Diana Varinska ended the season on a high note – she won the all-around at the Joaquin Blume Memorial. She talked to SportExpress.ua about finding confidence, working with Oleg Ostapenko, and finally getting new leotards.
Q: All the main competitions are behind and, it seems, it’s time to rest but you’re still training at the Olympic Center in Koncha-Zaspa. When will get a vacation?
A: Officially, the team had a vacation in November, but actually we competed during this time. I had five competitions in a row. And, finally, I have rest days now. I still train but don’t do my full training load, I do about a half of it, so it’s almost a vacation. And starting in January I’ll do the full load and will prepare for the new competitions.
Q: Just recently you celebrated your victory in the all-around at the Joaquin Blume Memorial in Barcelona. Tell me, what happened there and at which moment you realized you could win?
A: I knew that if I did my routines without falls, I could win. But the competition was actually quite hard because it was my fifth competition in a row. Just before that, I competed at the World Cup in Cottbus and, from there, I flew to Spain. I didn’t have much energy left. So, when I came to the arena, I didn’t even feel nervous, I just felt tired, I just wanted to finish competing as fast as possible. I was leading from the first event and didn’t give up the lead until the end. I was leading by two points, so I almost didn’t worry. I also want to note that by the end of the year I found confidence. Now, when I approach an apparatus, I know that I will go out there and do my routine. At the beginning of the year and at the World Championships where I made a mistake, I didn’t have this confidence yet, I approached the apparatuses with fear. And now I’m calm, so, I guess that led to consistency.
Q: Which medals make you happier – in the all-around or in the event finals?
A: The all-around is considered more prestigious but my all-around results are average. It’s easier for me to win medals on events, so I guess, they also make me happier.
Q: The fans associate your name with bars, first of all, however, you won gold on beam at the World Cup. So, which event is more “yours”?
A: Bars, definitely, because I have higher difficulty on bars. My beam has average difficulty but if I do my routine cleanly, I get high scores and can fight for medals.
Q: Who do you consider the model bars and beam worker?
A: It’s hard for me to single out any current gymnasts. Generally, my idol in gymnastics is Nastia Liukin. She retired a long time ago but to this day, no one can compare to her in elegance, beautiful lines and confident, practically perfect work on the apparatuses.
Q: Have you ever discussed creating an original element with your coach?
A: We haven’t really talked about it because there are such difficult elements already, I can’t even imagine what else can be done.
Q: Andrei Beregovoy, the head coach of the national team, told us about the new element you planned to add to your bars routine at Worlds in Doha. Judging by the low score, I understand, it didn’t work out, right?
A: Yes, unfortunately. It was a connection, Hindorff to Pak and I fell on the Pak. I got up and continued the routine but then fell again, on an old element. I got nervous and couldn’t get myself together. At the end, I wasn’t able to make the final like I did at my first Worlds in Montreal.
Q: It’s true then that it’s harder to repeat your success than to achieve it the first time.
A: Generally, yes. But, I think, one more factor played a role here: this year, I decided to upgrade my difficulty but wasn’t able to manage the execution and made a big mistake.
Q: Were you able to do this upgraded routine in competition at least once?
A: Yes, I did it at Ukraine International Cup in Kiev. With this connection, my difficulty goes up to 6.3.
Q: What did the coaches say to you after the unsuccessful performance in Doha?
A: They were very upset but no one pressured me, no one scolded me. Everyone saw that I was very upset as well. To prepare for such a long time and… Especially, since I did well in raining and I was more or less confident. The coaches and I talked after the Worlds, we drew our conclusions regarding what requires more work. I’ll try to correct my mistakes.
Q: At the European Championships in Glasgow, the Ukrainian team made top-8 for the first time in many years. What did this mean for you?
A: Of course, it was amazing that the team managed to qualify to the final and that I was able to help. We made some mistakes in the final, particularly, I made a mistake on bars. I think that if I did my routine well, we could become fourth and not fifth.
Q: What’s most important in the team competition?
A: The team spirit, it’s necessary to support each other. It’s also very important to train well at home so that at the competition you can go out confidently and do everything without mistakes.
Q: In addition to Yulia Kayukova, you also work with Oleg Ostapenko. Have you already figured out what the secret of his coaching success is and how he was able to lead Tatiana Lysenko and Lilia Podkopayeva to the Olympic medals?
A: I guess the secret is his leadership skills. If Oleg Vasilyevich wants a gymnast to do something, he will keep insisting, it’s not like “if you don’t want to or can’t, you can skip it”. I think that the results are due to such insistence.
Q: And can crying help to get pity from him?
A: The opposite. Crying really annoys Oleg Vasilyevich. Some are still not used to it yet and keep crying but I already know that it’s better to restrain myself. And, also, what’s the reason for crying? I like gymnastics, I enjoy what I’m doing. No one is forcing me to do anything, I know that I’m the one who needs to do something to achieve the results. Of course, there are moments when it’s really hard, when I’m tired or something hurts, then I can let the emotions rule me a bit.
Q: Calluses on your hands is an unavoidable part of gymnastics. Have you ever had to explain to strangers how you got them?
A: Yes, sometimes people ask: “What happened to your hands, did a cat scratch you?” No, I’m an artistic gymnast. Sometimes, we have guests coming over and my dad says: “Show them your hands!” Everyone’s astonished: “Such horror!” But I’m used to the calluses already and even to the fact that I get rips sometimes. It’s far from the worst thing that could happen. It’s much worse when some microinjury is bothering you but you have to overcome the pain and keep working. But calluses are nothing, the rip heals in two days and you forget about it. Only if the rip is really large, you can skip bars training until it heals.
Q: Does your floor routine reflect your personality or how the coach and the choreographer see you?
A: My floor routine is set to a song by Lara Fabian. Aleksandra Sandziuk choreographed it. Before choosing it, we tried different movements and decided that something smooth would fit me. I guess my personality also played a role here.
Q: Oleg Vasilyevich Ostapenko said that as a kid you were always jumping around but now you’re talking about smooth movements.
A: Yes, as a kid I was sharper and faster but we change when we grow up.
Q: I noticed very pretty leotards in which you competed recently. Did you help design them?
A: No, they were already made. Our coaches contacted Svetlana Boginskaya and she helped to get a deal with an American company Alpha Factor. The company basically gave us these leotards as a gift, and big thanks to them for that since, for a long time, we compete in, to say nicely, not a very pretty leotard. And we had only one leotard for the whole season. I couldn’t even look at it by the end. Now we have three individual competition leotards and one team leotard. In addition, the company made two leotards just for me and we also got a training
Q: Do you have a lucky leotard among them already?
A: I don’t believe in lucky leotards. I think it’s not about the leotard [how you perform]. I choose the one to compete in according to my mood. If a competition lasts three days, I can compete in a new one each day.
Q: For what else do you have time in addition to gymnastics?
A: I don’t really have any hobbies. Although I’m trying to learn English now because I often travel to competitions abroad and I want to communicate freely. I also like cooking. I don’t have a brand dish but I especially love baking.
Q: Can the gymnasts eat baked goodies?
A: For some reason, everyone thinks that the gymnasts don’t eat anything sweet, chocolate or pastries but it’s not exactly true. It’s just that you have a certain weight you need to keep. You can eat anything you want but within reason in order not to go over that weight. For me, it’s 49 kilos. I’m the one who watches my weight, it’s not because the coaches would scold me. It’s just when I weigh more, it’s harder to train.
Q: The holidays are coming. Will you eat something that you don’t normally eat every day?
A: Yes. To be honest, we all usually gain a bit of weight during holidays but we lose it after a day or two of training.
Photo: Gymania, Israeli Gymnastics Magazine
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