Aliya Mustafina told TASS that she will not compete at the Russian Cup next week and will focus on preparing for the World Championships instead. Mustafina last competed at the Birmingham Cup where she won gold in the all-around. She later opted to miss the European Championships after having three competitions in a row and had to withdraw from the European Games due to a minor injury.

Earlier today, Valentina Rodionenko told R-Sport that Mustafina is retiring, after which the gymnast felt necessary to make a public comment and state that she is still training and hoping to make the Worlds team. Rodionenko told R-Sport:

“Mustafina withdrew from the Russian Cup. I think she will retire. First, she withdrew before Minsk, now she’s withdrawing before Worlds. I think she understands that it’s hard for her to be on the team now. It’s a pity, such a pity. But she can’t overcome herself now, can’t restore the routines, it’s hard for her. No, of course, she won’t be in the running for a team spot in Stuttgart. She understands everything and she came and asked to not be at the training camp now. She started training… But she looks at the situation realistically. We can’t put a person on the team just because of their name.”

Mustafina told TASS her missing the Russian Cup does not mean she doesn’t plan on trying for the Worlds team:

“I decided to withdraw from the Russian Cup. But this doesn’t mean that I gave up on my intention to make the team for the World Champions. Regarding the thoughts about finishing my career in the sport soon, I’ll keep my thoughts private.”

In a comment to TeamRussia, Mustafina also said that her knee is not bothering her anymore and refused to share her reasons for missing the Russian Cup.

Valeri Starkin, the head of the Penza Gymnastics Federation where Mustafina trains and the father of her coach, Sergei Starkin, said that missing Worlds might be a wise decision for Mustafina but doesn’t mean she’s retiring:

“She also missed the World Championships before the Games in Rio. And the fact that she’s withdrawing now, perhaps, is the correct decision. She doesn’t have a lot of motivation [to go to Worlds]. The team has already qualified to the Olympics. To go to Worlds just to win a team medal or to perform not in the best shape? I don’t think that’s important to her either. She only has one motivation now: to make the Olympic team and to help it. And I’m sure, although this is just my opinion, that if she sees there are four girls who are stronger than her, she’ll make a decision. But, in any case, this won’t happen until spring, when the Russian Championships will take place. She proved to everyone that she can compete at a high level after giving birth. She can’t just give up and say – I won’t compete anymore. She could’ve done it before. Especially since she’s always the one making the decisions.”

This is not the first time Valentina Rodionenko announced someone’s retirement when it did not actually happen. In the past, she announced the retirement of Tatiana Nabieva (still competing), Viktoria Komova (returned to competition after the announcement) and Nikolai Kuksenkov (still competing).

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