The competition in rhythmic gymnastics within the II Games of the CIS countries. tells what difficulties the Russian team went through to the main international tournament of this season, and what an aftertaste it left.
Lala Kramarenko became a three-time champion of the Games — in individual all-around, in exercises with clubs and ribbon. In addition, she has a silver in the final with a hoop and ball. Arina Averina won the hoop final. Anna Popova finished third in the all-around and also won silver with ribbon and bronze with clubs. The junior team performed successfully in group exercises — gold in the final with ropes and silver in the final with five balls. The Russian team also won in the team event.
Among the best among the rivals is Alina Gornosko from Belarus (2nd place in the all-around, gold in the final with the ball, silver with clubs and bronze — hoop and ribbon). Also, the Belarusian team took second place in the team event.
Needless to say, it was an easy ride. Firstly, gymnasts from Belarus are one of the strongest in the world along with our girls. They constituted the main competition and, in theory, could dominate many types of programs. Secondly, the vicissitudes of recent years (pandemic plus subsequent suspension from international competitions) have affected the morale of athletes who have lost the habit of performing at a serious level under great pressure. Thirdly, the physical form of our leaders — Lala Kramarenko, Arina Averina and Anna Popova — is far from ideal.
That this would be a difficult test, it became clear even at the control training of the national team a week before the start. Imagine one practice mat for three. In the lower right corner, Anya Popova is practicing a throw of clubs, making mistakes over and over again and repeating it again. In another, Arina Averina changes her swimsuit so that it would not be so dreary to go to the run of the same exercise with a hoop for the third time in a row. Nearby, Lala Kramarenko is steaming her tape with an iron. The tape does not obey and tends to tie into a knot.
The proportion of the body not covered with teips tends to a minimum in all three, which indicates existing health problems. There is a large hematoma on Anya's hip, shortly before the tournament she was injured, so she trains and performs through pain. After one of the runs, she will even need the help of a doctor with a freeze for pain relief.
Everyone's mood is different: Arina is on experience and on zen. It turns out or not, there is little that can unsettle her. Lala is tense, but periodically tries to joke. Anya is the youngest and most excited, despite the title of the current champion of Russia.
Head coach Irina Viner looks at all this like a hawk from her chair. She has an anniversary in a couple of days, a lot of things to do, but she hardly thinks about it. It is necessary to gather everyone, shake them up, treat them, inspire them and equip them for the journey — she will not go to Minsk herself, she will lead by video link.
Her involvement in the fate of each student is amazing. Arina fails to take one risk in the hoop — Viner takes off his shoes, goes to her on the carpet and picks up the hoop. Shows what she wants to achieve.
She talks to Anya Popova for a long time. At first extremely hard, then softening. Lala tries to rein in and build, but Lala remains herself — not very stringed and built.
Viner also runs all evening (if this word is generally applicable to the majestic Irina Alexandrovna) from the training mat to the main one. He controls the judges, keeps track of the reruns, the makeup of the students, the posture of other coaches, the swimsuits, even his maltipoo named Hassan. The dog, by the way, is trained in such a way that it clearly understands: you can’t raise your paw on the referee’s table, and you shouldn’t interfere with the gymnasts. And it never goes deeper than the red line separating the perimeter of the carpet. And he doesn't even chase balls. D — discipline!
In general, the control training developed dramatically, summing up the results of all the difficult preparations for the Games of the CIS countries. Wiener put in the starting lineup those who were ready to defend the honor of the country. Although they were not in optimal condition, they differed from others in their ability to show 100% results even at 50% charge. Lala, as the main hope of the national team, did all four types, Arina was responsible for the hoop, Anya with an injured leg was put on three types — everything except the hoop. In addition to the individual athletes, the junior team also competed in Minsk in group exercises.
The trust of Irina Alexandrovna did not disappoint the girls. In general, the advantage remained with the Russian team, but in some types of the program the gold was fairly shared with the team of Belarus.
A funny moment at the Games occurred with the participation of Alina Gornosko from Belarus. Following the results of the all-around, she published a post on social networks where she trolled the judges, who somewhere found a rather large difference in marks for artistry between her and Lala Kramarenko. “I’m going to work on my art,” Gornosko wrote.
Believe it or not, but in the finals her total score for artistry increased by 1.65 points. And Alina Kabaeva awarded Gornosko with a special prize — for emotionality. This irony, post-irony and their consequences somehow relieved the nervous atmosphere of the tournament.
There are still many white spots in gymnastics, making it a sport that is not very clear to a simple spectator. How and why are assessment protests filed and in what cases are they satisfied? Why can the grade for the non-technical component of the program change by a point in one direction or another during the day? And this is where victory is sometimes determined by hundredths of a point. How can one understand why one perfection is better than another?
The only thing that is certainly understandable to a simple viewer is beauty. In this gymnastics, as before, there are no equals, as well as Russian athletes. Impressions from the performance at the long-awaited international tournament should give them strength for new achievements.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.