Russian women had podium training today and overall performed very well. While men had a lot of issues on vault in their podium training yesterday, women said they were happy with all of the equipment. Angelina Melnikova attempted a vault upgrade – a Cheng. She’s been training it for a while and tried it in podium training at the 2018 Worlds but it never got competition-ready. She told the media she’s still not sure about doing it in competition even though it looked good today.
A: Everything’s fine. Floor was a bit… because of the podium, the floor moves a bit more and it’s too soft for me, I need to get used to it. That’s why my floor wasn’t very good today but it’s podium training and I hope that everything will be fine in competition. I liked how I did on the rest of the events, the equipment is great, I even got inspired to work on this equipment.
Q: The coach kept fixing something and tightening the cables. Is that normal?
A: Yes, this is normal thing.
Q: You have a new vault.
A: Yes, I’m working on a new vault, it’s still quite raw, so I was a bit anxious about it today. I’m worried, it’s a difficult vault and I don’t know yet whether I’ll do it at the Games or not.
Melnikova also commented on the results of the poll that said many Russians expect to see figure skating at the Tokyo Olympics and said she was unpleasantly surprised by the conditions in Tokyo.
Q: Angelina, I can’t help but ask you about the latest VTsIOM poll. It found that 97% of Russians are not familiar with any of our Tokyo Olympians and some are even expecting to see hockey and figure skating at the summer Olympics. Is our country so little into sports?
A: I can’t say anything about how into sports our country is but regarding specifically artistic gymnastics – of course, we’d like it to get more attention. It’s already getting better because of media. Compared to, for instance, America or Europe, gymnastics has become hugely popular there and that’s inspiring. When you see a crowd of your fans, you get energy and emotions from it. You want to do even more to make them happy. Of course, we really lack that [in Russia]. But things are getting better already, the social media now exist. I think in a couple of years, everything will be fine.
Q: But that requires good results.
A: Yes, of course. I hope ours won’t go anywhere.
Q: What do you expect here in terms of team and individual results?
A: It’s hard to say because we haven’t seen our main competitors [the US gymnasts]. It’s been 1.5 years or even a bit more since the last competition, so it’s hard to compare. We haven’t seen how looked after lockdowns, who’s training what. Here, at the Olympics, we also don’t see them because we’re training only in our subdivision group.
Q: Were you able to feel the Olympic atmosphere?
A: The atmosphere is generally inspiring. You could say it’s the pinnacle of an athlete’s life. You want to give it your all, to show everything you can do.
Q: What about the Olympic village? People say that not everything was great in Rio either.
A: Well, of course, I compare this to Rio because I was there. I was a bit shocked [by the conditions] in Tokyo. I just thought that the Japanese are so pedantic, everything’s always perfect everywhere… But when I entered my room in the village, I was unpleasantly surprised. Even by the cardboard bed. I still can’t get used to it. It also stands by a cardboard wall. It’s not very comfortable.
Anastasia Iliankova said she eventually found the beds comfortable:
“I was surprised by the cardboard beds, but we’ve been sleeping on them for a few days and we are already used to them, there’s no discomfort”.
Viktoria Listunova, the reigning national and European all-around champion, is one of the main contenders for an all-around medal here. At 15 years old, she’s the youngest member of the Russian Olympic delegation and she’s been to only one senior international competition so far. She said her thoughts are all about the competition and she barely pays attention to anything else.
Q: Did everything go well for you today?
A: Yes.
Q: Everyone put their masks on when they moved from bars to beam and only you didn’t wear one. Are the rules different for a European all-around champion?
A: [laughs] I just didn’t get a chance to put it on. Just like I said at Euros, when you’re at a competition, you don’t think about the pandemic, the coronavirus, there’s none of it in your head. Only you, the apparatuses, the competition floor, and that’s it. No restrictions, you just focus on the apparatuses and your routines.
Q: Did you get acclimatized?
A: Yes. It’s good that I was able to sleep on the plane, it’s very important because I’ve been having issues with that lately – I wasn’t able to sleep on the flights to the European Championships and the Russian Cup. I don’t know why, perhaps, I wasn’t sitting the right way, perhaps, something else, but I was uncomfortable and couldn’t fall asleep. Here, though, most of the passengers on the plane were athletes and we were sitting with one empty seat between us. That was very handy, so, I had two seats and was able to lie down and get some sleep.
Q: I remember you were walking with a little spring in your step at the [Tokyo] airport.
A: I had to. We were rushed by the volunteers and I was in a hurry because before that, we were tested, then went somewhere else through some mazes… So I was in a hurry, I wanted to get through everything fast and be done with it. That’s how I kept encouraging myself.
Q: How did you settle in the Olympic village?
A: I can compare it to the European Olympic Youth Festival in Baku in 2019. It was organized similarly to the Olympics, there was also a village, a dining hall, it was quite noisy. Honestly, it’s even quieter here than in Baku. I like everything here, I’m comfortable, everything’s tasty, the dining hall is large, there’s a large selection of dishes.
Elena Gerasimova who will compete in Tokyo as an individual, same as Anastasia Iliankova, said there might be advantages to not having any spectators.
A: The podium training went well. There are still some errors that can be worked on until the competition, there’s still time, but I’m happy. The arena is large, it’s nice, everything’s fine. I had the task to feel the equipment today, that’s why podium training is needed. And I felt the elements where I might make mistakes. The three tries on the beam were very important in that sense, so that I could get precise on everything.
Q: How much does the fact that there are no spectators in the arena help?
A: It would have been nice if there were spectators. They help and their support is very important. But when there are no spectators, you’re more calm and this also plays a role.
Lilia Akhaimova finally got to her Olympics – she was supposed to be an alternate for Rio but the federation did not apply for an FIG license for her in time and she was left at home. Akhaimova already has an experience of missing out on a competition due to a positive COVID-19 test. In October, she tested positive while preparing to leave for the Friendship and Solidarity Competition in Tokyo. She then also had to miss the Russian Championships because she could not train while in quarantine. However, Akhaimova said the news of athletes testing positive or being put in quarantine as close contacts don’t make her nervous:
“We’re protecting ourselves with masks and everything else, we try to minimize contacts [with other people]. We’re taking it calmly, this can happen to anyone. We are just protecting ourselves, these news don’t scare us at all.”
Some Russian athletes complained that there are no TVs in their apartments in the village but Akhaimova said she doesn’t have time to watch TV anyway, so it doesn’t bother her:
“Regarding the absence of a TV or a fridge, we don’t really have time for those. Although, a fridge would have been nice. But it’s ok, we’ll manage without a fridge.”
She enjoyed training during the same sessions as the Chinese WAG team:
“Everything looks good, we liked the gym, the equipment is great. Of course, we miss spectators, that atmosphere, but overall everyone supports each other in the gym. We’ve been training with the Chinese team for three days, they’re great, they also have a great team. Unfortunately, we can’t see other teams, they’re in different subdivisions. We’ve met the Chinese gymnasts many times, so we’re used to each other.”
Akhaimova said Artur Dalaloyan’s miraculous recovery from a torn Achilles is an inspiration:
“Artur is very motivated, he sets a huge example for all of us, including the whole women’s team. The men’s team is an example for us, they are very tight-knit, they have great relationships. Artur did a great job recovering in such a short time. That’s a great example, of course.”
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