In the senior qualification, Russian team finished second after France and had falls on beam and floor. Valentina Rodionenko told TASS that the lack of experience is the cause for the falls:
“Today we didn’t do well on beam again, all our gymnasts made mistakes on this event, losing at least three points. And we’re behind the French team by a bit more than 2.5 points, so do the math. On floor, Akhaimova, despite having the most difficult tumbling, made some serious mistakes. I think her unsuccessful performance was due to the lack of experience competing at major competitions”.
“You could see that our young gymnasts were very nervous, especially since we started on beam, the even on which we’ve been experiencing serious problems in the past years. So, the team had to work till the end on gaining back the points they lost in the beginning. But the girls managed well on the rest of the events. They really added on floor and everything’s fine on bars. But the main thing is that we have people we can count on. And we also have a few gymnasts left at home. So, moving forward, we have to keep working”.
Today, Russia will compete at the team final, starting on vault. The line-ups stayed the same as in qualification:
VT: Simakova, Akhaimova, Melnikova
UB: Melnikova, Alexeeva, Perebinosova
BB: Alexeeva, Simakova, Melnikova
FX: Simakova, Akhaimova, Melnikova
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