Rodionenko hopes for Komova to compete at the Russian Cup

While Viktoria Komova and her coach have been pretty clear about the fact that she doesn’t plan on competing till December, Valentina Rodionenko, the head coach of the Russian WAG team, does not give up easily.

Rodionenko talked to TASS about Komova:

Indeed, Komova arrived at the training camp, but she hasn't yet gotten back in shape completely. You need to understand that it's hard to restore routines after injury and such a long break, but she's trying hard. We really hope that she can compete on two apparatuses at the Russian Cup.

At the moment, Komova is training with the junior team according to the individual plan. Again, it's important to understand that the senior team has a completely different training load and we can't fit the whole training process for one athlete, but Viktoria is always under observation. I wouldn't say that the past injury is seriously affecting her health now, but, at the moment, the hardest apparatus for her is bars - the apparatus where she's used to being the best.

If we're talking about all-around, Komova is slated to compete at the Voronin Cup in December. However, if she'll want to compete at the Russian Cup, at least on beam, we will absolutely allow it. Fortunately, Vika's health is fine now and the doctors don't have any issues with it. In addition, right now beam is her best apparatus.

Komova is very motivated. At the moment, Vika is training like she's never trained before - she's the first one in the gym and the last one to leave. She's very happy that the injury is not bothering her anymore, but for us the main goal is to restore her skills.

In the past week’s interview, Gennady Elfimov, Komova’s coach, said that he doesn’t want to rush things and his plan for Komova is to wait till December to compete. In a recent live video on Instagram Komova actually snapped at fans who were asking her over and over whether she will compete in August. Komova said that she definitely won’t compete in August and that her coach doesn’t allow it. She also said she made plans to go on vacation with her parents in August and gymnasts generally don’t take vacations right before competitions. However, considering that beam is a weak spot in the current Russian team,  if Komova’s routine is good enough to qualify for the beam final at Worlds, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the national team coaches pressured her to start competing earlier than planned.