Projectile out of turn: Russians took silver at the World Cup and qualified for the 2028 Games

At the World Gymnastics Championships in the Netherlands, the Russian men's national team won silver in the team all-around, beating the strong teams of China and Great Britain (only the Japanese team beat us by 1.5 points). This allowed Arseniy Dukhno and his comrades to get a ticket to the 2028 Olympic Games. The women's national team, despite all the difficulties and the lack of superstars, will also try to complete the maximum task. Our girls qualified for the final with the third result.

The fight for Olympic licenses

The team all—around is the most important and valuable type of the World Championship. This year, you can apply for tickets to the Olympics in Los Angeles. The three strongest teams in this discipline will receive them each. Ten days ago, it seemed that our girls should complete the task without any problems. At the European Championships in Zagreb, held in mid-August, the Russians did not let anyone near the gold medals. Yes, the strong national teams of the USA, China and Japan have been added to the World Cup. Nevertheless, getting into the top three seemed like a logical outcome.

The situation changed dramatically when the Dutch government identified our leaders as a "threat to international relations" and did not issue them visas. The current world and European champion Angelina Melnikova, the vice-champion of the continent in the individual all-around Anna Kalmykova and Olympic champion Victoria Listunova were banned from entering Croatia. The chances of making the top 3 in the team all-around have dropped dramatically. There were concerns that with the reservists in the application, we would not be able to get through the qualification, where we must take a place at least eighth.

The Russian Olympic Committee has appealed to the IOC and the International Gymnastics Federation with a demand to deprive the World Championships in Rotterdam of the qualifying status for the 2028 Games. Sports officials sympathized, but did not change anything. They say there are other opportunities to win permits. They are indeed available. Next year, nine more licenses will be awarded at the World Championships in Chengdu, China, where entry issues should not arise. But it is advisable to earn them early and calmly prepare for the Games next season.

Fortunately, our men's national team managed without losses. Compared to the European Championship, Sergey Naidin was added to the squad, who was denied a visa by the Croats in August. However, expectations were cautious. In Zagreb, not everything went smoothly for the Russians.

Silver and a ticket to the Olympics

The Russian men's national team went to Rotterdam in optimal composition, but not in optimal condition. Due to the delay in issuing visas, the team flew to the competition venue later than planned and separately. The flights were long, with disrupted flight connections.

At the preparatory training camp for the World Championships, an illness took down one of our leaders, the bronze medalist of the European Championships in the individual all—around, Daniel Marinov. This affected his performance in qualifying. In floor exercises, Marinov fell and could not make it to the finals.

Russia's strongest gymnast Arseny Dukhno couldn't stay on horseback, but he performed well on other projectiles. In the qualification of the individual all-around, the debutant of the World Championship was the only one who could compete with the Japanese. Dukhno reached the finals with the third result, losing to Oka Shinnosuke and Daiki Hashimoto, but moving Shohei Kawakami to the fourth place (he can no longer compete for awards, since only two representatives from one country go to the finals).

Our guys handled the pressure perfectly. Where some failed, others bit into the shells. Daniel Marinov was able to pull himself together on his favorite uneven bars, which failed him in Zagreb, Ilya Zaika dominated the rings, Sergey Naidin showed himself on the crossbar, and Arseniy Dukhno was impeccable in floor exercises. A total of five finals await Arseny at this World Cup. Shinnosuke Oka has the same amount, but no one else has it. We won't see our gymnasts only in the final on horseback, where Savely Siedin scored the highest points from the Russians (14,000), who became the 21st. But in all other projectiles, we are strong contenders for medals.

Individual all—around: Arseniy Dukhno - 3rd place in qualifying (83,866), Daniel Marinov — 12th place (81,564).

Floor exercises: Arseniy Dukhno — 1st place (14,700).

Rings: Ilya Zaika — 2nd place (14,533).

Vault: Arseniy Dukhno — 4th place (14,350).

Parallel bars: Daniel Marinov — 6th place (14,700), Arseniy Dukhno — 7th place (14,600).

Crossbar: Sergey Naidin — 6th place (14,233).

As a result, our men finished third in the team all-around qualification. In the final, there was a very tight battle between the four teams — Japan, Russia, China and the United Kingdom. Before the last round, the teams shared the minimum points. As a result, the very confident performances of Daniel Marinov and Arseniy Dukhno allowed them to score 250.329 points. This result helped the Russian national team to win silver and a license for the 2028 Olympics. Gymnasts were the first Russian athletes to qualify for the Games.

Russian gymnasts in the World Cup finals

Before the start of the women's qualification, Aliya Mustafina, the coach of our team, gave a realistic forecast, saying that the young girls could not jump over their heads, but they are quite capable of showing themselves worthily against the background of stellar competitors.

The two-time Olympic champion was right. We probably didn't jump over our heads in qualifying. Russians can hardly claim much on individual shells. Only two made it to the individual finals: Alyona Glotova showed the sixth result on uneven bars (14,400), and Lyudmila Roshchina became the ninth in floor exercises (13,266), but since three Canadians turned out to be higher, and no more than two athletes from the country pass, our gymnast will have the opportunity to compete for awards.

In the individual and especially team all-around, it turned out better than could have been expected. Perhaps the girls from the current national team can't show the top level on the uneven bars yet, like Kaylia Nemur, the main contender for gold in the absolute. But Algeria is not applying for an Olympic license now, because there is no one behind the former Frenchwoman. And Russia has a competitive team, despite all the barriers. For example, Alexandra Anufrieva waited the longest for a visa, did not have time to try out, but reached two rounds in qualifying and earned high points in the standings (in the vault with the 10th result, she is the second reserve in the final).

Lyudmila Roshchina was fourth in the absolute at the European Championships, passing ahead of Melnikova, Kalmykova and Frenchwoman Elena Kolas. In the individual all-around qualification, she beat Kolas, becoming the third (55,098). Kaylia Nemur (55,999) and American Blakely Skye (55,465) scored more points. We can have a medal here too. Glotova also made it to the final in the absolute with the ninth result (53.932).

The Chinese national team became the best in the women's team all-around. Even with serious personnel losses, we lost by less than a point to the powerful U.S. national team. Now we need to confirm our place in the women's team all-around final, which will be held on October 21.