In her first year as a senior, Aliya Mustafina 🇷🇺 showed she was one to watch out for at the European Championships, where she had won two individual silver medals--in addition to the gold with her team.
She carried that momentum into the 2010 World Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam 🇳🇱. During preliminaries, she qualified first to the all-around as well as for all four event finals. She then was a crucial part to Russia winning their first ever World Team Title, where she competed on all four events and hit.
Many gymnasts would feel overwhelmed at this point of a meet, or wilt under the pressure. But not our Queen Aliya. Although she had just turned 16, she had the steely nerve and determination of a competitor who had been around the big meets for many years.
Aliya dominated during the AA Final. She led from start to finish, and her winning margin over silver medalist Jiang Yuyuan was 1.034. Her combination of incredible difficulty, gorgeous style, and a superior competitive mindset made her the prototypical artistic gymnast.
Sadly, Aliya would tear her ACL a few months later during 2011 Europeans. And although she would come back strong and go on to have a glorious career highlighted by back-to-back Olympic gold medals on uneven bars, I've always wondered what she could have accomplished if not for that knee injury. It's so rare to see a gymnast have so many glorious attributes and qualities. I really think she could have been one of the all-time greats of the sport.
Instead, this would be the only Major AA title of her career.
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26 авг 2024
