Dalaloyan: I think my third place on vault was not deserved

Artur Dalaloyan did not win the all-around title but ended up the most decorated Russian gymnast of the competition, winning silver in AA, gold on floor, and bronze on vault and high bar. As a true perfectionist, he was still not quite happy with his results in the event finals. On floor, he was disappointed with being unable to compete his new pass and having to downgrade. On vault, he had issues on the landing and thought he should not have medalled.

Dalaloyan told the media:

“Getting the gold on floor is quite nice, of course, I’m happy with the victory. I’m not quite happy with the fact that I had to downgrade my routine. I had to do the same routine as at the World Championships last year because the new pass that I prepared for this competition wasn’t quite working at the podium training, and the qualification, I had to tuck my legs a bit on it. So, i realized that I wasn’t confident on this pass and I went back to the old routine and did it cleanly.”

“I prefer to stay on the same level as everyone else. The last year, the past competitions – this is all in the past, while today is today. If you want to stay relevant, you have to prove yourself day after day. So, I wasn’t thinking that I only had to win gold after being the World champion on this event. I was just thinking about going out there and doing my prepared routine well.”

“In order to prepare for the World Championships, I definitely need to go through another two or three serious competitions to test some new things in my routines and to add self-confidence. I think that the peak shape can be achieved throughout the year. Even if you worked hard for a month and a half, you won’t get to peak shape. You have to go through all the competitions during the year, to pass all the checkpoints, and then you will peak. So, I need another two or three competitions and a lot of work in the gym, during practices. We will have the European Games, there will be the Russian Cup right before the World Championships, and, perhaps, some easier competitions as well.”

Dalaloyan was not pleased with his bronze medal on vault as it came after a major mistake on his Ri Se Gwang II, and he’d rather have people with two clean vaults medal instead of him:

“I was very upset with the vault. I can say honestly that I spent the most effort on this vault. I understand that I need it in the all-around, I have to get my 6.0 D vault to the most possible cleanliness, in order for it to make up for my pommel horse a bit, so that I could get ahead. I spent a lot of effort but it didn’t work out for me in this competition, I don’t know why. But I’m not giving up, I’ll work harder and smarter and I’ll get there.”

“For me, there was no difference whether I was second or third. I even think that my third place was not deserved. Despite all the difficulty of that vault, I think that the judges should give more respect to the guys that land their two vaults cleanly and not lying around like me. I’m ashamed of that. How they had the heart to put me onto the medal podium I cannot understand.”

“The medal on the high bar was not second breath, it was correcting my mistakes. Remember the World Championships where I could not withstand the last event, I made the final but could not manage the pressure. I’m working on my mistakes, I didn’t give everything on bars. The vault didn’t quite work out either, but the most important thing for me was to finish the competition well, to do my high bar routine which I promised to do after the World Championships. I promised that my high bar routine will get better and I will become competitive on this event.”

Photo: E. Mikhaylova, Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation

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