Aliya Mustafina - I knew that Alexandrov would not leave me

Thanks to M for providing the link to this excellent Sports Express interview by Elena Vaitsekhovskaya.  Lupita here translates - enjoy!

Alexander Alexandrov and Aliya Mustafina in training shortly before the Games began.  Courtesy of the RGF

In interviews that were aired before the Olympics, the Russian head coach - Valentina Rodionenko-  often mentioned that Aliya Mustafina was not the same gymnast she had been in Rotterdam. That she hadn’t  recovered completely after her injury. That she had started to fear competing and complex elements. In London she could win bronze on bars: this would be the limit of her dreams.

Yet, Mustafina came back as a heroine. She rescued the whole team; she competed on all four events, although she had only expected to compete on two in the team final. After the team’s silver, she won bronze in the AA, gold in bars and another bronze in floor. No other gymnast was able to win such an amount of medals...

* * *

 

- Lena (Mustafina’s Mum), how did you stand all this, when you saw that you daughter was competing at the Olympics and that you could do nothing for her?

- I didn’t watch her...

A beautiful young lady lifts her eyes to me and I understand that she’s still at the Olympic Games and she hasn’t yet realized anything.

- At home only our youngest daughter watched TV. My husband was out of Moscow with some families. I couldn’t watch the screen. When Aliya performs, I always think that my eyes can annoy her. And I always fear that Aliya will be injured. But I knew she was well prepared. In those situations she’s always very confident.

- Аliya, how did you feel when you performed at the Games?

- I got very tired. Before the competitions the girls and I only had time to go to a shop near the Olympic Village. I bought souvenirs for my family, some clothes – a dress and shoes. Then, on the first day, I competed all the events in the team qualifying. On the second day, the four events again. The All Around final. The bar final and the floor final. It was very difficult to wait till the end. I was originally to compete only on two events – vault and bars. Yet, after the team qualifying I was told that I had to prepare the four events.

-Why was that?

- In beam Nastia Grishina was asked to compete, but she refused outright. She said that she feared going to the apparatus. She’s still young. She was very afraid. And in floor I got the second highest score among my teammates ...

* * *

- Were you afraid of competing when you came back after your injury?

-The only fear is related to the Amanar, at which I got injured. When I feel well, I don’t fear anything. I fear if I’m feeling tired and I think that I cannot do the vault well. I don’t  feel 100% confident, for instance if I go to vault and feel not very well, I don’t perform the Amanar, only a DTY.

-Do you decide the vault you will do “in flight”?

-Yes, I know that not all athletes are able to calculate this in the flight phase, but I do it quite well.

- Were you annoyed by people saying that you were not as strong as you were two years ago?

- It happened. I heard that the injury had stopped me, that I had lost a whole year. That the leaders of the team were Vika Komova and Nastia Grishina. Although Vika had difficulties: she grew taller very quickly and the muscles didn’t grow accordingly. She had injuries, lack of confidence, and all this went on.

-Did you feel pain before the Olympics?

-Yes, my ankle hurt specially. They told me I needed surgery. But as there was little time before the Olympics, we decided to put up with it. In the spring my back hurt. In February and March. I couldn’t do anything in the training sessions ...

- Did you have the feeling that rivals had overcome you and you couldn’t catch them?

- Not really. I watched all the competitions and I realized that none of the gymnasts was doing something that could surprise me. If I could bring back the routines I performed before my injury, I’d be able to fight with anyone. But I understood the coaches: in the national team nobody had to recover for such a long time.

- In gymnastics it’s the first time an athlete has come back so successfully after this ACL injury.

- Absolutely. For eight months after surgery, I didn’t tumble. The doctors were very clear about that. I tried to convince my coach to try at least to tumble before, I even thought about trying and I would have time to train for the Tokyo World Championships. But Aleksander Sergueievich told me that the prescriptions of the doctors had to be exactly fulfilled.

I think that this is the reason why I recovered completely. I did all the other training exercises that don’t demand loads on the legs. For instance, I trained whole bars routines landing in the pit. I kept conditioning even in the hotel, in the stairs. But, you know, when an athlete doesn’t tumble for six months, you doubt about his or her performances.

-I heard many times that they wanted to transfer you to another coach, because Alexandrov was the national team's head coach. Did you know about it?

-Yes. I was asked many times if I understood that the head coach cannot have personal gymnasts.

-What did you think about it?

- Whom could they transfer me to? Every coach had her gymnast; they didn’t need me, except Alexandrov...

-Did you fear that the trainer would leave you?

I knew that he wouldn’t...

* * *

 

- Аleksandr Sergueievich always helped me, in all situations, whatever happened.

- Did you understand each other instantly?

-It was very hard for the first six months. I played the fool and he was patient.

-What did you play the fool for?

- Alexandrov had come back to Russia to work with the women’s team. It turned out that I went directly to Krugloye. And there – three training sessions a day. I was not used to that, I got very tired.

-Did you win a spot on the national team?

-No. The girls remember that they hated me then. I was used to going it alone when I was a child. Moreover,  I won almost all the competitions I took part in. You need to be at Krugloye for three months to be on the team. We now laugh when we remember that “war”.

- How did the parents experience this?

- I was an athlete, says Fargat.  I understood that in order to have results, you need to be in a training camp, and work, work, work ...

- Did you pity your daughter?

- ...Sometimes. But I told Alexandrov: "Sasha, buy some tranquilizers. Otherwise you can have a heart attack with Aliya ".

Her character is difficult. On the other hand, she is very vulnerable.

-Which qualities in your daughter’s character are the most important for you as an athlete?

- Dedication and sincerity. And sports fierceness, the capacity to compete. Once I went to Dinamo, where some competition was taking place. Suddenly, I noticed Aliya hadn’t seen me. She was repeating some elements, fully concentrated. I understood she wasn’t a kid any longer; she had become a fighter.

- I remember that Alexandrov told: “If Aliya doesn’t like something, she is able to spend hours in the gym, without moving, without talking”. Is it true?

-This was only when I was small. I liked Alexandrov from the start. He looks like a father. I felt I could trust him.

- Do you quarrel during training?

- Of course. About anything. For instance, if I can’t achieve something or the coach has told me something that I haven’t liked. We may not talk to each other for three days.

* * *

- When you became world champion in 2010, were other gymnasts jealous?

- No, not at all. In Rotterdam we had a wonderful team. It was a very strong team. We went into the training gym and on the following day everyone said that the Russians had come to win. They were very happy for me. I was convinced I wouldn’t lose.

-How did you feel in the bars finals in London?

-I was lucky because I competed after the Chinese, after Beth Tweddle, after Vika Komova. I saw that they had all made mistakes and I understood that I could fight with those scores. Moreover, in the All Around I got the best score on bars. When I nailed my routine, I thought that this was a plus, and that my medal would be gold. But when I was waiting for the score, I didn’t think about this.

-The judging is one of the issues that come up again and again. As in Tokyo, where Vika Komova lost in the All Around.

-Vika gave ground. They could have deducted 0.1, but they deducted 0.3. Unfortunately, this happens in gymnastics all the time.

- How were you judged in London?

-Very well. I was stunned with my floor score in the EF. I only got this score once - in Rotterdam.

- Did you ever have the feeling that you were not given the score you deserved by the judges?

- Only once, at the World Championships in Rotterdam. In vault, I was not given the D Score correctly, but the protest was not accepted because it was submitted too late. Too late was 30 seconds. And at the Olympics at the men’s team final, where Ukraine was third and Japan fourth, the Japanese submitted the protest much later. Everyone said that Uchimura’s dismount should not be counted because he did not perform it. Nevertheless, they changed the score.

- Did you feel support from the crowd In London?

-In fact, I wasn’t thinking anything, except that I had to perform my routines. But from the audience I got a pleasant and warm feeling.

- In your sport, gymnasts have to be near the podium all the time. You can see everything happening on the apparatus. Does this create an extra pressure?

-When I was younger, I didn’t like watching the others perform. Now, I don’t care.

- For you where was the border between childhood and adulthood?

- Probably, it’s about a year and a half, when I started gymnastics, and then when I started training with Alexandrov.

* * *

- Аliya, did you feel comfortable at the Olympic Village?

- Of course, it was not like in Krugloye, but the five of us shared a small flat, it was very nice. We are at an age when we want to spend more time with our friends than with our families.

- Does it mean that you miss Krugloye when you come back home?

-It does. For three years I got used to the fact that the biggest part of my life takes place at the training centre. We have everything there. I don’t like partying very much. I enjoy much more spending the whole day liying on the carpet with my computer.

- In your life are you someone lazy?

- Let’s put it like this: I don’t like to do things that aren’t indispensible. Although, in the end I always do the necessary things.

- Have you had time to discuss about your future in gymnastics with your coach?

-Not yet, but I have decided that I will continue training.

- What about your studies?

-I finished school and I will go to State Gubkin University to study law and economics. When I was at school it was simpler: we studied at Krugloye and sat for the exams there.

- I noticed how well you express yourself. Did you have good results at school?

-I never got threes (just pass). In fact, recently I think of what to read and how to read more. I noticed that I cannot speak normally with all people.

- In which sense?

-In the direct sense. At Krugloye, my group of friends are gymnasts. We don’t need a lot of words to understand each other. When you start to socialize with people who don’t belong to sport, I noticed I cannot always find the words to express my thoughts.

-Have you already noticed that your life has changed?

- People pay more attention to me. It’s hard because I don't like to have the focus of attention on me. I’m not used to being recognized in the subway.

-In your normal life do you wear any make up?

-I wear almost no make-up. I wear my hear down. I think that if I always wear a ponytail, everyone will recognize me. I’m terrified about the idea of being recognized in the subway.

- You don’t drive a car ...

- No, but my Dad has promised to teach me.

* * *

Before going to the floor in London in the final where Aliya won her fourth medal, she told the team doctor Serguei Arkhipov: "I’ll go, I’ll dance a little and I’ll come back. Don’t’ worry, I won’t be long..."