Seda Tutkhalyan : My goal is to become an Olympic Champion!

Seda Tutkhalyan in the first day of the team competition at the European Games, 2015, her first major senior competition

Seda Tutkhalyan in conversation with Oksana Tonkacheva.


'I'm learning to cope with the excitement. Unfortunately, I often get nervous before the competition. Even though the coach and the girls try to calm me down, I still cannot forget about everything, laugh, talk, as some can.  ...  I try to smile when on the floor, but I can't always - because what if something doesn't work, how will I be able to smile then?  It should always be a sincere smile.  

Lena Zamolodchikova is my idol in the gym.  She was able to do everything - combinations with a smile, she was able to communicate with the audience.  ... 

My whole family - mother, father and two older brothers, are my most loyal fans.  When I won the all around at the Youth Olympics, my brothers wrote to me, 'Well done!  We are very proud of you!'.  Vaik - the eldest, he is 24, he is also an athlete, a European and World Champion in Sambo.  My middle brother used to do wrestling, but now he is studying economics. ...

I spend most of my life in the gym.  Movies?  Friends?  Yes - I go with friends to the movies, go for a walk in the park.  I live in Moscow, close to the 'Ulitsa 1905' metro - there is a park nearby, Krasnopresnensky Park, where you can have a nice walk in the good weather.  

Seda was expressive on floor in Baku

My Dad first took me to CSKA - he took me and my brothers there, really to make sure we had good physical development ... I liked it there.  I was almost seven years old when I joined the gym, which is very late.  I used to cry a lot, get very tired, but I wanted to do it, more than anything else.  Dad said 'be patient, Seda, then you will understand that it has been worth the tears'.  Mum always helped me ... I'm most like my Dad. ...

We have inherited Dad's character for sport, I think.  Now I really want to get to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and I will try very hard.  I hope that the coaches will help me.  I know that I still need to work hard to upgrade all my routines and to learn to perform the elements cleanly.

My favourite apparatus is beam, but I don't know why.  Perhaps because I can learn the elements quickly.  I only have problems if I put on weight.  In general, my goal is to become an Olympic champion!  And overtake my Dad's achievements in sport.  ... There is still a lot to do, but if I succeed at the Olympics, then I will immediately overtake him.

My Dad helps me all the time, for example gives me advice on nutrition. 
Outside the gym, I enjoy drawing.  My mother has a whole folder full of my drawings.  I draw different outfits - shorts, shirts, jackets.  Sometimes I come up with different styles, like a fashion designer.  ...

I don't forget about my earlier victories, I do remember everything, but I try not to exaggerate its importance.  I feel like it's cool to be a champion!  But then I realise that I have to go further.  ...