Nikita Nagornyy won three medals in three finals on the first day of event finals at the European Championships but was clearly tired on Sunday, the fourth competition day in a row for him. He was a medal contender on both vault where he’s the reigning World champion and parallel bars where he won gold at the 2019 Euros but mistakes caused him to miss out on the medals. He fell on his second vault and finished 7th and mistakes on bars left him in the 6th place. However, he told MatchTV that despite these performances, the day ended on a happy note for him because his friend and teammate David Belyavskiy won gold on horizontal bar.
“Remember I said a few minutes ago, after bars, that this day left a bit of a sour impression on me? Well, now, after David’s victory, I’m happy that it all ended this way. It’s a bold finish in the Russian team’s performance at the European Championships.”
Nagornyy said that on the last day of finals, he still had a hard time processing how tired and beaten up his body because of the competition’s adrenaline.
A: I felt fine. It’s hard to understand the true state [of my body]. I understand that my whole body hurts. Yesterday, I did all the possible treatments and recovered well. The exhaustion is definitely felt but I’m not yet realizing it. I think that tomorrow, when all the emotional weight is lifted, my body will show how much everything hurts.
Q: Do you understand the reason for your fall on vault?
A: Yes, of course. It was expected from how I did the vault, I went for it in this way on purpose, I tried to protect myself. After all, it is the fourth day, a high workload, I hurt my leg a bit on my first vault. These situations affect you and today, I just needed to finish all the events and leave the competition healthy. But, at the same time, I didn’t have a goal to not try, not to do my job until the end on all events. I haven’t managed to do that, we’ll keep working. I’ve encountered such a state for the first time today, it’s also an experience and I’ll try not to make such mistakes in the future.
Q: How much did today ruin your overall experience at these Euros?
A: At the moment – by a lot, but I think that when I come back to my hotel room, take a breath, pack my things, prepare to leave, call my family, grandma, grandpa, wife – everything will change. And, looking back at the competition, the experience will be more positive than negative because of today.
Q: What did you wife say when she watched your performances day after day?
A: She never watches my competitions but today she decided to watch vault and tuned in exactly when I was doing my second vault. And she says she blames herself now because if she will watch me, I’ll do badly. But, of course, that’s not true, it’s just a coincidence. And in general, she just writes every day asking me to be careful because she needs a healthy husband, just like the team needs a healthy athlete.
Photo: Elena Mikhaylova, Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation
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