Skip to main content

Ksenia Afanasyeva (2011) 'Winning gold gave me the strength to carry on'

By

It was a glorious moment.  Ksenia Afanasyeva, assumed to be out of the picture for medals, was brought into the final at the last minute as a reserve.

She delivered one of the best floor routines of the last five years (alongside her own masterpiece at the 2012 Olympic Games, that went on to win her the 2013 European title).

Afanasyeva ('Afonya' to her friends) didn't expect to win.  The modest young woman, for so long the unpredictable but gifted one, was accustomed to disappointment.  Adopting the role of team captain and 'mother' to the younger gymnasts on her team, she doubted her own motivation to continue and train for her second Olympics, to be held in London the following year.  

Then came the score, and the shock of realisation.  Gold, well deserved, brought an emotional response from both Afanasyeva and her coach since childhood, Marina Nazarova.  I'd like to give credit to whoever took this wonderful picture, but sadly the source isn't acknowledged.

Coincidentally, I came across the following ten minute interview with an almost painfully shy Ksenia, from a Russian show Expert.  I linked to it at the time of its initial release, but now the poster has added English language captions.  It is worth spending the ten minutes to share Ksenia's thoughts. http://youtu.be/9EXnk6lf6JY

You can view the floor routine and Afansyeva's reaction in full here : http://youtu.be/mVHW3DHZVm0. 

I very much hope Ksenia continues till Rio and, if possible, beyond - she is a graceful example in both form and character, a great captain for the Russians.


Labels:

Comments

  1. Anonymous17 March 2014 at 04:12

    Hi, I know this is somewhat irrelevant to this article but I was wondering whether you could tell us when the Q&A with Anna Pavlova would be published? Many thanks :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Queen Elizabeth17 March 2014 at 07:40

    Hello, I'm afraid I don't know and am beginning to doubt that it will happen. I am very sorry, not least because of the disappointment to those who bothered asking questions. I edited the list if questions and they were translated and sent to Anna, but I guess that her programme is so busy it has not allowed her to respond as yet. I do not think we should expect anything at present as the person who was coordinating it is currently indisposed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18 March 2014 at 01:17

      Aww :( well thanks for trying anyway. I hope this means that Anna is busy training and upgrading her difficulty as we speak so she can kick butt when she gets to Worlds :)

      Delete
  3. Queen Elizabeth17 March 2014 at 07:41

    Let us hope that there will be some great media coverage of this popular champion if and when she appears at Worlds.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Russian WAG at the 2014 World Championships

By
The Russians during a team talk in training for the World Championships.  Courtesy RGF Bronze all the way for Russia then.  Beyond the euphoria and surprise of this morning's competition there doesn't really seem to be much to write home about. I am delighted for Aliya personally that the efforts she has made to help the team have provided her with some tangible result, but the principal feeling at the end of the competition is that of relief.  As Vaitsekhovskaya said in her article last week, there were no moments of shock and awe from the Russians, and that's what will be needed if they are to compete for gold medals in Rio (translation available here ). Let's consider a timeline of the competition : before, during and after. BEFORE The promise of a return to the Worlds stage by Viktoria Komova gave Russia a feeling of optimism pre-Russia Cup.  However, Viktoria's performance at this important competition gave little reason for celebra...
43 comments
Read more

Tribute to Russian gymnast and gold medallist Angelina Melnikova

By
Angelina Melnikova, now 23, is 2021 World AA champion in artistic gymnastics.    She holds a gold medal with her team from the 2020 (2021) Olympics, her second Games.    Visit her home, and no doubt there would be a secure cabinet full of all the various honours, awards and medals she has earned through her career. Angelina Romanovna Melnikova has her primary home in Voronezh, the place of her birth.    The club where she trains is the same one where champions Viktoria Komova, Vera Kolesnikova and Liubov Burda made their names.    1980 Olympic Champion Elena Davydova began her gymnastics life there, too. Melnikova is untypical of most Russian gymnasts.    Her first Olympics, in 2016, were characterised by uncharacteristic mistakes that came in the wake of a nasty hamstring injury.    As the youngest gymnast she seemed unsure and tearful - but still helped her team to a silver medal.   A Russian gymnast beginning so in...
1 comment
Read more

Aliya Mustafina - I competed as best I could

By
Picture credit RGF Aliya speaks in Sports Express http://news.sport-express.ru/2014-05-18/699607 I am very pleased with my performance today, I don't know what the judges didn't like about my bars, but I didn't ask them ... I did my routine fairly well without serious error. On beam I didn't have the start value but I received the highest execution score.  We will try to fix that before the World Championships. Considering the problems I had with my ankle, I think I performed to the optimum at the moment.  I did everything I could. I'm not  the least bit sorry that I performed here -  Very glad that I could help the team. I think my presence made things easier for the girls.   It is very difficult to compete at such serious senior competitions for the first time.  Of course they were very worried.   But I'm sure that with time they will learn to cope easily with their nerves (smiles). 
38 comments
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more