Lilia Akhaimova gave a short interview to RSport upon arrival in Russia.
Q: Enough time has passed since the victory. Have you already processed that you became an Olympic champion?
A: I think so but it’s not fully processed yet.
Q: What does an athlete feel hearing their name when the champion is announced?
A: Pride for your country, pride for the coaches, for your family that is always by your side.
Q: There was no Russian anthem, there was music by Tchaikovsky instead. What did you think of the music?
A: It made my heart ache because you know that it’s played in your honor, in Russia’s honor.
Q: Denis Matzuev who recorded this music fragment promised to play a full concert of Tchaikovsky’s music in honor of the Olympians. Do you plan on attending it?
A: I’ll definitely go if I’ll be able to.
Q: What plans do you have for after the Games?
A: To recover. I don’t know yet how much time it will take. Nothing is clear yet about the vacation but we should definitely have two weeks off.
Q: Did your phone blow up from all the congratulatory messages?
A: There were so many, I’m still reading them even though it’s been a long time since the competition already. The messages keep coming, there are more and more of them.
Q: Which message was the most touching?
A: The ones from my coach and my family. It’s personal, I don’t want to talk about it.
Q: Do you understand that you made history since Russia had never won [team] gold [in WAG] before?
A: It’s historic. We haven’t fully processed it. We’re extremely happy we were able to do it. This gold medal is the most precious to me, I’ll keep it at home. I have a special box for it, it’s very pretty, and the medal will stay in the box.
Q: Is the medal heavy?
A: Yes, it’s pulling on my neck already but I’m glad to carry this weight.
Q: In three years in Paris, Russian team will be expected to repeat this result and do better in individual finals. What are your expectations?
A: It’s all uncertain at the moment. Right now [the focus is on] recovery. But I think most of us will try to make the Paris team.
Q: Did the coaches allow you to eat something from the forbidden list after the victory?
A: Nothing’s forbidden. Everyone keeps track of their own weight if they need to. Of course, we restrict ourselves in so that it will be easier to compete.
Q: Pizza, burgers, soda?
A: Yes, we don’t eat that before competitions because we understand that we’re going to compete in leotards and we have to be pretty, we need to feel light. We ate some pizza after the competition in Tokyo and don’t have a craving for such food now.
Q: Borscht, mashed potatoes… Which dish did you miss?
A: We missed Russian food, of course. We’ll make up for that. But food is not the most important thing in life.
Q: What did you think about the spartan conditions in the village?
A: It was ok, everything was fine by me.
Photo: Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation
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