President of the All-Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation (VFCG) Irina Vigner talked about creating separate international tournaments.
On Friday, the “Crystal Rose” tournament began in Minsk. Gymnasts from Russia and Belarus take part in the competition.
– It was very pleasant to perform here, very friendly, great atmosphere, great spectators, the children who watched these competitions were sick. It was good that they were chanting “Russia!”. It was very friendly, it’s always a pleasure to perform in such a friendly and beautiful country as Belarus. We have always performed very well here – today we performed well as well.
Today I said: “Girls, today you have the world championship with the European championship.” Because here are the two strongest teams, groups which do not currently participate (in international competitions), unfortunately, but which compete, and very seriously. Today – at least for me – I was in the mood to watch the youngsters very carefully, who will already be adults next year. I sat down and prepared them, they compete here as juniors, and with us, under the new rules, they are seniors. Today I was very happy that Popova and Borisova performed well – these girls coped with their schedules brilliantly and were able to play with adults.
Dina and Arina also showed their programs very well. There were mistakes, they didn’t play for a very long time. They were performing in our palace, but here they were a little constrained. But they still did well. Belarusian gymnasts also performed brilliantly. The competition was a success, at least on the first day.
– Does it make sense now to watch the European Championship?
No, there’s no point in looking. The strongest are here. Even the children themselves from Bulgaria, Italy say that we are not interested in playing, because there are no gymnasts like Averins, and now we don’t know who we are competing with. They’re offended that there isn’t a stronger one, and the competition becomes… Well, not quite a competition.
– The European Championship was moved from Moscow …
Well, that’s not news. If there are sanctions, then how can we have competitions? Everything was canceled – both the Universiade and everything else. It’s obvious.
But were they in a hurry?
– They are sure that in a year we won’t be here. But if we’re okay, which we’re really hoping for, we’re optimistic, then it will all come back. Especially from Azerbaijan.
– Are there any contacts with the FIG?
They say what you hear. “You are not enough”, then vote against. And in Europe there is no one in the leadership, in the FIG remained in the leadership Nelli Kim from Belarus, Titov Vasily Nikolaevich from Russia, and in Europe there is no executive committee or technical committee … But the children themselves correspond with each other, communicate. We are not offended by children – that is the business of adults and their leaders. And we love and respect children very much.
– How do gymnasts manage to find motivation in the conditions of suspension?
“We are trying to create the same conditions for them as before. We have endless competitions, one after another. Now we are making the Russian Cup and the Spartakiad an international competition, there are a lot of competitions. Clubs come there, and maybe we’ll create some sort of our own league, like the NHL. And also, probably, we won’t let our athletes go to the Olympics, like they do (laughs).
Source : MatchTV
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