during 2012, was sporadically visible throughout the competition, showing his rather unshaven face for Mustafina's bars, Nabiyeva's vault and Spiridinova's beam. 

And, speaking as an incurable coach-watcher, what of the apparent growing popularity of Stolyar versus the ebbing visibility of Grebyonkin?