The month of Aliya Mustafina continues with an interview that she gave to sntat.ru, a Kazan-based website. Since it’s a local website and the journalist likely doesn’t specialize in gymnastics, some questions are about Tatar culture (Mustafina’s father is Tatar) and some are a bit weird (the journalist claimed that Khorkina taught Mustafina how to talk to bars… and most of his questions were apparently based on him scrolling through Mustafina’s Instagram), but there are some interesting moments.
Q: The simplest question: “sez tatarcha solileshesezme?” [Do you speak Tatar]
A: No.
Q: I’m asking because Tatar girls have always played the main parts in both rhythmic and artistic gymnastics in our country. Do you think it’s a trend, a coincidence or a natural purpose? Usmanova, Kabaeva, Zaripova – I can go on and on.
A: They say that Tatar blood helps. Although everything depends more on hard work and talent than on the presence of Tatar blood. If you’re lying on the couch, Tatar blood won’t help you. Work is the most important thing.
Q: Svetlana Khorkina taught you to talk to bars, it’s her favorite apparatus. What do you need to do to bars to make it help you – to hit it, to pet it, to kiss it?
A: It’s not as bars are my favorite apparatus, it’s just the one that I do best. But I can’t call it my favorite. But anyway, I have a good routine specifically on bars.
Q: Did your dad Farhat, a bronze Olympic medalist from 1976 in Montreal, explain to you why he brought you to a gymnastics class when you were 6 years old?
A: Yes, of course, he did. He said right away that daughters of a wrestler should either be wrestlers or gymnasts. Dad said that girls shouldn’t fight, so that’s why my younger sister Nailya and I started gymnastics.
Q: And what, you never fought with your sister?
A: Of course we did! Both mom and dad had to intervene – whoever managed to get to us first.
Q: As I understand, three years ago you wanted to quit gymnasts. What made you continue now, after the birth of your daughter?
A: Interest. I was interested how to do it [to come back] after having a baby and whether it’s even possible.
Q: So, is it possible?
A: Yes, it is. I started training last September, three months after Alisa’s birth. I started from scratch, I couldn’t do the basic elements that kids can do. But gradually I remembered everything.
Q: Was it your choice to come back at the Russian Championships?
A: Yes, it was an absolutely deliberate choice. The only thing was that I didn’t want to compete on all events, I thought to do only beam. But during the preparation, I decided that it would be better to prepare all four events because I’ve always been an all-arounder. That’s more comfortable for me. In addition, I knew by the time of the competition, that it would push me a bit. So that it will be easier for me later on. And today’s fourth place is even pretty great for me. Yes, it hurts that I only lost to the third place by 0.1 of a point, but I was shocked with my own performance here. But I’ll have a million of falls like this one. And here the only fall happened on vault because I’ve only started training it last when I already arrived in Kazan. In the end, the old rule worked – whatever happens is for the best.
Q: Do you have a certain number of medals as a goal or a certain period of time continuing gymnastics?
A: No. I’ve never had specific goals. Time will show and whatever happens happens.
Q: Nevertheless, for any athlete, competing at the Olympics is the peak of their career. You competed in London and Rio, you won two gold medals there. Do you plan on competing in Tokyo?
A: Of course, I really want to compete at my third Olympics in Tokyo.
Q: What was most memorable about competing against Americans in Rio where they won the most medals?
A: The most memorable thing was that the Americans were absolutely unreachable for us. And no one except them was fighting for the first place. The second place was, roughly speaking, our ceiling. It’s my opinion, they were just stronger than us. The Americans had such a bright generation of gymnasts, they had such top gymnasts, very strong ones.
Q: I’ve seen a photo of you ice-skating on your Instagram, is this your hobby?
A: If you’re asking about the risk of an injury then such a risk also exists when you’re just walking on the ground. You just need to skate mindfully and carefully and everything will be fine. Especially since I skate very rarely, perhaps, once every two years or so. I just know how to skate.
Q: You also post photos from hockey competitions, do you like hockey?
A: Yes, and football, too. I got to such games often, I’m a fan of Moscow’s Spartak. I like changing the atmosphere, dipping into the fan environment, being on the stands. To feel the pulse of the fame – this is so memorable. You enter the fan areas during the game and immediately plunge into its atmosphere. It’s a huge ball of energy, its impossible to express. I really like it if only because my mind gets a rest there. I change my hobbies and charge myself with this crazy energy.
Q: And what energy do you get from cats? I saw your photos with a ginger cat and a black one.
A: Yes, those are my pets, I share my time between two apartments and they live in each of those. I really like cats. It’s a nice live toy.
Q: Let’s go back to the gym. Do you have a favorite one? How did you like the Gymnastics Center in Kazan?
A: I’m very comfortable here, In Kazan. I competed here at Russian Championships and Universiade. It’s very comfortable. I like the apparatuses here. They’re completely new while we usually train on the regular ones we got used to. It’s actually good for us. Because at the international competitions, we also compete on new, unfamiliar apparatuses. Although we’re already getting used to the ones here. If on the first day they were so slippery you could slide on them like on the ice, today everything was fine already.
Q: You’re 23 years old and sometimes other gymnasts near you are just kids. How do you feel being near younger colleagues?
A: We’re all on the same page if we’re talking about the national team. There aren’t such big differences, including age differences. And who cares if some of us are 18 and I’m 23? Especially since the spectators don’t care about it at all. And we have lots of things in common, especially since we basically live together. That’s why our interests are the same.
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