For many years now, club routines bore me. This is by far my favorite apparatus and one where skills and coordination can really shine. Kudryavtseva has stellar technique but she doesn't risk as much as she could. Silvia Miteva had some strong club routines but nothing like what the Bulgarian school used to demonstrate in the past. The Ukrainians are flirty and playful, or, for that matter, dramatic, but they hold on to the clubs and dance with them mostly. Perhaps Kondakova came the closest to a dynamic,interesting clubs routine, though she almost never did it cleanly.
I have purposefully picked an event where this amazing gymnast, Stela Salapatiiska, actually did not perform as cleanly as usual. I have watched this routine hundreds of times live, and she made it look so easy, you almost didn't notice how crazy it is. I have literally seen her do it and then walk of the carpet without being short of breath. Astonishing:
I am waiting for the moment when a gymnast would be this brave. The fans deserve it.
