Zamolodchikova: We saw the second place in Sydney as a loss

Elena Zamolodchikova talked to TeamRussia about dealing with the quarantine and reminisced about the Sydney Olympics.

Q: How did the coronavirus change your life?

A: Of course, it’s not very pleasant. At first, there was some sort of disappointment – can’t believe it, all the competitions are canceled. I work as a coach, we had the Russian Championships coming up. The girls were preparing and we were working a lot. But later the realization came that everything was done correctly and the health of the people is more important than anything. Now, the main goal is for it to be over fast as if it was only a bad dream.

Q: What is your daily schedule?

A: As any obedient citizen, I stay home and try to go out only to the store next door. 30 meters there and back. I am completely self-isolated. Although, of course, I feel pity for the athletes – such a long break can be crucial for some. Some, perhaps, will not be able to get back to the shape they were before this. And I’m talking not only about the elite sports but about the reserve as well. Or about the boys and girls who are just doing recreational sports.

Q: What do you do then?

A: Some have an opportunity to go to the countryside or to use a pull-up bar – that’s already a lot. But most are staying at home. They do light exercises, conditioning, stretching, but, of course, that’s absolutely not enough for artistic gymnastics and for many other sports as well. But there’s nothing to do, so we’re staying put.

Q: Do you stay in touch with your pupils? It’s trendy now to do video lessons.

A: Yes. We do video practices, although not every day. But, of course, that’s not enough either. Most kids have only 15-20 square meters for their training needs, for our sport, that only gives an opportunity to do some conditioning. But we’re adapting to the existing conditions as well as we can, we’re giving assignments to the athletes. We’ll see what will grow out of it after the quarantine.

Q: The Tokyo Olympics were postponed by a year. How will it affect our national team which has been looking great lately, especially the men – Nikita Nagornyy, Artur Dalaloyan?

A: I don’t think it will affect them negatively. The guys are young, their minds are set on victories. I’m sure that even if the Games took place this year, they wouldn’t retire anyway. So, I think the postponement of the Olympics is the right decision. It would be worse if it was canceled completely. But the postponement is not an obstacle for our guys. They’re young and ambitious, everything will go great for them.

Q: Now back to the Games 20 years ago. How did you feel on the team that brought the country most medals in Sydney?

A: I still think that I was very lucky to be on that team at that time, I’m proud that I was a part of it. I think all the girls and guys were very different. There were such legends as Alexey Nemov and Svetlana Khorkina. She was special, she really stood out on the competition floor and that, of course, was an advantage for the whole team. There was also Elena Produnova who had original and very difficult routines. There was Ekaterina Lobaznyuk. Each of us was her own personality, so the team was very interesting. And we went to Sydney to get a win in the team competition, first of all. But it didn’t quite work out.

Q: We’ll come back to this but let’s remember – how were you preparing for the Games?

A: As usual for every competition with a lot of responsibility. There were lots of practices – regular practices, verification practices, model competitions in which we re-created the future competitions at the training center and did our full routines. We were focused and really wanted to win.

Q: Was the team’s training center the same as now – Round Lake?

A: Yes, but now and 20 years it’s like two different places. Back then, there were two dorms for the athletes, a gym, and a pool. Now, in addition to other things, I’m also a Brevet judge and sometimes I’m invited to judge the verifications. Sometimes, coming to the center, I couldn’t recognize it. Several more dormitory buildings were added, and the one where we lived was completely renovated. Another pool was added. Of course, a lot was done for the athletes there.

Q: Australia is on the other side of the world. How long was the trip there?

A: The flight from Moscow to Japan was about 10 hours, then we spent around 8 hours at the airport there, then we went to Melbourne where we had another stopover. All in all, it took us around 30 hours to get there. But I think it’s ok, we weren’t the only ones in such conditions, all the European athletes were as well.

Q: How did the acclimation go? In Sydney, the gymnastics competition started only a day after the opening ceremony.

A: We came to the Olympics in advance and had a two-week camp in Adelaide. When we moved into the Olympic village, our team was fully ready and motivated to fight. By that point, no one had any issues with sleep or fatigue. We watched the opening ceremony on tv. And not because the coaches didn’t let us to go – we understood that the qualification would be the day after tomorrow. The ceremony takes place late at night and the Parade of Nations is at the very end. It takes time to gather the athletes at the arena, to deal with all the organizing issues afterwards. So, you get back to your rooms late and for those who compete the next day, it’s not the best. And we and the coaches decided together that we wouldn’t go to the opening ceremony.

Q: How did the qualification go?

A: Of course, not everything went as we planned but competition is competition. In general, we were happy, we reached our main goals. We got into the team final in first place, got the maximum number of spots in the individual finals. So, in general, everything was going according to the plan, even though it wasn’t the maximum we could do. But there was nothing out of the ordinary.

Q: We’ve already talked about how strong our team was at the time. But the Romanian team who won the team final ended up being even stronger. Do you agree with that?

A: Absolutely. The Romanians were our main competitors. We competed against them on the competition floor and were friends with them outside of it. The final didn’t work out for us. I guess we wanted to win as a team too much. And this interfered because each of the girls made a mistake. We got too nervous. Going into the last rotation, we knew we were losing and needed to do our best. We got ourselves together and did it but it was not enough. The previous mistakes didn’t allow us to finish in the first place. All in all, it’s hard to think about it because that was exactly the time we had to win. And it was hard to get ourselves together and keep competing. Because we saw this second place as a loss. It was a tragedy. We came to the Olympic village and went to our rooms, no one talked to anyone, we were in a very bad mood.

Q: And in the all-around final, the famous vault situation happened, when the vault was set five centimeters lower than it was supposed to. And it was only discovered by the middle of the competition when many athletes already fell and failed in their attempts.

A: I still can’t understand how it could happen at the Olympic Games. After all, it’s the most important competition for any athletes and also for the international federation and the IOC. And the organization of the competition is supposed to reflect that. I guess the human factor was the reason – I don’t think someone did it on purpose, it was just someone’s mistake. I didn’t see it happen because I was on other events. For me, vault was the last event and by that time, it all had been discovered.

Q: All athletes were offered to do their vaults again. Do you understand Khorkina who refused to do it?

A: It’s hard for me to speak for Sveta, why she refused or how it happened. But I can understand her emotional state – she came to the competition as one of the favorites, she was supposed to win the all-around, and this happened. I’ve never been in such a situation – perhaps, I’d try the second attempt because it would be one more chance. On the other hand, there are many factors – the score, the state of the athlete. Everyone should decide for themselves if it makes sense for them to vault again or not. Artistic gymnastics is a sport that requires difficult physical coordination and you have to have absolute focus on every attempt. Some feel the strength to go again and some don’t.

Q: In the all-around final, you finished fifth, only 0.15 points behind the bronze medalists. What did you need to do better?

A: My floor on which I later became the champion didn’t go well then. I didn’t do a very simply, very routine element. I didn’t even think it could happen. I guess it was a result of the stress. It was the Olympics, after all. I guess that means I wasn’t meant to be the champion in that final. I still don’t understand how it happened. It’s extremely upsetting but whatever happens is for the best.

Q: What did the coaches say during the competition? Did they talk about the mistakes?

A: Honestly, I don’t remember that there was special criticism. There weren’t any group gatherings, no one told us we did badly or anything. We worked at the gym and the coaches saw everything.

Q: At the end, you won two gold medals in individual finals – on vault and floor.

A: On that day, everything worked out. Of course, it was the result of much training and preparation. It’s not like you came one day and won everything – we had been going towards it for a long time, perfecting the routines at World and European Championships. That’s how everything worked out. I won the first and the last event final. And this time, it was easier for me to compete on floor, since I had already had one Olympic gold. I was less nervous.

Q: By the way, your 18th birthday happened during the Olympics. How did you celebrate it?

A: For me, it wasn’t a reason to have a celebration then because the competition was my priority. But it was nice that the girls and my coach Nadezhda Maslennikova congratulated me – right at the arena, before the team final. I didn’t expect it, I thought it would happen later. I didn’t expect such attention on the day of an important competition, I thought people would be too busy.

Q: Was that the most memorable birthday in your life?

A: Absolutely. On another continent, at the Olympics… Not everyone can boast about having such an event in their life.

Q: What else left an impression on your at your first Olympics?

A: Of course, the Games have a special atmosphere. Imagine that you are a young athlete, you go to such a competition, get to the house you’ll live in and see such a legend as Alexander Karelin. I felt as if I was in Hollywood – there were so many stars around. Karelin, Popov – my idols who I had never imagined to meet in person. And here they were walking nearby, saying hello. It was amazing. Generally, the Olympics is also about meeting people, gathering together, talking.

Q: What do you remember about Sydney?

A: It was spring in the middle of September in Australia – everything was so green and pretty, the sun was shining. It was so warm and cozy! I’ve been to many Olympics afterwards – as an athlete and a spectator – and I have the warmest memories from Sydney. Perhaps, it was because of the weather, or because I won two golds. I was very comfortable there.

Q: What did the Olympic village look like in 2000?

A: Two-story houses, they were very comfortable. Each house had several rooms, we lived two per room. There weren’t TVs or anything like that. It was simple but cozy. We were lucky to have good neighbors, there were only Russian athletes around us, everyone was serious. No one made noise, everyone understood when others needed to compete. Of course, there was a canteen, it was open 24/7.

Q: Many athletes say the canteen is is the center of the village, the main meeting place for everyone.

A: Yes, absolutely. Athletes usually live in groups according to their countries but in the canteen, you can meet anyone and talk or have coffee. It’s a really good idea. Another feature of the Games is that you can cheer on your friends and fellow countrymen in different sports – not on TV, but live. I, for example, went to cheer on fencer Tatyana Logunova and the synchronized swimmers. You can wave the Russian flag and cheer loudly. Such strong emotions are really nice.

Q: Where there any interesting situations at the Games?

A: There was a funny story after the competition. Although, when it was happening, it wasn’t funny for us at all. Only now, when remembering it, we always laugh. I and the girls from the team went shopping and walking around Sydney. One of us forgot her Olympic accreditation at some store. When it was time to go back to the village, we were ready to board the bus and then realized the document was missing. We tried going back but the stores were closed. So, we decided to turn to the street police. We knew some basic English but somehow managed to explain what happened. And we were taken… to the police station. We were received there very warmly – they took pictures, wrote everything down and brought us back to the village in a police car. The accreditation was brought back the next day. Of course, we got scared at first, but it ended up a funny story, something to remember.

Q: Have you seen anyhing else in Sydney besides the arenas and the police station?

A: For instance, we went to the zoo. We had a chance to take pictures with a koala there and see the kangaroos. They had a special open enclosure where they could run around and we could see them from quite close. We saw the famous Opera House and Harbour Bridge. We weren’t bored, that’s for sure.

Q: Did you have much time to celebrate your victories?

A: Our competition ended up quite long. Then, we had 2,5 days and needed to pack and leave, we didn’t stay in Sydney until the end of the Games. So, of course, we celebrated a bit at first but then we had to pack and prepare for the departure. We were congratulated by the Russian Olympic Committee, we got a telegram from the president of Russia. So, everything was cozy, without banquets.

Q: In 1956, Soviet athletes traveled from Melbourne to Vladivostok by sea for a month and then by train across the whole country, being greeted by people at every station. Do you regret not experiencing something like that?

A: You know, no. I don’t know how the athletes managed to endure such a trip. It’s just that when I finished the competition, I was completely exhausted physically and mentally. It didn’t even quite sink even what happened. I guess I’d been going towards it for so long that I just really wanted to get home fast and breath out.

Q: Do you agree with those athletes who say that it takes time to feel like an Olympic champion?

A: Of course, that’s how it is. But you gradually start getting used to it – everyone congratulates you, you’re invited to all sorts of events, the president invites you to Kremlin where you’re surrounded by big people. And you realize it. So, we arrived, were congratulated and that was it – we went on training again.

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