BERLIN -- Aliya Mustafina's bid for a second World all-around title ended Friday night at the European Championships.
The 16-year-old Muscovite tore her ACL landing an Amanar vault during the women's all-around final. The injury, at first thought to be a less serious torn miniscus, was confirmed as an ACL tear by the Russian Gymnastics Federation Saturday as reported by International Gymnast Magazine and her official website.
Mustafina's injury dramatically changes the landscape for the 2011 World Championships, which may or may not be held in Tokyo in October. Without her, the Russian team is weakened but still deep, with Tatiana Nabieva, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Viktoria Komova and in a pinch Anna Dementyeva available to do the all-around.
Mustafina's injury is also likely to put pressure on Nabieva to compete more than just vault and bars more often. It also somewhat clears the way for Komova to take her place as the world's alpha all-around gymnast provided Komova recovers from an ankle injury.
The question now is whether Mustafina will be able to recover in time for the 2012 Olympics, and whether she can continue to do high level gymnastics on a repaired knee, as her teammate Anna Pavlova has been attempting to do. By all accounts, it is a sad day for gymnastics.
Quick hits: Women's all-around final, Men's all-around final, Women's vault, Women's uneven bars, Men's floor, Men's pommel horse, Men's rings.
Follow The Gymnastics Examiner on Facebook or Twitter, or click the "Subscribe" button above to receive the latest gymnastics news and results via e-mail.
Comments