Andrew Thornton on Gymnast.com posted a detailed assessment of the chances for the Russian Women’s Gymnastics team for Beijing.
His answer … YES.
… remember that in Athens, the U.S. women entered as the heavy favorite for gold, and then when the Romanians looked better than everyone expected, the focus shifted to a two-way battle between these two teams in the finals. However, I think a lot of people probably don’t realize that at the end of that night, the Russians actually ended up only three and a half tenths behind the U.S., and one point away from the gold medal Romanian team. With the focus this year being on China vs. the U.S., could the Russians again sneak into that battle and surprise everyone?
…
Right now I’d say their big guns are clearly Semenova (recent European champ on bars and beam), Pavlova, Grebenkova, and Lozehecko.
The last two spots will likely be between several gymnasts, like Zamolodchikova, Pravdina, Kramarenko, Klyukina, Myasnikova, or Afanaseva. Though the Russians placed 2nd to Romania at the recent European Championships, we haven’t seen all their best gymnasts on one team yet. If they can get all their top gymnasts healthy for Beijing, they may be able to do a little more damage than most people realize.
A look at the Russian Women’s Team
Details:
Vault
Bars
Beam (strongest apparatus)
Floor (weakest apparatus)
Ksenia Semenova on Beam at the 2008 European Championships. Gold. A = 6.7 Final = 15.950
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Related post: is Russia the next Russia?
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