Nikita Nagornyy talked to TASS about competing at the European Championships, preparing for competitions during the pandemic, and what other element was considered when he decided he wanted to have one named after him.
Q: How did these European Championships go for you and the team?
A: I wasn’t able to accomplish what I wanted on the final day of the competition. Unfortunately, I made major mistakes and had falls. At first, it seemed like the final failures tarnished the mostly successful Euros for me. But when my teammate David Belyavskiy won on high bar, the last event of the competition, we started screaming in the stands. We won the overall medal count, so I have only positive impressions from the competition. I also thought that that I shouldn’t get cheeky. These European Championships were a record for me in terms of the number of medals – two golds and two silvers. I was able to achieve it after not competing for almost a year and a half. I had to miss the Russian Championships because of an illness. But I was able to get myself together and compete well here.
Q: Will the European Championships help you to better prepare for the Olympic Games?
A: The Olympic Games are always on my mind. Any competition, even if it’s a year or two before the Olympics, works as a preparation stage for us. Although there isn’t some crazy stress. Perhaps, it’s because the Games were postponed. But there’s still a certain amount of excitement, of course. Before the 2016 Olympics, the European Championships were also in Switzerland, in Bern. I thought of that competition after which we did really well in Rio. I’d like to believe this will happen again.
Q: How ready are you at the moment?
A: I surely can’t say I was fully prepared for the European Championships. After all, I missed the Russian Championships which is an extremely important competition. I came to Basel with no competitions behind me. I was able to prepare both mentally and physically, of course, but in the end, I didn’t have enough competition experience. The first days in Basel, I kept fretting over whether I still had competition experience or lost it all in the past year and a half. I had to work on preparing myself mentally. But when the competition started, it became clear that I haven’t lost anything.
We will have the Russian Cup before the Olympic Games. National competitions are also very important. At these competitions, we are able to try out all our routines for international competitions without nerves and in a calm environment.
Q: Will you get some rest now?
A: Yes, we’ll have two weeks to rest and spend time with out loved ones. There will be time to take care of some unfinished business. And then we will start the proper preparation for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. When I’m talking about it now, I’m already starting to get anxious.
Q: How hard was it to compete without Artur Dalaloyan who got injured shortly before the flight to Switzerland?
A: In truth, it was quite unusual for me. In the past year, we’ve always competed together in all-around qualifications, and individual and team finals. But David Belyavskiy was with me in Basel, so I wasn’t alone. And when you realize that, it’s much easier to compete. But still, Artur’s absence was hard on the whole team. We’ve become a joint mechanism a long time ago and when one element break down, it becomes hard for the rest. We hope for the better and believe that Artur will be able to come back by the next competition.
Q: Was Dalaloyan in touch with the team during the competition?
A: Yes, of course. We messaged each other, he wished us luck. Thanks to the social media, we stayed one team at the European Championships.
Q: Will the pre-Olympic training process be changed somehow after the European Championships?
A: Generally, we don’t plan on making any changes. The only thing is I need to be careful with my health in order to avoid situations like the one before the Russian Championships when I had to withdraw because of strep throat. And I also need to be careful about the coronavirus.
Q: In November, you competed at a friendly meet in Japan. Where were the COVID-19 rules stricter – in Tokyo or Basel?
A: It was way stricter in Japan. We were under strict control, we were forbidden from going anywhere. We could only move around the hotel through a “clean” corridor that was organized specially for us and were tested every morning. And we flew to Tokyo by a private plane while we took a regular flight to Switzerland. At the Japanese hotel, we couldn’t meet anyone, all the teams ate separately. In Basel, we talked to everyone, greeted them, and ate together. The only thing was that we had to wear masks. Here, we were allowed to walk outside, we could take a walk and rest. And they even later started allowing us to go to a store one person at a time.
Q: You came back from Basel not just with four medals but also with an element named after you – a triple pike.
A: During training, we realized that we could try something new. Although, at first, we thought about a different element – a triple back with a twist. But it’s more complicated technically and somehow I smoothly moved to the one I’m doing now. I did it right away. I can’t say that this element is very dangerous, it’s risky. But you can’t make mistakes when you do it. If you have any doubts, it’s better to not even try. In some sense, the pandemic that postponed the Olympics played in my favor. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been likely to have it in time for Tokyo. I tried this element for the first time before the competition in Tokyo in November and wanted to do it in Japan. But there was no judge there who had a right to name this element. So we decided to keep it secret before the European Championships and only laid all our cards on the table in Basel.
Q: One of the German gymnasts competed in Basel in a unitard instead of a leotards in order to attract attention to the problem of sexualization of women in sports. What do you think about it?
A: I didn’t see it. I didn’t look at anything, I was thinking only about my routines. But everyone has a right to express their opinions. I don’t see a problem.
Support Gymnovosti on Patreon from only $1 a month and help us bring to you even more awesome gymnastics coverage!
