Angelina Melnikova was able to break the US streak on the top of the Worlds all-around podium and won gold. Last time a non-US gymnast won Worlds AA gold was in 2010 – Aliya Mustafina won AA gold and qualified to four event finals, winning medals in three of them. Melnikova also qualified to all four event finals and has a chance to repeat or surpass Mustafina’s accomplishment.
Melnikova told journalists after the all-around final:
“I’m very happy because it’s been a long road towards this medal for me and I finally got what I wanted. I’m very happy that this year ended up especially successful for me.”
“I’m very happy that I managed to repeat the success of Aliya Mustafina who won the medal 11 years ago, became the all-around World champion. Overall, I’m happy and I hope that our gymnastics will continue this tradition.”
Melnikova has won eight medals at major competitions so far this year, the most successful season of her career, – a gold, two silvers and a bronze at Euros, a gold and two bronzes at the Olympics and now a gold at Worlds.
Even though she didn’t end up taking a long break after the Olympics, she said she pays a lot of attention to her health and tries to rest whenever needed:
“I decided to continue this season because I feel like I still have energy. Perhaps, I’ll take a little break next year.”
“I managed to rest after the qualification, we had a day off yesterday. I’m very particular about my health, it’s important for me to recover, so yesterday I had almost a complete day off.”
On her Instagram, Melnikova said her personal coach encouraged her to take a break after Tokyo but gave full support to her decision to keep competing:
“To believe that I’m now a World all-around champion?! I don’t even notice how my dreams come true. It’s just that I really love what I do. I’m grateful to my coach who supported me with this idea to go to the World Championships even though she was sending me to the beach to rest after the Games. It’s good that I chose the first option.”
At the Tokyo Olympics, the competitions were spectator-free. At the 2021 Worlds, local spectators were allowed and Melnikova found it helpful:
“It’s much easier for me to compete with spectators present because they give some sort of extra energy and I feel their support. It was not easy to compete in Tokyo, I would even say it was a bit boring, so it was more joyful here.”
Melnikova said that even though she was calm overall, she got nervous before floor when it hit her that she could win:
“I got extra nervous only before floor because I knew that I needed to do my best and couldn’t relax despite the fact that I did well on my previous event. This nervousness helped me to get myself together.”
Svetlana Khorkina who won the World all-around title three times in her career was the ambassador of the competition and awarded the all-around medals (and was almost run over by a robot in the process).
Melnikova said it was an honor to receive this medal from Khorkina:
“It means a lot to me to receive the medal from Svetlana Khorkina because I know that she’s the history of Russian gymnastics, she’s a role model for gymnastics, so, of course, it’s important for me to receive the medal from such a person”.
When asked about Simone Biles’ absence at these Worlds, Melnikova replied:
“It’s always more fun to compete with Simone because, I guess, you admire her strength, her gymnastics. But I want to say that sometimes you’d like to compete for the first place.”
Melnikova hopes her gold medal will inspire other Russian gymnasts:
“I know how gold medals and all medals in general inspire the national team and other girls to work harder, to achieve something, and I hope this medal will inspire the national team and the younger generation.”
In an interview to MatchTV, Melnikova said she’s still trying to get used to being an Olympic champion.
Q: The title of the Olympic and World champion – does that sound too cool?
A: I still can’t get used to the Olympic champion [title]. When [people] say, “Angelina Melnikova – Olympic champion”, I feel uncomfortable, and now it’s also a World champion. Of course, it’s incredible. I guess I couldn’t even dream about this before.
Q: Did you anticipate the gold medal on your trip to the arena today or you didn’t event think about it?
A: Of course, I tried not to think about the victory. I was focused on my routines. I didn’t expect to do well. I had more time to prepare for the Olympic Games. So, here I was able to recover my full routines in a month. I was thinking about how to do what I can.
Q: Nevertheless, did you feel like it was your day?
A: Yes. In my heart, I guess, I came here for this medal because I knew that top gymnasts would miss the World Championships. It was truly my chance even though in today’s fight against the Americans I was really scared. I knew that we had the smallest gap and after the American [Leanne Wong] did her floor great, I started getting a bit worried.
Q: Was beam the turning point in the competition?
A: Beam is always the test. If you did beam well, then you did a great job, you won.
Q: Were you able to breath more freely after this event?
A: Yes, I 100% could breath more freely, I felt a rush of energy, I was on a high getting to floor. Thanks to that high I was able to do what I did.
Q: Were you excited on floor?
A: Yes, I put myself into it completely. But I had issues on turns which made me very upset. I also saw low difficulty later, I didn’t even understand what wasn’t counted. I just saw that I was first and started celebrating. I only looked at the difficulty later.
Q: This year is completely crazy – golds at the Olympics, Euros, and Worlds. What’s next?
A: I don’t know.
Q: Do you have any energy left?
A: I feel like I have some energy but, honestly, I already feel that I’m running out a bit, because I’m truly exhausted after the competition. I feel that my body has to rest. My body got truly exhausted after all these years.
Q: Considering that you’re only 21 years old…
A: Yeah, but what years these were!
Q: Four event finals are still ahead. If you’re setting priorities, which are the most important for you?
A: I’m most worried for floor. Bars as well, I want to do my routine well. We’ll see. I didn’t train [the second] vault at all, I only started training it here, and I don’t know how beam will go.
