Skip to main content

Ksenia Afanasyeva : 'We are strong and beautiful'


Coach Nazarova watches as Afanasyeva performs floor


Ksenia Afanasyeva is a compelling person; the only member of the Russian gymnastics team (men or women) to have represented her country at two Olympics, she is self admittedly 'touchy', liking to have everything in its place and preferring to room alone.  But besides this, she is an excellent and caring team leader, concerned to keep up the spirits of the younger girls.

And then there is that wonderful floor exercise.  The World Floor Champion will unveil a new routine in London.  The pictures we have seen, from the Russian Cup (see left) promise another mature and expressively complex rendition.

In 2008 Afanasyeva was still a youngster who didn't have to worry about fear or nerves.  In London, 2012, she serves as captain to her team.   Read on as Lupita translates another in depth interview from Russian Gymnastics sponsors VTB.







Gymnasts are not often praised before an important competition.  The national coaches thanked Afanasyeva for maintaining her spot on the team and putting up confident results.  "Ksenia is the only gymnast from the Beijing team. To compete at a second Olympics is a great result. You need a strong character for that."

ā€“ Ššsenia, are you the teamā€™s captain?

ā€“ Yes.

ā€“ I donā€™t know what you think, but for me this is not a surprise. The girls often say: "Ksenya always helps us during the competitions. You go to her and she always finds the right words to make things easy ..."

ā€“ This might be so, because Iā€™m the most experienced.

ā€“ Being captain of the gymnasticsā€™ team is not a mere formality like in other sports.  In gymnastics, things happen on the podium with two coaches and the gymnast. And to encourage or to calm down is the task of the captain like it was Nemovā€™s or KhorkinaĀ“s.

ā€“ I am always concerned for the others. I feel different things at the same time: I feel nervous for myself and for every girl on the team. I am older, in all aspects. I have a long competitive experience.

ā€“ Itā€™s simpler to talk about the others than about oneself. How can you describe the team?

- I look at the girls together: One could think that itā€™s difficult, everyone has her own character, but together we are a united team.

ā€“ Currently, all the team is strong, strong mentally, I would say.

ā€“ They expect a good result.   Itā€™s even been announced ...

ā€“ Every gymnast is strong;  itā€™s difficult to be on the team.

ā€“ What do you mean? Rivalry inside the team?  ... No, you know itā€™s difficult to be side by side with someone strong. On the other hand, we just came back from Penza for a mock competition, I watched the girls, and they are all together. They all have strong characters but theyā€™re together.

ā€“ Do the girls ask you what the Olympics are like?

ā€“ They donā€™t ask.  I tell them, Iā€™m nervous. They even tell me: ā€œKsyusha, calm down. Everything is okay".

ā€“ Do you remember Beijing well?

ā€“ I don't remember Beijing.  Everyone asks: "How did you feel at your first Olympics?"  I was 16.  I understand now that at 16, gymnasts are not as nervous or as afraid as I am right now.  Now I understand where I am going. I think this is the reason why the girls are quite calm.

ā€“ This is not bad ā€¦

ā€“ I hope so.

ā€“ What do you fear more precisely?

ā€“ Everythingā€¦ I am nervous about their health, the performances, I want them no to cry, not to feel pessimistic ā€¦

ā€“ Did you experience all this?

ā€“ The Olympics are not always the same. When I came back from Beijing, I remember that it was tough. I had trained for four years and I came back empty-handed. I donā€™tā€™ want the girls to live the same experience.

ā€“ Are the alternates flying to London?

ā€“ Theyā€™ll stay here until our departure and the beginning of the competition. They cannot replace us once the competition is started. I feel sorry for all those who didnā€™t make the team. This is our sport. Some people are out of the big battle. It would be impossible for me to stay at Krugloye and to train if I knew that I had no chances.

ā€“ You didnā€™t compete at the European Championships due to an injury. Did you see anything unexpected?

ā€“ Gymnastics is about beauty and grace. We are strong and beautiful. Our rivals may have upgraded their routines before us. Yet we represent beauty. My girls didnā€™t surprise me at the European Championships because I see them every day. I know what they are capable of doing.

ā€“ What do you tell yourself during a competition: "Š”alm down, Ksyusha ā€¦! or  "Wake up, Ksyusha!"?

ā€“ Every competition is different. My mum is able to find the tender words as only a mother can do ā€¦

ā€“ Are you very hard on yourself?

ā€“ Yes, a lot.

ā€“ What for?

ā€“ Thatā€™s something personal. Believe me, there are reasons.  You grow up and you understand many things. For instance, I understood the previous generation of girls only six months ago:  I didnā€™t understand. We all train in the same place, more or less the same ā€¦  Now, after difficult seasons, I begin to understand them.

ā€“ And to force yourself on and on?

ā€“ This is the most difficult, to force yourself every day. My parents, my coach help me.

ā€“ How did your parents help you during those years?

ā€“ My mother finds new words every time. She was a gymnast, a Master of Sport; this is why I got into gymnastics.  Now she is a professor at a High School.  I study in Saint Petersburg to become a coach. Frankly speaking, I donā€™t know what I like in life.  I know pretty well that it wonā€™t be something related to papers.  I donā€™t like to do the same thing for a long time.  I donā€™t want to sit at a desk.

ā€“ You are not going to do this in the near future. Mentally are you already in London?

ā€“ Yes, I have so many thoughts that I cannot deal with them. My brain is going to burst.

ā€“ About how it will go in London, or after London?

ā€“ About what is going to happen at the Olympics.  The restā€¦ later.  How couldnā€™t I think?  I live alone in my room ā€¦

ā€“ You live alone. You shared a room with Ksenia Semenova before?

ā€“ I got used to silence.  Even with Ksenia there was tension at the end.  We were together in the gym, we had the same coach, and we shared the same room!  We got tired.  Later, we got together again.  Those things happen.  I think that when we were small, we didnā€™t feel the one year difference in our age.  But you have different tastes and your personality shapes up, you get different habits.  I like to rest during the day and Ksenia uses her computer.

ā€“ You are at the same time a team person and someone who likes to ā€œswim aloneā€.

ā€“ For instance itā€™s difficult for me to live with someone.  I have to be on my own.  They sent different people to share my room with me, but nobody came forward.

ā€“ Why didnā€™t they come?

ā€“ I am touchy.  I like order.  I want everything to be where I like.  Šœy mum says that nobody will be able to live with me.  But I got this passion for order from her.  On the other hand, we have been living without our parents for a long time.  This is also significant.  You will agree that itā€™s easier to have everything in order, you donā€™t waste time looking for stuff ā€¦  If your room is an absolute mess, you donā€™t feel at ease.

ā€“  "I can do everything, I know everything, I make errors myself ", ā€“ Marina Nazarova says about you.

ā€“ I always want to teach, but I donā€™t want to learn myself.  I know that my character is complex and I donā€™t understand how my coach deals with me.  If I were her, I would quit.  If they correct my mistakes, I feel offended, I don't want to correct them and I want to have the others accept my point of view.

ā€“ Do you pity yourself?

ā€“  For me the most difficult period was when I joined the national team.  How can you pity yourself all the time?  Without ŠœŠ°rina Nazarova I would have quit.  Sometimes I said in the gym: "Iā€™m done, I wonā€™t come back";  I packed my bag a few times and went to my parents.  Today, I cannot do without my own work and my coachā€™s.  Everyone has ups and downs.  The important thing is to have someone beside you who understands you.  I always find support in my coach.

But today I can say that our team is strong mentally.



Comments

  1. Thanks for this wonderful translated article Lupita and Elizabeth (I hope I got your names right). It's always great to know more about the Russian gymnasts. I hope Afanasyeva is right that their team is strong mentally now. I want them to fight for gold.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the great translation Lupita.

    Ksenia does sound like she would be hard to live with, lol. I love this line "y mum says that nobody will be able to live with me. But I got this passion for order from her." So it's mom's fault, lol.

    Really great interview, I love that Russians do not mince their words.

    I hope they go into this with the strong mentality and do their best.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Svetlana Boginskaya: I was always a bitch* in gymnastics

Svetlana Boginskaya, 15 years old, with her medals from the Seoul Olympics Nico translates the latest interview with gymnastics legend Svetlana Boginskaya, during a recent visit to her home country of Belarus. Svetlana Boginskaya: I was always a bitch* in gymnastics, so now I ask for forgiveness from everyone who came in contact with me. The National Olympic Committee of Belarus held a press conference with three-time Olympic Champion in artistic gymnastics, Svetlana Boginskaya. The meeting was devoted to the 25th anniversary of the Olympic Games in Seoul. In South Korea the Belarussian won two gold medals in the team competition and vault. As a gift to the Olympic Hall of fame, the famous gymnast, now living in the United States, donated one of her trophies that she won at the 1990 European Championships and a pennant for Best Female Athlete of the USSR in 1989. How happy we were when we could share with such stars as Boginskaya, Scherbo, and Ivankov,...

Natalia Yurchenko - an exclusive interview

Natalia wins gold at the World Championships in Budapest, 1983 1983 World Champion Natalia Yurchenko speaks directly to readers of RRG in this exclusive interview.    Early years: In the summer of 1976, at the age of 11, I was accepted to a sports boarding school in Rostov-on-Don. I remember it was a 4-level building with the cafeteria on the first floor, academic classrooms on the second floor, rooms for girls on the third floor and rooms for boys on the fourth floor. There was one TV on the ground floor and the kids who stayed at school over the summer (about 20-30 kids), were able to watch the Olympics. Nadia Comaneciā€™s outstanding performance made us feel jealous because usually the Soviets were the unbeatable favorites. We did feel some relief with amazing performances from Nellie Kim and Ludmilla Tourischeva. Besides Ludmilla, there was a gymnast from Rostov-on-Don, Svetlana Grozdova! And, we were really thrilled to see the very little and cute Maria Fi...

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more