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AFTER RISING STAR Aliya Mustafina led the all-around and her Russian team to the top of the preliminary standings, it became evident that this event would not become another China-U.S. dual meet. Indeed, since 2006 the Americans and Chinese had played King of the Hill at the worlds and Olympics, with no pressure from the likes of Romania and Russia. But all of that changed in Rotterdam. The Russian program, which had welcomed the return of a few former
Soviet coaches—Andrei Rodionenko after the 2004 Olympics; Alexander
Alexandrov in ’08—is finally seeing the returns on its rebuilding effort.
It took some time, however. Ksenia Semyonova’s 2007 world title on
bars was a flicker of hope, but the Russian women went home empty-handed from both the Beijing Olympics and ’09 London worlds. Clearly, the
Russian coaches were still searching for that one gymnast to make the team relevant again. They found her in Mustafina, the first-year senior (she turned 16 on Sept. 30)
By DWIGHT NORMILE
TEAM FINAL
1. Russia . . . . . . . .175.397
2. United States . .175.196
3. China . . . . . . . .174.781
4. Romania . . . . . .173.096
5. Japan . . . . . . . .169.897
6. Australia . . . . . .168.629
7. Great Britain . . .166.828
8. Italy . . . . . . . . . .163.429
TOKYO QUALIFIERS
1. Russia . . . . . . . .234.521
2. China . . . . . . . .233.778
3. United States . .233.643
4. Romania . . . . . .228.495
5. Great Britain . . .224.921
6. Australia . . . . . .224.785
7. Italy . . . . . . . . . .219.179
8. Japan . . . . . . . .218.895
9. Netherlands . . .217.286
10. Brazil . . . . . . . .217.130
11. France . . . . . . . .216.961
12. Ukraine . . . . . . .213.945
13. Canada . . . . . . .212.477
14. Germany . . . . . .212.294
15. Belgium . . . . . .209.777
16. Switzerland . . . .208.761
17. Poland . . . . . . .206.770
18. Spain . . . . . . . .206.361
19. Greece . . . . . . .206.154
20. Korea . . . . . . . .205.260
21. Mexico . . . . . . .204.043
22. Venezuela . . . . .201.861
23. Hungary . . . . . .198.728
24. Uzbekistan . . . .198.070
Prelim results on poster
Russia shook off a mid-meet meltdown
to win its first world team title
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who led Russia to the European title last spring. In Rotterdam she bravely carried her team
to victory in a meet that could have gone to any of the top three countries.
Although Russia had
three falls on bars,
including two from
After Aliya Mustafina
hit floor at the end, she
was embraced by
Nabiyeva (inset right).
