Nikita Nagorny had much more success at his second Olympics than in Rio, despite competing with a kidney stone on two days of event finals. He talked to MatchTV about earning the bronze on horizontal bar unexpectedly and hoping to get some rest and focus on his health after the competition.
Q: After winning the bronze in the all-around, you were angry with yourself. After floor, you were in a weird state that was hard to define. What about now?
A: The all-around bronze was a low result, everyone know I could fight for the gold. At the time, it felt like failure. But now I understand that I did the best I could and was rewarded. This bronze [on horizontal bar] is different, yes. It wasn’t as difficult as in the all-around. It’s the final competition here, there will be no more opportunities, and I didn’t miss this chance.
Q: After the floor final, you said that you don’t like competing first. Today you were second, after the gymnast from Kazakhstan [Milad Karimi] who fell. Was it hard to get yourself together?
A: It’s always hard to compete first. Look at all the men’s event finals that happened here – in every final except one, the people who competed first either made mistakes or fell. On floor, I fell. On rings, the Brazilian [Arthur Zanetti] fell. On vault, the Turkish gymnast [Adem Asil] fell on his second vault. Ferhat Arican is in the top three on bars today, he was first up, it’s an exception. Also, when you compete first, you don’t know how the judging will be because the judges also adjust [the scoring] on the first routine. But, again, it’s just my opinion, it’s hard for me to compete first. And regarding my performance today after Milad fell – I didn’t set any restrictive goals for myself on high bar, I just let myself loose emotionally. The only goal I had was to enjoy competing at the Olympics and stop demanding something from myself, I just needed to go out and do what I’ve been practicing my whole life.
Q: Five years ago you were in Rio, you brought some emotions, feelings from there. Was Tokyo very different in terms of the results of the competition?
A: Of course. Tokyo topped Rio. In Rio, I was green in Rio, I came there like to a celebration, I was walking around smiling, spreading my attention, I wasn’t focused on the competition. Here it was the opposite. Perhaps, it’s the result of all the lockdowns, pandemic, and restrictions, but the focus here was solely on the competition, except for the last day, when I didn’t have any focus, I already packed my bag. I packed and put away everything. I only prepared a small bag for today and put only the grips inside. I came to enjoy this competition.
Q: Perhaps, this approach should be adopted for the future as well?
A: No! That’s not how it is. For me, it’s always been easier to compete on high bar than on other events. I competed last on this event in the team final and I did well on it on all days: 14.366 in the team and all-around finals, 14.466 in the qualification, and 14.533 in the final today. Everything was consistent and today the deciding factor was whether I’d stick the landing. I stuck it, got the score, and got the medal.
Q: After floor, you said that your day didn’t go well from the beginning. What happened there?
A: I had health problems after the all-around final. We think that a kidney stone started passing. It was discovered before the Olympics, but it wasn’t passing then and decided to pass here. I had colics and fever. This pain wouldn’t let me sleep, the body temperature would rise and fall again.
Q: World Championships will take place here in Japan at the end of October. Considering what you said now, should we expect Nagorny at this competition?
A: First, we need to know whether to expect these Worlds or not. The whole world was fighting to have the Olympics happen, but the World Championships are a competition which are organized by the host city. Does the situation in Japan now allow it to happen? As far as I know, not all the Japanese want big competitions now. So, let them first decide whether these Worlds will happen or not and then we’ll see.
Q: Let’s say it will happen.
A: In any case, every athlete needs to solve a lot of health issues now. For me, it’s my wrist and leg, so in any case, there will be some sort of a break for recovery and then, of course, I’ll go back to training and we’ll see. In addition, we have young guys, the team that needs to go to such competitions to get experience. Because the main reason the young ones can’t perform well in such moments is the lack of experience and practice. They go out and make mistakes under pressure. They need to be given a chance. Of course, we can make try out for all the competitions and never give anyone an opportunity, say: “How can we not go?” And the management also can’t tell us “No, you’ll stay at home”. If we deserve it and can go and fight for medals, then why not? So, perhaps, this will be a chance for young guys if that’s what the management will decide, if they want to take the young gymnasts to try them out and give them experience. We have quite ambitious young guys who made the national team and perform incredible elements in training. But all this need to be put together and they need to try it in competitions. Perhaps, not Worlds, but World Cups and so on. So, we’ll see. In any case, the Olympics are over and after such a major competition, we need to exhale, discuss everything, and make the plans for the next Olympic quad, for Paris-2024.
Photo: Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation
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