In the floor final at the recent World Championships, Angelina Melnikova originally placed first. However, after Mai Murakami submitted an inquiry and her D score was raised, Melnikova moved into the second place. Melnikova’s full difficulty wasn’t credited either and she asked her coaches to submit an inquiry. However, as it became known later, the coaches took too long to submit the difficulty and, as a result, it wasn’t accepted after the deadline.
Right after the final, Melnikova was mostly upset with the results, but later she tried to figure out what happened and which of her elements weren’t credited. She said on MatchTV:
“Today, something weird happened. I’ve never had issues with this turn before, but it wasn’t credited in the all-around final and in the floor final. We tried to submit an inquiry but something happened and the inquiry wasn’t accepted. Of course, I’m very upset that I was in the first place at first, but then [Murakami’s] score was changed. They had a problem with the fact that the leg should be at 90 degrees and, supposedly, it was lower in my case. Even though I’m saying that I’ve never had issues with it. I was told my leg was too low and because of that my difficulty got lowered by 0.3. My turn wasn’t credited, we tried to submit an inquiry, so that it would be credited, but it wasn’t accepted. The Japanese gymnast also submitted an inquiry for her difficulty because a turn also wasn’t credited in her case, but her inquiry was accepted.”
“After I got the score, I told the head coach right away that they should inquire because I know my difficulty. I said it before the Japanese gymnast competed. Then she competed. In the end, they ran around with the inquiry, nothing worked out. Then the Japanese gymnast submitted her inquiry and it was accepted. And my inquiry was left hanging. I don’t know what happened there, the coaches went there, they tried to solve it. I could only sit and wait. It wasn’t even shown on the screen that my inquiry was submitted. It’s a very weird situation. The coaches didn’t say anything, they just said that they submitted the inquiry. We waited until everyone competed and then everything was over. I guess it was just a moment that could be picked at. Because Mai is retiring, it’s her last competition. Perhaps, this medal is important, she retired as a World champion, I’m very happy for her. I can’t say anything about judging either, it was just weird that they found fault with this, this is the first time in my career. I will never go out on floor without a pre-filled inquiry form. Because this is the second time this happened. In Stuttgart, I also didn’t get my full difficulty credited. The Brazilian gymnast [Flavia Saraiva] competed after me, she submitted an inquiry, and I thought that her inquiry would be accepted and she would win, but, thank God, her inquiry was rejected. Mai and I have a very good relationship, I respect her very much. Of course, I saw that she was upset when her score was initially shown and she placed lower than me. My issue is not with her. Her side also fought for the score, it’s normal that they submitted an inquiry and it was accepted. It’s a pity that ours wasn’t accepted.”
Melnikova made it clear that she didn’t have any issues with Mai Murakami winning over her and that she didn’t believe judging was biased, but it was important to her to understand what happened. Nevertheless, Russian media described the situation as a judging scandal and added it to the “judges are against Russia” narrative promoted by some figures in Russian rhythmic gymnastics.
Melnikova took to Instagram to talk about media attributing to her words she didn’t say: “Because of what happened, I notice that many media are publishing false information and false statements attributed to me. I don’t want to create a lot of hype around this situation. I’m not going to make a victim out of myself. I wrote a post where everything is described in a constructive way. No accusations, no hurt feelings, no pity. And there won’t be any. Don’t try to find something in my words or rephrase them in order to put them into a completely different context. There’s always truth in my words but the way it is said matters.”
Melnikova then posted a screenshot of words attributed to her by a Russian website: “Our gymnast was deprived of gold at Worlds. She thinks the Japanese got the medal on the merit of her long career. And the video of the routine contradicts the judges’ decision.”
Melnikova said in response to it: “This, for example. These are not my words. I’d never say anything like this in my life. Everyone knows and sees how much I respect Mai. So, it’s completely false information.”
Later, she talked to Sports.ru about the floor final and revealed that, apparently, the inquiry was submitted too late for unknown reasons.
A: Judging was generally fine, I don’t have any issues with it. As I was told, the opinions of judges regarding my turn were divided 50/50. In this situation, the supervising judge makes the decision – in the end, the turn was not credited. This is normal because gymnastics is a very subjective sport and we often encounter this. I don’t mean on floor specifically, such situations happen on different events. The problem was that we didn’t manage to submit the inquiry in time. After the score is posted, we have four minutes to do that. As far as I know, the coaches submitted it but were late by 2 minutes and, accordingly, it was not accepted.
Q: What happens during that four minutes? You have to run somewhere, write something?
A: Yes, there are forms that you need to fill and bring to a special table – last name, first name, event, the difficulty you got credited and the difficulty you want to get. Perhaps, something else as well, I don’t know, I’ve never done it by myself. But I have to learn how to do it now so that such situations won’t happen. In case of my floor, the judges credited the difficulty of 5.6, while we wanted 5.9.
Q: Four minutes for everything – you have to act very fast, right?
A: Actually, four minutes are quite enough. Especially since you are allowed to first announce the inquiry and then the four minutes start. It’s not much to write, not a long procedure. I don’t know the reason the coaches didn’t manage to submit the inquiry in time. Honestly, I don’t know. But that’s what happened, they didn’t manage. Were it submitted, my turns would have been looked at more closely and, perhaps, the result would be different. Murakami had a very similar situation. She competed after me and she also didn’t get credited the difficulty she wanted. Similarly, a turn wasn’t credited. But Japan managed to submit an inquiry in time, it was considered and accepted. So, the issues is not in judging but in the help [of coaches]… This happens.
Q: Have you asked the coaches why they were late with the inquiry?
A: I was originally told that they did it in time. I don’t know, I don’t want to accuse anyone. I just hope that the people who were involved in this situation made the right conclusions so that this won’t happen again. This is a great lesson for the future. That’s why I wrote on Instagram that I will never go out to compete without a pre-filled inquiry form again.
Q: You also wrote that when submitting an inquiry, you heard something in response that you won’t repeat. Was it something rude?
A: I still don’t want to repeat it because I don’t need unnecessary problems. Yes, it was unpleasant, but it wasn’t addressed at me specifically.
Q: Your phrase [from MatchTV interview] about Murakami who won could be understood in different ways. One of the options – supposedly, she was helped because she’s retiring, it’s her last competition, home Worlds, the gold was close.
A: I did not mean it this way at all. I meant something else – it would be great for her to retire with a gold and this is what she managed to do. The Japanese did everything for it, they fought for the score, and it’s normal. We also wanted to do it but we didn’t manage to. And retiring with a gold is great.
Q: Several days have passed, you calmed down and surely rewatched the moment with that turn. Do you agree with the judges that your leg wasn’t parallel to the floor?
A: Turns out, the issue wasn’t in this turn and in my leg! I posted this moment on Instagram and only a day later I learned that it was a different turn that wasn’t credited. It’s just crazy. At first, I was told – here’s the turn, here’s your leg. But a day later judges explained to me that officially, a different turn wasn’t credited. It sounds very stupid but I’ll try to explain it clearly.
Q: Go ahead.
A: There are requirements about turning your shoulders: in the beginning and the end of the turn, the shoulders should end up in the same spot. The judges deemed that when I was finishing the turn, I first put my foot down and then finished turning my shoulders. And since I put the foot down, the turn was considered finished, while my shoulders haven’t yet finished turning completely. And that’s why it wasn’t credited. If I first turned my shoulders and then put the foot down, it would be fine. But it’s also disputable, it could be reconsidered. I didn’t post it on Instagram because it seemed like too much already. But the situation is weird, it’s always some other thing, everything lumped together. In this case, I felt like I finished turning everywhere but the judges saw it differently – it happens. Gymnastics is subjective and judges often argue among themselves – some think an athlete did something well, other think they didn’t do it. Even athletes and coaches can argue about it in training – my coach sees that I did the turn but according to how it feels, I realize that I didn’t do it. The same happened here. As I was told in the end, some of the judges picked on the turn with the leg, and others – on the turn with the shoulders.
Q: How traumatic is this situation for you? To put it bluntly, will you feel pain remembering it 10 years later?
A: It’s a very upsetting loss. Especially after I first saw myself in the first place on the board and then lost. That is, I was the champion for a few minutes. Of course, it’s not easy. But, at the same time, it’s a great lesson for the future, a great shake-up. You have to fight for yourself not only on the events but in other parts [of the competition process] as well, you have to participate in them, they can complement your victories. You have to prepare for everything.
