Recently, Oleg Verniaiev was named Athlete of the Month by the Ukrainian Olympic Committee for the 10th time. He shares the record of ten titles with Olga Harlan, a Ukrainian fencer. He gave an interview to Segodnya talking about his title, competing at Worlds, and the fame he’s been getting since the Olympics.
Q: You and Harlan both have 10 Athlete of the Month titles. Who will prevail eventually?
A: It’s impossible to guess. But I’m younger than her, so I have an advantage. Olga and I have a healthy competition, I was very happy to congratulate her on her 10th title, now I’m waiting for her congratulations.
Q: You had a shoulder surgery. How are you feeling now?
A: It still bothers me a lot, it hurts. But a lot depends on the medical staff. If there’s a physical therapist nearby and they know how to massage and tape it, it’s much easier to compete. Shoulders are very important in our sport and, for example, on bars, if it wasn’t massaged, it’s very uncomfortable. The guys from the FC Shakhtar helped me by connecting me to their physical therapist. I hope that it will get better in a couple of months or maybe half a year.
Q: Have you put competing all-around on pause for now and will focus on individual events?
A: My main goal in Tokyo hasn’t changed, it’s still all-around. But there are events that I need to improve – pommels, vault. After I’ll recover from all the injuries. Regarding the team, we have young gymnasts, it’s very interesting to work with them. If the team will be healthy, I have no doubt it will qualify to Tokyo and there, hopefully, can be in top-5. And when you’re in top-5, you can fight for the third place.
Q: Did you believe you’d win medals at Worlds?
A: I wasn’t going to go to Worlds at all. I realized I didn’t have enough time to recover and I didn’t want to go as a tourist. But Gennady Lyudvigovich [Sartynsky – Verniaiev’s coach] insisted. We were preparing bars, pommels, and vault. I was a bit unlucky on vault while the pommel horse was broken during the podium training. The equipment wasn’t very good. Normally, I’m adjusting to everything quickly but there I wasn’t able to adjust in time. I was prepared on bars. Although in the final, the routine didn’t go as planned – at the end, I was supposed to go into a handstand before the dismount, but I did this thing [gestures down meaning that he went under the bars]. At the three verifications before Worlds, I fell on this element because when I need to get back up, my shoulder hurts. My whole life flashed before my eyes, I wasn’t confident in this element. And when I managed to get up, I thought: “I need to dismount as quickly as possible”. So, it was lots of stress, but it was interesting. Many guys were surprised that I managed to do three bars routines at the same level at Worlds. I realized that if the Chinese gymnast will do his routine, it will be impossible to compete with him, but I could take my second place. This is exactly what happened. Now I want to rest: the three months before Worlds were very difficult, more difficult than the preparation for Rio. I also needed to lose weight – my training weight is 55 but I weighed 62. You can’t really see it on me but my shoulders, wrists, and joints really feel it. Especially on rings: you’re hanging there and weight is bringing you down. And the shoulder hurt all the time. It was probably my most difficult competition.
Q: How do you choose clothes when you’re invited to events?
A: Whichever sock is clean – I put it on and go out. I don’t iron anything. That’s single life for you.
Q: What does your day start with?
A: An alarm.
Q: Tea or coffee?
A: Generally, I prefer tea but I drink coffee now because I live at home and need to wake up during my commute to the gym. Strong coffee, either a single or a double shot of espresso.
Q: What does your day end with?
A: Instagram. I check everything there, answer the messages and go to sleep.
Q: What is the food that you are always willing to eat?
A: All the bad food, fast food: burgers, shawarma, kebabs.
Q: What can you cook?
A: I’m not a cook. I can do something simple, if needed: sandwiches, tea.
Q: What are three things you would take to an uninhabited island?
A: Wifi, a bed,
Q: What is your dream car?
A: I really like American cars. Generally, any car is good.
Q: What was the highest speed you drove at?
A: Behind the wheel – 257 km/h, as a passenger – 302 km/h.
Q: Have you ever drove a race car?
A: Not on the race track, but there are some almost race cars in Kiev. A regular car won’t get up to 300 km/h.
Q: Who knows you best?
A: My coach, I guess. I’ve been with him and not my parents for the past ten years.
Q: In which country you are most popular?
A: Either Japan or America where gymnastics is very developed.
Q: What is your favorite place?
A: The gym in Koncha-Zaspa, our dear old gym [laughs].
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