The women’s gymnastics events at the London Olympics is likely to see a keen contest between USA’s Jordyn Marie Wieber and two Russian girls namely Viktoria Komova and Aliya Mustafina for the all-around title.
Despite being very young, all three have immense experience in the sport and have been competing at the top level for many years.
Jordyn, born in July 1995, was the US senior national and American Cup champion in 2011. In 2012, she has been in great form, winning her second senior national title and a third American Cup. She also led her country to the top spot in the 2012 Kellogg’s Pacific Rim championships and took the gold in the floor exercise.
However in the Olympics she will have to overcome the two strong Russians, eager to show their skills after having overcoming serious injuries last year.
Komova, born in January 1995, comes from a family of gymnasts. Her parents were medal-winning international gymnasts and guided her through her initial years.
Komova’s performance at the 2010 Youth Olympics was an eye-opener for the pundits who then rated her as one of the favourites at London.
She won the all-around competition with what is currently the second highest score by any female gymnast under the current scoring system at the 2011 Visa Championships.
Mustafina, born in September 1994, is the daughter of Farhad Mustafin, a bronze medalist in Greco Roman wrestling at the Montreal Games in 1976.
The two are widely regarded as Russia’s two best hopes for individual gold at the 2012 Games. But Mustafina’s main drawback could be her slow recovery from her injuries. She had suffered a tear in her anterior cruciate ligament and it was a serious blow to her budding career at one stage.
In her first competition after recovery in 2011 she came sixth in the all-around but managed to get a silver on the uneven bars behind Komova.
She recently said that the London Olympics will coincide with the peak of her career and she expects to do well as long as she doesn’t get injured.
