For Ivan Stretovich, this quad has been quite challenging as he was trying to recover from a wrist injury for more than two years. In 2019, he was finally able to get back to the highest level and helped the Russian team win gold at the World Championships. Stretovich talked to VM.ru about coming back and making history in Stuttgart.
Q: Ivan, why did you decide to come back to the elite sport no matter the cost? After all, you were already an Olympic medalist before your surgery.
A: Because I can’t imagine myself without the sport. Because I have a dream to become an Olympic champion. Because I had to prove, first of all to myself, that I could still soar high, I could become a World champion.
Q: Our national team had not known such success at the World Championships for 28 years. Do you feel like you and your teammates kind of launched to Mars from Stuttgart?
A: I think the awareness of the fact that we did something big will come later. But there’s already the feeling that the guys and I rewrote history.
Q: So, there’s no fear of the previously unbeatable Chinese team, no doubts in a possibility of beating them?
A: We didn’t have it even before. We gave ourselves a goal – to beat the Chinese in the team competition at the World Championships. Without fear, reproach, and doubt. Let the Chinese be afraid of us. We’re the strongest in the world!
Q: The whole world observed the Russian gymnasts, to put it mildly, not hiding their emotions after clutching the victory on the last event. After the public celebration, did you celebrate in a smaller circle?
A: After the triumph, we didn’t have a party. We poured all our emotions after the team competition. Plus, some of us were still supposed to fight for medals in individual competitions.
Q: What’s more valuable for you – the Olympic silver or the World gold?
A: All the medals are valuable, because an athlete goes towards each one applying tremendous efforts.
Q: What was the hardest part of the World Championships in Stuttgart for you?
A: To compete well and not flop. To not let the teammates down.
Q: Who do you think is the number one gymnast in the world right now?
A: There are many talented guys in the world of artistic gymnastics. I know for sure that the best guy competes for the Russian team.
Q: Who’s the leader of the Russian men’s team? Perhaps, Nikita Nagornyy, who won three gold medals in Germany.
A: The captain of the team David Belyavskiy. Although, every one of us is a combat unit.
Q: Who’s the funniest guy and the main jokester on the team?
A: All of us can tease each other. Each gymnast on the national team has a great sense of humor.
Q: Among your teammates, Nikita Nagornyy, a talented gymnast and vlogger has the most followers on Instagram. What do the guys on the team think about Nikita’s hobby? Anyone ever told him, “Listen, Nikita, enough with the filming, don’t interfere with the training”?
A: Nikita’s a great dude. I can only be happy for him, for the fact that he has a hobby that he’s enjoying in addition to gymnastics.
Q: Do you have a hobby?
A: My hobby is artistic gymnastics. Perhaps, after the Tokyo Olympics, I’ll also have a side hobby. Right now, I’m completely focused on preparing for the main competition of the quad.
Q: How often do you train on your journey to the Olympics?
A: I have two practices a day, each lasts more than two days, plus an hour of exercising the morning. I train near Moscow, at the national team training center Round Lake. I get so tired and exhausted at practices that I have no energy to go around Moscow for a walk. And I don’t have enough time for walks either. Sometimes, I manage to go to football. For example, to Torpedo’s games, I like the team and their cozy arena at Avtozavodskaya.
Q: What’s your favorite city?
A: My native Novosibirsk where my family lives. But I can’t say for sure where I’ll live in five or seven years.
Q: Have you and your teammates talked about the possible ban of Russia at the Tokyo Olympics?
A: No, because nothing depends on our opinions. We’re athletes whose task is to train and to achieve success at competitions.
Q: What exercises would you include into the office exercise complex for those Muscovites who will never become World champions in artistic gymnastics?
A: Pull-ups, push-ups. The quantity doesn’t matter. I honestly don’t know how many pull-ups I can do. After all, in the Russian artistic gymnastics national team, people don’t train to become world record holders in pull-ups. For a recreational gymnast, it’s important to make and effort and stay in shape. Gymnastics is good for everyone – kids and adults alike. It helps you control your body better, it strengthens your core. And I wish young gymnasts who are training at the elite level to persist in reaching the goals they set.
Photo: E. Mikhaylova, Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation
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