This past month has been all about Aliya Mustafina – her triumphant comeback and her divorce. Aliya has given another interview right after the Russian Championships – to Irina Stepantseva of MK. The questions were often quite weird and sometimes rude and annoying but we know we’re all here for what Aliya has to say, not the journalist, and Aliya didn’t disappoint.
Q: Aliya, why would you need this difficult return to the elite sport again?
A: Just because I want to.
Q: But you said: I don’t think, despite the titles and the gymnastics achievements, that I’ve achieved something in my life already. So, perhaps the break was the perfect opportunity to try something new? To step into a different life? The door into that life was open but you ignored it?
A: I haven’t seen such a door to step into. I think things shouldn’t be changed unless there are serious reasons for it. Perhaps my life isn’t perfect now but I’m perfectly content with it: with what I do, with what I have outside the sport.
Q: And what is it?
A: To clarify what specifically is good? My daughter Alisa. I like how I live, how my parents live, how we are all together. And, first of all, I have nothing to complain about.
Q: You haven’t competed in some time but even at the last Russian Championships in Kazan you were near the competition floor. So, you disappeared from the public eye only for a few months in order to appear again at Round Lake in September…
A: Yes, in that time I gave birth, everything went great. Honestly, I had no issues during the pregnancy either: I felt quite energetic. And even during the last months of the pregnancy, I led a pretty active life. Although, during the first three months after it was hard to get used to a certain routine. I gave birth naturally. But if some say “I won’t ever do this again”, I won’t say this. The most difficult moments indeed get forgotten fast.
Q: You picked your daughter up…
A: And… I was scared: what and how do I do next? I grabbed my mom: I won’t let you go, you’ll stay with me. Then it was the same as for every other new mom: to spend the first night, to give a bath for the first time, to wash, to feed… You have to get used to it. But I was lucky, I didn’t have any crazy sleepless nights. Alisa is calm. Everything’s in moderation.
Q: It wasn’t hard then but now your daughter is home and you’re at the training camps.
A: Of course, in the beginning, it was hard to be apart. But I saw some sense and acknowledged that such an arrangement would be more beneficial for everyone and I calmed down. I’m telling myself that I’m doing this for my daughter, too – so that she would have everything. I’m perfectly content with how my mom and dad brought me up, with which views on life they instilled in me. And I wanted for grandma and grandma to take the main part in Alisa’s upbringing. To say honestly, there was another reason. I’m afraid to spoil her, I have such a fear.
Q: Aliya, but do you not think that you didn’t enter the open door because of fear: you already know everything here and you’ve even tried to come back to the sport by overcoming the odds. There are no surprises here, but what’s out there is completely unclear. And perhaps there was some laziness – changes require special strength?
A: No, I think fear and laziness don’t apply to my case. I just don’t see a point in changing things right now. If I can do a lot here, why should I look for something else? Especially since I have a definite goal – to try to recover, to walk this path. I’m interested to know how I can do it after giving birth. I’m fulfilling my goal here.
Q: The only mom in the current elite gymnastics is Oksana Chusovitina*. Surely you discussed having a child.
A: Oksana briefly told me something and she spoke about it so lightly that I had no doubts left: I had to try. To turn on the work mode.
Q: And on the first day of that “work mode”…
A: It was very interesting. And this interest overcame everything. I came into the gym, stood in the lineup, the warm-up started with running. I had not been running for a long time before that moment. What would I be able to do – which moves, which elements? Mostly I couldn’t do anything. Again it was interesting – when will I be able to do them? I gained weight but not a lot – four extra kilos. I don’t really like diets. They don’t really work for me and if they do, the weight comes back quickly. I just hope that the body will get into shape naturally. And when it will happen, I won’t need to deprive myself of anything. I breastfed my daughter for three months but she was a “lazy feeder”, my mom says that my sister and I were the same.
Q: You’re not the first mom on the podium but one of the first. The sport is changing, so do you think that a return of gymnasts after giving birth will become a trend?
A: I really hope so. And I think it will be right. I can tell from my own example – it’s hard but I think it’s possible. And why shouldn’t we do possible things? Especially since sports are a profession. And it didn’t feel very nice when, at 20 years old, I was called a veteran of gymnastics. Maybe it’s a bit cool. But I always thought it wasn’t right. Yes, gymnastics is a difficult sport, but one Olympic quad is too little for an athlete. I, for example, wasn’t able to enjoy and get satisfied from the competition in one quad. Perhaps, it all only started for me after one quad: I started to understand the point of gymnastics, the point of practices, why I was doing it all. I changed completely.
Q: The gymnasts are usually the youngest at the Olympics, they start working hard very early and retire early as well, it’s really not fair.
A: There’s an explanation: gymnastics is a difficult sport and the younger you are the easier it is for you. It’s easier to perform the elements.
Q: How will you compensate for it?
A: With persistence, desire, hard work.
Q: Did you watch the 2017 Worlds in Montreal?
A: Yes, but I don’t have much to say about it – the first competition under the new rules, many new faces. Mostly, I was just watching, the situation with the competitors will be clearer at this year’s Worlds.
Q: Aliya, after all, you again return to the national team as the main hope. You can’t get away from these thoughts. These thoughts…
A: motivate me.
Q: Don’t they torture you?
A: I’m not afraid. All my gymnastics career I’ve been an older sister to someone or an example for someone. And it even makes things easier for me: people look up to me, ask me something, this pushes me.
Q: Do you know how to pick at yourself? Do you know how not to forgive yourself?
A: What is the point of not forgiving? It’s better to forgive and move one than having all this in your head… A “cockroach”** will sit there and keep reminding you. It’s better to let go and to try not to make the same mistake the next time.
Q: And can you forgive “the cockroach” in other people?
A: Depends on the situation, of course. But I try to not get offended by not very important things. And regarding myself… My motto is – if you don’t want to, it’s better not to do it, and if you want to – it will definitely work out. Desire is the most important thing.
Q: Don’t you fear to get caught up in the first part of the motto?
A: No, I’m just being realistic: there are some things that have to be done and that’s that, but in gymnastics, I think, this is the only way to train. Or at least it’s my way.
Q: What could you praise yourself for?
A: Um, honestly? I’ve never praised myself.
Q: Try now, it’s a great occasion.
A: I don’t even know how, I don’t like it. I don’t think I’m doing something special, it’s all natural.
Q: Will it be easier to scold yourself?
A: No, when it comes to myself, I don’t pick at myself.
Q: To listen to you – everything is unbelievably easy: two Olympics quads with medals, giving birth to a baby, then coming back to competition… Perhaps you were lucky?
A: No, I just never take unnecessary risks. I do everything deliberately, choosing the least risky option.
Q: Irina Alexeeva who came from America competed at the Russian Championships – you trained together at Dina Kamalova’s. Do you consider Kamalova your first coach?
A: Not my first one, but my main one, I guess. The first coach I trained with at CSKA was Elena Vladimirovna Perelygina. But I learned everything in gymnastics from Dina Rashidovna.
Q: What was her coaching strength?
A: I don’t know whether it’s a strength – her discipline. She had everyone in her fist: “I said so and that’s it!” That’s why she was never able to work with adult gymnasts. She coached gymnasts until a certain age, until the junior European Championships and she couldn’t continue working further. The girls had puberty, problems, their own opinions… And she couldn’t manage it.
Q: Is that what happened with you: you parted your ways and only then she left for America?
A: Yes, Kamalova gives great basic preparation, technique, good school. If only she could work and communicate with the girls… When you’re 10-12 years old, it’s one stage, but when we grow up – it’s different. But it’s different for the coach as well.
Q: But democracy in the sports often leads to disastrous results.
A: I don’t quite understand the word “democracy” in relation to sports. If both parties are involved in the preparation process it is easier to achieve the results. It is perhaps harder for the coach. Sometimes an athlete can also think up something absurd and here the coach has to make him realize that it’s absurd. And not to say “you’re stupid, go and do what I said!” But many coaches get used to this mode and can’t switch to collaboration. The gymnasts don’t fall from the sky. Everything has to be taught and that’s what the coach is for. I like Evgeni Anatolyevich’s [Grebyonkin] approach a lot – he perfectly understands when he needs to insist on something and when he doesn’t. We always have a dialogue. For example, I go to the bars and can’t do anything. I don’t have energy and he sees it: “do one routine and leave”. Or “we’re not doing it today”. And this is easier. And you have to work this way with the older girls.
Q: And do you need a coach now?
A: Now I especially need him, I forgot a lot, my muscles forgot. The mind never remembers things, the muscles remember. As soon as I start thinking about how I do, for instance, a bars dismount – I can’t do it in my head. But I can go and do it in real life. It’s the same with many elements. But it’s hard after a break. I’m doing an element and think it’s bad. I couldn’t do a split leap, I thought I didn’t have enough strength but it turned out I was making a mistake and didn’t feel it and I wouldn’t understand what was wrong. The coach and his look from the outside are really needed. I go to Penza between the camps at Round Lake. But I go there with Alisa, without my mom. My daughter is in the gym with me during practices – she’s walking already and someone’s always helping nearby, and I can come to her when I’m taking a break.
Q: So, Alisa is already a gym baby. Does it not scare you?
A: Not at all. I guess, it doesn’t make sense to put her into artistic gymnastics, especially if we take her dad’s height into account. But I’d try rhythmic gymnastics. I really love this sport. The girls that come out of it – flexible, thin, knowing how to carry themselves… Even if she will only train for a bit, it will already be good.
Q: What did you manage to learn about married life?
A: I’m not commenting on that.
Q: It’s your right. The last Russian Championships – clearly, it was some sort of a shake-up for you, right?
A: Exactly, a kick in the butt in the name of the future. When I only started to recover, my coaches didn’t set a goal of competing at Russian Championships for me. But when I was preparing, I realized that I’d better compete badly in the all-around rather than not compete at all. I had to push myself.
Q: You have nothing to lose – the titles will always be yours and the love of the spectators, but there will always be people who will say you “disgraced yourself” if you won’t take the first place, even if you medal.
A: And let them. And I won’t care about what they think. Because I’m accomplishing the goals that I need. And I don’t think much about what others will say. If they’ll praise me – I’ll thank them, if they won’t – I’ll ignore them. I don’t compare myself to anyone. I don’t watch anyone. I don’t want to be like anyone. I want to be just like myself.
Q: Do you have a perfect character for an athlete?
A: I can’t say. Does such a thing even exist? But I guess my character helps me.
Q: People usually think that a champion has to be, roughly speaking, a bitch and to ride over everyone and everything like a tank.
A: In 2010, we earned the unofficial title of the best bitches in the world. When we competed at Worlds, Alexander Sergeevich Alexandrov told us: well, let’s show them who are the most badass bitches in the world! So, for me, this word isn’t so rude anymore.
Q: It’s still long until the Olympics Games. But it’s clear that you have the most ambitious thoughts. What do you need to do on your favorite bars?
A: They’ve never been my favorite.
Q: People nowadays say “oops” in this situation. After all, you won gold at two Olympics on this event. Ok – with our favorite – your bars.
A: I think I have to keep doing what I’m doing. The coaches are saying that I’m ahead of schedule. As the head coach of the national team, Andrei Fyodorovich Rodionenko, said I ran ahead by two-three months. And it’s a really nice feeling. It means I don’t have to doubt myself, to think that I’m doing something wrong, everything is as it should be. And I know that I have no need to rush. This also makes the process easier, when there’s nothing rapidly approaching hanging over your head.
Q: Ah, so you were the reason that this year’s Euros were moved from the usual May to August?
A: Perhaps, but I didn’t ask for it [laughs].
Q: Can you clarify the bars question? Which apparatus is your favorite, then?
A: Beam. Because it’s the easiest. It doesn’t have super difficult elements. It’s easy to fall from it but physically it’s the easiest.
Q: You’re not looking for easy ways.
A: No. My favorite is beam, just as an apparatus. But I enjoy bars more. Because it’s really hard. It’s the hardest apparatus – emotionally and physically. Yes, I guess it’s the hardest. Because you need to be in peak shape for it. On every other apparatus, you can even have extra weight, for example. But bars require being in perfect shape.
Q: Your body has changed, did you change the training?
A: I’m listening to myself. For example, now is such a period that it’s scary to add new things – I’m already working at the limit. I worry that if I add something new in conditioning, then something will start hurting and I won’t be able to work properly on the apparatuses. I needed the Russian Championships for that, too. I hope that it will be easier further on, since my mind already knows – I’ve competed with this already, I can upgrade now.
Q: Why are you a rare guest at social events?
A: I guess it’s in my blood, I inherited it from my mom. She doesn’t like attention, even the move to the village in the summer is a stress for her, she’s all nervous. And to imagine that the cameras would come to our home – I think she’d stand there and hold the door so that no one could enter. She has her own comfort zone. And I guess I got this from her.
Q: But, because of the popularity, you had to widen your comfort zone. By how much?
A: I accept offers when I have time and ability – so that, for example, I wouldn’t have to stand in high heels while tired after practice. Or that the event wouldn’t take my three-four hours with Alisa. If I manage to find this period of time then I can go out but if I have to deprive myself of being with my child I won’t enjoy it. Outside of the gym, I don’t really want anything besides being with my child. Gym and the kid.
Q: And who came up with the name Alisa?
A: I knew in advance that I would call her that, I just liked the name.
Q: There’s Alisa the fox***, then there’s Alice in Wonderland…
A: She will choose herself which Alisa she will be. For now, I see my own character in her – if she wants something, she’ll get it. She’ll take you by the finger, lead you, and if you try to lead her in another direction, she’ll get angry. I’m still touched by it. I’m ready to do anything she wants. Within reason, of course. I thought, of course, about how to discipline her. I’m for explaining things, not just saying “no” and that’s it, but to explain “why not” instead. So that there wouldn’t be “I’ll spank you now!” Perhaps it’s because I’m still a very young mom and she’s still a very little daughter but I can’t imagine yelling at her or spanking her.
Q: The goal of your come back, after all, is the Olympics Games. But the atmosphere about Russia being allowed at the Olympics is, you know… And it’s not certain that these problems will clear up by Tokyo-2020. You’ll work hard for the goal, but…
A: Then I’ll leave one goal and will think I’ve accomplished another one – came back after giving birth. I guess because I already went to the Olympics, I think it will be harder for me to think how the younger gymnasts will take it if it happens. And regarding myself – I guess I’ll get sad but I won’t get depressed.
Q: Are you an optimist by nature?
A: I’m a realist. I wasn’t born with it rather I learned it. Probably after the Olympics in Brazil. I’ve never been super optimistic but I haven’t been a pessimist or a dreamer either. But I started to see clearly – I base everything on reality. If I understand that I won’t be able to win six medals at the Olympics then I won’t dream about it.
Q: So, your expectations aren’t too high?
A: I guess it’s better when I lower them and then jump over instead of not getting even close.
Q: In your realistic vision, what’s the goal for you this year?
A: To be useful for the team. We have to make the top-3 at Worlds as a team to qualify to the Olympics. I really hope to help the team in that. I hope that the girls also understand the goal. Since what can be simpler – to achieve it at the first qualification round and then to prepare for the Olympics calmly for two years without worrying whether we’ll make it or not. That’s it – the team made the Games and no need to be anxious.
Q: If you look back at your gymnastics career, which period was the hardest?
A: I was lucky not to have extremely hard periods. There was the injury at first, it made me stronger, Then there was a hard period when I wanted to retire – it made me stronger, too. I got hardship in doses, I became stronger and all problems were surmountable. And right now is not the hardest period either. I want to do this. And when you want something, when you like it, how can it be hard? Physically – yes. But it’s the worst when it’s hard both physically and mentally, then something impossible is happening in your mind. It’s easy for me now mentally. Physically – I lie down, I rest, and I go again. Vacation? I’ve already understood – vacation isn’t for me. Pregnancy was my vacation.
*This is not true, as we know since at least two other mothers currently compete – Eleonora Afanasyeva and Turkey’s Goksu Ustas Sanli but Russian media seem to keep focusing on just Oksana Chusovitina as “the only mom in gymnastics”.
**It’s a Russian expression. “Everyone has their own cockroaches in their head” means that everyone has their own quirks or delusions, and saying “this is my cockroach” can mean something like “I have this idea in my head I can’t get out”.
***Alisa the fox is a cunning character from “Buratino”, a Russian children’s book.
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