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New world champion Aliya Mustafina of Russia will have only a few days of relaxation before heading back to the gym to prepare for more competition. Mustafina is scheduled to compete at the Italian Grand Prix next month in Cagliari and the Toyota Cup in December in Japan.  2010 world champion Aliya Mustafina of Russia "They'll give us a week to rest after that. But I'm not going to a resort — I'll stay at home with my parents. I've got studying to do," Mustafina told news agency "All Sport." After their historic victory last week in Rotterdam, the members of Russia's first world champion team arrived home Monday to congratulations from Russia's president. "You have demonstrated the highest level of training, excellent technique and real team spirit," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in a telegram. "You were stronger than your opponents and your skill brought delight to gymnastics fans in our country and abroad. I am confident that you will continue to strive for new achievements and to represent Russia in international arenas. Good luck and prosperity to you." The Russian gymnasts landed at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport to a heroes' welcome, greeted by family, friends and camera crews. Mustafina was reunited with her family, including her gymnast sister, Nailya, and father, Farkhad, a two-time world champion and Olympic medalist in wrestling. During Wednesday's team final, Mustafina rallied Russia to a narrow victory over the U.S. after her teammates fell three times from uneven bars. It was the first world championships title for the Russian women's team, which had repeatedly fallen short since first competing as an independent nation. Following the team victory, Mustafina returned to win the all-around gold medal and three silvers in the event finals, where she was the first gymnast in 13 years to qualify to all four finals. Her only missed routine was a fall off balance beam in Sunday's event final. "The world championships were difficult," Mustafina told newspaper "Izvestia." "I needed to be on the podium almost all week long. I was scary tired. But I'm happy with how everything turned out." The gymnasts headed to their hometowns, while Muscovites Mustafina and Yekaterina Kurbatova attended more media events Monday night in the capital. Team member Tatiana Nabiyeva left for St. Petersburg, but will return to Moscow soon to train for next month's Massilia Cup in France. "Tanya, if you come back out of shape, watch out!" head coach Alexander Alexandrov told her with a wag of his finger, newspaper "Sovietsky Sport" reported. External Link: Video of Russian team arriving in Moscow Comments (13)
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Nonamer
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the great aliya  |
Give Mustafina a break Bad move. The Russians are going to burn her out or break her, or both. She's still so young. Give the gal a rest! |
Nonamer
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Well said, LS I completely agree. I don't think ANY team should be able to have that many falls and still win. Difficult tricks mean little if they cannot be completed, or are done sloppily. And rudeness has no place in world sport. Confidence is one thing - arrogance and poor sportsmanship is quite another. |
Tanya
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... Congrats to Russia. LS in AK sounds like a sore loser. The Russians had immense team spirit, maybe you just weren't paying attention or were only watching what they showed you on Nothing But Crap TV. Yes they had some mistakes, but it was their technique for greater difficulty that allowed them to win despite it. After their misses on bars in the final, they pulled themselves together and hit the rest of their routines! Congratulations girls, MOLODTSI!!!!!!!!!  |
JuliaK
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... "Ever-present long face"? Have you considered that she was TIRED? She said herself she was "crazy tired!" She competed more than any other female at the competition and I heard she was up very late every night for doping controls. Despite that, you should have seen how much she was still cheering for her teammates in event finals after her own routines. You could have seen that if you had been there instead of judging what they chose to show you on TV. We have a beautiful, artistic world all-around champion for the first time since 2003. Thank you Aliya Mustafina and Russian gymnastics. |
K
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Double standards Umm, Aliya was never a poor sport. In fact, she was first to congratulate most of her competitors. Educate yourself before making ludicrous accusations. And further more, when Bross has her "game face" on, no one says a thing. A Russian girl does it and she's automatically a bad sport. Puh-lease. |
Nonamer
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Russian bias For some reason, when Russians act arrogant, like poor sportswomen or win while having multiple falls, it is completely acceptable. I can 100 percent guarantee that if the Americans had done all of these things and won the gold medal, people would accusing the judges of bias and saying the girls didn't deserve the gold. No question in my mind. |
Nonamer
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LOL Mustafina may have tricks, but she is FAR from polished. Her technique is quite sloppy, IMO. |
Jollybarb
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Jollybarb Aliya is still young and an amazing gymnast. Look at how much Alicia Sacramone has matured since her sulky embarassing dramatic display at the 2008 Olympics. The Russian team arguably feel a sense of entitlement because they have the most artistic dance on floor (as opposed to just going from one pose to another, they move with grace, to the music) and the team has a range of new and exciting skills to display (eg. Mustafina's UB dismount). I'm impressed. |
Tanya
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... Huh? How is winning with falls somehow acting arrogant? All the top teams had falls in the final - should none of them have won? Second, I haven't seen any evidence they acted like poor sports. On the contrary, it seems the Americans were the poor sports. Rodionenko's wife said all the coaches from the other teams congratulated them after the team final EXCEPT the American coaches. They were quite disappointed considering two of the coaches (Liukin and Akopian) certainly speak Russian. |
Nonamer
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Rudeness The Russians left the floor before the final was finished. They went into a corner, had a group hug with their coaches and left the floor before the last four gymnasts were done. I'm sorry, but that is very RUDE. |
Alison Clements
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... Which final are you referring to, Nonamer, where you say the Russians left the floor before the last four gymnasts were done? I have Russians on video at the end of the team, AA and floor finals. If you are talking about the floor final, what actually happened is that Afanasyeva (who was clearly absolutely distraught by her mistake) walked around the arena and Mustafina followed her. Both had a group hug in the corner with the coaches and team, but that's natural, Afanasyeva clearly needed comforting. But there's no footage of Afanasyeva leaving the arena and certainly Mustafina went back to the competitor area by the floor shortly afterwards. Mustafina can clearly be seen multiple times while Chelaru is waiting for her score, then congratulating Chelaru when she equalled her. She is visable while Sui is waiting for her score, then she congratulated Mitchell both before Mitchell got her score and after the pair of them had marched out of the arena. Seems to me that Mustafina showed great sportsmanship and appreciation of both her teammate and her competitors. If all that wasn't visible on the TV coverage you saw then that says more about US coverage than Russsian sportsmanship. |
