RG Legend Petrova Cheers Bulgarians For European Championships

This year the 33rd Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships has already been announced to be held at Budapest, Hungary on May 19 to 21. In line with this event, the draw for this was held last weekend. One of the members of European Union of Gymnastics’ (UEG) technical committee who attended this draw was Bulgarian rhythmic gymnastics legend Maria Petrova and she answered some questions from Hungary’s sports daily, the Nemzeti Sport.

Petrova has something to say about the International Gymnastics Federation’s (FIG) newly edited Code of Points (CoP). She thinks the new CoP was better than the old one, because now there is a balance between the work of the body, the work with the apparatus and the artistic part of the sport, which the old CoP didn’t seem to have. Petrova said that for a moment RG lost that artistry and that there used to be a code where audiences couldn’t even see the face of the gymnasts, since they were just doing one element after another. The new code abolishes that, because it will give more possibilities to more gymnasts to be successful, not only just a few of them, as Petrova believes RG is not only for a few countries but the whole world.

Aside from the CoP, there is another change in the sport of RG, and that is the music accompaniments for routines. Petrova liked this change so much because she believes that if a gymnast is dancing to music with lyrics, she has much more possibilities with the variety of music. Sometimes the words give more intensity to the routines and it can make a connection between how the gymnast performs and what the crowd understands. If the fans know the songs, that is another level of connection, and they would also have more fun.

During this line of questioning, Petrova had a short flashback to the kind of music RG used during her time. She said that pianists used to travel with the gymnastics team all the time. In every competition there was a piano and all teams have their own pianists who would play for them. It was convenient at that time because sometimes the gymnast was late to the music and the pianist can slow down to wait for her.

Maria Petrova is a retired gymnast herself, and when she was asked who among the retired gymnasts she would miss, it wasn’t quite a surprise when she said she loved the gymnastics of Yana Kudryavtseva who retired in January and Margarita Mamun who was rumored to have retired as well, although she said in an interview that she was just resting her injured back. Petrova said she loved both and she would miss them for sure.

Although her favorite gymnasts as of the moment are Russians, Petrova still supports the country she represented during her time, Bulgaria. She still hopes that the Bulgarians will do well in this new cycle even if the European Championships is completely changed. The golden legacy of the Bulgarian RG should be a motivation, Petrova said, because RG is what they loved to do. There was a period in which Bulgarians have lost power, but Petrova was positive that they are now standing up and that they will be hard competitors for the other rivals.

Ever since the European Championships has been held in 1978 until 2016, at the senior events Bulgaria has had a total of 44 gold, 24 silver and 35 bronze. Russia was ahead of them with 92 gold, 37 silver and 22 bronze.

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Mamun Clears The Clouds Surrounding Her Rumored Retirement

During the previous weeks, people have been speculating that Margarita “Rita” Mamun has retired from being a rhythmic gymnast. A lot of the fans are sad because they believe this is her most glorious time yet, after she has won the gold in the Rio Olympics All-around Championship. Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation President Irina Viner-Usmanova’s statement didn’t help at all in the cloud that is surrounding Mamun’s real state on the sport. The President said in an interview that Mamun has not trained for a while and she doesn’t expect her to come back.

To clear all these confusions, Mamun has finally spoken. In an interview with a Russian paper, Sport-Express, Mamun talked about her life after the 2016 Olympics, her relationship with swimmer Alexander Sukhorukov, and what her future plans are. The interview is in Russian and we tried our best to translate it so everyone can have an idea of what Mamun’s statements are.

The first question was, of course, the situation with her career. Mamun answered this by saying that she was merely in a hiatus due to back aches. It needed to be fully rehabilitated before she could go back to rhythmic gymnastics. She clarified that she’s still in the team and she did not go. As a matter of fact, she hopes to come back and perform once again. However, Mamun also said that if she would retire or not, all depends on her health. The decision would be announced later if she would fully recover or not.

When asked about her life after the Olympics, Mamun expressed her feelings about the public functions or galas she was invited to. She believed it was not for her, as she is not the kind of person who quickly makes new friends and immediately feels comfortable with strangers. Not surprisingly, she has already been invited to one of the dance shows, but she refused as her back wouldn’t allow her to dance. Although, she believes she has some dancing stuff she need to learn, teach girls in Novogorske, or open a gymnastics school.

Mamun wasn’t sure about coaching, and said it was still all guesswork. If there is something she would love to do after retiring, it was to enroll in an art class. She has this favorite hobby, which is painting, and she would love to put more time into that hobby of hers. She was looking into maybe even designing.

Mamun and Sukhorukov were engaged on December and the rhythmic gymnast said she answered yes without any hesitation. Their relationship has struggled during the last Olympic cycle as training forced them apart. But they succeeded in that obstacle and after everything, they vacationed in Dubai. Right now the date is still not chosen, but the wedding would be in the summer.

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Son Yeon Jae to Perform at Rhythmic All Stars 2016 with 2016 Olympic Champions

South Korean rhythmic gymnastics star Son Yeon Jae is scheduled to perform with the most renowned and top performing rhythmic gymnasts, including the 2016 Olympic Games champion, at the All-stars rhythmic gymnastics gala show to be held in Korea next week (September 16-17), her agency confirmed Tuesday.

Galaxia SM, Son Yeon Jae’s sports management agency announced that Son, together with Margarita Mamun – the Russia rhythmic gymnast who acquired the individual all-around gold at the Rio Olympic Games, will perform at a gymnastics gala event named “Rhythmic All Stars 2016”. The said event will take place at the Goyang Gymnasium in Gyeonggi Province. 

According to Son’s management agency, Russia’s Aleksandra Soldatova, the world’s third best rhythmic gymnast, will also perform alongside Son and Mamun in Goyang. Other world-class rhythmic gymnastics athletes, such as Melitina Staniouta and Katsiaryna of Belarus, as well as Kseniya Moustafaeva of France, will also appear at the event.

At the Olympic competition in Rio de Janeiro, the South Korean gymnast acquired the top 4 spot in the individual All-around final after obtaining a total score of 72.898 points from the four apparatus event. Staniouta acquired the fifth spot at 71.133, while Halkina took the sixth spot with 70.932 points. Moustafaeva acquired the tenth spot.

Aleksandra Soldatova was not present at the Rio Olympic Games because of the competition’s two-per-country rule. Margarita Mamun and Yana Kudryavtseva were the two gymnasts who represented Russia, and won the gold and silver medal, respectively.

Galaxia SM also announced that the Italian rhythmic gymnastics team, who clinched the fourth spot in the group all-around competition in Rio, will also be present in Goyang.

Son plans to use songs of different genres at her performance in Goyang, which includes K-pop and ballet.

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Son Yeon Jae Finishes World Cup Pesaro With Two Silver Medals

Son Yeon-jae, a South Korean rhythmic gymnast, took home two silver medals at the International Gymnastics Federation World Cup in Pesaro, Italy on Sunday as she prepares for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. 

At the World Cup in Pesaro, Italy -- the season’s third FIG World Cup, Son has garnered a score of 18.550 points in both the club and ribbons apparatus final. Russian rhythmic gymnast Margarita Mamun acquired the title in clubs after finishing with a sky-high score of 19.100, while Ukrainian Gymnast Ganna Rizatdinova achieved the ribbon gold medal with a score of 18.600. Also in the ribbon event, Son tied with Russian gymnast Dina Averina for the silver with a score of 18.550. 

Earlier Sunday, Son obtained the fourth place in the ball event and sixth in the hoop apparatus. 

After winning the title in the individual all-around by finishing with a score of 76.450 points on Saturday, the three-time world individual all-around champion Yana Kudryavtseva chose not to participate in the apparatus finals as she decided to rest. The Pesaro World Cup was the first FIG World Cup appearance of the 18-year old Russian gymnast this season after recovering from an ankle injury. 

The competition in the Adriatic Arena was the first and most difficult challenge for Son this season as she had to compete with the world’s top-ranked rhythmic gymnasts such as Kudryavtseva and Mamun for the first time at the World Cup. 

Son has failed to reach the podium in the individual all-around on Saturday. However, she still managed to post a career-high score of 73.900 points to grab the fourth place. 

Son has successfully earned medals at every FIG World Cup this season. In the Espoo World Cup in February, she won the gold medal in the ball event, silvers in the all-around and ribbon, and a bronze in the hoop apparatus. Last month, at the Lisbon World Cup, the South Korean gymnast took the second place in the ball and clubs, and finished third in the hoop event. 

However, as the finest rhythmic gymnasts are anticipated to develop their skills further in preparation for the Summer Olympic Games in Rio this August, Son is expected to come up against more difficult challenges in the succeeding competitions. 

The 21-year-old Korean gymnast, who was placed fifth in the individual all-around event of the 2012 London Olympics, will travel back to South Korea tomorrow ahead of the national team qualification for Rio on Saturday at Tenaeung National Training Center in Seoul. Before participating at the fourth FIG World Cup this season in Tashkent in May, the South Korean gymnast is expected to enhance her routine and techniques against more challenging opponents. 

Yana Kudryavtseva and Margarita Mamun is acknowledged as the gold medal favorites for the Rio Olympic Games, as they have already proven themselves by displaying their dominance at the past World Championships in the recent years. While their compatriot Aleksandra Soldatova, who has topped the individual all-around in the first two World Cups this season, was absent at the Pesaro World Cup, Rizatdinova took the opportunity to become solid in the Adriatic Arena. 

The Ukrainian rhythmic gymnast, who grabbed the bronze medal in the individual all-around final on Saturday, has successfully collected gold medals in ball and ribbon, while also winning a silver medal in the hoop apparatus. Her only downfall was the club event, where she was placed 9th with 16.200 points. 

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