Oleg Verniaiev gave an interview to “The Interviewer”, a Ukrainian tv show. He talked about how his recovery is going, saying that he still hopes to be ready by October and compete at Worlds. He also told the story of his gold medal in Rio and how apparently he had real cheeseburger booty power after dining exclusively in McDonald’s for several days leading to the parallel bars final.
Q: How is your training going?
A: I’m still in the process of recovery because I need a few more months for my shoulder to get back in shape. It’s easier with the leg, I started tumbling already, started working, conditioning, but it’s still a bit harder with the shoulder. It was a more complex surgery, two ligaments, and so all the sharp movements still bother me a bit. I really want to get ready by Worlds this year. My coach talked to me about Euros, like, let’s try, but I said: what’s the point? If I go, it’s to fight for the medals, not just to compete, so let’s sit Euros out and [prepare for Worlds] without rushing – if I’ll make it, I’ll make it. If not, perhaps, there will be some World Cups at the end of the year.
Q: Do you eat fast food, by the way? You’re an athlete, after all.
A: Yes, I spoil myself. I can just eat it without a reason if I want to. Once, a five or so days before a World Cup, I had such a craving that my friend and I drove from the training center to McDonald’s around midnight.
Q: But do you generally have a diet? Like, you can’t eat sugar or something?
A: No, I don’t have a diet, I eat what I eat. Well, the only thing is that before Worlds and Euros I have to watch my weight, those are the two competitions when I have to keep the weight down for a month or half a month, but other than that – no.
Q: But if you relax and stop training, will you gain weight?
A: Yes, I’ll gain it fast. I now weigh 60 kilos, I lost muscle mass, so it’s fat. My working weight is 55 kilos, so it means, I’ll have to lose weight now, to turn it into muscles.
Q: How much do you earn a month? As I understand, you get a salary from the ministry of sport and scholarships, right?
A: My salary is 10,000 hryvnias [$380] and they pay 15,000 hryvnias [$570] a month for winning the Olympic gold for two years. I’m employed full time by the Ministry of Sport, it’s my job to be an athlete.
Q: And there is prize money besides that. How did you spend them? Did you buy a car?
A: I talked to my father about a car, he told me to choose. I said that all my life I wanted something like that and asked if I could buy it. He said: well, if you want it, get it. Of course, I didn’t think that I’d get a Porsche, I thought about an Audi or something cheaper, maybe Audi 3, but that’s what happened. I give all my main earnings and winnings to my parents and they either help me or decide where to invest it. I only kept one bank card with the scholarship from my university, and I spend money from that account. It’s enough.
Q: Can you tell about the Olympic gold?
A: When I finished the all-around, I was upset for two days that I only won silver in the Olympic all-around, I didn’t want to see anyone.
Q: Do you think you made a mistake or that the problem was in the judging?
A: Honestly, I think that it was all decided in advance and they just didn’t expect me to give such a fight, to lead the competition until the last apparatus. Of course, he [Kohei Uchimura] is very strong on high bar, but he didn’t do his strongest routine there. You know, the name works here. When a person is winning this title for seven years in a row, then… I just can’t say anything bad about him, because whatever happened, I have to respect him. He’s an example for many gymnasts, his results are absolutely unreal.
Q: Do you know him?
A: Yes, but the Japanese are more closed, they don’t talk much to other people. But, actually, at the Olympics in Rio, he came to me first to exchange pins. He already knew before Rio that I would be his rival. I’d want him to be In Tokyo 2020, he came back and is training now.
After the all-around final, there were four or five days before the parallel bars final. And I haven’t gone to the dining hall a single time, we only ate at the McDonald’s. We had a McDonald’s in the village, we came from practice, one of us went there, one went to get water and then the three of us, Vlad, Senya and I gathered in our room with a Playstation and food, and it was all ok. And so when the competition day came, my weight went up. I weighed 54 kilos before and on that day I weighed around 57-58 and I felt so heavy, nothing worked on bars, I was angry. The coach was telling me: calm down, everything will be fine, you’re ready. And I decided: whatever happens happens. I wasn’t watching anyone compete. I was competing after David [Beliavskiy] and I arranged with him that I would chalk the edges of the bars during his time so that I’d have a bit more time. And I’m standing there, raising my head and at that moment the Chinese gymnast who won gold in 2015 falls. And I was like “boom! my main competitor just removed himself from competition”. And the main thing was just to do my routine. I’m doing a great routine, I went a bit over on two handstands, these are deductions, but the rest was fine. And I’m standing in a handstand before the dismount and thinking: stick it, stick it. And then I’m thinking: hell, I can’t keep standing, I need to do it now! Usually, before the dismount, I’m standing [in a handstand] for less than a second but here it was longer. And I stuck the dismount. After I dismounted, I didn’t know what scores others had, I just put it in my head – I won. Nothing mattered I was sure that the gold was mine. Although there were decent guys competing after me, but for some reason, I was completely calm. I didn’t think about anything.
But we were aiming for the all-around gold. Before we left for Rio, I wasn’t in the competition shape, I was in a practice shape, some things didn’t work. But my coach led me perfectly to the peak so that by the time of the competition I got into my ideal shape. And I’ve never felt before like I felt there in the all-around, I was flying like a butterfly.
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