Yesterday, Milad Karimi competed for the first time since the beginning of the lockdown in Kazakhstan. At the Szombathely World Challenge Cup, he qualified to the floor final in first place and also made finals on vault, parallel bars, and high bar.
As many other gymnasts around the world, Karimi spent quite a lot of time out of training in the spring when Kazakhstan was under lockdown. He talked to Kazakhstan’s Olympic Committee about that period back in April:
On life under the lockdown:
“We wake up around noon. I eat, then go to bed again, put on some movie. And then I exercise a bit. By the way, I exercises throughout the day. I eat and do push ups, eat and do something else. I brought some equipment home in order to get some training done. But it’s hard for gymnasts to do anything close to gym training at home. It’s a sport that requires difficult coordination.”
On the current season:
“When I qualified to the Olympics, I made up a preparation plan that started in the beginning of this year. I got some rest after the World Championships and competed for clubs which was a good experience for me. And in the beginning of the year, I started actively preparing for competitions. I was traveling and upgrading my routines with every competition in order to get to the Games in good shape and, most importantly, without injuries.”
On the Olympics being postponed:
“Considering the lockdowns, I think that all athletes are happy that the Games were postponed. We’ve been out of training for more than a month. I don’t even know who I’ll get back. I’ll lose the coordination, my joints will hurt. We don’t rest for that long even in the summer. Even though we did conditioning exercises at home, it’s still a lot of inactive time.”
On how he started in gymnastics:
“You can say that my parents brought me to the sport. A coach noticed me, I was cheering very actively at competitions and jumping around. A specialist suggested that my parents sign me up for classes. I guess they saw something in me. I’ve been in gymnastics ever since. At first, it’s preparation for apparatuses – stretching, conditioning, trampoline. Then, there’s a transition to apparatuses. Right now, my favorite events are floor, high bar, and vault. But I try to work hard on all the events. It’s important because they all complement each other.”
On the arm injury he got in Melbourne in February of 2018:
“While I was injured, I wanted to come back even harder. I watched other guys, how they were training. I wanted to do something as well but I couldn’t. I actually recovered quite fast. The surgery was done well, it was in Australia. They have very good medicine there and my treatment was well done. I was told not to train for nine months (I got injured in February). In May, I started tumbling a bit. And when I went to the Asian Games, we sent photos and videos from there to Australia. They were shocked by what I was doing.”
On the national team:
“We are all very close on the national team. We’re always together, we often live together at camps and competitions. And we spend all the time together when traveling. We also hang out in our life outside of the sport. We support each other. We’re like brothers.”
On competitions:
“I performed well in Australia. I liked it. Practically everything went well on all the events. I often re-watch my performances, watch from the outside how I did the elements. It’s important, because what you feel can give you a different picture. A bad competition motivates me. It gives me strength to move forward, I can’t give up. I think Russian and Japanese gymnasts are really good. I try to be like them in some things. I consider them medal favorites. I guess, unlike in the past, people are now also taking me into account. Judges became more charitable towards me, they give me better scores. That happens in judging in our sport – it’s important to be known.”
On fighting the nerves:
“I often have pre-competition anxiety. It’s especially pronounced after a long break. In such times, I try to occupy myself somehow. Listen to music. Or sometimes, I threw my things all around the room, if the competition starts later. Then I pick them up and tidy up – this calms me down.”
On what’s important for success:
“First of all, you need to have a good physical foundation. And everything will be built on it. Also important are physical therapists, coaches, team, training center, good recovery. Moreover, competitions are needed and exchange of experience in order to see the routines of other athletes. And, of course, working hard. You can’t do it in any other way in this sport.”
On coming up with routines:
“We make up routines together with my coach. We combine elements together. The process from building a routine to executing it cleanly takes different amounts of time depending on the difficulty level. After all, you can create an easy routine but do it perfectly. You can add difficult elements gradually. A good and difficult routine takes a couple of years to perfect.
On Yernar Yerimbetov, the most prominent gymnast in independent Kazakhstan before Karimi:
“My coach trained with him. He knows Yerimbetov’s path and his own path. He talks about those times, shares his experiences. I think it’s important. After I qualified to the Olympics, I asked him to help with the preparation. I wanted to know how to structure it better and more efficiently.”
In another interview with the Olympic Committee this August, Karimi talked about which results and medals were the most important to him:
“I never thought that a silver could be more upsetting than a bronze. Yes, everything was decided in the final, in a tight race. And you shouldn’t get upset when you finish second. You know what’s really upsetting – it’s when you leave the competition with a wooden medal. That’s how athletes call the fourth place. I would also like to note that the worth of any medal depends on the status of the competition. Sometimes, a silver or a bronze seem like an incredible result. So, a lot depends on the competition. On who is competing there.”
“But there were situations in my career when I was really upset with winning silver. It was when the other competitor and I were showing the same results but I became second in the end. Such situations affect your mood because you give your 100%, you’re progressing at the same level as the other competitors but at the end, you’re only second.”
“My most emotional competition was the 2019 Universiade in Naples. I was able to make four finals there. Unfortunately, in three of them, I was not able to win a medal. But in the fourth one, on high bar, I was able to get myself together. I remember there were great competitors in that final who put up a high level of competition. I was able to gather my strength and willpower and do my job well. But I became only second. And you know, the spectators started creating a lot of noise. And this was the most important thing for me – that the spectators thought my performance deserved a gold medal. And I guess that silver is my most valuable medal.”
“Any medal is absolutely as worthy as gold. It’s the result of your whole training. For some, it’s the result of their life, a long career that includes daily hard work, deprivation, and difficulties. All the medals are earned with blood, sweat, and sacrifices. It’s hard to overvalue them. But the shouldn’t be undervalued. When you are on the medal podium, it’s deserved.”
When asked about the medals he most covets, Karimi responded:
“I’ll say it shortly but to the point. I really want an Olympic medal and a World Championships medal.”
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