Blythe at the Gymblog reported that Yulia Lozhecko (RUS) who had been kicked off the Russian national team after screwing up her beam dismount at the 2007 World Championships preliminaries (therefore knocking herself out of the event final), surged back to reclaim her spot as one of Russia’s foremost Olympic hopefuls.

Hurrah for her! Lozhecko (or ‘Loz’ as she’s known to fans) is pure class on balance beam. A real joy to watch. Though I have no idea what she is like in real life–she’s something like Khorkina, or so I’ve heard.

Even more good news for Russia:
2004 Olympic vault bronze medalist Anna Pavlova won the hearts of many when she tearfully settled for fourth place in the 2004 Olympic all-around competition. Now, four years later, she is throwing an Amânar (another one?!) for another shot at what Athens refused her.

This all could make Russia more competitive, although by how much is debatable.