Denis Abliazin was supposed to go to Tokyo as an individual from the start. He was even left out of the 2018 Worlds team in order to leave him eligible for earning a spot through World Apparatus Cup series (injuries prevented him from doing so). And even his participation as an individual was in question after he broke both his legs in the fall of 2019 and the recovery took over a year. At the Russian Championships in March, Abliazin was still able to do only rings and was not selected for the European Championships team. Instead, Russia tested Aleksandr Kartsev as the potential fourth member of the Olympic team. Dalaloyan’s injury messed up all the plans and left Russia vulnerable on vault and floor. This, in turn, created an opportunity for Abliazin to get back on the team. After the podium training, Abliazin told MatchTV he feels calm thanks to his previous Olympic experience.
A: We finished everything we were supposed to, everything worked out. I think it was a good training session. I didn’t pay much attention to other competitors. I need to do my job like any other athlete on our team – to do my events. I did well on all three of my events today.
Q: Rings, vault, and floor?
A: Yes, these are the ones that I will do at the Games.
Q: Are you nervous?
A: I’m not nervous, it’s my third Olympics, so I have experience.
Q: Compared to London and Rio, how different things are here, taking the coronavirus issues into account?
A: I don’t think about that. I came to compete and the rest is not really my concern.
Q: Some people are complaining about thin walls in the village, saying they can hear everything.
A: You know, when you want to sleep, you’ll fall asleep. It doesn’t matter what’s going on on the other side of the wall – if people are screaming or singing in the street. I sleep very well here, I’m almost fully adjusted to the time zone.
Q: How are your legs that you broke in 2019?
A: Everything’s fine, they recovered, everything’s great.
Photo: Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation
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