Take Two: Is Aliya Mustafina setting herself up for another failed attempt at a return to competition?
Russian gymnast, Aliya Mustafina, has everyone on the edge of their seat as they await her second attempt at a comeback this year. With the chosen tournament – Mikhail Voronin Cup – merely a week away, supporters hope Mustafina has gauged her healing more
accurately this time around.
As far as comebacks go, the return is highly anticipated and surrounded by an excited, somewhat anxious buzz. In Mustafina’s case, however, the air is rife with an anxious, only somewhat excited buzz instead.
Is it wise for the athlete to jump into action just yet?
In last year’s edition of the tournament, Mustafina claimed titles in the all-around, bars and floor exercise, bringing her first year as a senior gymnast to a lauded end.
In 2010, she also added four gold medals and six silver medals to her collection. These included two World Championships titles in all-around, one as part of the Russian team in Rotterdam, and a team gold each in the Japan Cup (Tokyo) and the European Championships
(Birmingham).
2011 started well for the athlete with a silver medal win in the all-around at the AT&T American Cup.
In March this year, she claimed gold medals for her stellar routines on the vault, balance beam and uneven bars at the Bercy World Cup in Paris.
However, misfortune struck during the European Championships in April, where an awkward landing on her Yurchenko 2.5 gave her a torn ACL.
The knee was operated upon successfully on April 13 in Munich. The injury benched Mustafina during the World Championships.
She was restless to enter competition again and wanted to compete in the Worlds on uneven bars and balance beam at least – an impossibly long leap judging by what the doctors said. She needed to give the injury at least six to eight months.
While coach, Alexander Alexandrov, was able to keep her from the World Championships, he was not able to stop the eager gymnast from scheduling a comeback in the Stuttgart World Cup held on November 12, 2011.
Mustafina’s misjudgement of her ACL recovery was painfully evident during the warm-up session only.
As a result, she did not proceed to take part in the formal competition as part of the team, like she had planned initially.
Mustafina is the prime example of rushed recoveries. Barely a month has passed since her first and failed attempt at a comeback, and she is already rearing for a second attempt.
The short span that has transpired since the Stuttgart withdrawal seems insufficient for complete healing. To onlookers it seems like a Stuttgart rerun waiting to happen.
Then again, although Mustafina is ambitious about her comeback, hers will not be the first example of a successful return to Olympics from an ACL injury.
American gymnast, Annia Hatch, underwent the same surgery in August 2003 and came back to obtain the Olympic silver medal on the vault in Athens.
Similarly, Justin Spring ruptured his ACL in August 2007 but helped the U. S. Olympic team win bronze in Beijing.
Maybe Mustafina needs a lesson in patience and to realise that her interference with the recovery is only prolonging her break from the sport, while marring her performance too.
It is better to return later with full strength than to r****d recuperation by exerting on a half-healed ACL.
With bated breaths, the Russian gymnastics community can only hope that Mustafina is ready this time and will use the Voronin Cup for a steady build-up to the London 2012 Olympic Games.
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