Artur Dalaloyan interview

 This is a Google translate of a Sports Express interview with Olympic team champion Artur Dalaloyan.  Artur gives his opinions on the IOC sanctions on Russia, and on Safe Sport.

Read with care : the nuance is often lost on Google.  Artur says here that he is preparing for the BRICS Games.  There appears to be a suggestion that the Friendship Games (Moscow, September), won’t go ahead because proper doping control cannot be arranged.  

Link to article in Russian language: https://www.sport-express.ru/olympics/summer/artistic-gymnastics/reviews/artur-dalaloyan-intervyu-gimnasta-ob-otkaze-vystupat-na-olimpiade-v-parizhe-i-neytralnom-statuse-2213615/

“The Olympics for me are no longer the pinnacle of sport.” Dalaloyan predicts the emergence of an alternative to the Games

Dalaloyan reacted to the neutral status of Russians at the Olympics in Paris

Dmitry Kuznetsov

Reviewer

The Olympic champion gymnast talks about his attitude towards neutral status and Paris 2024.

After gold medals in the men's and women's all-around, artistic gymnastics has become one of the main summer sports in the country. And not just on paper because of “Soviet traditions,” but in reality - gymnasts began to appear on TV and in YouTube projects, powerful gymnastics shows appeared, and sponsors came.

One of the heroes of Tokyo and the drivers of this process is 28-year-old Arthur Dalaloyan. He succeeds in the show and is raising three children with his beautiful wife Olga, while continuing his career and will participate in the upcoming BRICS Games. And they manage to find sponsors - the gymnast has been a Demix ambassador for five years now.

SE spoke with the Olympic champion and two-time world champion about the upcoming Olympics, neutral status and the problems of children in gymnastics.

Now I don’t think about when I’ll finish with sports

— Arthur, you are a person and an athlete whose path to Olympic gold in Tokyo is almost a standard of motivation. Achilles rupture three months before the start - and go out and still win. How does self-preservation work in such cases? Don’t you really want to protect your health?

— Yes, when preparing for the Olympics, I completely forgot about the instinct of self-preservation. (Laughs.) And there was an experience before Rio 2016, when a knee injury did not allow me to fully express myself and go. I realized that many injuries are related to psychological fatigue and the head. Before Rio, when the coach and I left the preparations, after a week all the health problems disappeared. And in addition to this experience, a lot of work was done, I understood what hopes were placed on me, what cycle was behind me and what results I could get for the team and the country. Responsibility to everyone, from family to fans, gave me the opportunity not to dwell on the injury and gave me self-confidence. And everything worked out, which I’m very happy about.

— You actually said that your second youth has begun. Do you have any idea how long you are going to perform?

— It’s a popular question, but it would be wrong to set a specific bar. I train as long as I enjoy it, as long as I have goals, and as long as my health allows it. Now I don’t think about when I’ll finish sports. In principle, I will never finish sports, apparently. It's a way of life. But if we talk about a professional career, about competitions, I haven’t seriously thought about when to stop. While there is gunpowder in the flasks. And then the body will let you know that it’s time to leave.

— In this case, does the family rather recharge you to continue or motivate you to slowly move away from sports and immerse yourself in household matters?

“My family gives me strength to play sports, that’s for sure.” Supports some kind of performance and desire to reach new heights.

Bach is also a kind of hostage

— It would be strange not to discuss the Olympics in Paris. I understand that they asked about neutral status a hundred times, that we don’t like all these restrictions. And yet, trampolineists belonging to the same International Gymnastics Federation were selected there. The gymnasts refused. Why is the second approach better?

- Let's discuss this point, okay. The fact that I am not preparing for the Olympic Games is, of course, my decision. A joint decision with the federation and the Russian Olympic Committee. Many compare this Olympics with Tokyo, saying that we also competed in a neutral status. Well, yes, without the flag and anthem. But at the same time, our Olympic Committee was with us, there was support. The uniforms, after all, had the colors of our flag.

The conditions that are being offered now are, of course, unacceptable. And it seems to me that it doesn’t matter what specific sport you engage in, in the world of sports there is still one family, one team, and you must be united in these matters. But at the same time, I in no way condemn those athletes who, thanks to some circumstances, have the opportunity or want to compete for a trip to the Olympic Games.

For me, since I have already completed the Olympic Games and many international competitions, I have achievements, it is a priority to support my country. Now the conditions and attitude towards us are wrong. This is the objective picture, in my opinion. And I no longer have to focus on the Olympic Games specifically now as at the top, the top of the sport. I understand that we have other competitions prepared for this season - the BRICS Games, for example, which will start very soon.

— Do you confirm your participation?

- Yes, I’m getting ready, the final training camp is in a week, they will definitely announce the composition. In the Russian Championship, I entered it as an all-around athlete. The BRICS Games have received the status of international competitions; accordingly, at least 15 or 16 countries must participate in them.

— The Olympics are no longer the pinnacle of sport for you, especially after winning it. But if you look more globally, many say that the Olympic movement is in crisis. Could there be an alternative in 20 years?

—Are you talking about the Friendship Games?

— Not necessarily, but as an option.

— It seems to me that the trend is in this direction, we are moving there. I definitely think that in this case it is necessary not to look from the outside, but to create other platforms for the implementation of athletes, so that there are as many of them as possible. So that at one Olympics the light does not converge like a wedge.

- Nobody asked my opinion, but let me sharpen it. You said that the decision to go or not is up to the country’s leadership. Why do we deny athletes the ability to make decisions? The trampoline players took it and went, but the gymnastics federation, it seemed, didn’t really want to do it itself. Why not support someone young who agrees to the terms?

— In fact, there is no such specific “not going” condition. Where? No one said that no one should go to the Olympics, no special demands were made from the management. I express exclusively my opinion that the decision should be a collective one. But at the same time, every athlete who is still ready to go through all this, to go to the Olympics on his own, no one will forbid him to do this, in my opinion. It’s just that such sanctions are against our country, against our team, and it seems to me that we should also respond as a team.

The best proof of the absence of a ban is the presence of athletes who have qualified and are going to the Olympic Games in a neutral status. Without any relation to the country, to our Olympic Committee. But our federation and our national team do not belong to this list. And most people look at it negatively.

— That is, there was no meeting with the leadership of the artistic gymnastics federation, at which they told you: “Guys, of course, you make a decision, but you don’t need to go there”?

- Quite the contrary. I know a different situation. We actually had a meeting with the federation, and the message from President Vasily Nikolaevich Titov (President of the FSGR - SE note) was as follows - they say, we tried to somehow lobby for a trip to the qualifying competitions for several junior athletes who had just got into composition, but who can already compete. They did everything to send two or three people to the Olympic Games. This refers to athletes without Tokyo Olympics experience. But in the end the situation ended with no one going. I’ll say it again: going to the Olympics is everyone’s choice, and anyone who wanted to try their luck could go on their own and compete for licenses.

— We mentioned the Friendship Games, and they are now suspended due to a lack of understanding of how to organize doping control. In parallel, there is a project for the Doping-Free Games, which have been jokingly called the “Steroid Games.” How do you feel about sports without doping control?

— Honestly, I haven’t heard about such a project, but in our sport... what’s the difference? I won’t speak for all types, but I think that in our gymnastics no doping will help to achieve results.

“Can’t he increase his stamina?”

— Do we really need some kind of super-endurance? The exit to the projectile is maximum 1:20, and the combination ends. For training? I do not know. No, in any case, there should be doping control in sports, it is needed. How objective and healthy it is, all these checks - how they are organized is another question. This is an important question.

— To close the topic: when you find yourself in front of Thomas Bach, what do you tell him?

- Yes, I wouldn’t like to be in front of him and say anything, to be honest. (Laughs.) They have their own affairs, squabbles, their own attitude. I can't say that this doesn't concern me. Of course it does. But I understand that he is also a kind of hostage.

The support from the state and federation is enormous

— It feels like the last time I saw you was figure skating. Could this happen?

— Hardly at competitions, but I often go to shows with my family, that’s true.

— Would you like to try your hand at skating in a show tournament or some kind of “Ice Age”?

- Of course, I skate and love this activity, but... rather for myself. This format would be incredibly new to me. For some reason I doubt that I would have made a figure skater. (Laughs.)

— Then is there a favorite or favorite among the skaters? Haters raised their fingers over their keyboards.

— If you remember your youth, then Alexey Yagudin. An incredibly talented person, and not only in sports, but on the ice he put on an incredible show. We know him personally, he is my friend. Lesha is cool. Even considering that he has not competed for a long time, he skates at shows and shows a high level.

- It seems that hate will not work. Isn’t it enviable that figure skaters have so many ice shows, but in gymnastics the market clearly has room to grow? I can only remember Alexey Nemov’s show right off the bat.

— And Svetlana Khorkina too. It’s not a matter of envy, of course, but now I want more gymnastics shows and attention from sponsors to gymnastics. We can also organize really interesting shows, educational, patriotic, and different. Gymnastics also deserves this status. Someday we will come to this. Just 10 years ago we didn’t have an Olympic team, which was almost full with gold medals, and there weren’t many world champions. Therefore, now is the right time to promote gymnastics shows and create new ones.

— Do gymnasts generally cooperate with the circus? Is this a popular career vector after sports?

— Probably 50-70 percent of the gymnasts who have not achieved high results in sports go to circus shows or to permanent work. Because such preparation is always useful, and it is very diverse.

— You haven’t performed in the circus, don’t you plan to?

- No. But my sports career is still ongoing. (Laughs.) So there are no such opportunities. But I’m happy to perform on the show.

— In principle, did your income drop after the suspension?

— The support from the athletes is still enormous, I can say. And from the government, and from the federation, from the Olympic Committee. Take the same payments to the Olympians who were suspended from participating in the Games this year - many should be paid. This is a big plus, I think.

If earlier the prize money for Russian championships and Cups was minimal, because the main prizes were paid for Europe and the world, now this has changed. And as far as I know, the prize money for the BRICS and Friendship Games is also quite good.

And in addition to support within the sport, there is also support from outside. TV shows, athletes have personal contracts, like I have with Sportmaster and Demix, whose ambassador I am. Yes, not every athlete has a personal sponsor, but I would really like to see this format develop.

The problem of sexualization has been made out of thin air

— Another, perhaps, deep topic, but I see that in the West, discussions about gymnastics are often, in addition to sports, divided into two categories - abuse, violence by coaches and sexualization, like whether it’s possible to perform in leotards and so on. I would like you to speak out - these are real problems that need to be dealt with, or are far-fetched.

- Well, you have some questions. So, let's start with abuse from coaches - there is a problem here. Each coach has his own approach to the training process. And in the same way, every athlete requires an exceptional approach to himself. There are coaches who go a little overboard in their severity towards athletes, I have no doubt. But I can’t say that this is too much. Yes, they can get emotional, but nothing more. Maybe this doesn’t have a very good effect on the child’s psyche and maybe this moment is worth monitoring.

Now about the uniform. Listen, well, in gymnastics, it’s like this: all your life you’ve been performing in leotards and leotards, and you didn’t see anything supernatural about it. And now they suddenly think about it. Rather, the problem was made up out of thin air.

—Have you personally seen coaches assaulting children?

“Even in my childhood, it could be like this: you forget to pull up your toes, you don’t straighten your knees, and the coach could lightly hit you on the leg with a slipper. This is not some kind of pain, but rather an attempt to focus your attention so that you remember on a psychological level what to watch for. But there is much less violence as such now than... even in Soviet times, then the coaches were super strict.

— In the USA there is an organization called SafeSport, which a child can contact with a complaint. This often turns into hype, but do we need some kind of hotline if you get hit too hard with a slipper?

- A very delicate, sensitive moment. In some situations, I think it would be useful to have the opportunity to contact such an authority. But again, if such an organization exists, then some will address the issues at hand, while others will settle personal scores. And what will this lead to? It seems to me that it would be better if there is a certain person in the federation who will be responsible for these moments.