Kazakhstan’s Aida Bauyrzhanova had to take a long break from international competitions in 2016 and 2017 due to an elbow injury. She returned at the 2018 Asian Games and this weekend, she will compete at her first ever World Cup event final, she qualified to the final on floor. Bauyrzhanova talked to Prosport.kz shortly before the competition about dealing with the injury and coming back and how seeing the success of Kazakhstan’s MAG affects the women’s team.
Q: Aida, where are you at the moment?
A: We’re already in Melbourne. The team will compete at the first competition of 2019, Melbourne World Cup. We were preparing for it in Penza, in Russia.
Q: What will be the main competitions this year?
A: The most important competition will be the World Championships in Stuttgart. It will be possible to qualify to the Olympics there. I also plan on competing at World Cups, Asian Championships and Universiade.
Q: What do you think of the past season?
A: 2018 was a difficult year for me. I had an elbow injury and spent three years recovering from it. My first competition after such a long break was the Asian Games. I’m happy with being able to achieve the goals I had. I think I did my routines well and, the most important, I didn’t let my team down.
Q: In 2018, Kazakhstan’s men’s team competed successfully at World Cups and World Championships. What do you think, when will the women also be able to achieve such results and what is required for that?
A: Looking at our men’s team, we realized that we can also achieve such results. There’s a lot of competition among the guys, many talented guys. I think that the results in Kazakhstan’s women’s gymnastics will come very soon. We need to work more and to love gymnastics.
Q: You’ve been on the national team for several years now. Do you think our country has a lot of young gymnasts with good potential?
A: Yes, we have good gymnasts, they’re 14-15 years old now. I think they’ll be able to show themselves already next year.
Q: Have you thought about retiring?
A: No, I’m not thinking about retiring just yet, I want to accomplish so much more.
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