On your own skate: how the Czech Republic Gymnastics Tournament ended

The Russian Gymnastics Championship, held at Sirius, has been completed. This tournament was, oddly enough, a semi-qualifier for the World Cup, which starts in Indonesia on October 19. It cannot be called a full—fledged selection - only those athletes who have neutral statuses can go to Jakarta. Thus, our selection process was conducted among a limited number of participants — each of them approached the Sirius tournament in conditions determined by a variety of factors, from injuries to personal circumstances.

Girls

Shortly before the Russian Championship, the head coach of the Russian women's national team, Valentina Rodionenko, announced a preliminary bid for the World Cup: Leila Vasilyeva, Anna Kalmykova, Angelina Melnikova and Lyudmila Roshchina. These are really the strongest Russian all-around gymnasts at the moment. The question was, what types of athletes would be eligible for the World Cup, because no more than three athletes can be eligible for one type.

The most logical scheme seemed to be that two girls would be taken to Indonesia for the full all-around, and the remaining two would do separate types. And it was here that the main intrigue unfolded — the gymnasts had to prove that they should be declared in the all-around.

This was achieved by Melnikova and Roshchina, who took first (55,665) and second (55,325) places in the finals, respectively. Vasilyeva performed unsuccessfully in the vault and on balance beam, Kalmykova — on balance beam and freestyle. As a result, the two of them were beaten in the final by Maria Agafonova, Ekaterina Andreeva and Elizaveta Us, who performed more evenly. Of these three, only Agafonova has a neutral status. Andreeva and Us don't have it, so even if Ekaterina or Elizabeth had won the final, they were barred from going to Jakarta.

Despite the proximity of the all-around amounts between Melnikova and Roshchina, the former looks like an undoubted favorite if we evaluate the chances of the World Cup. She has experience on her side, and fresh experience. Before the national championships, Angelina managed to go to Paris and win the final on the balance beam there as part of the FIG Challenge Cup. Roschina has no international experience, except for tournaments in Belarus. Lack of experience in gymnastics is not only an unknown territory for an athlete, it is also an unknown athlete for the judges, which may affect the grades — they will be placed more carefully.

Before and after the selection: what to expect from our gymnasts in the Czech Republic at Sirius

The best athletes of the country will compete for tickets to the upcoming World Cup

Melnikova also has problems, but they are more likely to be applied and solved.

"In Paris, my knee was a little sore on the vault," the Olympic champion said in an interview with SE. — Of course, we treated him with a doctor, everything seemed to be fine, but after the flight I got a little bit sick again, and I'm shaking him with a hard tape. I can't say that it hurts too much, it's more for insurance. For the World Cup, I will try to restore the jump with a base of 6.4, which I did at the Tokyo Olympics. I think that readiness can be estimated at sixty percent. The feeling of insecurity is still present, so before the championship you will definitely need to try to jump it yourself, to the "standard". I'm going to train him at the base now, and I think everything will be fine.

In general, it is already clear that Melnikova and Roshchina are our all—rounders at the World Cup. It remains for the coaching staff to make a decision on the other two athletes, who they will be and what types they will apply for.

Outside of the semi-selection at the World Cup, attention was drawn to the performance of Victoria Listunova, for whom this start was the first since the spring, when the athlete tore her achilles. Rehabilitation took all the past months, and Vika gradually got back into shape and prepared two types for the Czech Republic — uneven bars and a log. However, the national team doctor decided not to take any chances and recommended doing only the uneven bars. Thus, Listunova had one chance, one view, without the right to make a mistake.

She almost made this mistake in qualifying when she performed unsuccessfully, missing the vertical twice and making an extremely dirty jump. Initially, it even seemed that this was the end of Victoria's performance — she would not be among the top eight who qualify for the finals. However, I got it, the eighth. In the final, Listunova increased the difficulty base from 6.0 to 6.3 and basically did everything that was needed.

— It felt a little tight, especially on flights. I made several flights with my arms bent, perhaps this was the reason for the main, gross allowances," Victoria noted.

As a result, Listunova lost on uneven bars only to Melnikova, and lost just a little (0.033 points), becoming the silver medalist of the championship. Now the athlete will continue to restore her all-around, which she plans, if all goes well, to show at the Voronin Cup at the end of November. And wait for a response to the re-submitted application for neutral status.

Solo offensive: how gymnast Melnikova won gold in Paris

Participation in the World Cup was the first step towards the return of our athletes to international competitions.

Men

Unfortunately, everything is not so optimistic here. We can take six people to the World Cup, but no more than three people can apply for one type. It suggests the same scheme as for the girls — two all-around athletes who will go to all six types, and four "projectiles", each of whom will do his own kind. The list announced by Rodionenko (Zaika, Kartsev, Marinov, Novikov, Polyashov, Yakubov) became irrelevant even before the start of the CR — Daniil Novikov injured his knee and dropped out.

According to the results of the all-around, Daniel Marinov (81.331) and Alexander Kartsev (80.632) have the best two totals. Ivan Kulyak showed the third result (80,030), but, according to the athlete, he decided not to apply for neutral status. We don't have any other all-around athletes who are not ashamed to be sent to the World Cup today. Some hopes were associated with Mukhammadjon Yakubov, but he performed extremely poorly in the final, taking only ninth place (76,197). However, he rehabilitated himself in the finals of individual sports, winning the vault and becoming the second in floor exercises.

Nevertheless, the coaching staff faces a serious task — to choose the four who will go to "their" sports. With the rings, everything is clear, this is Ilya Zaika, and with the swing horses, too, Vladislav Polyashov. Yakubov can be put on the jump and free. The crossbar and bars remain, where Mukhammadjon became the third, losing only to Marinov (who is already riding) and Kulyak (not exactly riding).

Polyashov can also show a good program on the uneven bars, without a doubt. The main problem is the third participant on the crossbar. The situation here is complicated. Sergey Naidin, who became the second in the Czech Republic, has no neutral status on the evening of October 5. And the best of those who have, apart from Marinov and Kartsev, is Yakubov, who became the fifth.

The choice for men is limited, and the status of Russian gymnastics somehow does not allow carrying "tourists".