This week, the junior WAG Russian National Championships were held in Penza. The format of the competition included three divisions – Master of Sport, Candidate for Master of Sport, and 1st level. The division is technically based on the scores achieved at qualifying competitions but there is also separation by age, so only ages 14-15 competed in the Master of Sport, age 13 in the Candidate for Master of Sport, and ages 11-12 in the 1st level competition.
Diana Kustova from Moscow won the all-around gold in the Master of Sport competition and also won gold on beam and silver on floor.
Leila Vasilyeva from Valdimir got silver in the all-around, and Yelizaveta Us from Krasnodar got bronze.
In the Candidate for Master of Sports competition, Anna Kalmykova from Moscow got gold, Zlata Osokina from Gatchina got silver, and Ekaterina Andreeva from Cheboksary got bronze. All these gymnasts are currently on the Russian national team.
You can watch videos from the competition on RusGymnastics Youtube channel.
Since the Junior European Championships are not held this year and other international junior competition are unlikely to happen this year, the main goal of the competition was for gymnasts to achieve qualifying scores to get to higher levels and to be noticed by the national team coaches. Aliya Mustafina, the acting head coach of the junior national team, said the staff is looking for gymnasts to that can make the national team:
“The competition is more for us, the coaches, to see the kids, to see who can be invited to the national team, to see how they compete after such a long break. Despite the pandemic, the kids performed well and showed good and very difficult routines.”
According to Mustafina, the main competition to prepare for will be the 2022 Junior European Championships:
“The [selection] criteria are not their places. The most important thing is, you could say, the material from which good gymnasts can be made – who has visible talent. It’s important to select [gymnasts born in] 2007-2008, since those are the years eligible for the European Championships next year. It’s very important to find as many girls as possible who could make the team.”
