Gymnast Afanasyeva - Grishina, Komova, Mustafina are the leaders of the team

Find here Lupita's translation of another excellent R Sport interview, this time with Ksenia Afanasyeva :

Ksenia Afanasyeva at a recent press conference

“The National gymnastics team has three strong leaders: Anastasia Grishina, Viktoria Komova and Aliya Mustafina”, World champion Ksenia Afanasyeva told the agency R-Sport.

Аfanasyeva was the winner of the team competition (2010) and won an event title (floor, 2011).  “I can’t say who the leader of our team is, because we have three strong gymnasts, three leaders – Аnastasia Grishina, Viktoria Komova and Aliya Mustafina- “, said Afanasyeva. – “And they are all strong in their own way”.

Concerning her own position in the national team, the sportswoman said:  “Those three girls are very strong in the all around, and I am very strong at floor”  “I am perhaps the leader on floor, but they are leaders in the all around and will be more useful to the team”, - she added. – “I know that I can help the team on floor and, perhaps, on beam".

Concerning the overall 2010 World Champion  Mustafina, who came back to the team after a severe injury sustained during the European Championships, the gymnast explained:  “From my point of view, Aliya is a unique person”. “She is able to focus her mind”, - added Afanasyeva. – "She is a strong person and comparing the 2010 World Championships and the fact that she has recovered all her strong program, she has a strong chance to compete successfully at the Olympics”.

The gymnast thinks that her most important aim in the near future is to recover from a foot injury she sustained at the Russian Championship and to put in a good performance at the European Championships in May". "If I can’t compete at the European Championships, it will be very tough, - the gymnast from Tula asserts. – “I hope I’ll recover, that I’ll have time to prepare and that I’ll compete – without this tournament it will be very difficult to go to the Olympics.  It’s difficult without competitive practice and it’s necessary to perform in front of the judges during the new season".
 

"At the World’s Championships (last year) I qualified for the Olympics, as a team and as an individual gymnast”, - Afanasyeva adds. – Yet the selection of the team takes place over several different stages – the first one was at the last Russian Championships and the next ones will be the European Championships and the Russian Cup.  Мy preferred event is the floor and in the time left until the Olympics, I will try to take my performance to the ideal level. There’s a lot of work ahead".