DAY 4: Russia, the new World Champion and two more double victories at the finals...
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Evgenia Kanaeva, won gold with the team, silver with ball |
* Day 4 Team All-Around and last two Finals
After the fourth and last rotation Russia is definitely the old and new world champion. Evgenia Kanaeva, Daria Kondakova, Daria Dimitrieva and Yana Lukonina won with 284,925 points ahead of Belarus and Azerbaijan. The gymnasts from the Ukraine have to return home without a medal in the team competition for the second time in a raw. On fifth place came the Israeli team, followed by Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Poland, Italy and Austria.
Results Team Competition: 1- Russia 284,925 , 2- Belarus 269,700, 3- Azerbaijan 265,225
RUSSIA - Gold
BELARUS - Silver (left) -- AZERBAIJAN - Bronze (right)
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Anna Gurbanova & the Azeri team on bronze rank |
* DAY 3 - Wednesday, September 22
Team All-around and Individual qualification Ball & Ribbon
Wednesday in Moscow finished like Tuesday with Russia on the first position summing 253.850 points after nine exercises, Belarus on second place with 240.500 points and Azerbaijan on third place with 236.600.
The advantage of more than 10 points for the Russian team means nearly for sure that they will be again world champions tomorrow, uninterrupted in this decade. Also the girls from Belarus have a comfortable advantage of four points over the Azeri gymnasts what could grant them the silver medal if nothing unexpected happens tomorrow. Only on the bronze rank we expect an interesting fight for tomorrow, Azerbaijan is only 0.975 points ahead of the Ukraine and the Ukrainian girls won´t let the medal pass easily.
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Provisional Results, Teams:
1- Russia 253.850
2- Belarus 240.500
3- Azerbaijan 236.600
4- Ukraine 235.625
As today is an intermediate day at this World Championships, without finals, we have some time to take a closer look at the results and think a little about their meaning. Russia, without doubt the old and new world champion, leads with an advantage of 13,350 points – this is nearly half an exercise that the Russian girls wouldn´t have to do and still be able to win gold.
* Detailed provisional Results:
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But where does this big difference between the countries are coming from?
Not even the “old” traditional rhythmic gymnastics nations like Belarus and the Ukraine, not to talk about Bulgaria, can fight for another medal than silver or bronze.
* This difference in first place comes from the new "Code of Points" and its requirements, but there are also other reasons. The code was changed in 2009, and altered only one year later, favors extreme flexibility and difficult body elements that at the moment only the Russian gymnasts are able to perform correctly in the judges´ eyes.
* The next point is, that Russia has an important private financial support, beside the governmental one, that allows them to have perfect training facilities, to do training camps all over the world – and not less important – to have special agreements with state schools and universities that assure the gymnasts´ educational career without having to cut training hours for study like in other countries.
* Each top gymnast gets a monthly financial reward, they go together on holidays, gymnast´s parents who move to the capital because their daughter has been chosen to enter Novogorsk´s training centre get help with an apartment and job, and, the most important, the Russian Federation searches jobs for their gymnasts after they retire.
All in all, this makes rhythmic gymnastics still an attractive sport to do for a young girl in Russia – even when training lasts at least eight hours a day or more.
In the moment there is not other country like Russia for a rhythmic gymnast, not Belarus, not the Ukraine, not Bulgaria. These two countries had a lot of problems in the last years, financial and internal ones in their respective federations that made that the new generation of gymnasts didn´t have the same facilities and opportunities.
In Western European countries, where girls have to cope with normal school requirements beside the six to eight hours training a day, we can only dream of such possibilities. This “natural disadvantage” is the reason - and not the lack of talent - that, at the moment, there are no chances that a “normal” Western girl can enter the absolute world elite in rhythmic gymnastics.
Another group of countries like Azerbaijan or Kazhastan are trying to copy the Russian format of training and educational system and they also get important financial support that allows them to send their best gymnasts for training camps to Moscow, but they are still not on the same level as the Russians.
* Reported by Esther Teijeira / GYMmedia INTERNATIONAL
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Daria Dimitrieva - gold with ribbon after silver with ball |
* Detailed definitive Results:
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After the gold medal with the team, Evgenia Kanaeva could add another golden trophy to her collection. She won the ball final only 0,050 points ahead of her teammate Daria Dimitrieva and Azeri gymnast Aliya Garaeva.
Results ball final:
1- Evgenia Kanaeva (RUS) 28.700
2- Daria Dimitrieva (RUS) 28.650
3- Aliya Garaeva (AZE) 27.550,
4. Liubov Charkashyna (BLR) 27.425
5. Irina Risenzon (ISR) 27.000
6. Alina Maksimenko (UKR) 26.950
7. Neta Rivkin (ISR) 26.750
8. Silviya Miteva (BUL) 24.800
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Aliya Garaeva (AZE) - four bronze medals at the moment |
* Ribbon Final:
The last apparatus final at this year´s World Championships in Moscow finished with another gold and silver medal for Russia. Russia´s third gymnast, the young Daria Dimitrieva could score better than Kanaeva in the qualification and made it into the final where she showed a perfect ribbon routine and received 28.825 points that ment the first big international title for her. On second place followed Daria Kondakova and on third place again Aliya Garaeva from Azerbaijan who has won her fourth bronze medal, three at the apparatus finals and one with her team.
Results ribbon final:
1- Daria Dimitrieva (RUS) 28.825
2- Daria Kondakova (RUS) 28.750
3- Aliya Garaeva (AZE) 28.050
4. Liubov Charkashyna (BLR) 27.575
5. Melitina Staniouta (BLR) 27.550
6. Silviya Miteva (BUL) 27.100
7. Joanna Mitrosz (POL) 26.850
8. Alina Maksimenko (UKR) 26.675