Lupita translates ... Mustafina

Lupita translates Elena Vaitsekhovskaya's interview with the World Beam Champion.

'I am very happy about how it all went' said Mustafina in the mixed zone. 'I won silver at the 2010 European Championships, but this was three years ago.'

In Antwerp you performed three times on beam. Could you describe your impressions during the Championships?

I felt more and more confident all along. Although I was more tired, everything went better. In qualifications I started on beam and was very nervous. It’s always difficult when you start a competition on beam.

When you performed beam in the all around, you showed less difficult elements than you had foreseen. 

 In fact I decided to downgrade my routine to make fewer mistakes, to be more confident.

Svetlana Boginskaya said that it’s very good to perform first on beam.

She is absolutely right. I like competing first on beam. You don’t have time to watch the other gymnasts’ performances.

By the way, in the all around final when all your rivals competing for bronze fell, did you feel lucky?

Sure, in a way. But at the same time I felt that I had been underscored.

If, before the championships, someone had told you that you would be the champion on beam, would you have believed it?

I think that if I had thought of it, I would not have won any medal on this apparatus.

During your performance were you aware that everything was going extremely fine?

The first thing I remember is when I watched the time before my dismount. I realized I had time; there was no need to rush before the round-off. And that everything was fine.

Why did you have to challenge the score?

We thought that it would be possible to improve the D score. After Rotterdam Worlds, where our vault inquiry was not taken because it was submitted too late, our coaches always carry filled forms with them, ready to submit. In Rotterdam we were not ready to do it in the 4 minute time limit.  It is true that here the inquiry was not accepted.

Who among the rivals was more dangerous?

Of course, Iordache, who had the best score in qualifications. In fact, I hadn’t thought about it because I didn’t expect much from my performance on beam. Even after the score was posted on the board, I didn’t venture to think about a medal. I only felt satisfied internally. I thought that I had done everything fine and that I could not reproach myself at all. 

Congratulations Queen Aliya ... Maladyets!