In other news - Artur Dalaloyan, Olympic champion in artistic gymnastics from Russia, has made it clear he will only compete internationally if it is under the Russian flag, with the Russian anthem playing … head coach Valentina Rodionenko fears that the criteria for Russian gymnasts to compete in the Olympics will be even tougher than those for World competition. If gymnasts from CSKA or Dynamo clubs are banned, this rules out Listunova in particular. Finally, sad news that Russian junior Maria Kravchenko (Moscow - coached by Marina Ulyankina) lost her father in the conflict with Ukraine. She is 14 years old.
You've been competing internationally for over 30 years. How has gymnastics changed over that time? Is there anything about your sport that has remained the same for decades? First of all, the age has changed. More mature athletes are competing now, which makes me happy. Secondly, the apparatuses. They've become more comfortable and sophisticated. Gymnastics in general has become more challenging, but in my youth, people performed mostly the same elements as they do now. Back then, this was par for the course, but now it surprises many. It's a bit amusing. Has the nature of the training itself changed? For me personally, absolutely. Now, my life isn't just about my athletic career. I'm involved with the Oksana Chusovitina Academy, which was personally opened by the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev. It has 155 students, both girls and boys. I used to train three times a day, but now I train once. The entire afternoon is taken up with the academy and organi...
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