Yana Demyanchuk interview on her success at Europeans

At the recent European Championships, the Ukrainian team brought home four medals: gold, silver and two bronzes. 15 year old Yana Demyanchuk became the European Champion on balance beam.

How was it possible to win in Milan?

"I think the judges estimated both complexity and quality. Though my routine was initially more difficult. But before the final, my trainers decided to simplify a combination slightly, so that I could execute it better. And it worked, and I was glad! But to be frank, I did not believe that I had won."

Prior to the European Championships, did you have a goal to take a medal?

"I wanted to perform my routines well. If they were good enough, I would get a medal."

After your fourth place in qualifications, did you think about the possibility of medalling in the all around?

"For me the first day was the most important, because the rest of the championship depended on it. I tried to be calm, because after all, it was my first European championship! When I passed the qualification I was more confident. I lost points only in the floor exercise, and I wasn't upset with that - I had achieved the main task - to pass qualifications."

Who were your main competitors?

"Definitely Ksenia Semenova from Russia. Then the Romanians. They are very strong on beam."

You will now prepare for the World Championships in London?

"Certainly. It is certainly the highest level. There will be the Chinese women, the Americans...But I am not afraid. I believe in myself now."

And the World Cup stages?

"I will participate in them. The Moscow WC is coming up, so of course I will go. I have already started to prepare my routines."

What's your usual training regime?

"Twice a day, about six hours altogether."

What do you do apart from study and training?

"I draw, I listen to music. I like the group "Encore", and also foreign music, like Britney Spears."

Yana, you are a native of Ivano-Frankovsk. For how long have you been in Kiev?

"Yes, I was born in Ivano-Frankovsk, and I started gymnastics there when I was nine. I moved to Kiev when I was eleven. Now I study here, in a sports boarding school. When we returned from the championships, little girls met us with posters, and even composed little verses.

How did your parents react to your success?

"They congratulated me, certainly...my mother cried with happiness. I don't think anybody expected such success."

Beth wins UB! - event finals

Yay Beth won bars with her crazy new routine! - Ksenia came in second (her form seems to have gotten worse, she keeps wobbling in her handstands). She also won bronze on floor:D and Beth took the gold! Sandra didn't medal at all because the judges devalued her triple twist dismount to a 2 1/2; as she'd already performed that, she ended up with no dismount>:( & Ferrari took the silver with watered-down tumbling but actually some effort at dance!! I'm shocked.

Beam was won by Yana Demyanchuk!! with the two Romanians medalling also. I love her routine! Her knee is still wrapped up (it was at WOGA earlier this year).
And another medal for Russia: Yulia was second on vault!! Ariella Kaeslin won; I think she must have fallen in qualifications.

I'll post full results later, when I have time. Haha I have a 2000 world essay due in on Thursday which I started yesterday

Andrei Fedorovich on the Europeans

Andrei Fedorovich, in comparison with the women's team, two-thirds of the men did not do so well?

"Pluzhnikov has shown the best routine here; 15.325 was his best score. Our problem is that his best is not up to the best of the world on rings. Except for one Chinese, all the leaders on rings were here. So his sixth place is basically his place in the world elite. And this placing does not satisfy us. We will revise his exercise so that his difficulty is raised."

What about the disappointment caused by Anton Golotsutskov!

"He was aiming for medals on floor and vault, but did not make it. He used an old floor routine (or combination, I'm not sure which) and others went ahead of him [he was 5th on fx.] With a difficulty of 6.2, it was impossible to medal. And he did not. However, he executed the routine very well, with his E score 9.0."

And he did not even make the vault final.

"That was entirely his own fault. I do not wish to discuss that."

It seems to me, at you claims cannot be only to Ryazanov and Perevoznikov.

I am convinced that if Ryazanov had executed better, he would have won the silver. And if he had more difficulty, he would have won...We are already working on this - in training he works on harder elements than he showed at the European Championships. He will be able to perform them soon. With Perevoznikov it is different. It was the first time he has appeared at a large competition. The judging was therefore stricter for him. So I consider his fourth plaving a good result. And it will be better at Worlds. But we must have a harder dismount."

The girls have pleased you?

"First of all, thanks to the girls and trainers, and to the senior trainer of the women's team, Alexander Alexandrov, and to all personal coaches of the gymnasts. Especial thanks to Ksenia Semenova and all who worked with her. For five years, our gymnasts never won the European all-around title. And now Ksyusha has returned this title to Russia. We brought to Milan three gymnasts (four??) The all-around success was with two of them. Then the medal Yulia Berger won is very important; nobody had thought of her as a contender for a vault medal."

How do you estimate the contenders?

"Gymnastics has grown much in Europe, especially with the men. The girls, to a lesser degree. [something incomprehensible...] I speak of Beth Tweddle in particular. Concerning men's gymnastics, it is impossible to look only to Asia. Europeans are also very competitive! Take Hambuchen, for example. He showed great difficulty."

How much of this competition was useful to you, as head coach of a national team?

"Very useful. In the individual competition, it is possible to gauge development tendencies. If in the winter we were uncertain of the new rules, we are familiar with them now. [something about Worlds.]"

Tell us, will the lineup for the World Championships be changed a lot?

"Those who can bring their routines into accord with the new requirements will make the national team. And they will be the gymnasts who will try for medals. But of course I cannot name them now."

European qualifications!!

Ksenia Semenova is in first place after qualifying round with 57.625!!!!!!!!!!!
Also Yulia Berger qualified first to vault final!!!!

VAULT
Yulia Berger RUS 14.287
Jana Komrskova CZE 14.225
Anna Kalashnyk UKR 14.112
Kim Bui GER 14.087
Aagje Van Walleghem BEL 14.075
Ariella Käslin SUI 14.062
Becky Downie GBR 14.025
Wyomi Masela NED 14.025

BARS
Beth Tweddle GBR 15.275
Anja Brinker GER 15.025
Ksenia Afanasyeva RUS 14.825
Youna Dufournet FRA 14.750
Anastasia Koval UKR 14.625
Valentyna Holenkova UKR 14.500
Becky Downie GBR 14.475
Ksenia Semyonova RUS 14.425 (with a fall on her pak)

BEAM
Vasiliki Millousi GRE 14.725
Anamaria Tamarjan ROM 14.525
Ksenia Semyonova RUS 14.475
Yana Demyanchuk UKR 14.450
Valeria Maksyuta ISR 14.375
Gabriela Dragoi ROM 14.350
Marine Petit FRA 14.050
Yasmin Zimmermann SUI 14.025

FLOOR
Beth Tweddle GBR 14.975
Sandra Izbasa ROM 14.475
Vanessa Ferrari ITA 14.425
Ksenia Semyonova RUS 14.400
Anamaria Tamarjan ROM 14.200
Ana Maria Izurieta ESP 14.050
Lia Parolari ITA 14.025
Valentyna Holenkova UKR 13.950


Anamaria Tamarjan was second in the all-around standings and Diana Chelaru in 15th; Yana Demyanchuk is in 4th!! good for her. The other Russian to qualify was Kristina Goryunova in 16th.
Afanasyeva had a rough day, falling on pretty much everything...in bars she only mucked her dismount so managed to qualify. Aarghhhh

& Beth's new routine is incredible!! I saw her performance from Jesolo...Iit should be a great showdown between her and Ksenia. I'm not sure which one I want to win!

Europeans coming closer!!

It's been a while since my last entry...European Championships are only a few days away!!! I hope coverage goes up quickly...we get NOTHING here in NZ.

Adrian Stan (Great Britain): “This line up of four gymnasts (Tweddle, Downie, Hannah Whelan, Rebecca Wing) offers us the most balance and possibilities to achieve the targets we set out for. Beth Tweddle has got real chances to medal on both Asymmetric Bars and Floor whilst we should also not minimize the chances of Becky Downie in the All-around, Vault and Bars; depending on the opposition's performance obviously. With the changes to the code of points in the first year of the new Olympic cycle, normally the European standard won’t be quite as high as at the end of the cycle, nevertheless we except that Russia will be very strong and having seen Romania recently we know they will be very competitive, as will France.”

Romania seems hopeful of success even though all their gymnasts are injured, including Sandra. Nooo Sandra, you can't be injured!!! I guess that's why her fx at Jesolo was pretty bad. Gabriela Dragoi and Anamaria Tamarjan are also injured. Grrrr. On the men's side, Razvan Selariu has had to withdraw due to a recurring back problem.

Aljaz Pegan from Slovakia withdrew because of a wrist injury.

And Vanessa Ferrari is competing after all!!! With her will be Emily Army, Lia Parolari and new senior Paola Galante with her new move on UB ( inward stalder? to tkatchev). She missed it last year at JunEuros but caught it at Jesolo.
At the Italian Clubs earlier on this year, Vanessa competed only a yurchenko full and didn't do her Comaneci on bars. I hope she's improved since then...

Russian team are sounding strong! Article from their website:
Yesterday the team left for Milan where the first competition of the new quadrennium will begin on the 2nd of April. The last training sessions were held on Friday at Round Lake; the girls in the afternoon, the men in the evening.

First, the personal impressions of the training. Three were doing very well - Afansayeva, Semenova and Yuri Ryazanov. There were very motivated, very stable, and completely concentrated on their routines. Ksenia Afanasyeva did her routines as though she was already competing. Yuri Ryaznov was the same. Ksenia Semenova was malicious and coquettish (?! must mean something different in Russian!) They were in the best condition for competition. There were errors, but only small ones, which there should be before a competition.

Andrei Perevoznikov was a little nervous. It is not enough to merely compete the routines, but to win with them. But he is very new to the team - he was unknown in a school near Moscow, and he has literally flown into a national team. And from there to the European Championships!! But he will do well.

Even in comparison with the Russian Championships progress is unusual. It was pleasant to observe everything, except, perhaps, Kristina Goryunova. She was not doing so well.

"Andrey Fedorovich, are you worried about Kristina Goryunova?"

No. She is always tense in training, to prove that she is capable of competing. She proved at the national championships that she has the right to represent her country.

"Will Perevoznikov handle the pressure, do you think?"

I think he will. He showed reliability at the national championships. He is also stable in training. In training, we talk, we work on things so they are able (the gymnasts). No more than that. Also understand - this guy should start! Even if he does not turn out very well right now. He will understand that, at the international competitions, he will learn to compete. Basically, these championships will be an experiment for all participants, not just ours. We will compete for the first time under new rules, with new routines; we will see new faces, such as Andrei - it is not just us who have new competitors! And we are proud especially of Andrei - we have had problems (can't understand next bit), and we have solved them. For the World Championships, we are also preparing Volodju Olennikova and Dmitry Gogotov (he will also be at Euros.)

"What is known about the contenders?"

We have looked at the results of the World Cup competitions while we held our championships. We have looked at our competitiveness. I can tell you that in most cases, we march in step (haha.) Our gymnasts show a normal level of preparation. Though we do not exclude unexpectedness - it is a new season, which means that we have new contenders; new routines are being prepared. We will watch. And we will prepare for the World Championships.

Roster for Europeans

Turns out Italy is not sending Vanessa after all. And Russia is not sending Maxim Devyatovsky. I'm not surprised, actually, especially after he did very poorly at the Russian championships.

The list is far too long to post here (and I can't recognise all the flags) so here is the link.

I'm looking forward to seeing Ksenia defend her two titles from last year, and also new French senior Youna Dufournet. Hopefully she'll do better than in the American Cup.

France and Great Britain name gymnasts for Europeans

FRANCE
Yann Cucherat (PB, HB)
Benoit Caranobe (AA)
Hamilton Sabot (AA)
Thomas Bouhail (VT)
Danny Pinheiro-ROdrigues (SR)
Cyril Tommasone (PH, PB)

Alternate: Samil Ait-Said (SR,VT)

Women: Youna Dufournet and Olympian Marine Petit.

A final training camp will be held for the women March 21-29 in Saint Etienne, and for the men March 24-28 in Bourges.

GREAT BRITAIN (men)
Luke Folwell
Daniel Keatings
Daniel Purvis
Theo Seager
Louis Smith
Kristian Thomas

Non-travelling alternate - Danny Lawrence

The men will prove their readiness in the London Open, on the 21st of March.