“There was no confrontation between Arina and Dina. Only mutual assistance and high moral feelings for each other. Interview with coach Averins

Famous gymnasts Arina and Dina Averina announced their retirement from sport on Friday. Between them, the sisters have won 64 medals at the Olympic Games, World and European Championships, including 42 gold.

The results of their long-term dominance in rhythmic gymnastics were summed up in an interview with by their personal trainer Vera Shatalina.

— Dina and Arina have finished their careers. Upset?

“They didn’t talk to me about it personally.” Last time they said they didn’t know yet.

— How would you evaluate their career, how successful and bright it turned out, what was not achieved?

— We managed to achieve everything. The career was indeed very brilliant and unusual. In rhythmic gymnastics, it is absurd that two sisters, especially twins, show high level results. It is extremely rare in sports for two siblings to be completely equal athletes.

“We have been observing the confrontation between the sisters from the outside for years. What did it look like from the inside? After all, everyone understands that they cannot win gold medals together, someone will have to lose.

“I didn’t see any confrontation between them.” On the contrary, they always had mutual assistance and very high moral feelings for each other. Neither of them wanted to offend the other, it’s just that if one sister didn’t succeed, then the second took her place. Of course, sport is sport, but in the 11 years I’ve spent with these girls, I’ve never seen a chance story. No matter how each one stirred up interesting feelings, there was no negativity between them, they just helped each other. Some were in great shape today, others tomorrow. And the girls took these places and did not give victory to anyone.

— Remember the brightest moment in the careers of Arina and Dina.

— My favorite moment in their rhythmic gymnastics was the first European Championships in Budapest in 2017, when no one really counted on them, everything was focused on Alexandra Soldatova. And the Averins won all the gold! It was an enchanting European Championship. And the second point concerns the World Championships in Italy the same year. For me, these were my best competitions.

—And the main disorder?

— There was no upheaval. But I think the Tokyo Olympics were unfair. It’s a shame for our whole team, for the whole country, that they wipe our feet like that. It was an upheaval for the heart and for the country. And my whole life with Arina and Dina was a continuous vacation for me as a coach.

— After two and a half years, have you managed to release the story in Tokyo?

— As my personal trainer Irina Aleksandrovna Viner taught me, we must learn to forgive and let go. Sure, we’re all trying to let go, but, excuse me, who’s going to give us back our four-year-old bullshit? After all, top athletes live in cycles, from one Olympics to the next.

The Olympic Games are an indelible wound in the heart of every athlete, but we must learn to let go. Although I, an adult who has seen a lot in my life, endured this very hard, I can’t even imagine how the girls survived this story, and they are strong people.

— If Russia held the Summer Olympics in Paris, would the girls certainly not end their careers, but would try to prove their right to Olympic gold?

— I can’t say 100%. You can’t know for yourself what will happen tomorrow, but here, even if you have close and loved people, it is difficult to guarantee that they will definitely perform in Paris. But I would like to believe, given their character, that they would take advantage of the opportunity to go to the Games.

— The sisters said they would continue to star in the show. Do you see them as coaches in the future?

— I support the decision to participate in the show. It’s awesome and interesting. They did their last show in Nizhny Novgorod, I watched it and really enjoyed it.

You know, most often it is very difficult for top athletes like Dina and Arina to immediately turn to a coaching career. They were particularly physically gifted, they had brilliant minds. To be a trainer-educator, you need a lot of patience. They had a long history in this sport – brilliant, beautiful, and I think they will take a break in a few years. A coaching career is here to stay. The sisters are always on the lookout for what is changing in our sport. But it’s hard to say what kind of coaches they will be.

— Their communication with children is precisely structured: not everyone can stand signing hundreds of autographs after the competition.

— Children and an autograph are all holidays. And coaching is where your students are on the podium, and you just stay behind the scenes and no one sees you or hears you. Most often, good coaches and teachers are athletes who, for whatever reason, have not reached certain peaks, for example, the World or European Championships. And they understand how to get to such competitions, how to protect their students from what did not work out for them.

We can count on one hand the number of exceptional athletes who have become good coaches and teachers.

“You can’t envy the coach, so many nerve cells are burned.”

– Yes. Autographs and fan love are a vacation for an athlete, but a coach only has a day job, giving up a lot of things, and your family suffers. But you know why you do your job: you transform ugly ducklings into beautiful swans. It’s really good. Basically, it all comes down to your student: the medals, the honors, and the attention. And the coach is a modest substance who is always on hand and offers his back.