Skip to main content

Anna Dementyeva - a hidden diamond

By
 Picture of Anna, by permission of the Russian Gymnastics Federation.

Anna Dementyeva is a name that many overlook when considering possibilities for next year's Russian Olympics team.  This quiet, but feisty, gymnast is recognised by national team coach Alexander Alexandrov as the hardest worker on the Russian team.  Fans appreciate Anna for her balletic power and precision.  Dementyeva was an indispensable part of last year's Russian team gold medal at the Rotterdam World Championships.  She anchored the team with a confident performance on beam, and set the scene on floor with a routine that was unrivalled for its expression, line and amplitude.  Despite a below par competition at the Tokyo World Championships this autumn, Anna is also amongst the most decorated gymnasts on the Russian team, as reigning Russian, Russia Cup and European all around champion. 

Anna, born on the 28th December 1994, trains with her coach Elena Zhiganova in her hometown of Samara.  She recorded this Champion's Monologue for Sportbox in July.  Lupita's translation of Dementyeva's words provide a moving insight into this artistic gymnast's mentality. 


 A champion’s monologue

I was 4 years old when my mum took me to gymnastics. I enjoyed what the girls were doing. I turned to my mum and told her that I was going to become a gymnast. 


My first important competition was in 2008. I went to European championships. When I became team champion, I was 12-13 years old. It’s impossible for me to say what my favourite event is. I can say that beam is a difficult event. It’s 10 cm wide. It’s a difficult one. It’s worth it to fight to overcome fear little by little. 


When you come up on the podium, you’ve the feeling that everyone is watching only you. You may fall and fail, not perform well. But this instant is over.


You have support from your friends, your personal coach, the head coach, your family. All this helps to fight to overcome your nerves and your fear. I think you can overcome fear.


My hope is to make the Olympics in London and to win a medal in the team competition, even the gold medal. 

Many thanks to Lupita for all her hard work.






Video courtesy of Yoliss94 at Youtube.
Labels:

Comments

  1. Anonymous13 November 2011 at 22:14

    thanks so much for posting translations of the Russian features/articles!!

    Thank you Lupita for your translations

    Much appreciated!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous14 November 2011 at 01:40

    WOW. Thanks, had been hoping for this. Anna sounds so modest and sweet here. Many thanks to Lupita and Rewriting Russian Gymnastics.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous14 November 2011 at 04:29

    Thanks for this. Always nice to hear such insights from a gymnast that I really like. Thanks

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Who really won the WAG All Around?

By
You will find a link to the FIG's newly published book of results at the Olympic Games here .  This year, they have broken down the judge's execution scores so you can see exactly how each judge evaluated the gymnasts' performances.  It makes for interesting reading - if only I had more time to analyse each judge's marking.  A skim reading already highlights multiple inconsistencies in individual judges' marks and makes you wonder why they bother with the jury at all. I have taken the time to look at the reference judges' scores for the top four in the women's all around.  The FIG explains here what their role is, and how they are selected.  I even used my calculator, which is a risky thing in my hands.  My, how I wish we could have seen a similar document for the Tokyo World Championships. I wonder if anyone can explain how, if the FIG's Code of Points is so objective and fair, it is possible to come up with two different results using two differ...
70 comments
Read more

The State of the Art - Gymnastics in 2013

By
Just picked up Peter Aykroyd's 1987 book  International Gymnastics: Sport Art or Science?.  Seeing it reminded me that gymnastics is in a constant state of flux and change; its identity has been subject to debate and conflict since the earliest days of competitive gymnastics, well before it existed in the form we recognise today.  I want to try to talk about the state of the sport today, how it compares to past models, how it arrived at this point, and what are the questions arising. I make no apologies for publishing the picture comparisons on this page, which were created by Lifje.  Some have seemed to find them rather challenging in the past, but they are not airbrushed or altered in any way.  Yes, the pictures are purpose selected for the sake of comparison, but they express a truth about the direction the sport has taken over the past few years.  They are not so much about Russia versus America as artistry versus athletics.  I do not pretend...
41 comments
Read more

UPDATE 23/9 - Russian WAG team for Nanning confirmed

By
Daria Spiridonova will compete at her first World Championships this autumn.  Picture : RGF Natalia Kalugina has confirmed the Russian team for Nanning : Aliya Mustafina, Maria Kharenkova, Tatiana Nabieva,Ekaterina Kramarenko, Alla Sosnitskaya, Daria Spiridonova.  Reserve : Polina Fyodorova Here is a paraphrased translation of a comment by Natalia Kalugina on her Facebook page : 'Aliya has confidence in competition and she is, kind of, a coach to this team.  In Europe she succeeded in this role and she has told the coaches that she even liked it. The main fighting force will be Kharenkova, Sosnitskaya and Spiridonova.  Accordingly, the strongest apparatus will be beam (Marina Bulashenko With God!).  The Chinese women, of course, have been known to win that apparatus, but if one falls, they all fall.   Alla Sosnitskaya could compete in the vault final, and - in theory - on the floor. On bars, of course, Russia will probably lose to the Chinese women, but the...
57 comments
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more