Nikita Nagorny had his two big gymnastics dreams fulfilled this year – his team won Olympic gold and he got an element named after them – the triple pike on floor.
Nagorny first performed the element at the European Championships in Basel and won gold on floor with it.
The named element received renewed attention in Russia in the past week, and Nagorny commented on it to TV Zvezda:
“It’s incredibly difficult, so much that I wasn’t able to do it well at the Olympic Games… I’m happy, of course, that I was able to leave my mark on the history of artistic gymnastics for, I think, a long time. I hope that in the future, there will be, let’s say, daring gymnasts that will be able to do this element, so that my name will continue to be mentioned on TV. So that when I retire, I’ll be able to watch World and European Championships and Olympic Games and hear my last name.”
Nagorny was indeed unable to do the triple pike well in Tokyo but it later became known that he competed with a kidney stone.
Nagorny was also named Athlete of the Year by Russian GQ last week. He won the award for the second time in a row.
Photo: Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation
