I love training videos, they are so exciting! The first few glimpses at a new set of skills that your favourite gymnasts are getting set to perform. Sadly, the best training bideos are often of skills that never materialize (notably Sacramones front 1.5 salto double twist vault, Tweddles arabian full out on floor). But this close to the Olympics, and showing feasible and well performed skills, Komova's training videos hint at a gymnast on the rise.
Brought to my attention by a tweet by Gymnastics Coaching this morning
There are a few key facts that are very easy to forget about Komova...
1. She was far from her best last year. With all the hype that surrounds juniors, there is a tendency to rely only on what happens once they are seniors, as their competitions are larger scale and the video footage is far greater. But what we must bear in mind are the videos we used to see of Komova a few years ago. The beam and vault at the very least in Tokyo were sub-par by her standards (beam especially, lets not forget her jaw droppingly beautiful flight series combination ending layout stepout-arabian, and of course her Patterson dismount). With a return to better health who knows what we might see.
2. She has been a senior for a very short time. Because of the hype she may have been expected to be showing incredible routines instantly, but with a bit of time these athletes can really put together some fantastic difficulty. Gabrielle Douglas is a good illustrator of this.
That dismount looks fantastic. Sure, its overrotated, but who cares. What is more important to my eyes, is Komova herself. She looks so much stronger and healthier, and I bet this dismount is just scratching the surface of the skills she is planning for London.
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