Victory in the all-around and eight gold medals: how the Russian rhythmic gymnastics team completed the World Cup

“Nobody can maintain such a pace, only Russians”

After a successful performance in Russia in individual exercises and team championships, fans were waiting for gold medals from our girls and in group exercises. And the national team was able to perform super-efficiently. She completed the championship of the planet with two gold awards.

All-round event took place in Baku on Saturday. Evgenia Levanova, Anastasia Maximova, Anastasia Shishmakova, Angelika Stubailo and Maria Tolkacheva, as in the past year, took first place. Not even the lack of Olympic champion Vera Biryukova, which was replaced by 18-year-old Stubailo, did not stop the team.

At the same time, the Russians’s path to medals was far from simple. After the exercise with three hoops and four clubs, the domestic team was only in third place with a score of 28,700 behind Japan and Bulgaria.

But in the five-ball exercise, our girls managed to make a real miracle. They scored fantastic 30,000 points and finished first. And this result was the best of the season.

“In group exercises, it’s more difficult to perform, because the group must work as a single organism. We got the highest rating of the season. Nobody, not a single team has received 30,000 points. We have accomplished such difficulty at such a pace that the mind is incomprehensible. And they coped with it today.

The difficulty lies in the number of compounds, elements and ligaments that the girls completed in 2.5 minutes. No one can maintain such a pace, only Russians. But this is very, very risky, because they throw objects into empty places, run down and take them, it is very difficult. I force them to do it, but I’m afraid, ”TASS quotes the words of the head coach of the Russian national team Irina Viner-Usmanova.

And one of the new champions Tolkacheva noted that she and her teammates managed to cope with the excitement after the unsuccessful first part of the all-around.

“We gathered for the second view and did everything to the maximum. In the first, unfortunately, they made mistakes, maybe they were not very noticeable to someone, but the judges immediately see this. They judge very strictly now, they take 0.3 points for each step, and we had inaccuracies. We coped with the excitement, with all the obstacles, and we succeeded, ”the athlete emphasized.

Silver as a result went to Japanese women who won medals of the World Cup in this form for the first time since 1975. Bulgaria won the bronze. But last year's silver medalists of the Italians unexpectedly were left without medals.

“Eight gold medals out of nine. What are the results? ”

And on Sunday, the Russians successfully performed in separate forms. However, the day began for the national team with local failure. In the final, the exercises with five goals of Levanov, Maksimov, Shishmakov, Stubailo and Tolkachev after a fantastic performance on the eve finished only third. However, last year Russia in this form was completely left without medals. This time the Japanese took the gold, and the silver - Bulgaria.

As a result, this exercise was the only one for domestic gymnasts in which they could not win. A beautiful point was put in three hoops and four clubs, where the wards of Wiener-Usmanova confidently took first place. Behind all the same Japanese and Italians remained. Moreover, last year Russia in this form was content only with silver.

Thus, the Russians for the first time since 2015 won eight gold medals at the World Cup. And Dina Averina with four awards of the highest standard again became the main character of the tournament. She managed to win the all-around for the third time in the championship of the planet. Before her, such success was achieved only by Russians Evgenia Kanaeva and Yana Kudryavtseva, as well as representatives of Bulgaria Maria Gigova and Maria Petrova. But the sister of Dina Arina this time was content with the gold of the team championship and three awards of various denominations in individual exercises.

However, despite the phenomenal performance, Wiener-Usmanova urged the wards not to stop there and continue to improve.

“Today, thank God, it turned out that we lost one gold medal, I am very glad that someone else came first, because we need intrigue. We are very pleased that Japan won today, their team also trains in Russia with coach Inna Bystrova, this is also a merit of the Russian school, they have been working there for four years in St. Petersburg. Eight gold medals out of nine possible, what can I say, what can be summed up? The results - thank God, ”said the head coach.