Ksenia Afanasyeva Has Retired

It's official. Or as official as Valentina Rodionenko's sudden announcements can be, but Ksenia Afanasyeva has retired, and is now a coach at Round Lake. The World Champion and 2-time European Champion on floor exercise is giving the National Team her expertise in choreography. So I guess we found out what the rumor about Afan being at Round Lake was all about.

This is obviously a huge loss for the Russian team and fans, Afan has been the longest serving member of the team for years now and pretty much single-handedly kept the team afloat on floor during the last quadrennium. She has struggled with injuries throughout her entire career and according to V-Rod, her body can't take full training anymore.

Afan had a baby last year and I've been expecting her retirement, but it's still sad. She has made a comeback after comeback and it seemed like she would always be there to surprise us. There would always be a new Afanar, a new floor exercise with her particular brand of choreography and music. I'm going to really miss her.

Source.

Why, Kyla, Why

So Kyla Ross, my favorite Fierce Five member, announced her retirement from elite two days ago.

Ummm, Kyla?!?! Didn't you read my last post about retirements and how they're going to happen AFTER Rio? You just had to go ahead and one-up everybody by starting early, didn't you.

This is like Ana Porgras back in 2012. Or not, since Kyla actually got to go to the Olympics at least once. But it's still devastating. She's been around for such a long time (National Team member since 2009) that it's difficult to picture USA gymnastics without her. And even after last year she's still the most reliable gymnast in my mind. I wouldn't have hesitated putting her up in team finals in Glasgow even with all the struggles she had throughout last year. I'm sure she would have delivered just like she always did when they needed her. She was never really a team leader or a star, but I feel like she was incredibly needed during the transitional years after the Olympics, so young but a pillar of strength subtly holding the team together.

And she was such a beautiful gymnast. Long lines, beautiful technique and precision with a touch of elegance, everything I love in a gymnast. And photogenic, nearly impossible to find a bad picture of her. I was trying to find a nice montage to put here, but even though there were plenty of nice montages, I couldn't find the perfect one for my Kyla.

I still wanted to pay homage to her, so I included her in my series of...different sides thingies? I don't think this series has a name, I should come up with one. But here's for Kyla, you will be missed.

Kyla's going to start college gymnastics at UCLA in the fall on the same team as former elites Danusia Francis (senior now, so she will graduate before it), Katelyn Ohashi and Peng Peng Lee. Another Fierce Five alumna, Jordyn Wieber is a team manager so I'm sure Kyla will fit right in. Not to mention that she's such a tough competitor with excellent execution. I have a feeling that there are plenty of Perfect 10s just waiting for her at college.

Go win everything Kyla.