Aliya Mustafina: The season of hope

Raise your hand if you were skeptical that 2010 World Champion Aliya Mustafina, who tore her ACL in April, could get back to elite gymnastics before the end of the year.

Lower your hands, and lower your head for doubting her. In this the season of miracles, 17-year-old Mustafina pulled a stunner by looking nearly ready to conquer the world at this weekend's Voronin Cup in Moscow.

Sure, Mustafina was missing some of her old difficulty on vault and floor. Sure, she fell off the beam on a side aerial. But the difficulty doesn't look gone forever, and at a meet that is essentially a showcase of Russian talent, Mustafina finished sixth overall in spite of mistakes. In event finals, she did a bar routine that likely would have netted her a silver medal on the event at the World Championships two months ago.

It boggles the mind. Shouldn't she be at the point where she's just beginning to do hard landings?

Video link: Aliya Mustafina in bar finals at the 2011 Voronin Cup:

Here's the point: To the Olympic hopefuls who are spending the holidays icing injuries, doing physical therapy and itching to get back to full training, Aliya Mustafina is proving that it is possible to return look as good as before the injury. If this is what she's doing in December, imagine what she'll be capable of in July.

Here's the other point: Mustafina's return signals that the 2012 Olympic Games will be open season. Jordyn Wieber, Viktoria Komova and the rest of the world are on notice -- the Olympic all-around competition just got much more interesting.

What better present could there be for gymnastics fans?

Video link: Aliya Mustafina on floor at the 2011 Voronin Cup:

Read more of Blythe Lawrence's blogs on Examiner.com.