Tag Archives: yulia belokobylskaya

Maria Paseka…Russia’s 5th Olympic Team Member?

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Andy Thornton
Maria Paseka

Russian head coach Alexander Alexandrov recently stated that Aliya Mustafina, Viktoria Komova, and Anastasia Grishina were essentially locks for the Olympic team.  Based on the way things have played out this year, that’s certainly the way it was looking to all of us too.   The other two spots have appeared to be up for grabs amongst ...

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Russians Unveil New Skills At Moscow Championships

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Andy Thornton
Grishina pose

  A while back I posted a blog entitled “Russia’s Ten Little Indians,” highlighting the ten female gymnasts I consider to be in contention for this summer’s Olympic team:     Aliya Mustafina: 2010 world all-around champion   Viktoria Komova: 2011 world all-around silver medalist   Ksenia Afanasyeva: 2010 world floor champion and 2008 Olympian   Anna Dementieva: 2011 European all-around champion   Anastasia Grishina: 2011 Russian ...

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Russia’s “Ten Little Indians”

Posted on January 8, 2012 by Andy Thornton
Ten Little Indians

With the Games in London set to begin in less than seven months, the Olympic selection season is essentially here for all participating countries in London - the final four of which will be determined at the Olympic Test Event in just a couple of days.   Russia has already solidified Olympic team berths on both the ...

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USA Wins It!!!

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Andy Thornton
s team 2011

The team final that most expected would be a tight race between the USA, China, and Russia ended up being a landslide, with the USA easily regaining the world team title it last won in 2007.  The Americans were absolutely rock solid and delivered perhaps their best team performance ever under the pressure-filled, three-up-three-count format.   The ...

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Komova Wins Final Russian Tune-Up Before Worlds

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Andy Thornton
viktoria komova

Viktoria Komova’s all-around victory at this weekend’s Dinamo International certainly isn’t a surprise, but it’s a good indication that she will likely be competing all four events at the worlds in Tokyo.  Komova’s status has been somewhat questionable all year after two separate injuries to her ankle kept her out of the European Championships in ...

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Surprises and Opportunities: The Chinese and Russian Women’s World Teams

Posted on September 10, 2011 by Andy Thornton
china russia flags

As announcements of the six-member squads for the world championships from various teams around the world continue to trickle in, we get a better and better sense of how the competition in Tokyo might shape up.  The “Big Four” in women’s gymnastics over the past 30 years have been Russia, China, Romania, and the USA.  ...

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