Angelina Melnikova and Lilia Akhaimova were interviewed together by Harper’s Bazaar Russia.
Q: We held our breath while watching the team final. Tell us how you managed to get yourself together in the crucial moment and handle the stress.
Angelina Melnikova: From the time we were kids, the coaches kept telling us that we have to fight till the end. That’s why we never give up at competitions. We just do our job.
Lilia Akhaimova: We have a united team and we always support each other. Anxiety is sidelined when you know that your team and coaches are behind you.
AM: Of course, every professional feels mental pressure, we have to endure pain and overcome fatigue, but we live at such a pace and we are used to overcoming it every day. When you make a mistake in the crucial moment, you get so angry that you start hating yourself. But it’s an experience – the next time, you’ll be savvy enough to avoid the mistake.
LA: Indeed, we are taught to fight till the end since childhood. Even if there was a mistake, our task is to finish the routine perfectly and with minimal losses. We cannot allow ourselves to relax – after all, we have a lot of work behind us.
Q: How did you celebrate the victory?
LA: Little time has passed. So far, I’ve been able to celebrate it with my family but the most interesting things are still ahead.
AM: I don’t even know when I’ll be able to celebrate. First, I need to do all the errands ([which I couldn’t do when] we were under the lockdown at the training center), and then, with it out of the way, celebrate.
Q: Thinking back to your childhood – were you dreaming about an Olympic gold?
LA: I was born in Vladivostok, it’s not just not close but rather very-very far from such goals as the Olympics. So, as a child, I didn’t event dream about a gold and only after I turned 20, I realized that I could compete and be competitive internationally.
AM: Every athlete dreams about getting an Olympic gold and I’ve always strived for it. Slowly, in small steps. And I’ve reached that goal.
Q: Do the real emotions on top of the medal podium resemble these dreams?
LA: Olympic Games are always the most memorable competition in an athletic career. Being there is pure happiness. It’s hard even to find wards to describe it – I think I have never experienced anything like that in my life.
Q: Do you have any rituals you have to do before the competition?
AM: I don’t have any because my mind is filled only with my routines, only with gymnastics.
LA: I don’t have any but it’s interesting that on the day of the team final, Angelina had a feeling that we’ll have a good performance. It was much easier to compete in such mindset.
Q: What are your strongest features?
AM: Mine are perseverance, even stubbornness, and professionalism, because I never do anything rashly. Lilya has inner strength and our young girls are very determined and always want more and more.
LA: I think Angelina’s and my strongest feature is experience because we’re older and have gone through many major international competitions. Vika and Vlada were very collected even though it was the first time they’ve been to a world-level [senior] competition.
Q: As specialists and someone with inside knowledge, tell us what happened to Simone Biles in the final.
LA: It’s a sport, anything can happen to anyone. We did our jobs and didn’t pay attention to anything that wasn’t about our routines.
AM: Any gymnast has encountered the same problem as Simone. A regular person can’t understand it but we call these situations “the twisties” – you get lost in the air, your mind wants to do one thing, but your body does another. I’ve experienced this and it’s very scary – for one thing, because you can land wrongly. Every gymnast understands Simone and respects her decision.
Photo: Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation
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