Andy Thorton:
I think the old Mustafina is finally back.
Ever since tearing her ACL at the 2011 European Championships, there’s been something missing from the 2010 world all-around champion’s gymnastics. Although she still managed to win multiple medals at the 2012 Olympics and 2013 world championships, Aliya Mustafina has never quite shown the same fierce competitive confidence that allowed her to dominate the world in 2010 …
With some recent upgrades at this weekend’s Russian Cup, a more confident look on balance beam, and some cleaner tumbling on floor, the Russian just may be inching closer to reigning world champion Simone Biles …
Here’s an event-by-event look at the best difficulty scores put up recently by both of these gymnasts – using scores from the P&G Championships for Simone Biles and the Russian Cup for Aliya Mustafina …
Can Mustafina Challenge Simone Biles? An Event-By-Event Look
Click through for details.
Both meets were somewhat over-scored so we may be able to compare apples with oranges this time.
Projected D-scores:
Simone = 25.1
Aliya = 24.4
Ross = 23.3
Both Simone and Aliya could upgrade. Mustafina will almost certainly up her Bars start score, though perhaps not until Apparatus Finals.
My advice to Valentina :-), however, would be to ask Aliya to go clean. Try to stay within 1 fall of Simone’s final AA score. Simone may not be able to win with a fall in 2014. She finished 0.9 ahead of Kyla in 2013.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 