Russian gymnasts have come back home from Tokyo. Angelina Melnikova told TASS she will take a break now and does not yet know how long it will last because she needs to recover mentally.
Q: In what mood did you wake up the day after your last competition at the Olympics?
A: I woke up emotionally exhausted because I already really want to go home and see my family.
Q: What do you think of your performance at the Olympics? Have you expected to win a gold and two bronzes here?
A: I’m really happy with the result but, of course, regret my mistakes on bars. I was angry with myself for a long time after that performance. But I later realized that, in any case, I tried hard, I did my best, but it just happened.
Q: How are your second Olympics different from your first one, five years ago in Brazil?
A: When I was in Rio, I was really young. In Tokyo, I see everything differently because I came here with a truly adult mind.
Q: Do you by any chance want to repeat Svetlana Khorkina’s achievement and compete at another Olympics, third for you?
A: I would actually want to keep competing for a long time. That’s why I need to recover mentally now, because the last year and a half were very difficult. Because of Covid, the training centers were under lockdowns, which is why it was really hard for us. I wouldn’t want this to repeat in my life. This whole situation with the lockdown was really unsettling. I can’t stay again at a locked down training center without a chance to live a regular life.* This doesn’t give me motivation, inspiration for training. For the past year and a half, I had to force myself to train, I tried to emotionally lift myself up.
Q: So, that means that you’ll skip the World Championships in Japan in October?
A: Right now, I can’t say anything about me possibly competing at the upcoming World Championships. I need to geet some rest and start missing gymnastics. I don’t know how much time I’ll need for that.
Q: How do you relax between practices?
A: It’s really important for me to take breaks from gymnastics, so I would talk to my friends and watch TV shows, for example, The Queen’s Gambit. I also tried watching Stranger Things but didn’t like it much for some reason.
Q: Was the atmosphere at the Olympic Village in Tokyo as celebratory as it was in Rio?
A: The atmosphere at the Olympic Village was really cool. When I just came here, I got really inspired because you can feel the Olympic spirit here, you see other athletes that are also working towards their goals.
Q: Did you watch other Olympic sports when Russians competed?
A: When we trained, there was a TV on at the gym, where sometimes there would be volleyball, handball, or water polo on. So, I peeked at it sometimes.
Q: During the competition, you said multiple times that you constantly feel support from Simone Biles who is, in fact, one of your major rivals.
A: We got to know each other a bit better at the 2019 World Championships when she really supported me after my routine on one of the events. I was very stressed because I was trying to win a medal. Simone told me I shouldn’t worry, I should relax. And later, I think, she was very happy that I won a medal.
Q: What can you say about your young teammates Viktoria Listunova and Vladislava Urazova? Did you expect such results from them?
A: The girls did a great job, they managed to get through everything. But it was much harder in Rio. When you go out to compete and realize that everyone’s watching you, it’s not easy at all. It was a much calmer environment here, without spectators, and because of that, there was no extra noise, nothing bothers you.
Q: Does having spectators in the stands make you more nervous?
A: For me, spectators bring positive emotions because it gives me strength – knowing that I’m very much loved in the world. So, this gives me strength and motivation.
Q: Do you have fans in Japan?
A: I don’t really have fans here but Japanese athletes really like us, they always want to talk to us, gives us some gifts.
Q: What can you say about judging at these Games? Some of you colleagues complained about judging.
A: For me, the judging at these Olympics seemed fair. I completely agree with my third place on floor. Vanessa Ferrari had a much cleaner floor routine, which can’t be said about me. I lost a lot [in execution] on my final pass which was even noticeable.
* Even though Russian gymnasts live most of the year at the training center at Round Lake (near Moscow), before the pandemic, they could leave the center on nights and weekends. Some athletes like Maria Paseka and Artur Dalaloyan preferred to live nearby and only come to the center to train during the day. When the pandemic started, Round Lake was closed down and, for a time, served as a quarantine center for athletes who returned from about. After it was reopened in late May, there were special lockdown rules – athletes had to quarantine for three days (later – one day) upon arrival and test negative for Covid-19 and were not allowed to leave the center for the duration of the camp (usually, three weeks). The center has a large territory, so athletes weren’t cooped inside their rooms. However, outside Round Lake, Russians mostly lived a regular life. Besides local lockdowns in the beginning of the pandemic, Russia did not institute many anti-pandemic measures and most people ignored the virus and went on with their lives. This is, of course, the reason why Russia is one of the leading countries in the number of Covid-19 infections and deaths in the world, but it can be hard for young athletes to understand why they have to stay under lockdown when their friends and families aren’t subjected to any restrictions.
Photo: Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation
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i love her so much