The 2019 World all-around champion Nikita Nagornyy gave an interview to Soviet Sport, talking about his success this year and what he does in addition to gymnastics.
Q: At the 2018 World Championships, you won team silver and all-around bronze. In Stuttgart, you won three golds! What has changed in a year?
A: Nothing, actually. It’s just that the moment for which we’d been training and working our whole life finally happened. I hope that it’s a starting point and all the future competitions will be as successful.
Q: Was your first place in the qualification adding pressure?
A: Not at all. When we finished, we realized we got a good sum of scores. But not as good as we wanted. We planned in advance to get 260 but got 259 and change. And this became additional motivation for the team final. We knew what we needed to strive for. The most important thing was not to relax, not to say something unnecessary in the mixed zone, like, “we’re favorites now”… Just to get ourselves together and to compete the way we can.
Q: And how did you manage to win gold, the first one in the history of Russian men’s team?
A: All the guys were just ready to win. All were thinking about the first place. There was no uncertainty. We knew what we were capable of and were sincerely dreaming about the gold. Being united like that helped us.
Q: But the Chinese were also dreaming and striving…
A: No-no-no, not like us. They’ve had it already. They won the last championships and many of the previous ones. But we came hungry. We wanted it more.
Q: You have a video on your Youtube channel about training in Japan. Were you preparing for the World Championships there?
A: Not exactly. We had a training camp there but in advance, even before the Russian Cup. We were tested – how would we generally react to Japan. After all, the Olympics are there in 2020.
Q: And how did it go?
A: Fine! We’re young guys, it’s not supposed to be hard for us. Although, we did sleep on the floor. But that was actually cool. Surprisingly, not once I had back or neck pain in that time. At first, I was putting three mattresses. Then two. Then I switched to just one. And it was ok! I even joked in interviews to Japanese journalists that I would throw my bed out after returning to Russia.
Q: No problems with food either?
A: None. We ate all sorts of things. Japanese cuisine – sushi, rolls.. Rice and fish, basically. There was European food, too – chicken, all sorts of soups. Although, they put sausages in borscht, that was funny. But that’s an experience, too.
Q: Many of our athletes – if they aren’t football players – often say that they’re more often recognized on the streets when they’re abroad. Was it the same for you?
A: In Japan, we were in a small town that had all been preparing for our visit. Every day at practices, we were met with 5-6 cameras. We were giving interviews every two-three days. We were given gifts, there were spectators in the gym… That was truly impressive! But that’s Japan for you, they’re true sports fans. It’s not just gymnastics either, but figure skating, volleyball and many others. But to say that people recognize me on the streets? I don’t know. I didn’t really take walks there.
Q: Do you remember the previous World Championships in Doha? Did you have any bad experiences?
A: I really liked it! Doha is an amazing city. Yes, it’s hot but we even did some sunbathing there. Vitamin D is good for you! So, we spent an hour a day before the competition in the sun. Yes, there were issues with food in the first hotel we were put into – 10 days before the competition. And the hotel was far away, the commute to the arena took an hour. But later we were moved closer to the arena, a five-minute walk from there, and it became perfect!
Q: What kind of issues with food?
A: They put up a special tent for the gymnasts, we were eating separately from the rest of the guests. But there was almost no selection of foods. The coffee was cold and there was no milk. There was cheese, bread, and that’s it. I, for example, need porridge. I have issues with my nutrition, I can easily gain extra weight. So, during the competitions, I eat twice a day – porridge in the morning and pasta at night. It wasn’t hard to find pasta – you go out and can eat it in any cafe. But there were issues with porridge. So, at the end, I went to the regular dining room.
Q: Recently, the Track and Field World Championships took place in Doha and there were many complaints. Athletes passed out because of the heat… And in 2022, the World Cup will take place in Qatar.
A: I think everything will be done at a high standard. Football players have good conditions. They’ll have good hotels and food. Heat? Well, they’ll figure out something. After all, football games take place in the evenings.
Q: The Tokyo Olympics are in less than a year. But Russia might be banned from the Games. Are you following the news?
A: I actually had no idea about it. I’ve only learned about it all 10 minutes before I came here. What can I say? I went through this once already – before Rio, when we were flying to Brazil not knowing whether we would compete. Many were prepared to go home right away. But everything was fine at the end. And before PyeongChang as well – we were sending off the figure skaters, Alina Zagitova and Zhenya Medvedeva, and didn’t know how everything would go. But the girls won gold and silver! And our hockey team achieved the victory. Everyone knows which country won, it wasn’t Germany or China, it was Russia. Now we need to hope for the best. And the athletes’ task is to be not distracted by anything, just keep training and working.
Q: Do you know Evgenia and Alina personally?
A: Mostly Zhenya. She’s very cheerful. emotional, positive. It’s a joy to talk to her. It’s always nice and there are never situations when you feel awkward.
Q: The Wikipedia article about you has the words “Athlete, entrepreneur”. How did you become an entrepreneur?
A: I first started thinking about it after Rio. I read a lot of books about self-development that make you get up and do something. They also persuade you that you can come, invest money, sit down and get ten times more money in return a year after. David Belyavskiy and I had an idea for a phone app. He knew a developer from Yekaterinburg who helped us to do it. The idea was simple – to help a person choose something. For example, a woman is at a store and she doesn’t know which dress to buy – a blue or a green one? She posts two photos and her subscribers vote. 15-30 minutes later she has an answer. Like it or not, we all depend on the opinions of people around us. So, we came up with a name — “Dilemma”. We made an app. We started asking our friends to download it. And three-four days after, Instagram issues an update that basically has the same function. Clearly, it was pointless to compete with them, so we shut down the project.
Q: What’s next?
A: My second big project was a barbershop. I was thinking about it for a long time because I had read that barbershops are rated high among popular businesses. But I didn’t understand that the more popular a business is, the harder. I thought it was the opposite – you invest money and get profits… Also, after Rio, I got lots of unusual offers. One of them was this – a guy opened a barbershop and offered me to get a haircut. For free, just in exchange for a post on social media. I came, we started talking, he offered to become business partners. The plan was for me to cover his loan and become a co-owner. Then I started doing the marketing while he was in charge of all the operations. A year after I realized that the business wasn’t bringing me anything, only taking from me. We started arguing – what, how… At the end, we sold it. The barbershop is actually still open, just without me.
Q: Have you ever thought that running a business wasn’t for you?
A: That’s exactly what I thought! For a while, I decided I shouldn’t get into it, that I’m an athlete and should focus on the sport. But everything came back. I guess, I’m attracted to this field. But I took all the past mistakes into the account. I realized that you need to do what you know really well. And I know gymnastics really well because I’ve been doing it my whole life. So, that’s how an idea to open a commercial gym came to me. It’s pretty fashionable now because all the state gyms are overcrowded.
Q: And how is it going? Is it profitable?
A: I’d say we’re staying afloat.
Q: You also have your YouTube channel with 200,000 subscribers…
A: That’s a separate story. When I just started it, I had a lot of time. I was injured, I didn’t know what to do… Besides the barbershop, of course. I liked making videos and liked how people reacted to them – both kids and their parents. Many even asked me: “Give us new videos, we can’t wait!” At some point, I even paid more attention to YouTube than to gymnastics. Of course, I got scolded for that. And I realized that I went too far. It was time to get my priorities straight. The channel used to be my priority but now it’s at the very end of the list. But I’ve been thinking about going back to it. It’s just it didn’t make sense to do it before the World Championships. Although, I filmed a lot of stuff in Stuttgart. I need to edit and publish it. I like showing gymnastics and transmitting the idea that you can also become successful in it. Many say that in our sport, even great results won’t ensure you have a good life. Like, in Russia, there are only hockey and football and you won’t be able to to earn money in any other sport. But that’s not true. If you’re giving your all to a job, if you’re successful and motivated, you will be fine, including the financial aspect.
Q: And how much money you earn from a channel with 200,000 subscribers?
A: Zero. In the past, I didn’t have any advertisements, although I wouldn’t do it like that now. I was thinking about the viewers, I knew how annoying advertisements are. As a result, I turned the monetization off, I didn’t accept any offers… At the time, I could fund the channel by myself – the work of the videographer and the video editor. Then I realized that this hobby was taking not just my time and energy but also my money. So, I’ve changed some things, of course. But I haven’t started earning money from it.
Q: As a kid, you played football. Do you follow it now?
A: Not closely, but I watch the games when I can. Who is my favorite? Cristiano Ronaldo. And not because everyone loves him, but because of his professionalism. I saw many documentaries on how he trains, how he lives, on his attitudes towards the sport. That really motivates me.
Q: You were born in Rostov-on-Don and Rostov FC is now the leader of the Russian premier league. Is Karpin awesome?
A: He sure is! I like his personality. I like how he talks to journalists, I watch him in awe: “What a guy! Look at him go!” Honestly, I rarely have time to watch Rostov’s games but, of course, I’m cheering for him. After all, my grandpa played for the Armenian team and for Rostselmash which later became Rostov FC. As a kid, I lived near the stadium and went to the games when I had an opportunity. My grandpa still tell me: “If you became a football player back then, you’d be winning over Ronaldo now!”
Q: I saw you doing a parachute jump. Was that your childhood dream?
A: Rather my wife’s dream. I don’t think I’d dare to do it without her. But I proposed to her this way.
Q: During the jump?
A: Not exactly. It was like that: I and my videographer came up with this surprise. I bought the ring and the flowers and put everything in the trunk. I told Dasha that we would go to Zhenya’s grandma, to her village, to go to the banya…. We both put on some nice clothes but Dasha dressed for a village trip. But we came to the airfield near Dzerzhinsk. I thought she’d be surprised and get worried, ask me: “Why didn’t you warn me?!” But she was screaming from excitement! That was such a rush for her, she’s always up for an adventure. In Sochi, she did a 200-meter bungee jump. She’s pretty much fearless.
Q: So, how did you propose?
A: We had two videographers during the jump: Zhenya and a girl. I gave the girl the ring and told her: “As soon as I land, give it back to me.” But she gave it to Zhenya. He landed outside the landing zone and they wouldn’t let him back. Then I landed where I was supposed to. I ask her for the ring but the videographer says: “What ring?” “What do you mean, what ring? For my future wife, there, she’s landing!” The girl: “But I gave it to the other videographer.” I see Zhenya behind the fence, look at Dasha. She’s flying and yelling: “Take a video of me!” But I’m turning back and running to the exit to get the ring. She’s shocked and can’t understand what’s happening. I take the ring but now they don’t let me get back either… So, that was the story.
Q: And how did it end?
A: When Dasha landed, she came up to me. I asked her: “Marry me?” She was like: “Yeah, sure.” Me: “That’s it? Where are all the emotions?” Her: “I left them there during the jump.” And then we got married.
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