Belarusian gymnast Alina Gornosko becomes the leader of the season before our eyes. On the home mat of the Crystal Rose tournament in Minsk, she was incredibly good – in the personal all-around she beat the sisters Averin and Lala Kramarenko, and in separate finals she won two gold medals out of a possible four .
After the end of the competition, Alina gave an interview to , in which she explained what the phrase “We broke the system” was about at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, with which Russian figure skaters she remains in contact, and also how to find the motivation when you can only compete on national starts.
– It seemed that after the all-around clubs you started to cry.
– Well, of course, I skipped every exercise, every minute through myself, everything was very emotional. And when I saw my mother in the stands… She was very happy that I made good masses on Belarusian music – in Belarus, with full stands… I saw that she was pouring a tear and also couldn’t hold back his emotions.
It was necessary to reconnect to the individual finals, but, of course, there was no more strength. That’s why I’m 100% here.
– What happened in the final with the band?
– A very difficult moment for me … I think it is difficult for any gymnast to perform last, you feel extra excitement. Of course, I’m not a computer, I don’t keep all the results in my head, but I still really wanted to improve. Probably not my day. I didn’t make a mistake behind the court, but as soon as I got on the mat, it just happened.
– I watched you and the rest of the Belarusian team in Minsk – it seemed that you were not inferior to ours in preparation. How did it happen? There are fewer tournaments.
– This year there are restrictions, but we always try to find competitions as much as possible. We have already traveled to all the cities of Russia, even managed to escape to Spain. You could say that they organized a tournament just for me, my huge master class, and that added extra motivation for me. Because all these little children come, praise, say that I am their idol. It’s encouraging. I don’t want to compare my training with the Russian national team – we have different teams, different coaches. But we are still at a high level. And I hope we miss him on the world stage (laughs).
– By the way, you already had a tournament where you played in a neutral status, and then we were all completely eliminated – the Tartu Grand Prix.
— Yes, it happened. So everything was just beginning, we had no idea what it was. The fear was there. But in general, at the Grand Prix, you listen to the anthem from time to time, usually everything goes at a rhythm, so I didn’t feel any restrictions.
The difficulty was with the move. I really wanted to start the season, and we didn’t know what was going to happen next. Therefore, when we had a flight cancellation on the first day, the coaches and I decided to get in a car and drive to Estonia.
– And let’s go?
– Yes! The driver, head coach, personal trainer, referee and I went to Estonia in the same car (laughs). 14-15 hours on the road, we don’t know the borders, we don’t know the way… We only arrived at the end of the day of testing, but they left me a little time to to prepare.
It’s true, I arrived just in the pose of a chair, nobody knew what was going to happen to me the next day (laughs). But I was also very well supported in Estonia, just like a native. And I started the year well.
– Tell me, how do you feel when you see the biggest competitions taking place without you without any objectively sporting reason?
– It hurts… I don’t really want to discuss it, but in general, of course, we follow the results, the leaders. In general, I am very friendly, I communicate well with everyone – with Bulgarian gymnasts, with Italians, with Israelis. They can also write that they say they miss you or just ask how you are. But, unfortunately, so far it does not affect anything.
Where do you get the motivation from then?
– And we take it from here (points with a wink to the young gymnasts gathered at the gala) – from small children, from tournaments in Minsk and Russia, where we are received like parents, warm words are said. And you want to work through all this pain.
– At the Omsk tournament, you talked about your injuries. How are things going now?
– Well, of course, last year was the Olympic year, this is the first after the Olympics. That year, we gave everything to the maximum, did not protect our speech health at all. Therefore, it was difficult to start this year, there was also a leg injury, which I decided to examine only in March-April. Suddenly, there was a cast, a long convalescence… Well, well, I’m not getting any younger, not everything heals on me, like on a dog (laughs). The pain is still there, but, as our head coach says, it hurts, but it doesn’t hurt. You must be able to handle this.
I understand that it is difficult to talk about it. But the Paris Olympics – that’s it, already in two years, but for our teams it may not be…
It’s scary to think about, to be honest. I want something nice. That everything will go well and be as before. We are just children, friends. Our sport conveys no political connotation, no propaganda. I really hope everything goes well for us.
– How often do the Tokyo Olympics come to mind?
– Oh, yes, all the time! Just show me the recording of the Kiss & Cry sofa in the stream, when I find out my final result, and I already understand that… Although no, I don’t even understand (laughs). Well, I still have tears flowing from those shots.
Let’s clear up a bit of a controversial point. I remember, after the all-around was over, you said, “We broke the system.
– To be honest, I remember very badly my emotions and everything I said then. There were hugs with the coach, with Nastya Salos, who, unfortunately for the big one, couldn’t stand the excitement a bit. I tried to support her as best I could. Lina stood up and did not understand anything, Dina and Arina were upset … Everything was in a fog.
I don’t remember my comments. Although I “flew” in different ways after the Olympics, I am still a network person. But at the same time, I can filter and not take everything to heart. There are many envious people, but I am not the sun to please everyone.
– It’s just that many took this sentence as a hairpin against Dina and Arina.
“It wasn’t about girls in any way, and I’m sorry if it was perceived that way. I communicate well with everyone. Well, really, I’m a nice person. Even in the questionnaire here, he said! (laughs).
– You also indicated that you enjoy figure skating.
– Yes! I also communicate with Russian figure skaters. So it happened (laughs). It is a very beautiful sport, no less graceful than ours. It’s very interesting to watch them, especially in our off-season, when they are at the height of the competition. Of course, at the Beijing Olympics, they were very rooted for them. Well, I’d like to meet you in person.
What girls are you talking to?
– With Masha Talalaikina and Maya Khromykh. Maya and I met at a competition in Dubai, she wrote to me, I was very surprised. She thanked me, encouraged me, congratulated me. She said I was the one who hung her up, that was incredibly sweet. Since then we have been in contact. But, of course, I am also the leaders – Anya Shcherbakova, Sasha Trusova, Kamila Valieva. I worry about everyone.
— With what emotions did you look at Beijing? There, the intensity was almost the same as in Tokyo.
– Yes, it was certainly no less interesting – to plunge into the atmosphere of the Winter Olympics. We had limits, which they had, but it seemed to me that they were even stronger. The girls had an incredible fight.
Source : MatchTV
