Melnikova: I’m not in the required shape yet

Angelina Melnikova won silver in the all-around at the Russian Championships but had issues on floor both days. On one hand, this isn’t something new as she frequently lacked stamina on floor in the past. On the other hand, when she hits, she can be absolutely gorgeous on that event and her gold at the 2017 Euros is the proof of that.

Valentina Rodionenko claimed that Melnikova did not train floor enough and that was the main factor affecting her performance:

“Angelina Melnikova was not ready well enough. We talked after her performance, she admitted that she needs to work on her floor routine a lot but she kept skipping it, kept looking for various reasons [to skip]. She’s just not showing what she can do”.

Trying to avoid training floor could have been related to Melnikova’s leg pain. According to Viktoria Komova, Melnikova has been experiencing leg pain lately due to landing on hard surfaces.

Melnikova is slated to compete at the DTB Pokal challenge next week. She said to TASS she might show some upgrades if she feels ready because she wants to try them out before Euros. However, she admitted that her floor was not quite ready yet and she was affected by the problems with her music:

“My floor routine was not ready and there was a small problem with the music which was incorrect. By the end of the competition, I was a bit tired. It’s just that I’m not in the required shape yet. Generally, I plan on upgrading my routine. If my shape will allow doing everything I planned, I will show the upgrades in Stuttgart because the European Championships are soon and I need to try my routine out. If my shape won’t allow it, I won’t take the risk”.

Melnikova will have a chance to redeem herself on floor on Sunday in the event final.

Photo: Elena Mikhaylova, Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation

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