Main:Viktoria Komova

Viktoria Komova
Komova at the 2012 Olympic Games
Full name	Viktoria Aleksandrovna Komova
Nickname(s)	Vika
Country represented	Russia
Born	30 January 1995 (age 20) Voronezh, Voronezh Oblast, Russia
Years on National Team	2008-2013, 2014-present
Coach(es)	Gennadiy Yelfimov
Current status	Active

Viktoria Aleksandrovna Komova (Russian: Виктория Александровна Комова) was born 30 January 1995 in Voronezh, Russia. She is a Russian artistic gymnast and is the 2012 Olympic All-Around silver medalist, the 2010 All-Around Youth Olympic Games Champion, the 2011 World All-Around silver medalist, and the 2011 World Uneven Bars Champion.  She's coached by Gennadiy Yelfimov.

Komova is the daughter of the 1985 World Champion (with team) and 1986 Goodwill Games All-Around Champion, Vera Kolesnikova. Her father, Alexander Komov, was also a gymnast. She has a brother - also called Alexander (known as "Sasha").

Career

2007

Komova's first major junior competition was at the Voronin Memorial in 2007. She won on the vault and in the floor exercise.

2008

Komova began 2008 by finishing third in the all-around at the WOGA Classic in Texas. She then took part in the Massilia Cup in Marseille where she finished eleventh in the all around and seventh in the floor exercise. Her next competition was the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships in San Jose where she finished third in the all-around and fourth in both the uneven bars and beam. Her final competition of 2008 was the Voronin Memorial where she won the all-around, the floor exercise, and the vault. She also finished second on the uneven bars.

2009

First up for Komova in 2009 was the European Youth Olympic Festival in Finland where she won the all-around competition. She also won on the uneven bars and on the beam, and finished third in the vault. She then competed in the Japan Junior International where she also won the all-around, and the uneven bars and beam competitions. Her final competition of 2009 was the Voronin Memorial where she again won the all-around (as well as the uneven bars and floor exercise competitions).

2010

Komova's breakthrough performance came at Russian Nationals where she won the all-around title. She succeeded current all-around world champion Aliya Mustafina (who was injured and could not therefore take part in the champiosnhips), as the national champion. Both Mustafina and Komova were widely regarded as Russia's two best hopes for individual gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London in the female gymnastics competitions. Komova also finished second on the uneven bars at the national championships.

Following on from her success in the national championships, Komova then competed in the junior competition at the 2010 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships where she achieved enormous success by contributing to the Russian's cleansweep. She won the all-around competition over teammate Grishina. She also won Gold with the Russian team and on the beam and vault, and finished second on the uneven bars.

Komova then competited at the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore where her performances have led many to make her amongst the favorites for Gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Komova won the all-round competition with what was, at the time, the highest score in international, FIG-sanctioned competition at the time, a 61.250 (this stood until Gabby Douglas' 62.232 at the 2012 Olympics). She also won on the vault and on the uneven bars, and was third in the floor exercise.

Komova's performances at the 2010 Youth Olympics and throughout 2010 lead Lee Ann Gschwind of Universal Sports to state: "With her fluidity, form, and old school Soviet style, Komova has drawn comparisons to a young Nastia Liukin. And while she's not yet as polished as Liukin was when she won Olympic all-around gold in Beijing, Komova - with two years to go until London - is already more powerful...Komova has more power than her slight frame suggests. She throws an Amanar on vault and displays explosive tumbling to complement her elegant dance on floor. On balance beam, Komova's layout step-outs seem to float above the apparatus. And she carries an impressive 6.5 start value on the uneven bars, where her routine includes a unique transition, a layout Jaeger, and an opposite-direction Tkatchev. Komova's win in Singapore was her second major international title of 2010. This spring, she won the junior all-around at the European Championships, where she outshined the senior-level competitors [...] Komova, [along with Mustafina], is in a strong position to help return the Russians to the dominance of [the 1980s and early 1990s]."

On the 13th November 2010, Komova competed in the "Freddy Cup" Italian Grand Prix (in which the women competed on beam and uneven bars) where she finished second to Mustafina in the balance beam competition. However, she won on the uneven bars.

Komova was originally scheduled to compete at the Toyota Cup in Japan in December where she would have again competed with Mustafina in what is now regarded as the main rivalry in Russian women's gymnastics, ahead of what International Gymnast Magazine is calling the "anticipated all-around showdown between the two stars...at the Russian championships in March and European championships in April". However, this was changed and she was switched to compete at the Voronin Memorial event from the 16–18 December 2010 instead. However, just before the event was scheduled to start, she had to withdraw after suffering a fractured ankle from tripping up whilst reportedly walking through the gym.

2011

Komova began the new season by competing in Russian Nationals, but was still struggling with her ankle injury. Despite the injury, however, she still managed to help her team win the team competition and she finished third on the uneven bars. She also finished fourth on the beam.

Due to her persistent ankle injury, Komova was withdrawn from the European Championships. In withdrawing her, her coach, Andrei Rodienenko, emphasised the need to protect Komova's health in the long term. He stated: "It is no great drama, we have the Olympics."

On the 15th May 2011, Komova travelled to the sporthopaedicum Munich at the ATOS Private Clinic in Munich with her mother, the same clinic where Aliya Mustafina had recently undergone knee surgery, to have her ankle injury evaluated as she was not recovering from the injury in the manner that had been expected. Mustafina also travelled with Komova as she was scheduled to undergo post operative evaluation re her knee injury at the same time. The clinic determined that Komova's ankle required surgery (due to interior damage to the joint) and she duly underwent arthroscopic surgery on the 18th May 2011. She returned to Russia on the 30th May 2011. She then returned to the ATOS Clinic in Munich on the 15th June 2011 for post operative evaluation to ensure that her recovery was on track. The results of the evaluation were that her recovery was going very well and she will return to Russia on the 22nd June 2011 where she will begin light training.

On the 1st July 2011, it was reported in Full Twist that Komova will be returning to full training in mid-July 2011 and that Komova has actually had 2 surgeries on her ankle. Surgery was apparently required as a result of two separate injuries to the ankle, one causing a lay off of 6 weeks, and the second resulting in her being unable to train for 2 months. Komova was quoted as stating that: "I was performing a skill and took a step back and twisted my leg — that’s how I got this injury. I got the first injury jumping off bars and the second one on floor exercise. It knocked my ankle out of place. I was taped, but it didn’t save me…And I started all over. But I don’t regret competing then. I wanted to test things…I wanted it and my coach wanted it and it looks like we just went too fast."

It was also reported by Full Twist in the same article that Komova had grown 11 centimetres over the last 18 months, but that she feels that this had not adversely impacted on her training.

On the 17th August 2011, Komova made a return to competitive gymnastics in the Russian Cup in Yekaterinburg. Whilst she was only able to perform watered down versions of her floor and vault routines whilst she continues to recover from injury, she was able to perform her full uneven bars and beam routines. She won Gold with her team and finished second in the all-around behind European all-around champion, Anna Dementyeva, scoring 58.875 (including 15.700 on the uneven bars and 15.150 on the beam). Komova also won Gold in both the beam (15.525) and uneven bars (15.875) event finals.

On the 23rd August 2011, it was announced that Komova had been included in the Russian team for the 2011 World Championships which will be taking place in Tokyo from the 8-16 October 2011.

Komova next competed at the Ghent Challenger Cup in Belgium from the 3-4 September 2011, but competed only on the beam and the uneven bars. She won the Gold on the uneven bars with a score of 15.650,[14] but could only finish fifth on the beam with a score of 13.850 after a fall on her flic, layout step-out, layout step-out combination.

In her final competition prior to the World Championships in October 2011, Komova competed at the 7th Dinamo International in Penza from the 17-18 September 2011. Komova won the all-around with a score of 58.350 (14.450 Vault, 15.550 uneven bars, 14.550 beam, 13.800 floor). Komova also won Gold medals on the beam (15.134) and in the uneven bars (15.667) event finals. She also finished fifth in the floor final with a score of 13.567 as she continued to deploy watered down versions of her floor and vault routines as she continued to recover from injury.

Komova travelled to Tokyo for the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Competition, were she competed in the qualifying round over the weekend. Russia qualified second to the Team Final, and Komova qualified first to the All-Around final. She competed a DTY on vault, and also qualified first to beam and bars event finals, and fifth to floor exercise finals. In the individual all-around finals, the much anticipated showdown between USA's Jordyn Wieber and Komova took place. The competition started off on vault, where Komova performed a clean DTY and placed in fourth position. On the uneven bars she showed her trademark routine with a double tuck 1/1 turn dismount and was the only gymnast on this day to score over a 15 on the uneven bars. However, on beam she struggled with several connections and a double turn that the judges downgraded because she didn't finish the twist. She ended the routine after several balance checks and wobbles with a tucked double back and a sizeable step. On the last event of the day, floor, she impressed as usual by her style and dancing but had troubles with some skills, in particular the double Memmel turn of which she fell out of and the piked double back with a low landing. She came in second, only edged by Jordyn Wieber by a margin of 0.033 points. Komova was visibly disappointed and was afterwards heavily critized for not congratulating her competitors and taking her medal off when walking away from the podium. The following day she offered a steady and very clean routine in the uneven bars finals and edged teammate Tatiana Nabieva for gold by half a point. She also competed in the balance beam event finals, where she fell on the very same double turn she had had problems with in the individual all-around competition, which lead to an 8th place finish. Komova pulled out of floor finals due to a minor injury, giving her teammate Ksenia Afanasyeva the chance to compete and earn her first individual world title.

On November, Komova competed at the 2011 Elite Gym Massilia, she won gold with the Russian team, in the All Around and on the Uneven Bars. She also won a silver on the Balance Beam. In December, she competed at the Italian Grand Prix and won the women's titles in uneven bars and balance beam. At the 2011 Voronin Cup, Komova captured the all-around, balance beam, floor exercise and she won against compatriot Aliya Mustafina on uneven bars who took silver.

2012

Komova was named to the Russian team for the European Championships. After posting a high score on uneven bars, she fell on balance beam, resulting in a low score. The Russians took the silver medal behind Romania. Individually, Komova won gold on uneven bars and placed sixth on balance beam.

Komova competed at the Russian Cup in June. She qualified second in the all-around, and won with the fourth best all-around score of the season. However, she fell in the uneven bars event final, but still managed to win a silver behind Aliya Mustafina. She also won gold on balance beam, and silver on floor exercise.

On July 7th, Komova was named to the Russian team for the Olympics.

London Olympics

During qualifications, Komova competed on all four events. She stepped out of bounds on floor exercise, scoring in the 13-range and missing the event finals on that event. She hit her three other routines, qualifying first to the all-around, third to the uneven bars, second to the balance beam event finals, and helping the Russians qualify to the team final in second place.

During the team final, Komova competed on vault, bars, and beam. She stepped out of bounds on vault, and almost fell on her beam dismount, but had a very solid bars routine. After teammate Anastasia Grishina's floor routine (where she received a 12.466), Komova and her teammates were all in tears, as they thought they hadn't done enough to even medal. When they found out they won the silver, placing behind the United States and ahead of Romania, they were all smiles during the medal ceremony.

In the all-around, Komova started on vault, where she had a rough landing on her Amanar. She scored a 15.466. She then went to uneven bars and scored a 15.966. On balance beam, she had a much improved routine from the team final and scored a 15.441. Komova moved to floor where she gave the performance of her life and scored a 15.100. She won the silver behind USA's Gabby Douglas and ahead of compatriot Aliya Mustafina. She was visibly upset at winning silver again and cried when the results came up on the screen. However after the medal ceremony, Komova said of Douglas' performance:

"She performed beautifully today. [...] And I believe that she earned her gold medal. She was very, very good tonight."

In the uneven bars event final, Komova had a five tenth deduction for hitting her feet on the low bar. She finished fifth with a score of 15.666. In the balance beam final, she fell twice. The first fall was on her tuck front somersault and the second was on her double Arabian dismount. She finished eighth with a score of 13.166.

Komova said that she is planning to go to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

2013

Komova started off the year dealing with a growth spurt and a back injury and was training lightly. Komova missed the Russian Championships and the European Championships as a result, but hoped to train well enough to go to the World Championships in the fall. She originally planned to participate in the Universiade, but pulled out. She was slated to compete at the Russian Cup in August, but was hospitalized with viral meningitis and missed the competition. She was initially in the running for a spot on the World Championship team but returned to the hospital and was told by her doctors to rest for another month.

2014

Her first competition back was the Russian Championships in April, where she competed on every event except floor. She helped her team win gold, but finished eighth on bars after falling twice. Afterwards, she was named to Russia's senior team for the European Championships, only competing bars and beam, but soon injured her ankle and required surgery, leaving her off the Euros team. She recovered in time to compete at the Russian Cup in August, winning uneven bars gold and team bronze. She wasn't sufficiently prepared to make the World Championship team, but returned to international competition at the KSI-Matsz Cup, winning all-around, uneven bars, and balance beam gold, and floor exercise silver. She missed the Voronin Cup in December to get a cyst surgically removed from her jaw.

Medal Count

Year	Event	TF	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2007	Voronin Cup			1st			1st
2008	WOGA Classic	2nd	3rd	1st	3rd	4	9
	Massilia Cup		11				7
	Pacific Rim Championships		3rd		4	4
	Voronin Cup		1st	1st	2nd		1st
2009	Tampere European Youth Olympic Festival		1st	3rd	1st	1st
	Japan Junior International		1st		1st	1st
	Voronin Cup		1st		1st		1st
2010	Russian National Championships		1st		2nd
	Birmingham Junior European Championships	1st	1st	1st	2nd	1st
	Singapore Youth Olympic Games		1st	1st	1st		3rd
	Freddy Cup				1st	2nd
2011	Russian Nationals	1st			3rd	4
	Russian Cup	1st	2nd		1st	1st
	Ghent World Cup				1st	5
	Dinamo International		1st		1st	1st	5
	Tokyo World Championships	2nd	2nd		1st	8
	Elite Gym Massilia	1st	1st		1st	2nd
	Italian Grand Prix				1st	1st
	Voronin Cup		1st		1st	1st	1st
2012	Brussels European Championships	2nd			1st	6
	Russian Cup	2nd	2nd		2nd	1st	2nd
	London Olympic Games	2nd	2nd		5	8
2014	Russian Championships	1st			8
	Russian Cup	3rd			1st
	KSI-Matsz Cup		1st		1st	1st	2nd

Floor Music

2011 - Swan Lake Remix

2012 - "You Know I'm No Good" by Amy Winehouse/ "The Show Must Go On" by Queen

2014 - "Fanatico" by Edvin Marton