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End of a Reign For her fourth participation in the Universiade, Anna Bessanova had to give way to Evgeniya Kanaeva, the new rising star from Russia
Anna Bessanova from Ukraine, 4 silver medals this time
Slowly but surely rhythmic gymnastics is confirming its popularity among the sports on the Universiade programme. This is due to several reasons. For one thing, Josef Robert Zellweger, our technical delegate for the discipline at FISU, has done an enormous job on promotion. And it shows in our statistics for participation that are regularly on the rise. Secondly, this sport provides a great show. Large audiences are always happy to attend this superb tournament, generally scheduled at the end of the afternoon or in the evening. Finally, this sport is successful at the Universiade because fantastic champions attend every time. Ukrainian Anna Bessanova is one of these exceptional UNIVERSITY SPORTS MAGAZINE 77
athletes – she was competing in her fourth Universiade (Daegu 2003, Izmir 2005, Bangkok 2007) and started out as the great favourite. She won a bronze medal in the general competition at the Beijing Olympic Games, and scores seventh on a rope, fourth on the hoop, seventh with the ball, and ninth with the ribbon in the world ranks of the International Gymnastic Federation. Would she outclass her opponents again, as she did in Izmir and Bangkok? Other very talented gymnasts were there to challenge her supremacy: Kasak Aliya Yussupova who ranked fifth on the rope, fifth on the hoop, fourth with the ball, and forth with the ribbon, as well as Belarusian Svetlana Rudalova 15th on the rope, 12th on the hoop, 16th with the ball, and 14th with a ribbon, and finally Russian Evgeniya Kanaeva 1st with the rope, 1st with the hoop, 1st with the ball, 2nd with the ribbon and Beijing Olympic champion at the general competition, in other words the competition was tough. Evgeniya was the one who upset the ranks at the Universiade by taking five gold medals out of five in the individual events. Nothing could stop the Russian rising star who convinced the judges and the public with her technical mastery in perfect time to the music. This
is a very important point, and is emphasized in the reforms that are now taking place in rhythmic gymnastics. The FIG authorities want to reduce the difficulty of the exercise to give the gymnasts more room for personal greater expression. To achieve this, they have to adjust the score code in favour of the artistic content of the programme as compared to the difficulties it requires. Bruno Grandi, the President of FIG admits that he wants to put greater stress on rhythm and music, which should be a full-fledged component of the exercise, and to discourage the gymnasts from becoming contortionists to try to score points on certain difficult exercises. This would be better for the health of the gymnasts, and provide a lighter, more attractive performance. What else can we say about the tournament? New countries are joining the ranks on the podiums, and this is always excellent news. This was the case for Irina Risenzon from Israel who won a gorgeous silver medal on the hoop. The People’s Republic of Korea came in second on the group event, also on the hoop. We want to take this opportunity to pay special homage to Anna Bessanova Evgeniya Kanaeva, the new Russian star gained 5 gold medals in individual events! - PhotoSPORTS ©FIG MAGAZINE 77 UNIVERSITY