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| Aliya shows off the team#s patriotic manicure! Picture courtesy of the RGF |
Now read on ...
Interview with Dmitry Zanin (correspondent).
A couple of years ago an interview with Aliya was a difficult test for a journalist, but now everything is quite different.
- So was your job simply to win and nothing else? Or just to compete with all your strength and show everything that you can do?
Aliya - Not at all, you can't set a target to win or to take first place - the task was the same for everyone. We had to compete our programmes, perform well enough and then the result will follow.
- How is your health, how much of your programme is ready, do you have pain?
Vika - No trouble or pain, I am about 70% ready. It is hard to compete in an international arena after such a long time, unsettling, especially on beam. My floor landings were not very confident. I hope I will become more confident in future.
- Many viewers will be surprised that you are already twenty years old - what do you think?
Vika - Well it seems only recently that I was a 15 year old at the YOG in Singapore, then 16 years old at the Olympic Games. Time flies by very quickly.
- You had a difficult three years - injury, illness
Vika - Yes, it was very difficult. I have recovered, but I did have injuries time and again. I had to take two breaks over these three years.
- This year you missed the Russian Championships, the European Championships, and the preparation for these competitions. Your long break from competition must have affected your performances - maybe you were overexcited!
Aliya - In my life I have experienced a long break from competition (my knee) so it isn't difficult for me now. The hardest thing was vault. I just raised my hand, made the vault, and everything became easier.
- You're very satisfied?
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| Vika - satisfied |
- What are your plans for next year's Olympic Games?
Vika - I will be ready.
- You want to compete, do you have the strength?
Vika - That's the reason I came back.
- Your routines here - will they be your programme for Rio?
Aliya - I'll be doing different things on different apparatus - beam more or less the same, uneven bars I will add a little bit, vault, I will try the Amanar or learn something new. My floor also will be better.
About Rio (second video)
Aliya - I really want to prepare and perform, I want to compete in Rio. But after Rio, we will see; it depends on my health, my motivation. After so many years in the sport, it's difficult.
- Lots of foreign journalists want to talk to you, will you learn English?
Aliya - No, not yet (laughs). After training all I really want to do is sleep, I don't want to learn English.
- How tall were you at the Olympics?
Vika - 150 cm
- and now?
Vika - 162 cm
- How can you continue to do gymnastics when you have grown twelve centimetres?
Vika - It's very difficult and painful. I've had to redo all of my combinations all over again, especially on the bars. That is a little bit difficult. It's necessary to go back to the start again, but everything is very exciting for me, as usual.
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| Seda Tutkhalyan with her gold medal on Monday. You can just about see the manicure! |
- One of the smallest athletes is 142 cms. So, let's talk about your manicure.
Seda - My mum suggested the manicure, it matches our leotards and the colour of the flag.
- Did you want that?
Seda - I didn't think about it, my mother suggested it (smile).
- Were you nervous to be in the company of Olympic champions, at your first senior competition?
Seda - Yesterday I was a little bit more worried, but I am used to it now.
Sportbox video link
Rossiya 2 video link
Hopefully, the videos will be posted on Youtube some time soon, so that we can view them as well as read Veronika's fab translations.
THANK YOU VERONIKA!
such a great pleasure to see Vika's phenomenal comeback:) Her fighting spirit especially on beam shows significant improvement from London! Go Vika:)
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