 |
| The evergreen, always opinionated Valentina Rodionenko |
Lupita translates below an interview with Valentina Rodionenko from the 28th February. This was before the Russian Championships had closed, but it provides some useful insights into likely selections for the European Championships.
On the women's side, Rodionenko echoes what Grebenkin said earlier this year - there are few up and coming gymnasts who can replace the members of the London Olympics team. Euros looks likely to revolve around Mustafina and Grishina, with some juggling of the places going on around Shelgunova, Paseka, Afanasyeva and (less likely) Dementyeva.
On the men's side, she emphasises that fierce competition is emerging for places on the first competitive team this year. There are six places available for Moscow, and I am intrigued to know who the second all arounder is likely to be!
The aim of the Russian championship is to select the team for the European Championships and for the Summer Universiade in Kazan, - Valentina Rodionenko told us. Not all the gymnasts have yet recovered after the Olympics. But we cannot yet replace those who competed in London. Nevertheless, we freed Vika Komova because of an injury. She is feeling fatigue after the last Olympic quad. We have to preserve her, she is a young gymnast.
Aliya Mustafina is recovering. Masha Paseka, Ksenia Afanasyeva are training well; Dementyeva is recovering after her last injury. Grishina is showing good results at the control competitions. The men show a better situation than the girls. There is a second team and more competition.
- How many athletes will represent our country at the European Championships that will take place in April at Olympiski?
- At the European Championships four girls and six men will compete, this figure is relative to the number of events. Concerning the men, we’ll have two all-arounders, the girls, three. This year there is no team competition at the European championships or at Worlds. After the Olympics, there is a year of individual competitions because it’s difficult for those who did an Olympic quad to compete again as a team. The load is huge.
- Will the same team compete at the Universiade?
- Of course. Mustafina, Afanasyeva, Paseka, Dementyeva will compete. Only Grishina and Komova are too young for the Universiade. They are not university students. We hope that Nabieva will stay fit. She was injured, but she is now training actively. Katia Kramarenko, who competed at the Beijing Olympics, has come back after an injury and is working well. Our five best athletes will compete at the Universiade.
- Are any of the young gymnasts ready to compete with our first team?
- We have a gymnast born in 1997. Zhenia Shelgunova is now starting to compete with the senior team. She was one of the best juniors.Yet it’s very difficult to enter the senior team. She is training with the seniors, but it’s difficult for her. We’ll have her compete at senior level. In mock competitions she always comes in the first three. The most important thing is to avoid injuries.
- On which principle will you name the teams for the European Championships?
- First, we’ll select the all-arounders, the best placed. Of course, we know their potential more or less. There are no miracles. We want them to compete. The best on events can make the team. We’ll take into account the health and the difficulty of the routines. Sometimes at our national competitions the gymnasts perform easier routines and win. They make mistakes with more complex routines. But we don’t have so many gymnasts that we do not have to select the best ones