Angelina Melnikova gave an interview to a local Voronezh radio station when she was briefly home after the Russian Championships. She talked about getting new routines, her daily schedule and how she feels about having Mustafina and Komova back on the national team.
Q: How hard were the Russian Championships for you?
A: How hard it was? I don’t know what to say, I upgraded my routines. But I guess in some sense it became even easier because it’s hard to keep doing the same routines all the time and when you upgrade it probably gets easier. I guess the win in the floor final was the hardest because this routine if the hardest for me. I changed the tumbling passes, changed the music, basically, I changed everything so that’s why it was the hardest.
Q: How much do you like to experiment, to change things?
A: I think that I always like experimenting because I like changes.
Q: You had a little decline after the Olympics, there were unsuccessful competitions, how did you manage to overcome this?
A: I guess it helped that I changed the routines and I also want to say big thanks to my coaches and all my loved ones for supporting me, this also gave me additional motivation.
Q: Could this decline be due to you changing your routines?
A: I can’t say exactly, I still don’t really know. Perhaps it was because it was the post-Olympic year, it was hard to get myself together somehow.
Q: Do you think you were able to make significant progress compared to the Olympics? Did you become stronger?
A: Yes, for me, I think I became stronger. Also, after the Olympics, the rules changed and our gymnastics, you can say, also changed.
Q: Did a lot change?
A: The difficulty rules changed, some special requirements were removed and all difficulties became half a point lower. And on some apparatuses, new special requirements appeared that didn’t exist before.
Q: How are your relationships with the returning teammates – Viktoria Komova and Aliya Mustafina?
A: It’s all good, I’m very happy that they came back, I imagine how hard it is to come back to the sport after taking a break for a year since for us even a week off is very hard. They did very well at the Russian Championships and I think they’re very strong girls for the team and it will help us in the future.
Q: Do they help you in some way, since they have more experience, or are you already at the level when you don’t need advice?
A: No, it’s more interesting to compete with the older girls, they give tips. After all, they’re much more experienced and they’re older, Vika’s five years older than me, so I’m listening to them.
Q: Recently, R-Sport agency included you on the list of the most elegant and graceful gymnasts in the world and earlier, according to one foreign media, you made the list of the most beautiful gymnasts – how do you manage to stay in such great shape? Perhaps, a special diet?
A: No. I’m very grateful to everyone who voted for me there, it’s really nice. Regarding a diet – I don’t know, I don’t have any diets.
Q: The story with the t-shit saying:”Everyone should be a feminist” made a lot of buzz. Are you now more careful when choosing your wardrobe?
A: No, I don’t really care about this.
Q: So, it didn’t concern you in any way, no one called you for comments?
A: No, it was just written on the internet. Oh, yes, I gave an interview and people wrote to me, I answered the questions and that was it, nothing more.
Q: So, you’re seeing this [attention] more like some foolish thing?
A: I think yes because each person is an individual and everyone decided what they need to do.
Q: How do you manage to combine studies and competing at the elite level. Do the teachers make concessions? And what are your plans, where are you going to study?
A: Of course, the studies are hard because I’m tired between the practices and it’s hard to study, my brain can’t remember anything. The teachers make concessions, I want to say thanks to them for it. I’m going to study at the Physical Culture Institute.
Q: Do you like any school subjects besides physical education?
A: I don’t know. Generally, I like all sorts of things to do with design but I don’t know when I’d be able to study it because right now the sport is my priority.
Q: Do you have to fight a desire to go out, to party and miss the practices or do you not even have such an option?
A: I don’t have such an option. Every morning, every day I put the sport in the first place.
Q: Tell us about your daily schedule and to which competition you’re preparing now, how many practices you have per day?
A: Right now I’m going to the national training center, I’ll be training there, two practices a day. Then we go to a camp to Spain, we’ll rest there a bit and then the preparation for the Russian Cup will start.
Q: You were suffering from injuries at the Olympics, were you able to heal them?
A: Yes, my leg hurt at the Olympics, it’s healed completely, I don’t have any issues with it now.
Q: So, nothing bothers you now?
A: Well, you know, I think that athletes always have something that bothers them, some sort of tiny injuries, not important ones.
Q: How often do you train in Voronezh? Or do you spend most of your time at Round Lake?
A: I’m at Round Lake almost all the time but I come here, perhaps, once every two months for a week and since I want to rest, I don’t go to practices often.
Q: Do you often get recognised on the streets after the Olympics and after all your medals, do people ask for your autographs?
A: Well, after Rio, it happened a lot, people often recognised me, but not so much anymore. Well, perhaps they recognise me – sometimes I see that someone’s staring at me for a long time, but they just don’t approach me. But yeah, sometimes people come over, take a picture, ask for an autograph.
Q: I guess it doesn’t bother you much [to be recognised]?
A: No, I actually like it.
Q: Who out of the international gymnasts you consider your main competitors at the next Olympics?
A: Of course our biggest competitors are Americans, then Japanese and Chinese, I guess.
Q: Are you very bothered by the fact that Voronezh doesn’t have such training conditions as Round Lake? Or is Round Lake enough for you?
A: Of course I’d like to have good training conditions in Voronezh because there are lots of kids that want to do gymnastics but the gym is too small for such a number of kids and it’s crowded. And generally, compared to Round Lake, it’s just not comfortable, not nice, absolutely different conditions.
Q: Do you go there sometimes or you don’t train there anymore?
A: No, I train here, although not often, and I try to choose the times when there’s almost no one in the gym. Because I’m not used to training when there are a lot of kids, they’re running everywhere. It’s completely different at the national training center, we’re alone there, no one’s bothering us. That’s why I’m used to training alone.
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