Nellie Kim recently visited Russia in order to attend a rhythmic gymnastics festival organized by Alina Kabaeva. Kim gave an interview to a local website Mosregtoday.ru and talked about her gymnastics career, her current work and her dreams for the future.
Q: You started doing gymnastics at 10 years old. This was late, even by the standards of 1960-1970s. As a child, did you set any serious sports goals for yourself?
A: I didn’t think about any kind of international fame. I was growing up as an ordinary girl, with a happy life. One might say, I begged to get into gymnastics classes. I didn’t have good flexibility. But I guess the coach, Vladimir Baydin, liked my stubbornness. If any of the girls did an element better than me, I’d stay in the gym and repeat the element many times. I started believing in myself after winning the Shymkent championships. Galina Shamrai, the 1952 Olympic champion, awarded me the medal. Of course, all my Olympic medals are dear to me, same as the World all-around gold, but I always think of that childhood victory with great warmth in my heart.
Q: And there you were on the Olympic medal podium for the first time. What were you feeling at that moment?
A: The satisfaction with what I did. In one second, I remembered what I went through on the road to the victory. I felt proud of my country that overcame the hardest challenges, won the war, gave people the opportunity to live, to do what they liked and to accomplish themselves.
Q: There was immense competition on the USSR national team. In ballet or in figure skating, it happened sometimes that people put needles in their rivals’ shoes. And what were the relationships on your team?
A: No needles! I guess some people felt jealous of the others’ successes, but to do something nasty – that didn’t happen. There was only one case in my life when Olya Korbut did something bad. It was in 1973, at a competition in Vilnius that served as the selection for World Championships. I was warming up on the beam and at the end, I was starting to go on my dismount and I saw that Korbut already jumped on the other end of the beam. She had no right to do it, her warm-up time had not started yet, there are strict rules about it. I don’t think Olga didn’t know about it, her behavior was undoubtedly intentional. In short, I botched the dismount and got scratches because of the fall. I was so angry! And, surprisingly, later, in the competition, I did my routines without mistakes. So, Korbut, unknowingly, helped me to overcome the fear of the beam that made my hands shake. I didn’t say anything harsh to Olga. Moreover, we became best friends. After getting married the first time in 1977, I moved to Minsk. Olga is, as you know, from Grodno. In 1978, I was at her wedding to Leonid Bortkevich from Pesnyary. Then our life path brought both of us to the U.S.
Q: Olga Korbut periodically reminds about herself with scandalous stories: not paying $20 at a supermarket, or publishing a book in which she accused her coach of rape, or selling her Olympic medals. What can you say regarding all that?
A: I think that the main reason for Olga’s troubles is that she could not descend from her Olympic pedestal to the ground. After the Munich Olympics, she visited the USA, she was hosted by president Nixon, gymnastics clubs were opened in her honor. She apparently really thought that she was the essence of gymnastics. Not all the champions are able to transition to the life after sport. Olga Korbut is an example of that. Yes, she worked as a coach at an American club, but it was amateurish. She wasn’t doing anything serious. I don’t know what really happened between her and Renald Knysh. Recently, this topic again heated some passion on Russian TV. But after the publication of the book in the UK I called Korbut and said: “Olya, what right do you have to call us all the slaves of our coaches?! I’m idolizing my coach Baydin!”
Q: You’re successful in life and in gymnastics. What’s your recipe for success?
A: You must learn throughout your whole life. After being a “star” I became a regular employee of the Belorussian Artistic Gymnastics Federation. I was following the orders, digging into papers, preparing documents, working as a judge, coaching the national teams of Belarus, South Korea, and Italy. I got a lot of experience. I learned English. And I went to work at the FIG already prepared. But I’m still continuing to learn. My duties as a vice-president include, among others, being an ambassador. Soon I’ll go to Denmark to talk to the people who are developing TeamGym. Have you heard about it? No? Well, in short, it’s when several athletes compete on the floor at the same time, jumping on a trampoline etc. Then I’m going on a mission to Thailand. I’m jokingly calling myself “a person of the world”. I was born in Tajikistan, grew up in Kazakhstan, competed for the USSR national team, live in Belarus and America. In every country I visit, I’m trying to see the positive, to absorb the positive traditions.
Q: Your second husband was the cyclist Valery Movchan, an Olympic champion in Moscow-1980. You have a daughter together who was named after you. What is going on with her?
A: We have a friendly relationship with Valery, unlike the one with my first husband with whom I lived only for a little time and we didn’t have anything in common. Our Nellie is 32 years old now. She first graduated from a university in Chicago and became a specialist in economics and finances. Then she buried herself in textbooks again and graduated from a second university, this time she became a plastic surgeon. My daughter lives in Chicago while I live in Minneapolis, it’s a one-hour flight between them. We miss each other. I have a grandson who’s 2.5 years old. You can already see the excellent athletic potential. He’s speeding on a bike, I guess, he takes after his grandfather. But I want him to take up karate or taekwondo.
Q: In 1978, a newborn girl in Canada was named after you. She later became a popular singer – Nelly Kim Furtado. Have you met her?
A: Unfortunately, no. Once Nelly had a concert in Chicago, I wrote to her that I’m the very same gymnast Kim from USSR, five-time Olympic champion, and offered to meet. There was no answer. I think that Furtado’s managers just never showed her my letter because they are the ones who decide who the “star” can talk to. I hope that my namesake will want to meet me one day. I’d love to talk to her.
Q: Do you have any dreams that you haven’t fulfilled yet.
A: Yes. I dream that one day I’ll have my own gym. I’ll bring all my medals and cups there which are stored in boxes, for now, I’ll gather the children and tell them: Hello! I’m your coach! I will teach you gymnastics”.
Support Gymnovosti on Patreon from only $1 a month and help us bring to you even more awesome gymnastics coverage!
