Semyonova to Compete at Europeans; Afanasyeva By No Means Certain for American Cup

Some interesting news from Russia today...

Moscow sports club CSKA reports that Ksenia Semyonova is recovering well from her wrist problem. She is back in full training and is slated to compete at both the Russian Nationals and the European Championships in March, albeit on two events rather than four. Meanwhile, Ksenia Afanasyeva is said to have recovered from what sounds like a torn muscle in her side, but according to her coach, it is by no means certain that she will compete at the American Cup. Here's the article...


Ksenia Semyonova (photo: Jasmin Schneebeli-Wochner/Gymbox)

Semyonova and Afanasyeva Train Seven Hours a Day

Let us recall that at the end of last year, world champion Ksenia Semyonova was forced to forego participation in the World Cup Final in Madrid because of painful sensations in her wrists. However, doctors diagnosed nothing dangerous, explaining the pains in her hand as the peculiarity of a young gymnast's growing organism. Ksyusha did not even stop training; she simply reduced the burden on her sore wrist a little.

"Now Ksenia feels considerably better," says Marina Nazarova [Semyonova's coach]. "The painful sensations have practically disappeared, and it is now possible to carry out full training. We hope that by the time of the Russian Championships, which will take place in Bryansk from March 5th to 14th, Ksyusha will be back in good form. Although we will only be preparing two routines for the European Championships in April – bars and floor exercise."

According to Marina Nazarova, the extent of Ksenia Semyonova's participation in the Russian Championships has not yet been determined. Everything will depend on the gymnast's form. For the present Ksyusha is training seven hours a day: a one-hour session in the gym in the morning, and two three-hour sessions in the afternoon and evening.


Ksenia Afanasyeva (photo: Stefan Wurzer/Gymnasticsunited)

"Ksenia Afanasyeva is carrying out a similar regime," continues Marina Nazarova. "We are preparing her for the European Championships, both for the individual apparatus and for the all-around. Ksyusha's muscular problems in her side are a thing of the past, thank God. She is training intensively, spending sufficient time on all four apparatus of the all-around."

Meanwhile, it is far from settled that Afanasyeva will take part in the American Cup mid-February, although currently Ksenia and yet another CSKA representative, Kristina Goryunova, seem to be the most likely candidates for the trip across the ocean. "Control workouts will show Afanasyeva's degree of readiness for the American Cup," says Marina Nazarova. "But we are inclined not to send Ksyusha to this tournament. Really, the main thing for her at the moment is to prepare successfully for the Russian and European Championships."

So there you have it. Don't be surprised if it's Goryunova rather than Afanasyeva who shows up in Chicago next month.

Marina Nazarova on Ksenia Semyonova and Ksenia Afanasyeva

Russian blog Moskovskiy Komsomoletz posted this article after the Mikhail Voronin Cup. It's mostly about veteran Nikolai Kryukov, who was judging at the competition but says he has not retired from competitive gymnastics. We'll post the Kryukov part of the story later, but for now we'd like to focus on some tidbits about Ksenia Semyonova and Ksenia Afanasyeva. You see, the Voronin Cup was attended by Marina Nazarova, who coaches both Semyonova and Afanasyeva, and she was kind enough to answer a few questions about her gymnasts' health.


Ksenia Semyonova (photo: Stefan Wurzer/Gymnasticsunited)

This is what Nazarova had to say about Ksenia Semyonova, who is indeed, as we reported earlier, suffering from bad growing pains:

"How shall I describe this? The workload in gymnastics is absolutely colossal. We were prepared for the World Cup Final, but, for example, during her bar routines Ksyusha had constant pains in her left wrist. She had a thorough checkup in Germany, and now she's constantly consulting specialists. But the fact is that there's only one thing we can do: wait until it's over. The girl continues to grow fast. Last year she grew seven centimeters [nearly three inches]. Lately she's added three more [over an inch], and she feels pain in her growth zones when training hard. This doesn't mean Ksyusha has stopped training; it simply means we've reduced her training load as far as possible to take care of her wrists."

Ten centimeters in one year is a lot. We can imagine it must be a painful experience for Semyonova.


Ksenia Afanasyeva (photo: Stefan Wurzer/Gymnasticsunited)

Meanwhile, this is what Nazarova had to say about Ksenia Afanasyeva, who sustained an unspecified injury in November:

"She's aiming for the American Cup in February. She has undergone treatment, and it seems everything is OK, but we'll know more about her condition just before the tournament."

Finally, Nazarova said she considers the European Championships in April to be the official start of the 2009 competitive year, and hopes to have her girls ready for battle by that time. "Let's just hope those growth zones will play along..."

So there you have it. Another name to add to the American Cup roster: Ksenia Afanasyeva. Cool. Looks like it's going to be a good competition!

The Injuries Just Keep On Coming...

Ding ding ding, we have another winner!

According to this Russian article (which we wouldn't have found if the C score hadn't directed us there first), Ksenia Semyonova is injured and unable to train properly at present. Her injury will in all likelihood prevent her from taking part in the World Cup Final in Madrid in December. Does anyone else feel the field in Madrid is beginning to look a little... depleted?


Ksenia Semyonova (photo: Getty Images)

We don't actually read Russian ourselves, but if we read the Babelfish translation correctly, it's Ksenia's hand that is hurting, possibly because of a growth spurt. According to the article, Ksenia saw a German doctor after the Olympics, only to be told that he couldn't do anything for her as only time can heal her sort of injury.

The article says that Ksenia can only train in a way which doesn't involve putting pressure on her hand, which is to say she's working on choreography (apparently she's learned a new floor exercise for next year) and doing acrobatic skills on the trampoline.

We wonder if Ksenia could turn her injury into an advantage, like Elena Produnova did back in the day. Didn't Produnova's awesome running front tumbling skills stem from a temporary inability to put pressure on her hand? We doubt Ksenia has the kind of power required for running double front somersaults, but there's no telling what other interesting tricks she might learn while unable to do her usual thing. We bet her floor exercise will look really good come next year.

Get well soon, Ksyusha. Competitions will be dull without you, and besides, we're getting fed up with writing about injuries all the time.