Margarita Mamun - Five Years Ago and Now

I was watching a video of the first time I saw the Russian star Margarita Mamun in the winter of 2011:




She seemed very elegant and definitely had her own style. At the time, I was very impressed by her jumps. When I look at her now, I see a much more mature gymnast who has taken it to the next level with her apparatus work and also with how expressive she tries to be. But I think that what is missing is the freshness, the originality, and the element of surprise:




Although Rita and her coach Amina Zaripova went all the way to winning gold at World Championship finals, it seems to be that I like the 2011 Rita a lot better. She was different. She stood out from the crowd. If Rita hopes to compete with both the prima Kudryavtseva, who is still battling injuries, and the extremely talented Alexandra Soldatova, we need to see the fresh and surprising Rita again, the one who made glamour her trademark.