Oksana Chusovitina won silver on vault at the Baku World Cup, shortly after winning silver in Melbourne. She also got two fifth places at the World Cup series and is currently second in the Olympic qualification ranking system, behind Jade Carey. In addition, in Baku, Chusovitina upgraded her vault, doing a handspring rudi (named after her) again and getting her difficulty up to 5.8.
Chusovitina talked to Azerisport.com after the competition in Baku.
Q: Last year, you won gold on vault at the Baku World Cup, this year you won silver. Can you say that the capital of Azerbaijan is a lucky place for you?
A: Yes, I’m happy. I did my routines exactly as I wanted to. I managed to upgrade my first vault, so everything is going according to the plan. I’m really happy I was able to do it and Baku really brings me luck.
Q: The World Cup series gives athletes an extra chance to qualify to the Olympics by competing on individual events. What events are you betting on?
A: You know, I’m trying all the options. I don’t have a team, so I’m considering several options to qualify to Tokyo: the World Cups and the upcoming World Championships where I will try to qualify to the Games via the all-around competition. So, I’m preparing slowly, I’m not doing the full load right away in order to get to the Worlds in good shape.
Q: Is it hard for you to start fighting for the qualification spots in the beginning of the season when not all the new routines are completely ready?
A: In Baku, it was much easier than at the World Cup in Melbourne last month which opened the competition season. Now my routines are getting much better. My goal is to get into the optimum shape by the World Championships.
Q: During the past few years, one of the competitors in the vault final in Baku is Azerbaijan’s Marina Nekrasova. What can you tell about her prospects?
A: She’s really grown and seriously upgraded her vaults. But you have to take into account that this year the fight was especially heated because of the Olympic qualification. Many leading athletes came and the competition was crazy, even harder than at the World Championships. We had to give it our all, like at Worlds.
Q: Are you ok with how the qualification to the Olympics is going for you?
A: Many things will be more clear after the Worlds in Stuttgart when the first participants will be decided after the all-around. So, for now, it’s too early to talk about anything. Everyone’s anxiously waiting.
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