“Chusovitina participated in eight Olympic Games. I don’t see the point in ending this day. Kuznetsov – about the future of sport

Tomorrow the BetBoom Russian Championship begins in Kazan, then the BRICS Games will take place in the same group. Evgeny Kuznetsov – one of the most experienced athletes of the Russian national team – is preparing to participate in these two tournaments.

Olympic diving medalist Evgeny Kuznetsov, in an interview with , spoke about his attitude to neutral status, his plans for the future outside of sports and the need for normal dialogue.

— Zhenya, many people started before the Russian Championship in May, but not you. For what?

— I trained at home. I didn’t need to start then.

—Are you worried about the wounds you have healed in recent years?

— For the moment we are holding on as best we can, I hope we will hold on until the end of the season.

– A sad statement. There are two departures coming up.

– Actually, it will work – the acute phase has passed. There will now be the Russian Championship, then the BRICS Games. Then we will be released for a week, ten days before the end of the season.

— What are you going to compete for in the championship?

– Three meter springboard – synchronized and individual. I skip everything else, there’s no point in spreading myself too thin.

— We would have said “we’ll last until the end of the season”. Have you decided to call it quits after the Friendship Games?

– No. Here it all depends on health. The main thing is to maintain your health.

— How often do you return home, knowing that there are no more departures abroad?

– The same as before. Previously, only we went abroad, now all this is replaced by training camps in Russia. Recently, for example, we were in Penza.

— How was the training camp in China?

— We jumped with our Chinese colleagues – and it was very pleasant at the moment.

— You haven’t climbed a 20 or 27 m tower, like many others?

— Yes, I recently had an operation on my ankle, they said it was better not to do it.

— So these thoughts were in the air?

— Vitali (laughs). When will there be another opportunity? Probably more.

— Have you watched the World Cup?

– No, because I’m not interested. I don’t even watch the competitions with my participation afterwards. From what I understand, there was nothing surprising at the World Championships. If that had been the case, I would have heard, and perhaps watched.

—Are you going to watch the Olympics?

— If there’s a show on television, I might watch it, but I won’t do it on purpose.

— There are sports in which our athletes will always evolve in neutral status. Will you support them?

– Yes of course. Good luck to them ! I hope they will show their talent. Everyone will understand where he comes from. I am neither against nor for. Everyone makes their own decision.

— When did you give up on the idea of ​​going to the Games in Paris?

— When they said the papers should be signed. I am a citizen of the Russian Federation and I support my country as much as possible, with hands and feet.

— Do you think there will be other Olympic Games in your career?

“It will no longer depend on me, but on our diplomats, as agreed.” I know we have strong politicians in our country and they will do everything possible to ensure everything is fair.

— In other words, you don’t mentally put an end to: “The Tokyo Olympics were my last”?

– What’s the point of putting an end to it? Anything can happen in life. Maybe I’ll keep jumping, maybe not. Oksana Chusovitina has competed in eight Olympic Games, so anything is possible.

— Don’t you have the feeling that the quality of our dives has declined over these two years?

– They sank – no, maybe they stopped growing a little. It all depends on international departures. Even if we try to do other competitions, there are not enough incentives.

— Is the program for the Russian Championship the same? Didn’t that complicate things? Didn’t you simplify it?

— The standard program is pretty solid. There is room for more complexity, but it is of no use: we must work on quality.

— Do you think Nikita has grown a lot in recent years?

– Absolutely. There is no escaping this.

— You experienced a difficult story in Tokyo in sync. There was a risk of rupture and end.

“A weak person would have done that, but she has character.”

– And he returned to the tower…

— For general development, as he says.

— Since you got a beard and a tattoo, do you feel like you’ve received more attention in the media?

– Maybe yes. And more and more people started to recognize us. Even if I didn’t set such a goal for myself.

— Do you want to participate in reality TV shows? You are a player!

— I already get physically tired enough to do that too. Plus, there are enough things to do.

— Have you thought about your future after sport? Are you considering options outside of sport?

“I just watch them.” I don’t see myself in coaching. The sport is quite dangerous; it’s a shame to train children and force them to jump. I’m too soft to force kids to train hard.

— Is it possible to achieve something in sport using gentle methods?

– A lot. We need good dialogue. And I have had the chance to meet people with such working methods during my career. I almost never encountered any rudeness.

— When you hear about someone being driven to anorexia, someone who is constantly being yelled at… Is that crazy?

– Complete.

— There is a lot of that in sport.

– There are a lot of them everywhere. We must fight against this. We need to be more adequate. Rigor in the work is necessary, but everything can be transmitted normally. When it comes to anorexia and eating problems, a person himself manages to figure out how to maintain normal working weight.

— If he does not have health problems at the age of 15 and does not graduate.

– Maybe yes.

— Are you going to send your child diving?

— My child goes to hockey games. But I’m not one of those parents already focused on the KHL and NHL, I just want him to have fun and not miss classes. If it goes well, if it doesn’t, he will study hard.

— So you’re not the parent who tells the coach what to do?

— I’m not good at hockey. The hockey coach knows a lot more than me. So I’m not going to interfere with that in any way.

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