Mustafina's coaches had her resume workouts slowly. Coach Valentina Rodionenko said in May, "Only when we are told that she can proceed with training will we go forward. It's important to save her for the Olympic Games." By July, she was only doing upper body conditioning and rehabilitation on her leg. In August, after the Russian team was announced for the 2011 World Championships, Rodionenko said: "Aliya really wanted to go to Worlds—her heart and soul are literally crying, 'I can do it! I'm ready!' But we do not want to risk costing her the Olympics, and her surgeon in Germany said that she can start real training only in December. She just thinks she's ready now. But she does not really understand what she will face. She must be protected. Sometimes it takes years for people to recover from these injuries, and she hasn't even had five months."