Irina Alexeeva left the Russian national team

According to Valentina Rodionenko, Irina Alexeeva left the Russian national team and does not plan on competing elite anymore, focusing on NCAA instead. Alexeeva’s career on the national team was short but really good – she won team gold at the European Championships and silver at the World Championships. Right after the World Championships, she went back home to the US and skipped all the following national team camps despite being added to the main national team roster in December. In November, Alexeeva had an official visit to Stanford. It seems that she opted to start NCAA in the fall even though no official information about her commitment has been announced yet.

Rodionenko told R-Sport:

“Alexeeva was accepted to a university in America, she will study there. She won’t be on the national team anymore. Winning certain medals for the Russian team really helped her, it gave her bonuses, and she was admitted [to the university].”

UPD: Irina Alexeeva clarified on her Instagram that she definitely plans on doing NCAA gymnastics but she’s not starting college this fall, as she’s still a high school junior. She did not address the rest of Rodionenko’s comments regarding leaving the national team.

Photo: Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation

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LiubovB

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11 Comments

  • I want to respect her decision but can’t. She had a good shot at making Tokyo. Just like Elizabeth Price retiring RIGHT before the 2013 season, where she was a lock for the World Championships. I don’t get it.

    • It’s like… you train your WHOLE LIFE for this, putting in 30-hour workouts each week, homeschooling, dieting, etc… and then deciding to quit right before the the results of your labor have ripened.

      • This is her life, he dreams, her goals, not yours. Just because YOU would have done it differently doesn’t mean what she’s doing is wrong. She is doing gymnastics for herself, not to please some randos on the internet. Also guess what, the olympics don’t HAVE to be your ultimate goal and maybe she realised that, and decided to oh I don’t know, get an amazing education, totally paid for, at one of the top schools in the world(getting into a school like that also takes a lifetime of hard work). Also elite gymnastics is hard on the body, for all we know she knew she couldn’t do it for 2 more years and it wouldn’t be worth it any more, especially if she couldn’t compete in the NCAA because of that, and therefore wasn’t able to go to pay for a top school on her own.

    • But it is HER decision. So you should respect it no matter what. Clearly she has personal priorities that don’t include the Olympics.

    • Huh?? Ebee Price didn’t retire right before the 2013 season. She competed VT/UB only at Nationals due to injury and was named non-traveling alternate to Worlds.
      In 2014, she WON the American Cup and Pac Rim AA. She retired from elite in May with the rationale being that she was starting at Stanford in the fall and wanted to be rested and healed up from nagging injuries before moving onto campus.

  • For Stanfird, she DID NOT need the national team status, just the SATs or international equivalent. Stanford’s win. Helping Ana Li build a team and getting that Stanford degree. Smart girl

  • She won gold at Europeans, silver at worlds. I’m a little sad that we won’t see her in elite anymore…

  • Stanford could care less. Regardless of your athletic talent you must still be academically accepted to Stanford first.
    ? she seemed like a lock for toykyo

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