Ivan Stretovich took the longest time out of the Russian 2016 Olympic team to come back, since he was dealing with a wrist injury for almost two years. He finally made a major team this year and went to the European Championships but did not have a great competition there. He placed 6th in the high bar final and was the only MAG team member who left Szczecin without a medal. Universiade allowed him another chance to prove himself and he left the competition with four medals. The Russian MAG team placed third in the team final, after Ilya Kibartas was injured, Stretovich took silver in the all-around final, and then went on to win silver on parallel bars and bronze on high bar. The parallel bars final was quite dramatic with Stretovich in the first place at the end of the final but moving to the second place after an inquiry for Kakeru Tanigawa was accepted.
Stretovich told R-Sport that being competitive against the Japanese gymnasts meant a lot to him:
“Universiade went well for me, I managed to do everything I planned to and even more. I’m really happy with my performance, especially with the medal in the all-around final. It’s always very hard to compete against the Japanese gymnasts and I’m very proud I managed to show what I can do and to prove, first of all, to myself, that I can beat the strongest Japanese gymnasts in the all-around.”
” In the event finals, everything went well, too, but it was upsetting that the gold medal on bars was taken away from me. Although, I’m happy with the silver, too. Regarding high bar: all Asians are great experts on this event and for me, the bronze medal is like gold. And it’s just as valuable as every medal from Universiade. Every medal required a lot of strength, grit, and work. A special thanks to my coach for his care. Regarding my future goals, we’re flying to a training camp in Japan now. Then I’ll be preparing for the Russian Cup and the goal after that is the Worlds. I’ll do everything I can to make the team.”
Support Gymnovosti on Patreon from only $1 a month and help us bring to you even more awesome gymnastics coverage!
Buy cool gymnastics-themed t-shirts, hoodies, pillows, phone cases, and more at our store on Teepublic!
