Petro Pakhniuk has been plagued by injuries this whole year. He got injured at a World Cup at the beginning of the year, then an additional injury slowed his recovery down. He was able to do only arm events at Euros and Worlds and originally was registered for Cottbus World Cup. However, he had to withdraw due to another injury and is currently recovering and preparing for the next season.
Right after Worlds, he talked to xSport.ua about his performance and the frustration he feels about getting injured and not being able to do his best at important competitions.
About the team’s performance:
“The goal that was set by the head coach was to make the top-24 and then whatever happens – if we make the top-8 – good, if we make the top-15 – fine as well. At the moment, the team doesn’t believe that we can make the top-3 because we’re not at our best shape. But I’m confident it’s possible, we just need to recover and show what we can do, and I think that we’ll make at least the top-5, these teams aren’t better than us, believe me”.
About his own performance:
“I consider my performance unsuccessful. The coach and our country gave me another chance to win a medal and yet again I wasn’t able to do it. At the last World Championships, I missed out on the parallel bars final only by a few tenths. This year, it was by one-tenth, but no one cares if it’s one-tenth or several tenths, I didn’t make the final. And how hard it is… No, training isn’t hard, I enjoy it, but it’s hard to wait the whole year, to keep yourself in shape and to have only one chance to make the final. And another miss, and I need to wait for another year, but who knows what happens tomorrow. The injuries keep preventing me from preparing properly, that’s our sport. I have an enormous desire to work, to show results, to prove to the whole world that Ukrainian gymnastics is at the highest level. Well, in any case, I didn’t do it this year, it’s a pity. After my injury, I wasn’t able to help the team on floor and vault. I think that next season, I’ll try to compete in the all-around. But I didn’t make mistakes on other events [besides parallel bars] for the team. I think that the head coach should have no issues with how I did and that he is happy with my performance”.
About the competition and the organization:
“Doha was warm, +30 C. I didn’t have trouble acclimating, I was comfortable training already on the first day. The organization was just the usual, believe me. There were few volunteers, nothing was clear, if you needed something, you had to figure it out yourself. The hotel rooms were regular, mattresses with springs and my back hurt every morning sleeping on such a mattress. In the bathroom, there was black mold on the tile. I don’t really know who would choose to live in such a hotel if they didn’t have to. I came to the competition and the organizers put the Ukrainian delegation into this hotel, we couldn’t change anything. There was a swimming pool, a gym, so that was something, at least. There was a grocery store nearby”.
“There were almost no spectators in the arena. If the delegations didn’t come to watch the competition, there wouldn’t be even a hundred spectators, really. It was the first time I’ve seen something like this. The apparatuses were ok, the floor and vault were a bit hard, many countries were unhappy but that’s the issue with the organization and the manufacturer of the equipment. The rest was fine”.
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