Viktoria Komova hoped to make a run for Tokyo after she got injured shortly before the Rio Olympics. However, after not being selected for the 2018 European Championships, she opted to retire from elite gymnastics and switch to coaching and judging. In Tokyo, she said, she will especially root for Angelina Melnikova, another gymnast from her home city of Voronezh:
“I think Gelya became much more consistent and learned new routines. She looked very confident at the Russian Cup in Novosibirsk where the selection for the Olympics took place. She had mistakes, too. But Gelya’s a smart girl, she knows how to fix them. She’s the leader of the team now, she’s one of the most experienced on the team at 21 years old. Only Lilia Akhaimova is older and the rest of the girls are very young – 16-17 years old. But Lilia has very clear best events – floor and vault. Gelya, on the other hand, is an all-arounder and performs consistently on all events. I will cheer for her really hard together with my family and coaches.”
Komova believes that the Russian team is very close to the US team and the main difference in scoring will be Simone Biles’ scores:
“It’s hard to predict anything, especially the Olympics. I can say that in my opinion, overall, we are on the same level as the traditional favorites the Americans, except for their leader Simone Biles. It’s possible to be competitive against them, the important thing is not to be afraid of them.”
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