Euros In Their Words
Angelina Melnikova
"I didn't really want to go out unto the floor because so many of my competitions, everything was bad for me... I thought that everything would be bad again. Lately, nothing has come together, I don't know why. Either I forgot how to compose myself or in another way changed. In fact, everything was ready, but why it did not work, I don't know. After the Olympics it was hard because for two months I went to competitions but I really wanted to rest and relax, not to train."
"I had to make the last diagonal. Immediately I thought that I could be in the top three, and I was very happy, I did what I loved, did it for myself, as there was nothing more to lose. It was worth it to suffer for a minute and a half- now home! The gold inspired me very much. For now, I just want to really relax, I've had five competitions."
Artur Dalaloyan
"We cannot say that 'I came, I saw, I conquered'." There was a lot of preparation, a lot of work done. For this victory, this silver in the All Around, I had to work a lot on myself and this is the result. The fact that he's (Oleg Verniaev) first, I'm not pressed, the exact opposite actually. When you do not know the scores of your rivals it's easier- you just go out there and calmly do your thing. After such a perfect Day 1 (quals) I thought that the second cannot go wrong. This European Championship is for my mom. And with silver in the All Around, I dedicate only gold to her. Thank you for having raised me and having raised me like this."
Interview taken after EF's: Arthur, if you analyze your results in recent years, then in 2017 you made a qualitative step forward by winning two gold and silver at the Championship of Russia, and then the silver and gold at the European Championship. Whereby such progress?"I can say this: I just found my way. Each person must find an approach that works for them, and I just found the right approach. Of course I have work to do, there is much to strive for, but the road that I am on right now showed me how to train, how to behave and control myself completely at competitions. It is to each his own. Thanks to this the result came."
David Belyavskiy
"Preparation was very slow. There was always one thing or another to worry about so I could not train properly. I hurt my finger one day and it took days to recover. I just haven't had time to prepare for the All Around, rings in particular is a tough event for me. I rested for four months and there was not enough in the remaining time to try AA. The gold on pommel horse, naturally I did not expect that because I was competing against the Olympic champion. But he gave victory away so it's his problem to figure out. In fact I was very shaken. Maybe that wasn't visible but inside I was straight up shaking and had to cope with all those nerves. But there's a lot of work to be done to increase my scores."
Elena Eremina
"I'm very happy with the silver medal because yesterday I did not do my best in the All Around. On a 5 point grading system I would give myself a C-minus because I was not perfect on any apparatus. Of course it encouraged me by showing that I am not ready and that I must work to be in the top 3. I really wanted to win bars but it's silver. At the end of my exercise my toe-on pirouette was bad as was my dismount, and this threw away valuable tenths [in d-score and execution]. If not for that mistake it would be gold. But I am satisfied with silver, really I just wanted any medal at all. It gives an impetus for the future, even more than if I had been first. Now I want to work more at a few things."
Nikita Nagorny
"Before the European Championships I was very upset and I'm probably still acting on these emotions. I need time. I'm frustrated because on rings, it unfortunately didn't work out for me. I can't explain how. In Cluj I made the same mistake that I had at the Olympic Games, I fell on the same element. The important thing is that I'm without injuries, and I'm satisfied with the team, just not very pleased with myself."
Natalia Kapitonova
From Grebs: "Kapitonova I want to thank especially because she was ill right before she arrived here and in fact had not trained for a week before. She came here, it can be said, and showed morale and strong will, by placing in the top ten in the All Around." (Note: I did not know this about Kapi, therefore I forgive her for looking sluggish on bars. It all makes sense now; I wondered how she could look so different in such a short amount of time. I wouldn't like to be upside down and swinging if I was sick either).
Maria Paseka
"I'm sorry for not meeting my fans expectations. I've only been training for two months and did everything I could."
Valentina Rodionenko
"The performance of the women's team leaves much to be desired. The list of participants was not so strong and we go to the World Championships soon. There are a lot of questions, but there is time, we will understand, the debriefing is to be done seriously. It's not so much even about the medals, it was important for us to see how the girls performed their programs, but not everything worked out unfortunately. Now we will decide what and how to change because everyone is already working towards the next Olympics. Serious work awaits us. We need to draw some conclusions now."
"I didn't really want to go out unto the floor because so many of my competitions, everything was bad for me... I thought that everything would be bad again. Lately, nothing has come together, I don't know why. Either I forgot how to compose myself or in another way changed. In fact, everything was ready, but why it did not work, I don't know. After the Olympics it was hard because for two months I went to competitions but I really wanted to rest and relax, not to train."
"I had to make the last diagonal. Immediately I thought that I could be in the top three, and I was very happy, I did what I loved, did it for myself, as there was nothing more to lose. It was worth it to suffer for a minute and a half- now home! The gold inspired me very much. For now, I just want to really relax, I've had five competitions."
Artur Dalaloyan
"We cannot say that 'I came, I saw, I conquered'." There was a lot of preparation, a lot of work done. For this victory, this silver in the All Around, I had to work a lot on myself and this is the result. The fact that he's (Oleg Verniaev) first, I'm not pressed, the exact opposite actually. When you do not know the scores of your rivals it's easier- you just go out there and calmly do your thing. After such a perfect Day 1 (quals) I thought that the second cannot go wrong. This European Championship is for my mom. And with silver in the All Around, I dedicate only gold to her. Thank you for having raised me and having raised me like this."
Interview taken after EF's: Arthur, if you analyze your results in recent years, then in 2017 you made a qualitative step forward by winning two gold and silver at the Championship of Russia, and then the silver and gold at the European Championship. Whereby such progress?"I can say this: I just found my way. Each person must find an approach that works for them, and I just found the right approach. Of course I have work to do, there is much to strive for, but the road that I am on right now showed me how to train, how to behave and control myself completely at competitions. It is to each his own. Thanks to this the result came."
David Belyavskiy
"Preparation was very slow. There was always one thing or another to worry about so I could not train properly. I hurt my finger one day and it took days to recover. I just haven't had time to prepare for the All Around, rings in particular is a tough event for me. I rested for four months and there was not enough in the remaining time to try AA. The gold on pommel horse, naturally I did not expect that because I was competing against the Olympic champion. But he gave victory away so it's his problem to figure out. In fact I was very shaken. Maybe that wasn't visible but inside I was straight up shaking and had to cope with all those nerves. But there's a lot of work to be done to increase my scores."
Elena Eremina
"I'm very happy with the silver medal because yesterday I did not do my best in the All Around. On a 5 point grading system I would give myself a C-minus because I was not perfect on any apparatus. Of course it encouraged me by showing that I am not ready and that I must work to be in the top 3. I really wanted to win bars but it's silver. At the end of my exercise my toe-on pirouette was bad as was my dismount, and this threw away valuable tenths [in d-score and execution]. If not for that mistake it would be gold. But I am satisfied with silver, really I just wanted any medal at all. It gives an impetus for the future, even more than if I had been first. Now I want to work more at a few things."
Nikita Nagorny
"Before the European Championships I was very upset and I'm probably still acting on these emotions. I need time. I'm frustrated because on rings, it unfortunately didn't work out for me. I can't explain how. In Cluj I made the same mistake that I had at the Olympic Games, I fell on the same element. The important thing is that I'm without injuries, and I'm satisfied with the team, just not very pleased with myself."
Natalia Kapitonova
From Grebs: "Kapitonova I want to thank especially because she was ill right before she arrived here and in fact had not trained for a week before. She came here, it can be said, and showed morale and strong will, by placing in the top ten in the All Around." (Note: I did not know this about Kapi, therefore I forgive her for looking sluggish on bars. It all makes sense now; I wondered how she could look so different in such a short amount of time. I wouldn't like to be upside down and swinging if I was sick either).
Maria Paseka
"I'm sorry for not meeting my fans expectations. I've only been training for two months and did everything I could."
Valentina Rodionenko
"The performance of the women's team leaves much to be desired. The list of participants was not so strong and we go to the World Championships soon. There are a lot of questions, but there is time, we will understand, the debriefing is to be done seriously. It's not so much even about the medals, it was important for us to see how the girls performed their programs, but not everything worked out unfortunately. Now we will decide what and how to change because everyone is already working towards the next Olympics. Serious work awaits us. We need to draw some conclusions now."
For Valentina Rodionenko Angelinas gold on FX is nothing :/ poor Melka lost AA and now Eremina is new favorite of Valentina... also V-Rod say harsh words about Paseka performance in Cluj :/ and Yeah poor Aliya, they want her come back :( http://sport-inside.org/?p=17053
ReplyDeleteIf Valentina's taken an interest in Lena's career that's a sure sign it's about to be endangered. On the other hand, Melka will suddenly and rapidly improve.
DeleteSo please, somebody, kill Valentina, QUICK!
DeleteSo happy for Angelina's gold on floor! I hope that helps boost her confidence. She deserves rest and time away from Valentina.
ReplyDeleteI always thought Melnikova had been working very hard & recovering from the injury plus growing , plus school , plus family life , plus upgrading . I think she learnt a lot about herself , the world , her training & everything by competing & 'misfiring' even 'failing' .
ReplyDeleteNevertheless Gelya always turns up immaculate . She has the makings of a star but its not there yet . Like Eyathora - its an exciting journey & I don't care if they fall here & there . Some of these gymnasts at this comp are going to be quite something at 19 !
After having read the interview with Valentina, I am really worried about this quad. Can't the woman understand that we need powerful gymnasts? Melnikova suffered a certain crisis as new leader of the team. She has upgraded her routines. Her floor routine is difficult, especially because the rythm is crazy in some parts. Yesterday she proved she could perform it. The positive thing is that she has room for improvement (acro + beam, she has already performed a tucked front and a front with 1/2 twist). She only needs confidence, but, for sure, Valentina's words are not going to help her. On the contrary, before the finals Andrei said that, after her results in quals, Gelya would come back more fierce.
Delete