Valentina Rodionenko announced today that Anastasiya Ilyankova might miss the upcoming Worlds because of a back injury. She has an injury of a spinous process and, according to Rodionenko, it’s the same kind of injury that Maria Paseka has been suffering from. Rodionenko said that it’s not treatable in a sense that they can only wait and see whether it improves and it can flare up again at any time. Ilyankova was supposed to be the bars specialist on the team and also compete on beam. It will be clear in a week whether she can compete in Montreal. If she can’t, her replacement will be either Maria Kharenkova or Liliia Akhaimova, although both do not have competitive routines on bars. Kharenkova would be useful on beam and floor, while Akhaimova’s best events are floor and vault, but if the team will include Maria Paseka in addition to all-arounders, Akhaimova will not be able to do vault in qualification.
