"Not everyone is ready to plow right after the Olympic Games": why Bulgaria withdrew from the group exercises at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships

"Laura's injury is serious and team participation is impossible."

The day before the start of the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Kitakyushu, Japan, which will be held from October 27 to 31, the Russian national team has lost another key competitor. On Tuesday, the current Olympic champions in the group all-around Bulgarians announced their withdrawal from the tournament. The official reason for this decision was the injury of Laura Treits. The local federation reported that the day before the athlete, after one of two workouts, "felt very strong and sharp pain."

“Our girls rode well prepared and with a great desire to win the group competition ... Immediately a consultation was held with a doctor, who determined that Laura's injury was serious and the team's participation was impossible.

All the girls are sorry, as well as the coaching staff, but health is above all, and this is the only right decision at the moment, ”says the federation's official Facebook group.

Thus, in addition to domestic gymnasts, Azerbaijan, Spain, Italy, Japan, Ukraine, USA, Brazil, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Belarus, China, Finland, France, Great Britain, India, Estonia and Germany will compete for medals in this type of program.

The awards will be drawn on Friday the 29th.

The All-Russian Federation of Rhythmic Gymnastics did not react in any way to the refusal of the main competitors to perform.

The head of the organization, Irina Viner-Usmanova, chose not to comment on the incident.

The fans were waiting for the confrontation between Russia and Bulgaria in Kitakyushu with particular interest after the sensational defeat of the national team at the Olympic Games.

It is only the second time in history that she lost gold in the group all-around.

In 1996, when the species made its debut at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Spain took first place.

After 25 years, Bulgaria unexpectedly succeeded in doing this.

In Tokyo, the champions scored 92,100 points and were ahead of the favorite by almost 1.5 points - 90,700.

The head of the Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation of Bulgaria, Iliana Raeva, added fuel to the fire, who stated that the victory of her wards in Japan had become fully and fully deserved and called for an end to Russia's attempts to write off everything to judicial arbitrariness.

“The Bulgarian rhythmic gymnastics will continue its existence and work, leaving a bright mark that the governing body of gymnastics FIG (International Gymnastics Federation) can be proud of.

We express our respect to the judges of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, ”Raeva wrote on Facebook.

Viner-Usmanova did not enter into a discussion with her colleague and only emphasized that "every country has the right to its own opinion."

At the same time, the Russian national team on the eve of the championship of the planet also did not go without losses.

A few days before the start of the tournament, Viner-Usmanova announced the injury to Olga Karaseva.

However, this did not lead to the removal of the team, as in the case of the main rivals.

“There is a change in the team, Karaseva was injured.

In one exercise, Polina Orlova stood up, in the other - Maria Tolkacheva.

They were in a group, but they used to do one exercise each, but they will do two.

Now the team consists of five people ", - quotes the words of the TASS functionary.

Earlier, the Russians were left without a key rival in the personal all-around.

Back in early September, with the full complement of the World Cup, headed by the current Olympic champion Lina Ashram, the national team of Israel starred.

The coach of the national team Ella Samofalova stressed that such a step was not connected with the referee scandal in Tokyo, and the local federation explained the refusal to participate in "professional considerations."

In the media, they wrote about a banal desire to relax after the Olympics.

Viner-Usmanova reacted quite harshly to the actions of her opponents.

In her opinion, they just "didn't want to strain."

“We have retreated and are living this year calmly.

I know that the group exercise coach no longer works with the national team.

Probably, they individually came to this decision.

This whole situation is called “retreated, which was required to be proved,” quotes the Sport-Express functionary.

"We just wanted to have a good rest"

To understand what may actually be the reason for the desire of Bulgarians not to perform in Kitakyushu, and how this will affect Russian women, RT talked to experts.

Thus, the Olympic champion of Beijing in the group all-around Anna Gavrilenko suggested that Traits's injury was just a convenient reason for her rivals.

“I don’t remember that we had such a thing at least once, and we were withdrawn from the championship of the planet immediately after the Olympic Games.

At the very least, this is strange.

It's one thing if the girls end their careers, it's another thing when the composition remains the same.

There is a possibility that the gymnasts from Bulgaria just wanted to have a good rest.

Not everyone is ready to plow right after the Olympics.

Of course, the loss of even one person has a profound effect.

Substitutions are not always convenient for teammates and coaching staff.

Perhaps, given the successful performance in Tokyo, they decided to take advantage of the situation, ”Gavrilenko emphasized.

However, she called this behavior of Bulgarians absolutely normal and understandable.

“I can understand them.

It's one thing when the Olympics are ahead, and it's another when it is left behind.

Sometimes it's easier to breathe out and prepare for the next tournaments, ”added Gavrilenko.

Therefore, the Russians, in her opinion, can be called real heroines, because they, having not received a normal rest after the Olympics, did not refuse to travel to the World Cup.

“When such a big competition follows the OI, it automatically gets a little devalued.

The Olympics overshadowed everything, and many decided to calmly recover.

Believe me, it is very difficult to prepare for the championship of the planet in such a busy schedule.

Therefore, I just admire our girls.

They can be called heroines only because they decided to take part in the tournament.

After the Games, a recession inevitably sets in, and in this recession they are forced to look for hidden reserves in themselves.

About myself I can say that after the 2008 Olympics in Beijing it took three months.

They didn't have that time, ”Gavrilenko summed up.

But the five-time world champion Yana Batyrshina, on the contrary, called the incident an accident.

According to her, the Bulgarians had no reason to deliberately withdraw from the World Cup.

“Unfortunately, this happens.

It's a shame that the Bulgarians, as far as I understand, simply didn’t take a spare to Japan and therefore cannot castle.

Usually, spare people are always taken with them, just in case.

Here, apparently, problems with visas prevented me from arriving - the time is now difficult.

It's a shame for the team to come to the tournament like this and actually leave with nothing.

I frankly feel sorry for them.

There is no question that they just decided to take the chance to rest.

This is a really strong team and one of the main favorites of the World Cup.

They were eager to throw down the Russian glove again, ”Batyrshina suggested.

At the same time, she believes that the medals potentially won in Japan by domestic gymnasts cannot be considered inferior after the refusal of the participation of Bulgarians and Israeli women.

“You shouldn't hang them on the necks of Russian women in advance.

The opponents also have chances to win.

In the personal all-around there is a very strong Bulgarian Boryana Kalain, Belarusian Alina Gornasko, who took bronze at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

They are capable of fighting.

Spain, Italy, Belarus remain in group exercises.

There are enough strong teams, ”added Batyrshina.