With the "Stella Zakharova Cup" in Kiev on March 28th & 29th the independent Ukraine was the organiser of an international competition in artistic gymnastics for the first time. So everyone - participants, visitors and probably also the organisers - was anxious to see the running of it. The Ukrainian gymnastics federation had done their utmost to present a remarkable event to their international guests. So the competition in Kiev's palace of sports took place on a podium. This was good especially for the European gymnasts as preparation for the upcoming European Championships. However, the question if the money for the podium couldn't have been invested better, e.g. in heating the big palace of sports..., is unsettled.

Unforgettable are certainly also the extensive show programmes. There was a pop-song about one of the sponsors, the political party "ednist" (unity), presented by a Ukrainian singer with young dancers as "cheer-girls" and several other performances of young dancers and gymnasts. In addition to this, honorary guests, judges and participants of the winning ceremonies were presented in a detailed way and sometimes repeatedly. Also the Ukrainian anthem of course couldn't be missed. The first day with team- and all-around competition was already a very long day. But whoever expected a shorter and more relaxing 2nd day with apparatus finals was proved to be wrong soon...

Five and a half hours of apparatus finals

The apparatus finals lasted about 5 ½ hours, by this the originally planned schedule was overdrawn by about 2 hours (!). It seems, the organisers really wanted to present as much as possible to their international guests and to the audience. Any efforts to get a grip on the overdrawn schedule could not be seen...
For a part of the time on both days there were about 1500 - 2000 spectators and the mood was good in the venue. However, most of them didn't stay until the end of the long competitions so quite a few empty ranks could be seen also. As a nice gesture the interesting history of Ukrainian gymnastics was being presented on a video wall. It included great gymnasts as Boris Shakhlin, Ludmilla Turisheva, Aleksandr Svetlichny and Lilia Podkopayeva. All of them were present also at the first Stella Zakharova Cup and especially Lilia was welcomed cheerfully by the crowds.

Ukraine took victories...

In the team competition and also in the all-around Ukraine took the victories. The first place in the women's competition was reached by team "Ukraine 1" with Alina Kozich, Mirabella Akhunu, Alyona Kvasha and Tatiana Yarosh followed by the strong Russian junior team with Anna Pavlova, Yekaterina Orlova, Polina Miller and Gulnara Ziganshina. Behind them on place 3 was the solid Dutch team with Renske Endel, Rikst Valentijn and the two juniors Berber van den Berg and Loers Linders.

After the Ukrainian team recently couldn't succeed in big international competitions anymore, that might change again soon. The elegant Alina Kozich and lively Mirabella Akhunu, who was the crowd's favourite in Kiev, presented themselves very motivated and showed more solid routines than their older team-mates. Alina Kozich also won the all-around. However, not only the juniors were responsible for the victory of their team. Alyona Kvasha also competed well, her floor routine impressed the audience as well as the judges. The insecurities, especially on uneven bars, of team Ukraine 1 were compensated by quite high scores from the judges and so they reached their clear victory.

The 2nd place of the Russian team might change into a 1st place in Patras at the Junior European Championships soon. As usual the gymnasts from Russia impressed everyone with their perfect technique. So e.g. Polina Miller performed her twists with her legs cleanly next to each other, without crossing them. The Russian gymnast has got a not very Russian-sounding last name because of her German great grandfather. It was told that little Polina followed the World Championships in 1994 on TV and was surprised that the American gymnast Shannon Miller had such a "Russian-sounding" name Due to several mistakes Polina could not reach a higher ranking in the all-around. However, her team-mate Anna Pavlova placed 2nd.

... but the Netherlands performed a solid competition

The team from the Netherlands, hindered by injury and illness, performed a solid competition but certainly still can improve in Patras. The junior gymnast Berber van den Berg ranked 9th in the all-around as best gymnast of her team. This proves that there are good gymnasts following the strong Dutch team of last year's World Championships in Ghent. Everyone was of course looking forward to the routine of Renske Endel on uneven bars in which she again performed her beautiful Stalder combinations. However, in the apparatus final she then had problems with a handstand on the lower bar and some other slight mistakes so she could not get a medal there. Without a team but with a strong individual performance presented herself Ashley Postell from the USA. She reached a 5th place in the all-around with good routines on vault, beam and floor. Only on bars she made a few major mistakes. The elegant and beautiful American quickly became one of the crowd's favourites.

In the apparatus finals a Russian victory could be seen on vault by Anna Pavlova and on uneven bars by Polina Miller who presented a very beautiful routine. On beam Ashley Postell earned her first victory. The 3rd place here was reached by Renske Endel. Funny to see during the winning ceremony was the short, but demonstrative, glance at her watch by the experienced Dutch gymnast - probably her reaction on the already mentioned huge overdrawing of the time schedule... On floor 2 Ukrainians ranked 1st and 2nd, Alina Kosich and Mirabella Akhunu. Mirabella's lively choreography will certainly also please the audience in Patras. After a not so strong performance in the team-competition the Brazilians could celebrate their first medal in the floor final. Camilla Cosmin presented a good routine and reached place 3.

...and about Diego Hypolitho and Jeffrey Wammes

In the men's team- & all-around competitions it was similar to the women's ones, the Ukrainians with Roman Zozulia and Sergei Vialzev dominated. However, also Russia with Yevgeni Krylov and Juri Tikhonovski presented strong routines. They were followed by Great Britain on place 3 in the team competition. As in so many other events before Kanukai Jackson impressed the audience with his great vaults. A surprising victory on pommel horse was reached by Michael Hjorth from Sweden who presented a faultless routine. Interesting to see were the performances of Diego Hypolitho from Brazil and Jeffrey Wammes from the Netherlands whose sisters Daniele Hypolitho and Gabriella Wammes are already well-known in the international gymnastics scene. Following the strong uneven bars performances of the Dutch women, Jeffrey Wammes presented a good high-bar routine in the apparatus final. However, it will still take a while until Diego and Jeffrey reach the performance level of their sisters.

All in all, despite the long hours in a cold venue..., the Ukrainian Gymnastics Federation has presented a very interesting competition shortly before the European Championships especially due to the junior gymnasts who took part in it. It will be interesting to follow the steps of those gymnasts in a few weeks in Patras.

lisa