The fact that Angelina Melnikova performed below her potential and still finished the European Championships as the most decorated WAG and medalling in every final testifies to how amazing a gymnast she is. Melnikova was likely tired by today and her floor routine was less sharp than usual. She lost 0.1 in difficulty and her overall score was 0.4 lower than in the qualification and enough only for silver today. The gold went to Jessica Gadirova with a very clean routine and the bronze was won by Vanessa Ferrari. Ferrari won this floor medal full seven years after her last medal on the event at the European Championships. Melnikova told MatchTV that Euros allowed her to remember how international competitions go and her next competition will be the Russian Cup in June.
Q: You have a full set of medals from these championships. Which one was the hardest to win?
A: The all-around medal. It was hard to get myself together after two falls and do floor well. Bars are bars, you either manage to do them or not.
Q: Today, on the fifth day of the competition, was there a feeling of tiredness already?
A: Yes, many girls fell today, it’s a state of exhaustion. A French gymnast got injured on floor today, it looks scary because you are also going out to compete and do very difficult elements and there’s always a risk to get injured as well.
Q: Were you upset you lost the gold on floor to the last competitor in the final, Gadirova?
A: I waited for her to compete, a little girl who debuted here. She had quite a clean routine and deserves this medal. She has lower difficulty than me but I made a big mistake on a turn and this mistake cost me the gold. But I’m glad that I did this turn because, at the very least, it’s difficulty and I try to combine difficulty and quality. My difficulty got lower because of from 6.0 to 5.9.
Q: The German gymnasts competed in unitards here protesting sexualization or women’s gymnastics. Do you relate to this idea?
A: I saw them. It looks, let’s say, quite unusual. Regarding this idea, I don’t have anything to say. This movement in defence of women is happening on all the social media now.
Q: Is it comfortable to compete in a unitard?
A: I asked the girls how comfortable it is, they said it’s fine and comfortable.
Q: You had you knee taped already during the qualification. Is it a precaution or there’s an issue?
A: I’ve had issues with my knees since I was a kid, I tape my legs, so it’s more of a safety measure than a sign that something hurts.
Q: So, nothing hurts?
A: Of course, something hurts, something always hurts. Elite athletes always have something hurting, there’s no such thing as having no pain.
Q: But it’s more like working pain, right?
A: Yes, that’s the best way to describe it, working pain.
Q: What’s next?
A: The Russian Cup in June.
Q: Igor Radivilov said he’s praying for the World Cups not to get canceled because he needs competition experience.
A: Of course, we need competition experience, it’s hard without them, training can’t replace them. We need to get into that competition rut. Thanks to these Euros I was able to get into it and remember everything.
Photo: Elena Mikhaylova, Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation
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