Artur Dalaloyan talked about his Achilles surgery and the expected recovery process to MatchTV. He says he’s already doing some conditioning exercises and doesn’t take his eyes off the goal:
“Everything’s fine, it’s getting better and better every day since the surgery. The surgery went well and I started training the next day. I asked them to bring me a training mat to the hospital room. Because I definitely can’t get out of shape now, I can’t give up or get upset and nervous, it’s all unnecessary now, I think.”
“The doctors are saying that everything’s fine, that the stitched it well. The most important thing now is the right attitude to recovery, to rehabilitation, I shouldn’t run at full steam and start doing something before its time. I need to spend a couple of weeks in a cast now. In a couple of weeks, the stitches will be taken out and I’ll get a special boot. I remember that when I wore such a boot after Montreal [Worlds], I did all routines or at least half-routines on all events in that boot. So I’ll be able to have almost normal training except for dismounts and tumbling, of course. I’m already allowed to train. Not proper training, of course, the kind that would cause the stitches to come apart, not some big moves, not for the next two weeks, but some static moves, conditioning, and some light stretching. So, I’m already starting to work on recovery and I see good prospects and the doctors are saying that nothing terrible happened, there’s enough time to recover. I have support from the head coach, from the federation management, and first of all, from the team. I feel this responsibility and, of course, giving up is the last thing I could do.”
Dalaloyan says he plans to finish the recovery by the Olympics:
“Of course, I will do whatever is necessary, the maximum effort, in order to be ready by August, in order for our team not to become weaker, in order for us to walk this path together. The doctors are giving me five weeks to recover now. That is, I might skip the Russian Cup. But that’s not for sure. Perhaps, I’ll compete on four events at the Russian Cup if my foot will allow me to do some easy dismounts. I don’t doubt my ability on four events but dismounts are in question right now, this will depend on how the recovery will go. Everyone’s body is different, it’s faster for some and slower for others, so we’ll see. But I think that by the Russian Cup I’ll be able to do some routines without dismounts”.
Valentina Rodionenko said that coaches were afraid the injury was more serious than it turned out to be:
“We were afraid that the Achilles injury would be serious but it’s only a partial tear.”
Dalaloyan was replaced by Kirill Prokopev on the Euros team:
“Of course, Dalaloyan is stronger [than Prokopev], it’s not an equal replacement but Prokopev has his own three strong events – floor, vault, and pommel horse. His other events are a bit weaker but it’s not a team competition, but an individual one.”
Vasily Titov, the federation’s president, says the team expects Dalaloyan to recover in time for the Olympics:
“This [Euros] team with Artur Dalaloyan is the main team for the Olympics. We really count on Artur for the Olympics. Thank God, the injury was not as serious as it seemed at first. He has started a rigorous recivery program and is training, even though the training is limited, clearly. But, of course, his health is more important. We need to be prepared to possible make replacements.”
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