A Tribute to the Queen Diva of Gymnastics- Aliya Mustafina
Today, I was incredibly proud of my girl Aliya Mustafina. In the past, she's been called a diva, and not always lovingly (ahem, Tim Daggett!). However, it was her diva-ness that allowed her to comeback from such a devastating knee injury.
In 2010, at the World Championships, Aliya Mustafina was on top of the world. Team Russia won the gold in the team final and Musty herself beat out everyone to score that all-around world championship gold. She scored a silver medal on the uneven bars, vault and floor. Much like Nastia Liukin, she is the daughter of a former Olympian. (Her dad won a medal in greco roman wrestling in 1976). Then, it happened, at the 2011 Euro's, Aliya was up on vault and was performing the Amanar. When she landed, she landed and hopped on one foot and then crumpled down in pain. She wound up tearing her ACL, an incredibly devastating injury for a gymnast, and one that not many people come back from.
She was back at the 2012 Euro's, her first international competition since injuring her knee. She helped Russia place second in the team final with stellar performances on bars, floor and vault.
At the Olympics, she qualified for the all-around final and won a bronze medal. Needless to say, she was pretty pleased with herself and she should be. It's so hard to come back from an injury that could be incredibly devastating to a gymnast, they can try but never seem to reach the level of where they were pre-injury (Rebecca Bross). Aliya was so determined to go to the Olympics and beat Jordyn Wieber, who beat her at the American Cup in 2011 by the smallest margin. Aliya had been dreaming of kicking Jordyn Wieber's butt on the podium and probably off the podium.
Well, being that Jordyn Wieber didn't make the all-around final due to bullshit judging (fuck you judges) and bullshit rules (fuck you FIG); Our dear Princess Musty was quite content to beat Jordyn's teammate, Aly Raisman in a tie-breaker. Aliya has said that she will continue to train after the 2012 Olympics. This is also awesome, not many Olympians continue on after they win an Olympic medal.
Here's to Aliya Mustafina, the ultimate diva of gymnastics.
I will recap the rest of the All-Around Final this weekend when I have a catch up with everything, until then, enjoy your day!