At the press conference before the Russian Championships, Aliya Mustafina talked about competing for the first time after coming back:
“The current Russian Championships will be very important for me because I took a break. With this competition, I want to give myself a push so that after the Russian Championships, I could find strength and emotions to move forward. I won’t risk setting goals for myself for this championships because I have no idea how my body will behave. I’m interested to learn what awaits me. This Russian Championships will be the most unusual for me. It’s hard to expect something from it”.
When asked whether it’s hard to combine motherhood with active training, she said: “If you want it, family and children will never interfere with your career. It’s wrong to choose between family and career. You can combine all of it if you want”.
She also said that she’s not afraid to not make the national team (as if this was something that could happen):
“Mentally, I’m ready for everything. If I won’t deserve to be on the national team, the head coaches will tell me and I’ll listen to them. Because what they say is true”.
After listening to Mustafina, Alexei Nemov joked: “Perhaps, I should come back, too? As they say, life only begins at 40”.
Viktoria Komova said that she upgraded her routines compared to what she did at Voronin Cup:
“Kazan has an amazing venue, amazing podium. The apparatuses are very good. My goal is to compete well. Competing on a podium after a long break takes a bit getting used to. I’ve upgraded my routines compared to what was at Voronin Cup. My main goal is to compete well, to show what I can do now, to see how I’ll manage mentally. I’ll try to do everything beautifully”.
Photo: Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation
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