Russia 2 aired an in-depth documentary on the Russian team's preparations for the London Olympics on the 4th July. Much of the training footage was shot only a few weeks ago. There are interviews with coaches Rodionenko, Alexandrov, Elfimov and Grebenkin, gymnasts Mustafina, Komova, Khorkina and Nemov.
Lupita has worked very hard for us and produced a digested translation of the whole - providing details on Mustafina's recovery from injury, the girls' day to day preparation, and the coaches' opinions. It is essential viewing for anyone interested in artistic gymnastics and the Russian team.
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My bracketed annotations [] indicate the timing of the interviews for the sake of helping you synchronise the transcription with the video. Enjoy, and give thanks to Queen Lupita!!!
Speaker: Sydney 2000. Russia won five gold medals at the Olympics in the artistic gymnastics competition. Five medals! Since then, twelve years have gone by and Russia hasnāt won any more medals.
[00.47] Aleksandrov: We went to the Olympics as if were going to war. All in all, sport is like a war.
Khorkina: I wouldnāt like to feel like I felt in Beijing. I was there as a TV commentator and I wanted to drop the headsets, put on a leotard and help the team.
Speaker: Nobody wants to make a forecast, but still we have been told that we wonāt have the bad results we had in Beijing. We have hope in some gymnasts.
Rodionenko: In fact the golden generation could not have dreamed the elements performed today. Current gymnastics is moving forward continuously.
Coach (to Paseka): I told you! You are afraid. In sports psychology they talk about the psychology of the winner. The concept is used everywhere. When you enter this gym, you understand why the new generation is good at that. You can find the Russian national anthem, just in case somebody joins the national team and doesnāt know the words. These people are more than worthy of their countryās hymn.
[03.05] Viktoria Komova is performing her vault, once again. In this hall nobody speaks loud, except the coaches. Is it her 20th vault? Her 30th? The bars dismount is the most dramatic moment because of her facial expression. Letās see how it goes this time.
Aliya Mustafina, the leader of the womenās team, doesnāt feel sorry for herself. Mercy for oneself is not usual here. Still, we remember what happened in April last year at the European Championships. For more than six months Mustafina couldnāt train normally. Before the Olympics!
[04.53] Aleksandrov: She worked where she could, uneven bars, but we couldnāt give her workloads for her legs.
Mustafina: It was tough because I was here all the time, I watched the girls, they were training for the World Championships, and they were working on new elements.
Aleksandrov: Sheās able to face competition. When she resumed training, we thought that the worst was over but suddenly she had back problems. There was little time left, but we lost time with her back. Later we learned that she might have been preserving her leg, because she was feeling pain on the other side. Her quadrate muscles begin to feel more load, and a kind of inflammatory process started. Before this terrible injury Aliya Mustafina had won the all-around World title, something that no Russian girl had achieved after Svetlana Khorkina.
Khorkina: I thought that I was competing with her. We were expecting this victory. Itās a significant title. The team cannot exist without a strong leader, and I hope sheāll be able to justify it and to lead the team in London in spite of the pressure.
[06.57] Speaker: Yet Aliya goes on working through pain, huge pain. It does not make sense to continue the routine, if you donāt hit the beginning. I think that when you see a gymnast in pain, like Vika Komova on beam, you want to take her by the hand and take her away. Do they often cry?
[08.35] Grebenkin: Girls are girls, like women. They cry, they work. They work, they cry. Then they smile as if nothing had happened. Well done!
[09.23] Nemov: It happened that I cried, even as an adult, because I could not do an element, a combination. You know that you are ready and you donāt understand why you fall. It means that you are suffering in your soul due to your work.
[10.02] Speaker: You donāt lose your sensitivity?
Komova: No.
Speaker: When you are in your room, do you pity yourself? Your hands, your foot.
Mustafina: No, weāre exhausted.
[Commentary] Here everything is tough. If you have a cold or small fever, you cannot miss the most important competition.
[11.10] Khorkina: I competed with a fracture, but nobody knew. Viktoria Komova, 16, knows what to compete with an injury means. Vika is often compared to Svetlana Khorkina.
Khorkina: Her name is already well-known. The judges know her. We cannot forget that gymnastics is a subjective sport. Sometimes people, judges, decide; not seconds.
Nemov: In principle Mustafina, Komova are stable girls. They have āschoolingā. Judges always like clean lines, beautiful, nice positive faces.
Speaker: Viktoria Komova won 3 gold medals at the Singapore Youth Olympics [in 2010]. Yet, two seasons is a lot in artistic gymnastics.
[13.08] Yelfimov: Yes, she has changed a lot. She grew a lot taller. She has a different line, she is more womanly. Many specialists have written that she performed junior gymnastics.
Speaker: She is a beauty.
Yelfimov: Yes!
[13.33] Speaker: But in daily life Vika is still a kid. She has a small bear on her bag that her coach gave her.
Yelfimov: It means: weāll succeed.
Komova is always at the center of attention, something that she doesnāt like very much. But this is part of her work. I tell her: you shouldnāt have won the Youth Olympics, you shouldnāt do gymnastics.
Komova: I am ready to put up with it for the Olympics.
Speaker: Do you plan to train for the next Olympics?
Komova: Letās see how the London Olympics go.
[17.38] Aleksandrov: They react positively to a stimulus. You came here and theyāve appreciated it.
Speaker: Thank you.
[18.43] Itās 8 pm. Why so late? Our teams are training at London local time. In London our men will compete in the third Division. At the Olympics the judges can give less points even to the great gymnasts. One has to be prepared for that.
[21.30] Nemov: The score was unfair and Iām grateful to all the people who attended the competition and defended fairness. That moment was more important than gold.
Speaker: Nemov behaved in Athens like a genuine sportsman.
Nemov: You have to work and never surrender. Even if you have made mistakes. A lot of attention will be paid to us. Probably they will give better scores to the American and British gymnasts. We have to make the least errors, and even better to avoid them. Not to give ground to receive low scores.
[23.10] Aleksandrov: Unfortunately our sport is not like athletics.
Nemov: Sometimes I think about my gymnastics career. I remember the amount of work I did. And I tell myself āno, I couldnāt do this!ā
[24.15] Khorkina: Iām an optimist. I think that every gymnast will compete at a good level and will win at least a medal.
My bracketed annotations [] indicate the timing of the interviews for the sake of helping you synchronise the transcription with the video. Enjoy, and give thanks to Queen Lupita!!!
Speaker: Sydney 2000. Russia won five gold medals at the Olympics in the artistic gymnastics competition. Five medals! Since then, twelve years have gone by and Russia hasnāt won any more medals.
[00.47] Aleksandrov: We went to the Olympics as if were going to war. All in all, sport is like a war.
Khorkina: I wouldnāt like to feel like I felt in Beijing. I was there as a TV commentator and I wanted to drop the headsets, put on a leotard and help the team.
Speaker: Nobody wants to make a forecast, but still we have been told that we wonāt have the bad results we had in Beijing. We have hope in some gymnasts.
Rodionenko: In fact the golden generation could not have dreamed the elements performed today. Current gymnastics is moving forward continuously.
Coach (to Paseka): I told you! You are afraid. In sports psychology they talk about the psychology of the winner. The concept is used everywhere. When you enter this gym, you understand why the new generation is good at that. You can find the Russian national anthem, just in case somebody joins the national team and doesnāt know the words. These people are more than worthy of their countryās hymn.
[03.05] Viktoria Komova is performing her vault, once again. In this hall nobody speaks loud, except the coaches. Is it her 20th vault? Her 30th? The bars dismount is the most dramatic moment because of her facial expression. Letās see how it goes this time.
Aliya Mustafina, the leader of the womenās team, doesnāt feel sorry for herself. Mercy for oneself is not usual here. Still, we remember what happened in April last year at the European Championships. For more than six months Mustafina couldnāt train normally. Before the Olympics!
[04.53] Aleksandrov: She worked where she could, uneven bars, but we couldnāt give her workloads for her legs.
Mustafina: It was tough because I was here all the time, I watched the girls, they were training for the World Championships, and they were working on new elements.
Aleksandrov: Sheās able to face competition. When she resumed training, we thought that the worst was over but suddenly she had back problems. There was little time left, but we lost time with her back. Later we learned that she might have been preserving her leg, because she was feeling pain on the other side. Her quadrate muscles begin to feel more load, and a kind of inflammatory process started. Before this terrible injury Aliya Mustafina had won the all-around World title, something that no Russian girl had achieved after Svetlana Khorkina.
Khorkina: I thought that I was competing with her. We were expecting this victory. Itās a significant title. The team cannot exist without a strong leader, and I hope sheāll be able to justify it and to lead the team in London in spite of the pressure.
[06.57] Speaker: Yet Aliya goes on working through pain, huge pain. It does not make sense to continue the routine, if you donāt hit the beginning. I think that when you see a gymnast in pain, like Vika Komova on beam, you want to take her by the hand and take her away. Do they often cry?
[08.35] Grebenkin: Girls are girls, like women. They cry, they work. They work, they cry. Then they smile as if nothing had happened. Well done!
[09.23] Nemov: It happened that I cried, even as an adult, because I could not do an element, a combination. You know that you are ready and you donāt understand why you fall. It means that you are suffering in your soul due to your work.
[10.02] Speaker: You donāt lose your sensitivity?
Komova: No.
Speaker: When you are in your room, do you pity yourself? Your hands, your foot.
Mustafina: No, weāre exhausted.
[Commentary] Here everything is tough. If you have a cold or small fever, you cannot miss the most important competition.
[11.10] Khorkina: I competed with a fracture, but nobody knew. Viktoria Komova, 16, knows what to compete with an injury means. Vika is often compared to Svetlana Khorkina.
Khorkina: Her name is already well-known. The judges know her. We cannot forget that gymnastics is a subjective sport. Sometimes people, judges, decide; not seconds.
Nemov: In principle Mustafina, Komova are stable girls. They have āschoolingā. Judges always like clean lines, beautiful, nice positive faces.
Speaker: Viktoria Komova won 3 gold medals at the Singapore Youth Olympics [in 2010]. Yet, two seasons is a lot in artistic gymnastics.
[13.08] Yelfimov: Yes, she has changed a lot. She grew a lot taller. She has a different line, she is more womanly. Many specialists have written that she performed junior gymnastics.
Speaker: She is a beauty.
Yelfimov: Yes!
[13.33] Speaker: But in daily life Vika is still a kid. She has a small bear on her bag that her coach gave her.
Yelfimov: It means: weāll succeed.
Komova is always at the center of attention, something that she doesnāt like very much. But this is part of her work. I tell her: you shouldnāt have won the Youth Olympics, you shouldnāt do gymnastics.
Komova: I am ready to put up with it for the Olympics.
Speaker: Do you plan to train for the next Olympics?
Komova: Letās see how the London Olympics go.
[17.38] Aleksandrov: They react positively to a stimulus. You came here and theyāve appreciated it.
Speaker: Thank you.
[18.43] Itās 8 pm. Why so late? Our teams are training at London local time. In London our men will compete in the third Division. At the Olympics the judges can give less points even to the great gymnasts. One has to be prepared for that.
[21.30] Nemov: The score was unfair and Iām grateful to all the people who attended the competition and defended fairness. That moment was more important than gold.
Speaker: Nemov behaved in Athens like a genuine sportsman.
Nemov: You have to work and never surrender. Even if you have made mistakes. A lot of attention will be paid to us. Probably they will give better scores to the American and British gymnasts. We have to make the least errors, and even better to avoid them. Not to give ground to receive low scores.
[23.10] Aleksandrov: Unfortunately our sport is not like athletics.
Nemov: Sometimes I think about my gymnastics career. I remember the amount of work I did. And I tell myself āno, I couldnāt do this!ā
[24.15] Khorkina: Iām an optimist. I think that every gymnast will compete at a good level and will win at least a medal.
thanks so much for the translations!!! Thank you thank you Lupita and Elizabeth!!
ReplyDeleteAwesome, I had seen this on you tube, but didn't see the entire translation. Thanks a lot for posting Elizabeth, and thanks a lot for spending the time to translate it Lupita :)
ReplyDeleteHmm, I also hope Mustafina can lead the team, they just need to try and not put too much pressure on themselves, be calm (if that is even possible at Olympics, lol).
BTW - I've read that the Russian Team has been announced
http://rsport.ru/artist_gym/20120707/604034116.html
Thanks M and Missy. It's a pleasure to share this material.
DeleteThanks for the link to the selections. I am at a family christening till late Sunday evening when I will post. I guess most will pick this up on the forums but I'm very pleased with both teams. Please God, let them get through healthy and happy.
I'm sad particularly for Nabieva. She has such a lovely personality that it is hard not to feel like a friend and I will miss her.
I'll miss Dementyeva and Nabieva. Let's hope the five gymnasts are healthy for London.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone seen Afanassieva's new floor?