The release of Netflix’s Athlete A documentary prompted many gymnasts around the world to talk publicly about abuse they routinely experienced while training and competing. However, with the persistent culture of silence and victim-blaming in Russia and other ex-Soviet countries, it is probably still a long way until gymnasts start speaking out en mass there. Prominent figures in the sport like Nellie Kim, Liubou Charkashyna, Liudmila Tourishcheva, Andrei Rodionenko, and Ksenia Semenova claimed in separate interviews that gymnasts are coming forward because they want attention or money and this is likely to discourage victims of abuse from coming forward. Svetlana Khorkina was also asked about the news of gymnasts around the world coming forward with abuse allegations and did not hold back.
Trigger warning: The following interview can be difficult to read for people who experienced abuse.
Q: Judging from the latest news, gymnastics is the cruelest sport.
A: Everyone chooses their own life. If one wants an easy life, without putting in any effort – fine. But then one shouldn’t go into sports. They’re hard, you need to endure [a lot] there. It’s not PE lessons.
Q: In your sport, is it normal to call an athlete fat?
A: My coach Boris Pilkin never called me fat. He explained to me clearly from the get-go that a tall gymnast always has to stay in shape, that my form and my career depended on it. And I internalized it. I understood that if I wanted to become the best in the world for a long time, I had to treat my career mindfully. That was generally what happened. But I was lucky, I had the best coach in the world.
Q: So that’s why you can’t talk for others?
A: Yes. I can only say that sports just can’t be easy. If you want to achieve something, of course.
Q: We’re talking about something a bit different. If a boy takes up hockey, no one is surprised when he’s hit with a puck [accidentally]. But an Australian gymnast is complaining that her coach called her a “fat lazy pig” – you can agree that not everyone expects it in gymnastics.
A: Strange girl. With their opportunities, when lots of specialists including dieticians are working there, it’s possible to organize the training and nutrition process for yourself in way that you can just forget about such complaints. You can claim anything. If you’re so smart, go to the Australian federation and put things in order there. Was it a famous gymnast who wrote this? Or an ordinary one who wanted to become famous?
Q: A 2006 Commonwealth Games champion.
A: Makes sense. A nobody. A local competition. I guess she wants fame and attention.
Q: Her teammates said similar things. As I understood, the tide has started after letters and interviews of British gymnasts. Have you heard of them?
A: I think it’s just silly. Or they want to get famous. An athlete needs to understand that their coach and them are going towards their dream together. And there are certain things in this profession that are necessary for success. If a gymnast is actually fat, she won’t be able to do a double salto. She’ll just get killed or injured. It’s normal and clear to an elite athlete. That’s why I asked whether it was ordinary gymnasts who were complaining or not.
Q: Not ordinary ones in Great Britain. For example, Downie sisters, they are World medalists.
A: What are they saying?
Q: That cruelty of coaches, psychological pressure and insults have gotten so ingrained in our sport that they became normalized.
A: Then why didn’t they quit this sport? Why didn’t they leave those coaches right away? Why didn’t they sue? It’s just self-promoting. Ugh. Such questions don’t even arise with normal coaches and athletes – they understand on their own how they need to behave in training and observe the rules. Why did these ones endure it for so long?
Q: I guess, they were afraid.
A: Of whom? They have democracy, after all. Or whatever they call it.
Q: You got lucky with your coach. But if your coach had said to you: “You’re a fat and lazy pig”, how would you have reacted?
A: I guess I’d see in the mirror whether I was fat or not. And if I hadn’t wanted to get thinner and do some difficult element, I wouldn’t have become the Khorkina that the whole world knows. And I understand that the coach is not my enemy. You have to listen [to him]. For me, it wasn’t just a hired employee, it was my family and he stayed [family] until the rest of his life. Is it not so?
Q: It can be different. There were also allegations against Leonid Arkayev.
A: No one else in the world achieved such results as a coach like he did. People just want to promote themselves over nothing. It’s easy to hurt a person. But look at how much his pupils won.
Q: Are all means justified if there’s an Olympic gold?
A: There is a relationship with a coach. You have to build it.
Q: What do you think about the sexual abuse scandal with Doctor Nassar in the USA?
A: This is also strange. And what is happening in their movie industry? Some women come, who, I guess, don’t have enough money, and tell that, apparently, they’ve been hurting for so many years. It’s trendy now. First with directors, now in sports. Then why didn’t you talk right away? Why did you keep enduring it? And as soon as you retired, you decided to raise this topic.
Q: No everyone retired. Simone Biles also talked about abuse.
A: Then why did they stay silent for such a long time? How little respect did they have for themselves [to stay silent]? And another question – if that happened, then how honest and sincere are their relationships with their parents? If children are afraid of telling this to the people closest to them or the parents [can’t] protect them, can you imagine what kind of family crisis is happening there? It’s just horrible.
Q: Psychologists are saying that such situations are difficult and scary for abuse victims. Some require years [to come forward].
A: Seriously? And is it normal to remember that some director harassed you 50 years ago? People have so much freedom now, after all. Bad coach? Change them! That’s normal there now. They’ve been immersed in democracy for a long time. Why make such claims?
Q: As I understand, first of all, in order to warn others, and second, they have issues with the established system because everything they listed is considered to be the norm.
A: Great. We already have new rules in gymnastics. A new view of aesthetics and beauty. I’d rather there was more strictness in this direction. I don’t remember those Downies but British gymnasts differ from ours, are they not?
Q: Yes, they’re a bit bigger.
A: And I want gymnastics to stay the gymnastics that our legends made fashionable – Larisa Latynina, Lidia Ivanova, Nellie Kim, Liudmila Tourishcheva. There! That was true aesthetics!
Q: Nowadays, physical abilities are valued more. Like Simone Biles and her double double.
A: You can call this circus or acrobatics in gymnastics. But I’d rather the management of the International Gymnastics Federations kept the balance. We shouldn’t lose beauty and aesthetics.
Q: How much do all these stories hurt the reputation of your sport?
A: If you didn’t tell me, I wouldn’t even know. Some are sitting and criticising and some are busy looking for new little starts. I’m looking for those who will turn the world of gymnastics upside down. I’m working on opening my schools. [Working for] CSKA. And all those scandals – away with them. It’s amazing how freedom-loving everyone became. You don’t like you coach – change them. Don’t like specific features of the sport – retire. That’s it, what’s the problem?
In addition, in a separate interview, Khorkina offered her opinion on whether the Olympics should be held without spectators.
“A universe-level competition like the Olympics is unimaginable without spectators. After all, it’s not just the support for the athletes but also the financial part of the competition. It’s a very difficult situation.”
Khorkina said that she is considering having her annual gymnastics competition for children held online and suggested that it might be an option for the Olympics as well:
“I understand the concerns of the Olympic organizers who encountered this problem really well, if only on the national level. And, perhaps, it would make sense to hold the Games online as well or cancel it altogether. But for the athletes who have been preparing for their dream to suddenly not go to the Games… For some, they could be their last, for some – the first and the last… It’s a tragedy, of course.”
I understand her view about aesthetics, but the rest suggests she has no idea what she’s talking about. When people say sport is hard and all about overcoming yourself, they mean hurdles faced while trying to achieve something in the sport. True, a coach needs to be strict and hard enough to push you to achieve something. But there is a difference between that and being toxic. Most coaches don’t find the right balance between the two and think they are doing the right thing, the way athletes think that they were doing what it takes. Another thing I don’t understand is weight shaming. Was the gymnast really fat or overweight? Or was she just bulky and muscular? Starving athletes never works because they need calories and strength to perform. About sexual abuse, it is shocking that so many women and teenagers would believe that their abuse is a legitimate medical procedure, regardless of what they were told. But speaking up is harder during your career because you get dragged into something and all the attention on you is now from a different angle. I don’t think so many women of all ages will take a case to court and speak in front of congress “just for fame”. Whatever Svetlana thinks about emotional abuse is her opinion, but her views on Larry Nassar is unexplainable. Mind you, other Russian girls have spoken in support for the victims, so it isn’t a view that all Russians share. Also, why does she have to bring in democracy? Though she’s just stating an opinion, lots said in this interview was a warped perspective and unnecessary attacks on various unrelated things. Last, thanks Liubov for translating these interviews for non Russian fans of Russian gymnasts. (I mean Melnikova, Listunova, Mustafina etc.)
Sorry,but-i’m-very-biased-about-russians
I-know-there-are-great-people-here-but-the-nonsense-ones-seems-kind-of-common-too
The-incapacity-to-understand-the-context-is-huge-by-the-comments
It’s-a-very-culturally-rooted-things-the-normalization-of-authoritarianism-in-such-a-place-that-never-was-truly-democratic-as-Russia.
So what if she thinks that gymnasts shouldn’t be bulky? It’s her own opinion after all! She may not like Biles’ gymnastics. Many people don’t like the path gymnastics is going… And she may support Putin as many Americans voted for Trump!
Btw, I’m not Russian or her fan, but those double standards are really annoying!
Gosh. I have go give her some credit for being brutally honest. However, this is beyond shameful and I feel somewhat compasionate towards her because all she talks about comes out from ignorance and poor understanding of basic concepts. We also need to learn how to become champions in life and for that common empathy and sensibility is requiered. I hope she learns something.
Svetlana’s opinion can be shared by million of Russian people, who choose their own life, carrier and level of pressure. She IS a role model, she has a dignity.
The world is getting crazy. Everyone starts to complain instead of thinking positively and have an experience which make them stronger.
Love this interview. Thanks, Svetlana!
What Svetlana (and you) don’t understand is that the American gymnasts didn’t complain about Nassar’s abuse because they didn’t realise until later it was abuse. He was telling them all it was a legitimate medical procedure. It was only when a coach of one of the girls overheard her talking to a team mate about the procedure that alarm bells were raised.
With comments about weight etc, it’s not just coaches saying ‘you could do with losing some weight’ and then supporting the athlete to do it, it’s the fact they screamed at the girls if they put on a pound in front of everyone and if they couldn’t do a skill blamed it on weight. They also said they were told to train on injuries. It’s hard to speak up when the national team coaches are behaving like this as you risk your place on the team. Svetlana’s opinion that they should just quit is ridiculous – why should someone throw away everything they’ve worked for because of an abusive coach? They didn’t feel confident reporting it as a lot of the federations don’t take it seriously. Maggie Nichols didn’t get a place on the Olympic team after complaining about Nassar (after her coach realised it was abuse). So that’s why people don’t speak up! They should be able to speak up without it affecting their career prospects. Russian’s have a strange way of looking at things. I’m glad Mustafina has my more sense.
What kind of society are we creating if teenagers in a “democratic” first-world country don’t realise the are beeing abused?
If the story does not fit the narrative you attack. Possibly she has insight that we do not know about.
No. She’s just creepy
Whorekina-is-always-disgusting
She-need-to-know-how-ridiculous-she-is
and-i-hope-”gymnastics-community”-ostracize-her-soon-and-forever
That’s-the-problem-of-”freedom”-of-speech
I don’t understand. If Khorkina finds out there is abuse in CSKA she is going to advise the victim to just retire and close that case?
I’m not gonna be “political correct” now.)
No, she will save the money for you and health and life of your kid, if she’s gonna tell her: “Look at yourself in the mirror, you are is overweight. Choose other kind of sport, or not a national level of gymnastics.”
The truth is very rarely looks attractive. But can save health and life for you.) In case you have a rest of the brain.
You really don’t get it? It’s not about telling someone they need to lose weight, it’s about how it’s done. Advising a gymnast that they’d find it easier if they were lighter and Kindly helping them with nutrition and exercises etc is one thing. Screaming at a gymnast that they are fat and useless in front of everyone else is another completely. It’s the latter that they are talking about! And it’s not just weight issues they were abused over, some coaches made gymnasts train on injuries and were verbally abusive. There’s just no need. Saying ‘the gymnast should quit’ is ridiculous. Why should they? It’s the coach who should treat people with respect. All this comments from Russians imply that abuse is so normal in Russia it’s not even called abuse. Wow.
Sorry but what are you talking about, Anonymous? Because I am trying to understand the interview here.
The whole interview is first, on the edge of victim blaming but I guess Khorkina never heard victim blaming is absolutely disgusting nor could she realize herself. I guess if she ever encountered domestic violence she would say the same: “Very strange”. And strange it is but when you don’t understand something, you read or ask about it or watch a damn movie, why not? And then you may realize, for example, the woman cannot get out of it without help because in her life it all started when she was 3-years-old and it never stopped.
I mean does Khorkina work with kids? What does she know about them, is she qualified?
There are questions about the national teams of the United States and Great Britain. Did you read or watch about these? There are very interesting details there.
Thanks, Alex, for sharing your thoughts. The whole picture cannot be understood without the over training and the toxic environment and the fact that they start at such an early age. So many people spend 2 seconds trying to imagine, they fail and they just stop there. Interestingly, the same has happened with someone like Khorkina and she was supposed to have some insight.
”The truth is very rarely looks attractive”
fake
be-offensive-is-not-be-truer
great-majority-of-top-gymnasts-are-in-the-correct-weight-and-height
its-funny-a-TALLER-gymnast-say-this-things-when-she-was-discouraged-because-her-[height]-body…
whorekina-is-dumb-and-evil
My hero thanks for speaking up and saying this.
I don’t understand why people are saying harsh things about her, she is saying what many people are thinking and questioning. Thank you for speaking up!
Khorkina is a incredibly realistic,competent and logical in her view.One makes their own choices, if one would like to succeed they need to pay surtain price! More over they should consiously understand it from yound age in order to commit and be prepared for it.
Elite sport requires a strict discipline and gymnastics is most demandidng in that respect.
You can not compromise (eat abandantly,have social life like others,holiday like others etc) and expect to succeed.
Most importantly -NOBODY FORCES YOU TO DO OR STAY IN GYMNASTICS,it is personal choice (democraric isnt it?)
It is high time people in Western societies to learn to take personal responsibility for their desicions, choices and actions in life.Otherwise it is all very infantile- blaming othets for your own problems!
Khorkina is absolutely spot on about the serious problem in western society-if you are afraid of telling your parents ,coaches or other suppprting staff in sport about problems you are experiencing, then THIS IS THE CORE PHYSIOLOGICAL ISSUE something is fundamentally morally wrong in society!
Didnt you know. This is not sport anymore. Nobody cares about working. Everything is someone else’s fault. The American Twitter-Tumblr outrage machine will not be happy until an obese lesbian or single mother like Mustafina wins gold for talking about her feelings. Then they want her to teach children how to be transexual strippers
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Do your work or get off the f—— stage !
Yes but why should a gymnast just retire because their coach is abusive? Swapping coaches isn’t that easy If your coach is a fave of the national team selectors. And with the Nassar case the gymnasts didn’t realise it was abuse until later as he made out it was a normal medical procedure! The interviewer didn’t explain that part to Khorkina. I agree some people jump on the bandwagon but Khorkina has always been toxic. Mustafina was much more mature in her comments.
Oh, and when you’re talking about personal responsibilities you are talking about children! Children who are easily manipulated and don’t realise until they are older that what they experienced is abuse. The answer is not that gymnasts should quit if they don’t like it! Coaches need to start treating gymnasts with respect. That doesn’t mean they should ask them to work hard and address weight issues, of course they should but it’s about how you go about it. There’s no need to be disrespectful and make a negative environment. Ever.
A combination of lack of empathy, delusion, and eastern European thinking. I now coach a level 9 whose mother actually knew khorkina. The father tells me she has nothing good to say about her– a pure narcissist and selfish individual deluded by her multiple medals.
Ironic given that she is completely unknown in “Western” arenas.
You’re out of business… go look at the mirror FLP
It’s opinion of the person who made herself in connection with normal people and a system. Who didn’t complain and blame everyone around. Who knows how to achieve. That’s why they alone on the top.
Hope your level 9 coaching is the highest and last achievement.))
And stop gathering and spreading a gossips about people whom you don’t even stands near by.
Once a hero, now just a poor minded human being. She clearly doesn’t understand the psychology behind it, so it makes everything seem too simple and easily fixable to bother.
She always look creepy . . . Now we know
While I do agree this comes across insensitive & ignorant, I can understand where this is coming from, having had eastern European coaches & my own strict Asian parent upbringing. There is a direct, matter-of-fact, no-nonsense, no feelings way of being…that if I’m being honest, while harsh, is also not wrong and has been a part of my success in life (for me, I’ve landed in a balance in the middle, while probably still leaning slightly more towards this Russian/Strict Asian tiger parent way). Outside of the psychology of a sexual abuser with teenagers…that I 100% do NOT stand with her opinion, I can understand what she means regarding the ‘harsh’ criticism, the rigid discipline, the straight-up facts that bio mechanically, everything is a factor in your success.
I’ve met her and she’s an incredibly kind and level-headed person. She reminds me of my mom who also grew up in the USSR because they have VERY similar attitudes; I think there might be a connection there.
You’ve met her. Like once? And you know she’s kind and levelheaded? Doubt it.
and you know her? She’s not level headed because you disagree with what she said? How level headed does that make you?
I have dealt with many Russian women in my scientific career. Many. I have never met even one whom anyone would call kind and loving.
This seems like a very unfair statement. In Russian culture, it is not especially common to appear warm-smiley-bubbly but it doesn’t mean we are all unkind
One of my good friends is a Russian lady, born and raised in Russia, who is one of the kindest people and wonderful mother I know. Let’s not paint everyone with broad strokes.
LiubovB, thank you for the translation.
Look my replay:
I’ve dealt with many western people in my career. All of them are cretinous.
It works, isn’t it?))
Perhaps you are not so professional to open the people minds because every nation has some positive or negative people failures
She is trash
Is this really the statement from Khorkina? I am really shocked what she is saying! She is not a role model sorry!
You need to take all gymnasts seriously unless you have a reason not too. Little girls do not speak out until they are older. Some even seek asylum in other countries and leave their families. Yo can’t sue communist governments so that is not a factor.
)) how delusional you are here with YOUR governments,- you can’t even imagine.))
Have you been in Russia at all?
150% you haven’t.
All your conclusions about communism and democracy makes me laugh out loud.
One more secret for you: Santa is not exist.))
My country sucks so your country should suck too.
If she is not a role model,who is- Kim Kardashian or other nonsense celebrities?Or is it her straight talk that hurt you?
Kim Kardashian is a creepy asshole TOO !!!
Or do respect Kardashian?
and this is the CRAP they’ve brought to the United States. Nothing like spending six hours a day getting yelled at.
Thank you so much for this! Can you link the original interview/article so we can check it out? Thank you.
Nevermind, you linked it in the introduction! Thank you
“I wouldn’t have become the Khorkina that the whole world knows.”
Sorry I don’t know you. Still I wouldn’t call you a nobody like you call others.
All I know that calling Simone Biles gymnastics sircus only shows your envy. Deal with the fact that you couldn’t perform the things she does. Don’t hide behind some” aestethetics” bullshit. Nobody does gumnastics more aesthetically than Biles right now.
Uuuhhhahahaha))) where is biles and where is “aesthetically”…
“Don’t cry, you’re not fat. Get two chairs and take a seat.”
Pathologic.
And I don’t mean Biles.