The Russian Championships which start tomorrow promise to be a very exciting competition. We’ll see the whole national team in the competition (except for the injured gymnasts), Aliya Mustafina will make her much anticipated comeback and Irina Alexeeva and Oleg Stepko will try to get onto the national team. In addition, for the first time in quite a few years, the championships will be shown on Russian TV (in the previous years, the organizers provided a live stream of often a questionable quality). Unfortunately, since it’s TV, they will only show the all-around and event finals, so we won’t be able to see the qualifications which also serve as the team final.
The finals will be shown on one of the Match TV cable channels and it is possible to watch it online. Here are a couple of links that allow you to watch it – 1, 2. You can also follow the updates on my twitter, as I will be watching and live-tweeting.
Follow the Instagram account of the Russian Gymnastics Federation – they post photos and videos from Kazan daily and occasionally have live videos. They might stream parts of the qualification as well.
Schedule (Moscow time)
Wednesday, April 18
15:00-17:00, MAG qualification and team final, 1st subdivision
18:00-20:00, MAG qualification and team final, 2nd subdivision
Thursday, April 19
10:00-11:30, WAG qualification and team final, 1st subdivision
11:30-13:00, WAG qualification and team final, 2nd subdivision
13:00-14:30, WAG qualification and team final, 3rd subdivision
17:00-19:00, MAG All-Around final [live stream]
Friday, April 20
15:10-16:40, WAG All-Around final [live stream]
Saturday, April 21
14:00-17:00, WAG and MAG event finals [live stream]
Sunday, April 22
14:00-17:00, WAG and MAG event finals [live stream]
Interestingly, Denis Abliazin said in a mini-interview that the all-around medalists from the Russian Championships will automatically make the Euros team. He did not specify whether he was talking only about MAG and whether it’s a new rule but considering that Euros are still a few months away and a lot can happen in that time, it’s a bit strange to have three places on the five-person team decided now.
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