Artur Dalaloyan is experiencing the kind of fame that Russian gymnasts normally do not get, especially male gymnasts since artistic gymnastics is not a very popular sport in Russia.
He is giving numerous interviews and was even invited to Evening Urgant, the most popular Russian late-night talk show.
Dalaloyan said that during this show he realized what real fame is:
“When I was walking to Ivan Urgant, to the First Channel, my hands were shaking an sweating. But when I saw the spectators and hear their reaction, I realized that I’m not some nobody. You can say that I realized for the first time what real fame is. The anxiety passed and I tried to joke with the host”.
Dalaloyan also recounted his experience at Worlds on Instagram, talking about the multiple injuries he suffered during the preparation for the competition.
“I think many are interested to know what I had to go through for these victories. And, honestly, the road was not easy. I guess I’ll start with the very beginning of the preparation, when, right after the European Championships, my immune system took a sudden hit and I started experiencing issues with my teeth. I couldn’t train and I suffered hellish pain and I basically didn’t leave the dentist. No one could understand what was going on and that was the first week out of the five weeks of preparation. It seemed like it would completely derail me and I would have to start from scratch. Thankfully, when there are dental issues, you can forget about food, and so, while dealing with these problems, I didn’t gain weight and, as you can guess, weight is one of the most important factors in preparation and competitions.”
“A week later, together with the dentists and the team doctors, we dealt with these problems and solved them. Thank them for that! By that time, the busiest training weeks were starting, when, after three practices per day, you barely have the energy to get to your bed. Since I had not been training for a week, I understood that it would be very hard to endure the amount of training that was planned. Honestly, I managed to do the planned amount of training despite blood, sweat, and calluses, and I did not look so well compared to the other guys! I was able to do full routines only by the fourth week of the training camp, I got into the right physical shape, became confident in my routines, and only pommels and high bar were still quite weak. It seemed that I had enough of everything on these two events but I kept making mistakes due to not paying attention. By the fifth week, these events also got to their normal level but then I started getting ridiculous injuries that can really bother an athlete. At first, my left wrist was bothering me, then my back, then my injured ankle. By the way, the preparation consisted of training and daily rehabilitation but I wasn’t always able to rehab all the issues that bother me. I had to work through the pain and force myself not to do more than one repetition of this or that combination so that I wouldn’t make the injuries worse. And three days before leaving for the World Championships, our training load was significantly lowered and I only needed to preserve myself until the competition which I wasn’t able to do at Worlds a year ago. And not to gain any weight!”
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“We arrived in Qatar and went to a practice, just to try the new apparatuses, I’ve never competed on such apparatuses before. They seemed to be quite difficult, it took us a long time to get used to them. During the first days, it seemed like it was impossible to do any routines on these apparatuses. But after five days of adaptation, the confidence came back. The approach to this equipment that I’ve discovered was that I had to put more energy and strength into each element that I’m used to. By the first da of competition, we were already charged and set to fight. We had wonderful conditions, we lived in a great hotel which was a five-minute walk away from the arena, so we didn’t need to ride a bus for 40 minutes and waste our time and nerves. I still can say that competing at 9 a.m. wasn’t the best gift we could’ve gotten in the qualification but we managed. And after the qualification, I realized that I made a lot of finals and that I would have to compete every day. This is not easy, though, considering that the competition takes not two and not three days, but you need to give your best for the whole five days! Well, as they say, hardships make us stronger, so, after going through many hardships, the competition ended up quite spectacular.”
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“I am often asked, “What were you feeling in the moment you realized you won?” Actually, I still can’t quite answer this question and to convey all those feelings and emotions! I felt chills, I experienced indescribable joy, I was bursting, I wanted to yell!!! And I felt like I managed to create something great! A sense of duty accomplished! Absolute purity inside! And it was like my life has restarted from a blank slate!”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BqJpDXRnxeT/
Photo: Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation
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