Katrin Is Ready to Show Playful, Glamorous Style

I have been following Katrin Taseva for a couple of years. I think the Bulgarian Federation made a mistake by not including he in the national team earlier and by not sending her to move international competitions last year.

Katrin is very flexible, has made a lot of progress with both her pirouettes and leaps, and, this year, she also has a lot more originality. Some of the risks with clubs you can see in this routine, despite the minor mistakes, are very different from the what most other gymnasts show on the carpet. Also, she is expressive, playful, and just fun to watch.

I am excited that this season she is showing off new and routines with very new and beautiful leotards that bring out her personality and style. I think she can be a real gymnastics diva, who can do perform to some very fun and fast music, and also really engage the audience, while not losing her focus on the difficulties that she is showing. I think these sparkly but elegant leotards will look even more beautiful with medals!


From the competition in Espoo, Finland, I like her clubs performance best, even though it was not the highest scored. This is very clearly a routine that has the potential to be remembered when Katrin becomes more confident.

This year at the Espoo International Tournament, Katrin got scores mostly around 16.8- 17.0. I think if the judges had seen her more last year, she would consistently receive over 17 even with some minor errors, just because at this point in there development she has enough difficulty to earn that. She usually appears very confident and I am pretty sure the mistakes will go away with time, too. At this stage, I definitely think Katrin has made more progress than Sara Staykova, who is the other candidate for the number 2 spot on the Bulgarian team. Sara had the chance to compete at a lot of events last year, and although she is very beautiful to watch, some of the inconsistencies in performance that we saw last year appear not to have changed at all.

I wish the Bulgarian Federation would consider investing some more time and effort in Katrin's international presence so that the judges will not perceive her as a brand new gymnast or as a "reserve" on the team, but rather as a competitor who can claim spots in the finals in the not so distant future. I have really enjoy how Katrin handles the clubs with her feet at the ending of this routine and I can't wait to see her perform it even better.

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.

Salome Trains in the Cold

I "stole" this picture from one of the Facebook fan pages devoted to gymnastics. It shows the Georgian star Salome Pazhava wearing layers of clothes because the gym where she prepares to dazzle us all doesn't have heat. It pains me to watch how, in the 21st century, an athlete of true world class and grace has to endure this kind of obstacle.

Meanwhile, we have compensated judges, international federation leaders, local federations, former stars. Isn't there someone who could lend a hand to help resolve this shameful situation?

Over the last couple of years Salome has brought a lot of excitement and a truly unique style to rhythmic gymnastics.. She is also the first Georgian to enter, with full force, a fight for the top 6 in Europe and in the World. I am certain that both other gymnasts and fans from around the world deeply value her contribution as an athlete and also as a performer. And as a dreamer. She and her coach have started from zero and have climbed very, very far.

Sometimes dreams may be enough to keep us warm. They are certainly enough to keep us going in times of adversity. But, at this stage of her career, this gymnast deserves a lot more than the fuel of her own dreams. So I still hope that whoever is responsible for heating this facility will do his or her job. Or that another gymnast will perhaps invite Salome to practice in a gym with normal temperature so that she can focus on finding new ways to surprise and inspire us.