An absurd situation has developed with the Russian mixed synchronized swimming duo: four-time world champion Alexander Maltsev and his partners, multiple world champion Maya Gurbanberdiyeva and European champion Olesya Platonova.
In a situation where there are no international departures, they are completely cut off from all the alternatives available to other athletes.
Given:
1) the best mixed duo in the world;
2) the best synchronized swimmer in the world – the most titled of the current ones;
3) golden sport in Russia.
Synchronized swimming spent time in Krugloy (yes, it does) all that pandemic horror, and the women’s team “sailed” at the Tokyo Games. It was a great happiness, and it was very joyful for them.
But mixed is a non-Olympic sport. Of course, they had no games. The world championships – the biggest start – FINA had to postpone so many times that Olesya Platonova can’t wait to make her debut. But let’s be honest – they are with Maltsev in their program, like Maya and Sasha in technique, the best.
And now we have the Spartakiad, which should help both morally and financially (let’s not be snobs, synchronized racing isn’t one to make enough money on its own). There are no mixed duets on the program – only Olympic events. The guys were left with no chance to play, no chance to win any cash prizes.
Clearly a non-Olympic view is included – others will want it too. But for the sake of such a discipline, for the sake of athletes like Maya, Sasha and Olesya, it can be done. They certainly didn’t deserve to be sidelined due to the newly invented rules of our own organized alternative competitions.
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We chat with the mixed duo’s production coach, Gana Maksimova.
– We were told that the Friendship Games would be equated with the World Cup, we kind of calmed down. Then it turned out not. Now the athletes need support, as they are deprived of international departures. We are looking for all options to support them. And the Spartakiad’s refusal is the hardest blow in the stomach.
– In addition, the Spartakiad is a cash prize.
– Sure. We are not even close in terms of financial indicators with team sports. We haven’t had world championships for a long time – they were canceled, postponed due to the pandemic. But how is it that inside the country we cannot support our athletes, the titled athletes?!
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Alexander Maltsev:
“Of course, it’s embarrassing for us. We were waiting for the World Cup – it’s important for all of us, but in the end we missed it. For Olesya, it should be a start. They still don’t have the title of Honored Master of Sports with Maya.At the same time, Maya is a double world champion, but she does not have a title, because during a world championship there were not enough duets among the participants, and now we have missed the world championship. As for the Spartakiad, we were told that the Russian Championship would be assimilated to the European Championship, the Friendship Games to the World Championship… We do not ‘have not yet felt. At the same time, the Spartakiad has the most important status, even if the regions will perform there.
The issue of funding is also important.
— Yes, the scholarships are higher for the Olympic disciplines. For us, every departure is particularly important.
Olesya Platonova:
– Of course, we work above all to improve the result, we are moving towards our objective. But I want to calm down somehow and feel more confident.
Maya Gurbanberdieva:
“It was really a punch in the stomach. In general, every start is important for us so as not to lose the feeling of competition. Even the experience of a gala show, working in public is very, very important. When we were expelled like that, it was very disappointing.
It is unclear why the Spartakiad only takes place in Olympic sports, when the Games were not supposed to take place this year. This year, only the aquatic world championship was planned. We asked if we could be included in the Spartakiad program, but were told that other species would be offended that they made an exception for us.
Tatiana Pokrovskaya:
– The mixed duo will not be able to perform at the Spartakiade. Have you contacted the Ministry of Sports about this?
– They applied, and apparently they didn’t apply much, – Pokrovskaya told . – This is a big failure in our and, above all, in my work as a head coach. We have such a beautiful mixed duo, with such a wonderful coach! All of our coaches are great — Gana Maksimova, Tatiana Danchenko, Elena Gryzunova, Ekaterina Piskareva, Marina Terekhova… We work closely with the medical staff.
And that’s how it happened. Their simplicity (Ministry of Sports) lies in the fact that only Olympic types in the program … After all, there is a conversation for the future – about the mixed pair in the Olympic program. And now the guys are jumping, that’s our omission.
Are the Friendship Games equivalent to the World Cup?
– No, but the Spartakiad – yes.
Source : MatchTV
