Angelina Melnikova talked to Sport24 about first competitions of the year, life at Round Lake, and filming the All Around.
Q: How did the first international competition in a long time feel for you?
A: I’m thinking about the Olympic games now. That’s my only aim. The European Championships’ emotions faded so quickly for me because the main competition is the Olympics. The European Championships were like… it’s done and dusted. Yes, I had goals to achieve there but it’s all over already. I’m done with that stage. Right now, I have only one aim in my head – the Olympic Games. At Euros, after a long break, I saw what I needed to work on, the opportunities to make my routines stronger, so I already have new goals now.
Q: The mistakes in the all-around – was that a psychological issue? Or it was due to the lack of competitions?
A: It wasn’t due to anything. I don’t know how to explain it. Those were quite stupid mistakes because they weren’t technical issues. It was just a coincidence. For example, on bars, my grip didn’t fit right. I did the element well but grabbed the bar in a way that didn’t allow me to hold on. My grip didn’t get into the right position and that’s why I fell. This can happen in training but it’s very rare. And here it happened at a competition. I don’t know what it depends on. Perhaps, it’s just a matter of chance because gymnastics is a very slippery sport. And the same was on beam. A turn… It’s a rhetorical question – who falls on a turn? It’s a very stupid fall. Overall, I can’t explain these mistakes. I think it was random. They were unexpected for me as well. I thought about them later in order to understand how to avoid repeating them in the future but there’s nothing to do.
Q: After the European Championships, were you able to analyze the competition together with the coaches? Or will it all be discussed during the training camp?
A: After Euros, we got a week off. During that time, I saw my coach only once, so we didn’t even have time to talk. Generally, we all know our mistakes. Of course, we’ll work on execution. We’ll try to change some things now in order to improve it. It will all be discussed. The preparation for the Russian Cup and the Olympics is starting right now.
Q: In Tokyo, athletes will be allowed to remove their masks just for competitions, training, sleeping, and eating. In addition to that, everyone will be tested daily. In Basel, you learned how it is to put a mask on right after competing and encountered harsh testing which, according to you, “almost pierced your eyes through the nose”. After this experience, will it be easier for you to deal with the COVID protocol at the Games?
A: It’s really unsettling because your comfort zone is invaded. There’s practice, your head is full of all sorts of issues related to it, while you’re constantly being reminded about the mask. And you think: “God, I forgot it again”. And you need to go get the mask. It’s all very uncomfortable. I can say that I haven’t gotten used to it yet. I forget to put a mask on a lot because I care about things related to the sport. I think it will be harder and stricter at the Games. Especially, since it’s Japan. They’re so pedantic there. It was also quite strict in Basel but when we forgot the masks a couple of times, nothing happened.
Q: You were only 0.33 of a point away from a medal on floor in Doha. You got very upset then. It seemed like it was the first situation [at a competition] that made you cry since the Rio Games. What’s happening with the judging in artistic gymnastics now? Is it possible for the judges to favor you because you’re an experienced and decorated athlete?
A: Like in all sports, names matter in our sport. If an Olympic champion is on the competition floor, she is treated differently than a person who’s competing for the first time. It’s normal. It happens everywhere. So, I think, judges might forgive me something. But elsewhere they act absolutely fairly. For example, in the floor final at the European Championships. The girl from Great Britain did her routine quite cleanly and clearly won despite not very high difficulty. It’s 50/50. Sometimes, [you’re judged] favorably, and sometimes fairly and even stricter [than less decorated athletes]. There’s no way to predict.
Q: At the European Championships, German gymnasts competed in unitards, drawing attention to the issue of sexualization of women in the sport. They said that they wanted to inspire other athletes who don’t dare compete in the uniforms that are comfortable for them. What do you think of this idea?
A: It’s very hard to talk about it. There’s a social movement in defense of women. I honestly never thought about it because I’ve been competing in leotards since I was a child. Yes, sometimes you can get uncomfortable if the cut is too high or something. But you can always choose another leotard if you’re not comfortable. If athletes aren’t comfortable competing in leotards, then why not compete in unitards like the ones proposed by the German girls. It looks unusual. I thought these unitards were slippery, they’re made of lycra. I asked the girls and they said they were comfortable wearing them. So, I’m perfectly ok with that. People who are comfortable in unitards can compete in them. As long as they’re not mandatory for everyone.
Q: You have your own brand of gymnastics leotards, so you know very well what gymnasts need in terms of comfort. Let’s start at the beginning. How did you get the idea about [creating] leotards?
A: I’m a creative person. I’ve always liked fashion design. I watched a lot of fashion shows and so on. I even wanted to study design, take some courses, but then abandoned this idea. I figured I wouldn’t be able to combine it [with the sport], even though I really wanted it. At some point, I thought, “Why not make leotards? After all, I’m an active gymnast and I know everything about them”. That’s how it started.
Q: How do you get ideas for your leotards?
A: It’s not like I sit down and force myself to draw a leotard. I draw in my notepad when I feel inspired. I can start with patterns and then draw a leotard. The hardest thing is finding the fabric because of the quality and colors… You have to check everything but don’t always have the time, so there are problems sometimes.
Q: Let’s say I decided to start making clothes and selling them. What would I need to do? Well, besides drawing the designs. Would I need to invest a lot of money? What are the potential pitfalls?
A: The investment isn’t large. You’d need to start with finding a seamstress. You’d need to go to hell and back for that. It’s really hard. I don’t even know how many seamstresses I tried and how much money I spent on them. In the end, there was no result because leotards for gymnastics is a very particular specialization. Not everyone knows how to make them. But I got lucky because in the end, I found the perfect seamstresses. The fabric, meanwhile, can be ordered from anywhere nowadays. Even from abroad. Everything is sent in bulk.
Q: Your own line of leotards – is it a hobby or it’s about an additional source of income?
A: No, it’s definitely not about income. It’s more of a hobby. Originally, I aimed at [leotards] for little girls because it’s hard to make leotards for adults. They all have completely different bodies. But kids are more or less the same. I can’t give it much time because I don’t have much, I do everything remotely when I’m at the training center, that’s why I’m focusing more on little girls. It can be hard but everything’s fine now. Even better than I expected.
Q: Did the national team ever asked you to make competition leotards for them?
A: No. And I don’t even have time for that. It’s a lot of work. I just know how one leotard is created. We could re-do it 7-10 times because the elastic is wrong, something’s crooked here, something needs to be made 2 centimeters longer or shorter there. It’s complicated, so I’m not ready for it yet.
Q: By the way, how are competition leotards chosen when the whole team doesn’t need to wear the same ones?
A: The national team has a contract with a leotard company. They send us a catalogue with, say, 5 or 6 models. Out of those, we choose three for the European Championships. Of course, we can edit something, change the color, the placement of the pattern. They are brought to us for a fitting, we try them on, and if everything’s fine, they bring us the final options. In the gym, we have a room with leotards. Before competitions, we enter it and choose the ones to compete in.
Q: I think that artistic gymnastics fans still remember how Aliya Mustafina consoled you after an unsuccessful routine in Rio. Now you’re playing the role of a mom for younger girls on the national team. How do you manage it?
A: It’s a bit easier now because personal coaches travel with the young girls. I didn’t have my coach with me in Rio, so it was hard. Our girls are strong. I only help them in some organizational issues. Many come to international competitions for the first time and don’t know what they can and can’t do, so I give them advice.
Q: How has Angelina Melnikova changed in the years since the 2016 Olympics?
A: A lot. I had a lot of things happen in my life – coaching change, failures in my career, unexpected victories. This emotional roller coaster changed me. And my worldview is different now. I remember myself at the Olympics and realize that my head was almost empty. I didn’t even understand then how important that competition was, how long it takes people to arrive there, what they go through. I was only 16 and starting my gymnastics career. And I started it at the Olympics. I’m approaching my second Games now and remember all the difficulties I encountered. I realize that I wouldn’t have chosen this path again. It’s very hard. I wouldn’t want to go back even a second in order to change or repeat something. Nope.
Q: When you learned that the Olympics were postponed, you said you were shocked. During the past year, were you able to find advantages in the fact that the Games didn’t happen?
A: When I learned about the postponement of the Games, I went to the head coach right away and asked for a two-week vacation. Well, because your most important competition is postponed by a year and you need to accept it somehow. Especially since the careers in our sport are so short. Already after the 2019 Worlds, my health wasn’t great, I was really trying to hold it together. Now I understand that it was for the better. I didn’t train for two months during the lockdown and my health got better. That was an advantage. But mentally, it was hard. It’s a very special kind of feeling when today it’s half a year until the Olympics and the next day it turns into a year and a half.
Q: How did the lockdown go? What did you do? How was coming back to the gym?
A: I was at home. I started studying English intensively, so I benefited from the lockdown. I studied almost every day and my English shot to a different level. Overall, it was a lazy two months. I just read and watch movies. There was also a constant mental pressure because you don’t know in what mindset you’ll come back to the gym after resting for two months. Gymnastics is also a sport that requires complex body coordination and you lose that coordination right away. So, I kept thinking: “How will it all go? Two months without training, it’s horrible”. I couldn’t even do anything at home, even flip over my head. I couldn’t imagine how I’d be able to do something in the gym. But the comeback ended better than I expected. I got into my rut right away and, surprisingly, recovered easily. Slowly but easily. I didn’t have any problems.
Q: How will a day of a person preparing for the Olympics will look like now?
A: We have a standard schedule. First practice from 9 am to 12:30 or 1 pm. Then lunch. Personally, I also take a nap because I get so tired that fall asleep as soon as I hit the bed. The second practice is from 4 pm to 7 pm. Dinner. And then spare time, an hour or an hour and a half for your own thing. And go to sleep. I tried to adhere to a strict sleep schedule because it’s very important for me. I noticed that when I have a schedule, it’s much easier for me to train and to stay in shape.
Q: Do you even have days off?
A: The training center is locked down now because of COVID and we can’t leave. It’s actually a difficult situation. Your whole life you were able to leave [on weekends] and now you’re just locked down in a cage. You can’t even go to a store. It’s hard to grasp. And it’s hard to stay in one place too. Every day, you have the same route, your room, the dining hall. Before the European Championships, I spent a month here. By the end of the fourth week, I was restless. It’s very hard.
Q: In Tokyo, the main rivals of the Russian team will be the US women. After the World Championships in Stuttgart, you said that the second place is like the first because you can’t yet compete with the Americans. Tell me how you manage to go out and compete, knowing in advance that Simone Biles and her team already locked the first place down?
A: All the countries understand that at team competitions, we fight for second and third places. It’s impossible to be the American team when Simone is there. She has a big advantage over everyone else. So, the thoughts are only about the other places on the medal podium. Same goes for the all-around final and event finals. It’s actually not easy when there’s the first place but you compete for the second. You give everything as if for the first place but end up second. It affects you mentally a bit.
Q: The doping [ban] problems of our [Russian] sports were only starting in Rio, but the team got lucky to compete with the flag and the anthem then. Were you afraid to do something wrong? For example, to take some medicine, even the most common and permitted by the WADA?
A: It didn’t happen in our case. Everything’s always been calm on our team. We always have a doctor with us who has all the permitted drugs. Personally, I always refuse to take supplements or any pills. Perhaps, it’s for the worse because one’s body needs support, but I’m not really a fan of supplemental vitamins. So I can’t really say anything about it.
Q: Now all the athletes in the country have to get used to the absence of the flag and the anthem at big competitions, for two years at least. How do you deal with this?
A: It’s all quite upsetting. In your head, you have not only the thoughts of doing your job but also these issues. Going out without the flag is… I don’t know how to explain it. When you’re on the medal podium and the anthem of your country is played because of you, because of your victory, it’s an incredible experience. You have goosebumps. And you want to experience it again and again. And it’s the Olympics, such an important competition, but none of this will happen. It’s hard.
Q: It can be seen at every competition of the national team that the flag is an important part of the celebration. Have you decided already whether you will wrap the Russian Olympic Committee flag over your shoulders since it will replace the Russian flag in Tokyo?
A: We never discuss whether we will bring the flag with us and so on. It happens spontaneously because you don’t know where you will place. For example, at the European Championships, our photographer had a flag with her. We were given it and ran to the medal podium to take pictures with it.
Q: Have you heard Tchaikovsky’s Concerto for piano and orchestra no. 1 that will replace the anthem?
A: Yes. Well, it’s something at least. It’s great that such a decision was made. It’s better than some neutral music.
Q: You became one of the three featured gymnasts in the All Around show on Olympic Channel. How did this happen?
A: At some point, the head coach came to me with the documents and said: “Olympic Channel chose you to be featured in the show. They’ll get in touch with you”. And that was it. They got in touch with me and the filming started. It was fine but not always easy. Sometimes you want to rest but you need to be filmed somewhere. Especially since I need to prepare for the filming. But I’m already used to it.
Q: Were you filmed every day?
A: No, not every day. I was filmed about two or three times a month. Or more often when there were competitions. It would take the whole day.
Q: Were you comfortable on camera?
A: Absolutely. Of course, when your whole day is being filmed, you don’t know which situations are normal and which aren’t. Especially since unusual situations happen in training. In such moments, you don’t know what to do. That happened in the beginning of the filming. Then it became ok. I stopped caring about it.
Q: Were you followed by the camera crew everywhere? Were you, your parents, or coaches annoyed by it?
A: No, I got very lucky with the camerawoman, she’s very understanding. Especially since the format of the show is flexible. You can ask not to film something or cut something out. And it’s nice. The coaches would avoid [the cameras] at first but got used to it later. There were a couple of times when the filming was at my parents’ home but they got used to it. The crew often came to my home and filmed something.
Q: At the World Championships in Stuttgart, Chen Yile from China came to your hotel room and you exchanged gifts. There was a bit of awkwardness between the two of you. How was this moment filmed? After all, you couldn’t understand each other – she doesn’t speak English and you don’t know Chinese.
A: It was a funny moment. The camera crew told me: “Chen will come here now, she wants to give you a gift”. But I didn’t have a gift! Thankfully, I had a new team Russia t-shirt with me and that was what I gave her. Regarding the language barrier, there was a translator. There was translation from Chinese to English and from English to Russian. It was a nice moment. She is a very kind girl. I saw how she cheered for me at the World Championships. It’s great.
Q: As I understand, the filming is over, right? I see only short bonus video on Youtube now.
A: No, it’s not over. It’s being renewed. They contacted me after the European Championships – they couldn’t go there because of the pandemic. They wanted to film something but I didn’t have time. And they wrote to me again, said that we need to arrange filming sometime. The show will continue until the Olympic Games. After the Games, they plan on releasing three big episodes. For now it’s all kind of a lead-up.
Q: Looks like Simone Biles plans to stay in the sport until the Paris Olympics. You said before that you didn’t know how things would go after Tokyo. Do you know now?
A: It will all be after the Olympics. It will depend on how it will go and whether it will happen at all. Honestly, of course, I’d want to stay in gymnastics. I’d rather keep competing. But I don’t know how healthy and willing I will be.
Q: You have your own clothing brand, a popular Instagram account, many photoshoots and other things to do. Is it enough to be satisfied? Or you’d want to try something else as well?
A: I want to try lots of things. Especially when you only did gymnastics your whole life. I want to try something creative – dancing, drawing. Anything. Education is very important for me, so I want to start studying. I’ve studied on my own my whole life and I know all my gaps. After gymnastics, I want to close them. Right now, it’s hard to combine [the sport and studies], it’s almost impossible.
Q: How does a person who spends all their time in the gym manage to work on their Instagram account? It takes a huge amount of time.
A: Instagram annoys me! I set a limit for myself because sometimes you open it and really spend a lot of time on it when you have lots of other things to do. You don’t event spend the time, you don’t notice how it passes. Now I set a one-hour limit for myself. I only open it to do something useful and not just look at some pictures. For example, to publish a post. I understand really well that Instagram is a platform that can form your popularity. It’s important. And I can look at something when I get some free time.
Q: Is Instagram your personal blog or a platform to get extra income?
A: No, Instagram for me is more like a photo album with all the memorable life moments. And it’s also a place of inspiration. I like to take photos, not necessarily of myself.
Q: There are advertisements in your Instagram. What else would you like to promote?
A: I guess I’d like to participate in a cosmetics ad. I really like it. I have tons of things. I can never pass a cosmetics store.
Q: By the way, how did you learn to do makeup? Since you do your own makeup at competitions.
A: At around 15 or 16, I started liking putting on makeup for competitions. And this stayed with me. When I come home, I try something interesting. I learned via videos on Youtube, I watched some tutorials. And there was a beginner course, the very basics, in the modeling school where I studied.
Q: At competitions, do you match the makeup to your mood or the color of the leotard?
A: To the color of the leotard. I generally match the lipstick to my mood. If I’m in a good mood, I can put on red lipstick.
Q: What advertisement offer you would definitely reject?
A: I’m often offered to promote nutrition bars and supplements. I definitely won’t promote those. I’m not a fan of them.
Q: Instagram helps you to be known outside the gym but you’re still not as well-known as, for example, figure skaters. Do you feel jealous that they are showered with attention and gifts while your sport is less popular even though it’s no less beautiful?
A: It’s hard to say because there’s always the other side of the coin. I don’t know how the figure skaters deal with all the scandals in their sport. Some need it but some don’t. If someone wants to promote themselves, they can do it on their own, without scandals. Of course, it would be nice if gymnastics was a bit more popular. It’s a hard sport, so it can be upsetting. In addition, it’s also a sport with short careers. You want to make the most out of it.
Q: Do you have ideas on how to make gymnastics more popular?
A: Media, news, Instagram. TV, at the very least. We are very rarely shown on TV. Yes, it happens more often now but still. The qualifications at the European Championships weren’t on TV. But it’s also a time to promote gymnastics. The sport is not only beautiful and interesting when it’s a final. For example, everyone’s discussing the uniforms in which hockey players will compete at the World Championships. I guess gymnastics is still a long way from it.
Q: How many admirers do you have?
A: There were a lot after Rio. I often got flowers and gifts sent to my home and the gym. Interestingly, I never learned who sent them. It all calmed down a bit now. I think it’s because there aren’t any competitions.
Q: Do people try to hit on you in Instagram DMs?
A: Very often but I don’t respond.
Q: You really like to have your pictures taken. What was the most unusual photoshoot you participated in? The one in Paris before the eventually canceled 2020 European Championships comes to mind.
A: Yes, it was an unusual shoot, the promo for the European Championships, but it was more about video than photos. It was cool because a big space was fenced off for us and gymnastics equipment was set with the Eiffel Tower in the background. It was an incredible sight. And, by the way, it was a very hard shoot. We would wake up at 6 am, it was cold and raining, and we were in dresses. At some point, I even fell asleep under the bars with my face and hair done. And we worked a lot on bars event though we can’t [work that much]. Our palms get rubbed raw. It’s like dipping them in boiling water. They are kind of burned afterwards. By the end of the shoot the girls and I would tell the crew: “Stop, please, we can’t anymore. All our calluses are ripped off”. So, it was hard to film from morning till night.
Q: It’s trendy now to do photoshoots for men’s magazines. Would you be ok doing it in the future or it would be too much?
A: For me, it would be too much. I can’t explain it but I wouldn’t do it.
Q: How did you end up attending a modeling school?
A: They messaged me on Whatsapp, said they wanted to invite me. Not in exchange for advertisement, just for me to be an honored graduate of the school. We had a call, discussed it and then I came to the casting. I was accepted. At first I thought “What modeling school? I have training”. But non-mandatory attendance solved this issue. I would come on my days off and on Wednesdays when we have only one practice. I studied there for a year. We had different classes – makeup, posing, runway walking, and something else, I don’t remember now.
Q: What did this experience give you? Professional models say it’s very hard work.
A: Of course. Any job for which you need to learn is hard. When you don’t know how to walk or pose, when you don’t have the proper posture… It’s hard for some. It was a bit easier for me, I’m quite animated. Especially since we have choreography training in gymnastics. So I know all these nuances, I was learning quickly. Yes, it’s a very difficult field. I learned afterwards that there are a lot of people who want to work in it. And natural beauty more often wins over effort.
Q: Everyone knows you like to read. I wanted to ask why foreign authors?
A: I was really into reading at 15-16 years old. I think that at that age, you’re a bit young for the complex Russian literature. It’s really hard to read. So, I was choosing foreign authors – Remarque, Bradbury. It’s also adult literature, I didn’t fully comprehend the whole depth of those books. I’m re-reading some of them now. Overall, my love of reading has subsided somewhat. I used to just devour books but it doesn’t happen anymore. I guess it’s because I have a lot of different concerns and problems, so I barely have any time left for reading.
Q: What did you enjoy reading recently?
A: Recently… I was reading Harry Potter in English but haven’t finished it…
Q: Why?
A: I went to the competition. And in order to read in English, I need… It’s not just reading for pleasure, after all, it’s for language learning. Among the recent ones, I read The Alchemist by Coelho, I really liked the book.
Q: I want to talk about cars. You used to have a BMW X4, now you have a Lexus. When did you get your driving license?
A: I gave the BMW to my parents after the Olympics and later bought a Lexus for myself. I got my license back at 17 but waited for a year to start driving.*
Q: Was the test easy to pass?
A: Yes, quite easy. I’ve always been a good driver. Especially since my dad would teach me sometimes. I passed on my first try.
Q: Aren’t you afraid to drive in Moscow?
A: No, back then I wasn’t afraid at all. Even my parents were suprprised: “Are you crazy?” There’s a lot of traffic in Moscow but I wasn’t scared. Nowadays, I sometimes get scared when I drive because I know what kind of situations happen. But then I was 18 and calmly faced all the fears.
Q: Foreign languages. I know about English and Italian. Let’s start with English. Does your current level allow to chat with other gymnasts and give interviews to foreign journalists?
A: Yes. By the way, I gave my first interview in English at these European Championships. I was really anxious and even tried to refuse. After all, you need to prepare for any interview but I didn’t because I was lazy. When they asked to interview me, I asked: “Do you have a translator?” They said: “You’re supposed to have a translator”. But we didn’t have one. And they didn’t have one either. In the end, I gave the interview. It was scary but everything went well.
Q: How did you end up at a language school in Singapore?
A: After the 2018 World Championships, I was having a difficult time and wanted to take some time off gymnastics. I asked the head coach for a two-week break. I wanted to go to America but was persuaded not to. And I chose Singapore. I felt incredible after that trip. It’s like I inhaled life because it’s completely different people who were learning at the school. We lack this because of staying at the gym all the time, it’s different atmosphere. This gave me a big push.
Q: And why Italian?
A: I was choosing between Spanish and Italian. I studied Spanish on my own a bit. I don’t know why I chose Italian but I like how it sounds. Spanish isn’t as beautiful although it might be a bit easier. I made this decision [to take up a language] because I had nothing to do, there’s nothing to keep yourself busy with at the training center. At the time, I was thinking: “Dang, I cannot become stupid. I need to do something”. My English is fluent now and a new language to make the brain work is a good idea. I don’t have a specific goal in mind. I haven’t studied in a while. My last lesson was before the European Championships. I’m at the training center and need to resume studying.
Q: Travel is integral to the life of athletes on the national team. Is that why you love visiting new countries?
A: Yes, travel inspires me a lot. When you see other people? other culture, architecture, all that, you realize that the world does not revolve around the sport, around Moscow. You start thinking that life doesn’t end with the sport, there is so much interesting stuff ahead.
Q: What are the top-3 places you visited?
A: Singapore, Milano, and, I guess, Bali.
Q: What’s your dream destination?
A: America. I’ve never been there. I want to go to New York and Los Angeles.
Q: You’ve been to Japan already, so you know how things are there. Tell about it to the people who can’t go there because of the restrictions. How are the people there? The food? What are the cool places to see?
A: When we were in Tokyo, we couldn’t see anything, it was only through the bus window. There were strict measures taken, we didn’t leave the hotel rooms, we were always accompanied. We couldn’t even take a step to the side. The Japanese people are organized and pedantic. Everything is supposed to be perfect at the Olympics. If you have to keep the 1.5 meter distance, you will keep it. The food is very particular there. We had a camp in Kamo and it was hard for us to eat there. The food is different from what we’re used to. After two weeks of eating that food, our bodies felt unusual. Something was off. All the girls noted it. But there are usually different kinds of food at the Olympics, so I don’t think we’ll have any issues there.
*The legal driving age in Russia is 18. Russian medalists at the Rio Olympics got BMW cars gifted to them by the government but at 16, Melnikova was not yet able to drive it. There is no such thing as a learner’s permit. Russians can finish a driving course and take the test at 17 but cannot get the actual permit card or drive until the day they turn 18.
Photo: Elena Mikhaylova, Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation
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