Interview with vault bronze medallist Maria Paseka

Maria smiles as she learns she has won a well deserved bronze medal.  (Left) silver medallist Maroney reflects.  RGF

Lupita translates a short interview with Olympic bronze medalist on the vault, Maria Paseka

The judges at the vault Olympic final could have given McKayla Maroney a lower score and not the silver medal, said to Ru-Sport bronze medallist Maria Paseka.

 

In this event the Olympic champion was the Romanian Sandra Isbasa, who, after two vaults, got a score of 15,191. The silver medal went to Maroney  (15.083) and the bronze to Paseka (15.050).

"I expected to be one of the medallists because I tried very hard. At the beginning, independently of Maroney’s fall I thought I would win bronze. Later, when I watched the video, I thought I could have been second. But the judges decide everything. Nobody wins crashing his or her vault, and even less a medal", told Paseka in an interview organized in the framework of the BTV project at The Bosco Club.

Paseka won an individual bronze and the silver medal in the team final.

"I could have performed my vault better in the final. Nastia Grishina and Ksiusha Afanassieva made mistakes.  We didn’t perform very well on vault and floor. Without those mistakes, we could have won gold", said Paseka.

The gymnast added that, according to their calculations, with an ideal performance in the team final, they could have lost one point to the Americans. “It’s a pity that we didn’t win gold, but I think that silver at the Olympics tells something. Although we want gold, we always want to be first. It means that we have to work to be first because nothing is easy”.