Leonid Arkayev, merited coach of Russia:
The Romanians were strong, both of them. They did make some mistake, Iordache on uneven bars, for example, however, overall they left quite a pleasant impression. Frankly, I hoped that one of the members of the Russian trio would be able to 'upset' them, by either beating them or finishing between them, but it was not to be. Grishina's mistakes in subdivision 1 on beam and bars were followed by Afanasyeva's mistake on bars, and then by Afanasyeva and Mustafina's ones on beam (this apparatus was a cursed one for our girls that day), and the Russians finished third, fourth and fifth in all-around qualification. It is not a big deal for the all around, because Grishina and Mustafina will start anew tomorrow, but we lost a place in the Final on one of the apparatuses, but we will catch up in the remaining three. As for gymnasts from other countries, I would like to compliment the Ukrainians, but not all of them. The Spanish are slowly advancing, as do gymnasts from Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, but overall the level of rivalry in women's gymnastics is not as strong as in men event.