At the 2018 Worlds, the Russian team lost to the Chinese by only 0.049. This is less than even the lowest possible deduction on a skill. The mistake that cost the team the medal could have come from any of the gymnasts. Yet, Artur Dalaloyan took the blame for it because he fell on the 5th even in the team final, parallel bars.
Dalaloyan says he could not let this go and kept thinking about that fall again and again:
“Finally, a year later, I can sleep at night because this whole time, this lack of the team gold medal would not let me sleep. It was really major aftertaste, that motivated all of us to work harder and stronger the whole year. Everything worked out and I’m incredibly happy.”
Dalaloyan made a mistake on parallel bars again this year, when he sat on the bars on his Tippelt. He felt like the bars were wet which led to the mistake:
“This year, I also had a mistake on bars, a major mistake that counts as a fall. The Chinese gymnasts who competed against me chalked his bars really well but it was bad for me. Some parts of the bars were really wet, because the Chinese wash the bars with water before chalking them. Some parts are then covered with chalk but some are left wet. At some moment, I realized that my left hand was on the wet spot and I didn’t have enough of a grip on the bar. I tried to muscle it up, I even thought it worked, but the judges did not credit the element.”
“I think it was this moment that forced us to get it together for the last rotation and also for David’s routine on bars. I think my mistake motivated the whole team, we managed to enter the main fight again, since in our sport, the main fight is on the last events. We just went out and did our job perfectly, while the Chinese guys started shaking. And I came up to the to support them because I know what it means to get silver: a year ago I had it right here on my chest.”
Dalaloyan said he could not remember what he did exactly during Nikita Nagornyy’s high bar routine – the last routine for the team that decided their fate:
“I don’t even remember every second of this moment. I realize I was screaming. I didn’t want to scream, this happened on its own, some words of support, it was all flying out of me on its own, so I don’t even remember it. Those are the emotions that just make you scream.”
Dalaloyan was not the only one screaming, here’s a glimpse of how the team’s media team reacted after Nikita Nagornyy hit his high bar routine:
After Nagornyy hit his high bar routine pic.twitter.com/2rVpUaM8pz
— Gymnovosti (@gymnovosti) October 9, 2019
Dalaloyan thinks the team can get even better for the Olympics:
“We didn’t want to go to the Olympics feeling like we’re weaker somewhat and only a miracle can help us. No, we’ve proved that we’re the best team, that we can fight. And I’m sure we’ll get even better by the Olympics.”
Tomorrow, Dalaloyan will try to defend his all-around gold, while his teammate Nikita Nagornyy will be his main rival.
Photo: Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation
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