A rising Russian junior Vladislava Urazova won the all-around at the Russian Cup, leading over Angelina Melnikova by more than four points after two days. Russian Cup is normally a senior-only competition but during the pre-Olympic year, top juniors that are eligible for the upcoming Olympics are allowed to compete. For example, back in 2015, Angelina Melnikova was one of the top juniors at the Russian Cup and she outscored all the senior gymnasts in the all-around.
Urazova won AA silver at the inaugural Junior World Championships and, if she stays at the same level next year, will likely make the Olympic team.
Angelina Melnikova made several mistakes on the first day of the competition but competed much better on the second day and won silver in the all-around. The bromze was taken by another junior, Elena Gerasimova, who was on the gold-winning Russian team at the Junior Worlds as well and won gold on bronze there. Another junior at the top-6, placing 5th here, after two days was Yana Vorona who won AA bronze at the European Youth Olympic Festival last month.
Lilia Akhaimova placed 4th in the all-around having solid scores on vault, beam, and floor on both days and likely locking her place on the Worlds team.
Angelina Simakova, who has been struggling with injuries and consistency this year, finished sixth. She continues to struggle in the all-around and on vault but her beam score on the second day, 14.066, was the only 14+ score on the event among seniors, so she still makes a good case for the Worlds team.
Elena Eremina is still having a hard time restoring her pre-injury difficulty and finished only 10th in the all-around.
As usual, Valentina Rodionenko expressed her unhappiness with the results of the seniors:
“We had questions for Melnikova before, we still have them now. She doesn’t keep working till the end. She had to win over Urazova, she’s an experienced gymnast, she went through all the main competitions – Olympic, World Championships, European Championships, and she had to shine here.”
At the same time, Rodionenko noted that Melnikova indeed improved compared to June and said they hope she will keep improving in the month that is left until the World Championships:
“We hope that in three weeks, we’ll get the the work that she has to show from her.”
Rodionenko also said that Simakova has disappointed the team coaches again but is still in the running for the Worlds team.
She gave the most praise to Vladislava Urazova:
“It was a great competition. It’s her first “senior” medal, she managed to hold her own at a senior competition, she didn’t make mistakes on any events – this is worth a lot. She’ll be one of the gymnasts fighting for a team spot at the Olympics. Believe me, she’ll compete at the Olympic Games, I’m sure of it.”
The competition continues today with the MAG All-Around final starting at 15:00 local time (8am ET, 5am PT). The competition will be streamed live on the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation’s VK page.
The event finals will take place on Monday and Tuesday. Full schedule can be found here.
Photo: Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation
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what happened to Listunova? why didn’t she compete?
Russian Cup is a senior-only competition. In the pre-Olympic year, select juniors who will turn seniors next year are allowed to compete to get experience. Listunova was born in 2005, so this rule doesn’t apply to her
Do you have a link for results?
Thanks