The month of January brought us news that Aliya Mustafina started working as a coach with the Russian junior national team, joining her teammates Ksenia Afanasyeva and Nikolai Kuksenkov. At the time, Mustafina was listed on the roster as a gymnast on the reserve senior team which was not an unusual occurrence. For example, Afanasyeva spent her first year of coaching while listed as a gymnast on the roster. On January 15th Mustafina was officially appointed as a junior team coach and removed from the reserve roster once her appointment has been approved by the Ministry of Sports.
However, the biggest news came from Valentina Rodionenko today. She told TASS that Mustafina is currently the acting head coach of the junior national team and replaced her former coach Evgeny Grebyonkin in that role. Grebyonkin was the head coach of the senior national team in 2013-2019. In 2020 he and Olga Bulgakova switched roles, he started working as the head coach of the junior team, while she headed the senior team as her gymnasts turned senior. This year, Grebyonkin is still officially a coach on the junior national team but not the head coach anymore. Mustafina said in her first interview as a coach that Grebyonkin missed the first camp of the year but is supposed to participate in the second camp. No official information has been released on why Grebyonkin is being replaced.
According to Rodionenko, it is not possible to appoint Mustafina as the official head coach due to lack of official experience and this is why she will work as the acting head coach this year:
“Now, starting from the second camp [of the year], Aliya is working as the acting head coach of the junior national team. She has already very seriously led the first camp from January 15th to February 6th and is leading the second now. According to the regulations, a person without enough work experience cannot officially be appointed as the head coach. That’s why in the coming year Aliya will be the acting head coach.
Rodionenko said that Russian gymnastics really needs young coaches:
“And Mustafina really wants to work and enjoys it a lot. She was well received by everyone. I think Aliya will become a great coach and not just for the junior team. We are helping her in all the organizational issues, teaching her everything, and she’s very proficient technically. She has a good head. Yes, she also has a difficult personality but those are the kind of people who achieve results. Mustafina coming to the national team as a coach is worth a lot. Aliya has good ambitions, she knows in which direction women’s artistic gymnastics should develop.”
