'In Baku, I showed a sketch ... now, I must paint in bright colours' Viktoria Komova interview

Komova and Mustafina - two great champions on one team.  Courtesy of the RGF

Not so very long ago - April 2014 to be precise - I published an article on this blog entitled 'Does Komova need gymnastics?'.  In a fairly roundabout way, I questioned Viktoria Komova's desire to continue as a gymnast. It seemed that everywhere one looked, people were demanding her comeback to big time sport, assuming that gymnastics would be all she wanted to do.  I thought that perhaps the gymnast had decided to give up; did she have the desire to continue?  The most likely outcome, surely, was retirement, a focus on a new life path.  I hoped I was wrong, but thought I was right.

Now, I am glad to say, it is clear that I was completely and utterly wrong.  At the European Games Komova has shown that she is in the process of perfecting what could end up as one of the most prodigious sporting comebacks of all time.  Read this interview with Championnat, in which she describes the challenges she has faced over the past three years and the agony of continuing in the face of grinding doubt, painful injuries and a very serious illness.  Her comeback is quite remarkable.

Interview with gymnast Viktoria Komova

The double vice-champion of the 2012 Olympic Gymnastics, Viktoria Komova, has become one of the main talking points of the European Games in Baku. Komova has not competed for three years, during which she has constantly been fighting illness and injuries.  There had almost been a verdict on her - that she would not return. But the star of London not only returned, she won - in the team tournament.

- Viktoria, I confess, I did not recognize you in Baku. In three years your appearance has changed, and that's a compliment.

 - Thank you, I really have changed. First of all, I have grown - I am taller, and have put on weight. Now I'm no longer the smallest on the team - I'm not used to that. But I have also changed as a person. It happened gradually, over all of these three years. They have been a very difficult three years for me.

- I was told that many people, including members of your family, tried to persuade you to finish with gymnastics and end your suffering, after all these misfortunes.

 - It was quite the opposite! In my moments of weakness, I wanted to finish, and my mother would urge more patience. The dialogues were along the lines of, "I've become tired of it all, I will study and find a job, stop torturing myself!" - "Think of all the many years you have dedicated to one cause, and now you have to start from scratch in another. It will be much harder than continuing to train."  My family would have supported me either way, but I realized that my mother was right.

-  Where will your Baku 2015 medal be, in your collection?

- I will remember it as my first medal after my comeback.   ...    This is a comeback. For three years I did not really compete. Some things didn't work, I can't hide that, but I have to show everyone that Viktoria Komova is an active competing gymnast, she is training and getting ready to recover her position. This is now the main thing.

- Would you say that that happened?

- Speaking figuratively, in Baku, I showed a sketch of what I would like. Now, I must carefully paint the picture in bright colours. ... 

- Who is the artist?

-  My coach is Gennady Borisovich Elfimov.  I was completely satisfied with our work. We already know each other by heart, from my very childhood. Even when we quarreled and parted, there wasn't really anything much wrong.

- So I wanted to ask about it: did you really want him to go?

- There was a time, yes. I found this necessary. I was trying to understand what I needed, and I reasoned that something was wrong with us.  Then at some point I realized that I was wrong, I should work with Elfimov. We have been together again since March, after the completion of the national championship.  It felt like coming home after a trip and I was much quieter at heart.

- Was there a point during these three years, when you were desperate?

- This was probably the meningitis. On my second attempt to return (there was a third - when my leg became a problem). We did not understand where I picked up this infection. There were only three days left before selection for the 2013 World Championships. I felt fine, fully prepared. I did the evening workout, then during the night I had terrible headache. I did not sleep all night, and the next day I was taken to hospital, where I stayed for the next two months. The doctors said that I could forget sport - but they did not talk me into retiring. I, thank God, did not really believe that this was a serious diagnosis.

- The most difficult thing after such an illness is to resume the previous level of activity.

 - Three months after discharge from hospital I was told that I should not even go anywhere near the gym. I, of course, did not really listen.  I tried to start training early.  But as I increased the load the headaches came back. This went on for about a month, then began to ease off.

- Don't you think it was a risk to come directly to the European Games?  Maybe you should have begun with one of the Russian competitions where the audience is smaller, and there is almost no pressure?

 - To be honest, I just wanted to finally get back to competition!  Best of all - abroad. There is adrenaline when you go to the apparatus, everyone is clapping, chanting, waving flags. That's my motivation, I miss it! And in Baku, I got it all. It was exactly what I need now.

- You have been on the national team since you were a schoolgirl. How has your role on the team changed?

 - I look at Seda Tutkhalyan and realize that it was only very recently that I was the same. I try to support and help her everywhere. Almost, be like a mum to her.  It is not just age, but the fact is that I have really matured.

- What does that mean?

-  My dialogue with the coaches is structured differently. Previously it would be "Vika, you must do this and that." I would nod and do it.  But now I try to rationalise, what I need to do. ...  The coaches, too, understand that I'm not a little girl anymore....

-  How do you now think about your silver in the all-around in London?

-  At that time I was unhappy. ... Three years later, it seems to me that this was a good result that I should be proud of.

- In discussions gymnastics fans sometimes suggest that your coaches were to blame for your injuries.  You were pushed to soon to go to London, they say.

- But how so ... this is a kind of nonsense. If I didn't make my start at the Olympics then, when would I?  This is gymnastics, there are other approaches to age.

- So what was the matter, why did you experience this series of physical breakdowns?

 - Now, I think maybe I did not rest properly after London. Almost immediately we were taken to Spain for an Olympic recovery camp, then two weeks later we resumed training. As well as this I began to mature, and without rest I just continued my work.  I do not really know, it is unlikely that anyone will give an exact answer to this question.

- Right now, you feel completely healthy?

- Absolutely. Some things ache, but within reason - this is the same for all gymnasts.

- If it turns out that you are unable to return to your previous level and will miss the Olympic team,  will it be a tragedy for you?

- I do not plan not to be selected to Rio. By the way, I have not even thought about this possibility once - you're the first one to speak of it. No, no, that's impossible. This is the specific purpose for which I came back.

- Four years ago, was it easier than it is now?

- Well, I was a different person then. In all senses of the word. Less tall, lighter weight, a simpler way of thinking. Now things are more difficult. But this is only the beginning. ...