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Aliya Mustafina, 'I have reached my main Olympic target'

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'When we fell out of the top three, I told the girls to keep on fighting till the end'

'We are happy, silver is the most that we could do here.  We didn't expect the Chinese to make a mistake on floor, but we fought to the very last moment.'

'It was as hard here as it was in London.  That was my first Olympic Games, the victory is in the past now, and we had to try to perform no worse than we did there.  You realise at the beginning of the competition - any error can be fatal.  You are under pressure - but it's OK.'

'It wasn't hard to compete on beam [after Melnikova's fall].  I just knew that I had to do as much as possible to reduce the gap to our rivals.  I didn't feel worried about it.'

'Our success here will inspire me in the individual competitions.'


' I decided to come to the Olympics just to help the team.  I can't say anything about the next competition because I just want to relax now.  But I have achieved my Olympic goals.'   


'I am very tired now and just want to lie down and rest.  Of course, I am very happy.  We fought to the very end, and we won the silver medal, this is the best that we could do.  We knew that any mistake could cost us our medal.'

'Whatever happens in the individual competition, I will just try to do my best. But I have done my most important job.'

Sources - 

http://news.sportbox.ru/olympics/spbnews_NI650604_Alija_Mustafina_Eto_nash_maksimum

http://www.sport-express.ru/olympics/rio2016/artistic-gymnastics/reviews/aliya-mustafina-kogda-vybyli-iz-troyki-skazala-devochkam-borotsya-do-konca-1031357/

http://tass.ru/sport/3524277



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Comments

  1. Anonymous10 August 2016 at 06:03

    Happy life to a wonderful person who has endured so much and been so strong.:-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown10 August 2016 at 07:44

    I was very worried about Melnikova's fall from beam because I read that Russia had the 4th scoring potential behind Russia and GB once the difficulty scores were added but luckily the Chinese had one fall on bars and one in floor which was crucial for the Russian results.
    Paseka was such a star, to sit 3 rotations and perform a heavenly Amanar on cold body, with all that tape was a thing of beauty, I'm a big fan
    Cheers Russia!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous10 August 2016 at 15:42

    Aliya undoubtedly did her job as the team leader again. I am not sure how they will when they will be able to find someone as capable as her.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Susana10 August 2016 at 16:06

    They should make a statue of her, like they did of Khorkina. The Russian Fed owes her so much and they'll miss the hell out of her when she finally announces her well deserved retirement.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous10 August 2016 at 17:16

    Aliya is a great gymnast and a great leader. She sounds exhausted. She should take a break for a long time. Maybe she's already decided she's done with the sport. If that is the case, then I will celebrate her legendary career. There will not be another like her.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous11 August 2016 at 22:29

    Nope one of a kind. She sure helped the team and another bronze AA Olympic medal.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous11 August 2016 at 22:36

    Did Aly complain about tiebreaker rules when she won the beam tiebreaker. Maybe I missed something. I enjoy all the gymnasts but that stood out for me. Aliya did so awesome especially considering her circumstances. At times she clearly was in considerable pain. She had such a short time to prepare WOW. FIGHTER for sure.

    ReplyDelete

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