2010 World champion Aliya Mustafina isn't going to let something as small as an ACL tear keep her from doing the vault that will put her in contention for the 2012 Olympic title.
The 17-year-old Muscovite told Gymnastics Examiner correspondent Nils Bohl that she does plan to add in the Amanar vault that she was trying to land when she tore her ACL last spring in Berlin.
"First I want to get back the Yurchenko double twist," Mustafina said. "But to win, this will not be enough anymore. To win, I will have to do the 2.5."
First thing's first, however.
Although she was cleared to compete at the Stuttgart World Cup earlier this week by Dr. Michael Strobel, the Munich surgeon who operated on her knee in April, Mustafina withdrew from the World Cup, scheduled to be her first meet back, after experiencing pain and swelling in her knee while warming up for beam.
Strobel cleared Mustafina to compete, but apparently only on the condition that she "felt good and had no problems with her knee," German media were told.
Mustafina also said she has been practicing vault in the gym, though not doing anything hard. ("But the ones I've done have felt OK," she added.)
She was also asked whether she had watched the Youtube clips of her landing the ill-fated Amanar in Berlin.
"No, not really," she said. "The vault was actually not bad, it was just a bad landing. But I guess I will have to concentrate more in the future when doing this vault."
In characteristic fashion, the determined Mustafina said she had "no fears" about doing the Amanar again. "The injury is over," she said. "It's been forgotten."
Reponding to a question about why the Russians are back among the top teams, Mustafina commented: "Because the training is different. We train on a higher level now." When asked about the difference from former times, she responded: "I don't know, because I am too young. Since I've been here it has always been the same."
(Interview courtesy of Nils Bohl)
Follow The Gymanstics Examiner on Facebook or Twitter, or click the "Subscribe" button above to receive the latest gymnastics news and results via e-mail.
Comments