Rodionenko: If Mustafina doesn’t compete at Russian Cup, her chances to be selected for Euros will be low

Valentina Rodionenko never fails to meet our expectations and to give a controversial comment to the media. This time she said that if Aliya Mustafina will not compete at the Russian Cup (which starts in three weeks), she likely will be penalized for it by not being put in the running for the Euros. Considering that Mustafina is still not tumbling and might even go to Germany soon, her participation at the Russian Cup isn’t likely and rushing the recovery could lead to aggravating the injury. However, she still has almost two months until the European Championships and could probably recover by that time. She’s a tried and tested gymnast who is known to hit under pressure so it’s not clear why would the coaches absolutely need to see her compete at the Russian Cup in order to consider her for the Euros team.

Rodionenko said to TASS:

“Mustafina hasn’t yet made a final decision about her participating at the Russian Cup. Her knee that was operated on [in 2015] hurts and soon Aliya will go to Germany to see the doctors there. If she’ll participate at the Russian Cup, she’ll only compete on two events there: bars and beam. During the selection of the team for the European Championships, the coaching staff will be guided by the competition results. In case Mustafina will not manage to recover by the Russian Cup, her chances to go to the continental championship will be low. We have no right to overlook other worthy gymnasts”.

 

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