Komova Speaks: London Is Behind Me. Rio Is Ahead.

In two separate interview featuring Viktoria Komova, fans are left with a pleasing assessment of the gymnast's new mental state of mind when it comes to competition. In this IG interview, Komova says she is anxious to get a gold medal on bars and return her AA program to a level suitable for a medal in Rio. She summarized Worlds as a necessary learning experience. In another interview, granted to newizv.ru, Vika told reporters that a fourway tie doesn't diminish the merit of her gold medal; she felt elated with the co-title and the victory has come as a relief to her after so much time spent away from top-level competition. The rest of her interview translated below, by me:

What was most difficult at this World Championships?

Oh, probably just coping with the anxiety. I have not competed for three years, so it's been very difficult for me. You can not imagine how I would like to go to competitions all the time! I was headed to World's two years ago in Antwerp. All my injuries finally healed and then I contracted meningitis... just out of the blue. A few days before departing for Belgium, in the evening training, I felt my head begin to ache a bit, then I began to crack... in the end, I spent two months in the hospital, for a long time recovering. Just this summer, I went to my first international competition - European Games in Baku.

This competition helped you?

Very much. Of course, not everything turned out the way I wanted it to. I didn't get into a final on any single piece of apparatus, but that was not the only problem. During my first time on the stage, I had goose bumps; everyone started clapping, screaming, waving flags, the explosion of adrenaline on the walk up on the equipment ... all this I missed, it was just crazy! And here - the World Championships. It's a great responsibility. [There was a] full audience even during qualifying. The adrenaline when you approach the apparatus boils over. Only after the first day of competition when you've qualify, you're a little relieved.

What happened during the team finals? Peeled off first on the bars, then on the beam?

That, we still can not understand! We still have the details to analyze. Maybe I'm still affected that for three years I've not performed. Feeling something [different?] on the platform (perhaps a more accurate translation is 'the feeling once on the equipment is different'). I grew up, equipment has changed, my feet on the bars are more likely to get hit ... the legs are long, the arms, too - so I do things differently. Plus I worried so much, though it is certainly not a reason to perform such errors. Still, I can be pleased with the results. I will work on the mistakes made. I was so nervous but I struggled with my whole being not to betray me and my country.

Many foreign journalists said they did not know you - you grew up so much ...

Yes, I've talked about it all the time. At the London Olympics, I was very small and thin...much has changed. Even the results attained in London, I treat differently. 

Is your Olympic performance still painful for you? 

Not anymore. I used to think two silver medals was a failure, but now I understand that it was a very good result so I don't need to kill and harass myself with such thoughts as why I could not reach the gold. I understand that failure is nothing to worry forever over, life does not end if you do not win at the Olympics. Behind is London and ahead is Rio. And I have to go back to the Olympics to prove to myself that "small" Vika Komova is not broken, she just grew and now shows slightly different exercises, but still beautiful & refined. Do I have any other interests? No. For now I continue my whole life within sport. And here I draw new strength. I try to take only positive emotions and to live on the positive. Many said that my many health problems were likely triggered by the fact that for too long I eagerly dug a grave. Before, I did not believe, but now I think maybe it's true. So now, all the bad thoughts are forgotten - only forward.

Was there anything new about these World Championships for you?

I liked that the competition was presented like a show. The scenery, lighting, public participation- nothing before was done like this. Even the position of the judges was no longer next to the apparatus but out of view a bit. It is much easier to work, actually. 

Head coach of the women's team, Evgeny Grebenkin, noted that for you, this gold medal is particularly important because you were able to restore yourself in his own eyes after the failure on the same apparatus in the team final.
Yes, now it will be easier. In principle, the whole program is restored, it is now clear in which direction to move ahead, what and how to complicate [my program]. Now the most important thing is confidence. I used to approach the tools, and something inside me jumped; I could not even speak. 'I can not' ... it's turned into - 'I can!' And the strength and desire- I have it!