High base: how gymnast Melnikova became the best in the German Bundesliga
According to the results of the next round of the Bundesliga, the most decorated current Russian gymnast Angelina Melnikova received the golden jersey as the athlete who scored the most points among all the participants. The Russian played for the German club TSV Tittmoning-Chemnitz at the tournament and scored 55.40 points on four rounds. The second place was taken by Sylvia Shtor (53.75), the third by Karina Schoenmaier (53.70). However, the performance in Germany was remembered not only by the brilliant results of the Olympic champion and the current world champion. For more information, see the Izvestia article.
Special invitation
What Angelina Melnikova showed at the competitions in Germany. In jumps, she did a "Yurchenko two screws" worth 5.0, and traditionally, she made a small bounce back on landing, an estimate of 14,200. At the World Championships in Jakarta, Melnikova received 14,100 for a similar jump in the final, but it was a little more "dirty" there. On the uneven bars, it turned out to be an exemplary "Jaeger" somersault, a bounce into the board (the sound was like nails being hammered), base 6.0, score 14,600.
The log, Angelina's most unpredictable form (in which she fell at both the Russian and World Championships), was exciting this time, not without swaying, but also without falling. Base 5.4, score 14.050. Psychologically, of course, it was very important to pass the beam without falling after a series of failures.
But in the free skate, where there seemed to be nowhere to fall, on the third acrobatic diagonal, on the rebound from landing after a backflip, Angelina flew out of the carpet with two turns, allowed her hands to touch the surface, and this was a fall. Base 5.3, score 12.550.
Nevertheless, our athlete surpassed all competitors and won a landslide victory. It wasn't easy for her, though. First of all, psychologically.
Recall that Melnikova received an invitation to finish the season with a performance for Tittmoning-Chemnitz two months ago during the FIG World Challenge Cup tournament in Paris, which became Angelina's first international start since 2021. European champion Karina Schoenmaier approached the Russian gymnast in the French capital. This German woman has Russian roots, so there was no language barrier during communication. Karina gave Angelina a personal invitation from the head coach of the Chemnitz team, Tatiana Bachmaier. This mentor works in tandem with Belarusian specialist Anatoly Ashurkov, and this coaching duo had personnel problems in the German league due to injuries and the departure of another European champion Emma Malevsky to study in the United States.
However, the German media did not support the coaches. In Germany, a number of materials have been published criticizing the choice of the club, both from the political and sporting sides. With politics, everything is obvious, the reasoning does not change. Angelina remembers CSKA, and the photo with the Russian president after the Tokyo Olympics, and some likes that are not even clear if they were actually or were drawn by someone later.
The sports argument was as follows: "Why should TSV Tittmoning-Chemnitz, which leads the league standings and secured the victory, call Melnikova?" The answer to this question is not required, the club could have several reasons. This includes attracting attention through the current world champion, and circumstances related to the health of other athletes, whom Angelina could insure with her assessments. And, in the end, just sympathy for Melnikova herself — why not invite her?
Warm welcome
Another important thing is that, unlike virtual ones, the real audience in the hall supported Melnikova's performance. Like the competitors in the tournament, you can hear it on the recording.
"The audience was amazing, I was very supported, we took a lot of photos after the competition," Melnikova quotes TASS. — Many people wrote to me on social networks, including in Russian, that they had bought tickets to the competition just to watch me. It was especially pleasant to me. After the end of the competition, we all took pictures with the girls from the team, then we had dinner together, it was a very friendly atmosphere, I'm glad that everything turned out that way.
In the fall of 2025, Angelina (after a string of starts in France, Indonesia and Germany) is a true ambassador of Russian sports abroad. She stands out the most, representing an absolutely Olympic and highly non-commercial sport that has been highly politicized for decades. The issue of winning the team championship at the World Championships or the Olympics has always been very tough here. Yes, some might say that there are still tennis players, there are swimmers. But the former do not live in Russia, and the latter are so spread out in disciplines and distances that they do not allow them to determine the absolute best. Everything is clear with Melnikova — she won the all-around at the World Championships and she is absolutely the best at the moment.
And it is Angelina who is the face of Russian sports right now. And once again, she will have to not only compete in combinations, but also represent Russia, normalizing the attitude towards athletes from our country in the eyes of the German audience. Ahead of the athlete is the final of the German club league, which will be held on November 29 in Heidelberg.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
