Russia buried memories of their nightmare outing at last year’s world championships by retaining the team title at the men’s European gymnastics championships on Saturday.
Last (Fall), the Russian men drew a blank in Stuttgart and their confidence hit an all-time low less than a year ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
“Stuttgart was like a horrible dream and that made us even more motivated to do well here,” Russian coach Andrey Rodionenko told Reuters.
… When asked if Russia could go for gold in Beijing, Rodionenko responded with an enthusiastic: “Why not?”
However, he was quick to add: “China, Japan and South Korea are very strong and will be the favourites but we will fight them all the way for every medal.”
Gymnastics-Russia bury memories of Stuttgart nightmare – Reuters
Rodionenko knows that anything can happen in Olympic Finals. Teams will put up 18 routines total — all count towards final score. Any team that hits 18 / 18 has a good chance for a team medal.
original – flickr – Fispace
More commentary:
… Led by 2007 European all-around champion Maxim Devyatovsky, Russia scored 272.450 to defeat Germany (269.575) and Romania (268.950) in the team final.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 