Golden words

Фото: (Andrei Golovanov, Sergei Kivrin)

The Olympic year of 2008 is coming to an end. It seems like everything was already said about victories and failures. Yet, it’s so sweet to return to the stadiums and sports grounds of Beijing, this ancient and modern city, and to hear the first words of our Moscovites, the winners of golden, silver and bronze medals. Journalists and experts have already drawn all the conclusions which will be carefully examined during the period between the Olympics. The short comments below are a sort of self-evaluation and it is honest and sincere. We hope that these statements of Olympic prize-winners will be helpful for those who have to fight for the glory of their country at the next Olympic Games and other competitions. There will be lots of different event in the nearest future of national, European and world scale. May success and good luck always be with us!

Islam-bek Albiev
(Greco-Roman wrestling, golden medal)

“I couldn’t even imagine that during a hundred years nobody younger than me ever won the Olympics. Honestly speaking, the moment I began to practice wrestling in 2000, I immediately wished to become an Olympic champion. It was a sort of a kid’s dream come true. Of course, when I grew up I realized that it is not that simple. But as you can see – sometimes our wishes come true… I have little to say about this victory itself. I simply stepped on the mat feeling very confident and I won. I went to rest between the rounds and so on.

Perhaps I was better motivated than others. I cannot say if this victory was unexpected… I prepared for the competition and never thought of other possibilities. It's not for me to say whether I surprised anybody or not”.

Anastasia Davydova, Anastasia Ermakova
(synchronized swimming duet, golden medals)

“We never forgot for a moment that we will be facing serious competition and that nobody would put golden medals around our necks for nothing. We worked hard overcoming illnesses, traumas and stress. We are so happy that it was all not in vain. Maybe the most remarkable gold for us was the one we won in Athens because it was our first gold. It was extremely hard to prepare for this Olympics in the status of Olympic champions. The difficulty was not physical but rather psychological. We felt additional responsibility and knew that everybody expected nothing but gold from us. The fact that every judge gave us excellent mark for technique was our best prize”.

Victoria Nikishina, Aida Shanaeva
(fencing, rapier team competitions, golden medal)

“Individual and team competitions are different in principle. Spirit and willpower is foremost in the later. Russians have plenty of it. We are a real team. Therefore everything seems quite natural. It is not only a matter of good luck. We really deserved the victory over the Italian girls”, said Victoria Nikishina.

“It’s hard to single somebody from our team, everyone contributed to our victory. Everyone was the leader today – these are not empty words. For example, take our “mum”, Sveta Boiko, who was written off by almost everyone. How could we have achieved this victory without her! Every match and every touch was extremely hard in these competitions. This is especially true of the semifinal match with Italy. Liters of sweat and tears and so many frustrations are behind this victory. So many things happened to us! But this very moment, as I sit in front of you with a golden medal on my chest, makes it all worth the effort”, admitted Aida Shanaeva.

Elena Dementieva
(tennis singles, golden medal)

“I still cannot believe that I am an Olympic champion. It is the greatest moment of my career, the highest success! It was my dream for which I worked hard, for which I struggled with varying success and shed tears during all these years. The title of an Olympic champion is worth the effort, I am sure of that. For the first time in my life I forced my way to the Olympics’ finals and the Grand Slam tournament. Why have I failed? I wasn’t ready – physically and psychologically. During a sports career every athlete experiences that moment when good physical shape and the right emotional condition combine. This occurred to me in Beijing on the day of the finals!”

Natalya Ishenko
(synchronized swimming - group exercises, golden medal)

“We haven’t yet realized the fact of our triumph. It’s sort of a shock. We had very strong rivals and nobody could guarantee victory to us. In order to win today we tried our best to do what we mastered well. We didn’t attempt to surpass ourselves and at the same time we had managed to maintain our level. We tried to perform the version that we practiced for months. Whenever you attempt to do something supernatural the risk of failure inevitably increases”.

Evgeniya Kanaeva
(rhythmic gymnastics, golden medal)

“I cannot say that I was too anxious before the event. My coach Vera Nikolaevna Shtelbaume becalmed my in every possible way and advised me not to think about the Olympics. I simply entered the arena and did my job. Our head coach, Irina Alexandrovna Vinner, wished me good luck and neatness. I listened to their advice and won. I didn’t know the results of other girls, I didn’t even want to know. I realized that I have won only after I got my last mark. Before that I simply didn’t think about it all. Every exercise I perform is dear to me, I cannot single out one in particular. Comparisons with Alina Kabaeva do not annoy me in any way, I simply know that I am different. Do I believe in good luck? I believe in God, I would rather put it that way”.

Elena Posevina
(rhythmic gymnastics, group exercises, golden medal)

“Our preparations for this Olympic Games were full of hardships, we had a lot of traumas and besides the program was changed a month and a half before the Olympics. Therefore this golden medal is even more precious for me than the first one, in Athens. It is more valuable because the victory was dearly bought. I am finishing my sport career after Beijing. You know that I perform with a pin in my foot; it was installed after a fracture of the instep bone. The main reason to leave is not fatigue or lack of motivation but traumas. Only four years ago our programs were not so complicated. Now we’ve got various supports and tricks that put the main load on the feet. I haven’t decided what to do after I leave big sports. My only wish now is to have some rest”.

Alyona Kartashova
(freestyle wrestling, up to 63 kg, silver medal)

“Of course I aspired to win in the final. When I entered the competition area I was full of vigor and desire to reveal all my capabilities. I do have things to demonstrate. Psychological stability is my advantage point. I entered the arena for the fight with Icho not thinking of her as an invincible champion but as an ordinary athlete, my next rival. I went with normal work tuning, with willingness to win. Probably I lacked a bit of experience. There are certain peculiarities that can only be gained with experience. I was lacking them. I cannot say that the final was extremely difficult. But I made some tactical faults. I didn’t take a clinch in the first round. I should have taken it and won the period. Yet, generally it all went in a normal way. I do not have any emotions right now. Maybe they will come later. I understand that I achieved great success but my feelings are not catching up with this realization”.

Hasan Baroev
(Greco-Roman wrestling, up to 120 kg, silver medal)

“During the Olympic Games in Beijing there were three favorites in the heavyweight category, and everyone could have aspired for victory. I mean the Cuban Lopez, Yurii Patrikeev and yours truly. Lopez won this time and it is absolutely fair. I sincerely congratulate my rival with this gold. Lopez was regarded as the main favorite of the Olympics in Athens. But I overcame him and became the Olympic champion. In my career we met five times. I triumphed over him in the finals of the 2006 World Championship and in January at the tournament in Poddubny, Moscow. He overcame me in the final of the last-year World Championship and now, in the Olympic final. Of course I can see an unpleasant pattern in these events. Now, when I briefly try to analyze it, I come to the conclusion that in January we were equally prepared and I did everything I could in Beijing. When equal rivals meet the result greatly depends on certain nuances. Besides, luck plays a major role here. I won’t say that I am more worthy of victory than Lopez, but today Fortune was on his side both times”.

Oxana Slivenko
(weightlifting, up to 69 kg, silver medal)

“In the given circumstances I think that my achievement was adequate. Of course I have an irritating feeling that I’ve lost a lot. But on the other hand I did what I could. I fulfilled my duty. Why did I perform worse than usual? First, the Olympic Games put great strain on the nerves and it is a lot scarier here. Secondly, my preparations were overshadowed with traumas. I have constant backaches. Drug test twice a day were quite a nag too…”

Anastasia Kapachinskaia
(track and field athletics, relay race 4x400m, silver medal)

“We did everything we could. All the girls were great and they fought to the end. I used no particular tactics for the last stage. As soon as I took hold of the relay baton I ran like hell. Of course I wanted to be the first, but as you see Sanya Richards was stronger this time. I do not blame myself, I did everything possible. By the way, it was so funny to see so many athletes loosing their batons. Before the event we agreed not to leave hold of it in any case. Honestly speaking at first I thought that we would be the third, as Jamaican and American athletes seemed stronger. So we dreamt of bronze but even managed to get silver. We have no reasons to be upset!”

Alexei Markov
(cycling-track, bronze medal)

“I showed the result which is objectively my best at the moment. Probably, I could have slightly improved my results. Putting my capabilities in perspective, I can say that I couldn’t make it much better. I decided to continue combining track and stage races. I’ve got enough strength and the will for it. Of course the main focus will be on stage race. Track is impossible without stage races. A great deal depends on a contract with a professional team. I haven’t got one for the next season yet. I didn’t get any further proposals from my present team “Katiusha”, as it is going through a difficult period of reorganization. Of course I would prefer to stay with “Katiusha”. That’s because they would understand to my desire to continue performing at track races and because I don’t want to leave Russia. For me it is much more comfortable to work with my compatriots”.

Svetlana Feofanova
(track and field athletics, pole vault, bronze medal)

“Winning bronze is a great joy for me. The tears I wept after the vaults were the tears of joy. I fell no grief at all. I even felt like kissing the track! I didn’t do it only because the other two competitors were occupying the track at the time. At Athens, where I won a silver medal, I was in very high spirits, just like Lena. Frankly speaking, here in Beijing I was rather lagging behind. This makes my bronze medal even more valuable for me”.

Gleb Galperin
(high-board diving, parallel jumping, 10m high-board, bronze medals)

“Today we had rather high chances of winning. We had a chance to fight and triumph over the Chinese but made a mistake in the fifth penultimate jump. Before that moment everything went as planned. But this jump simply went wrong. It wasn’t a psychological mistake but rather a technical one. It looks like we just didn’t catch the rhythm. Before that moment everything went as planned. We matched the Chinese in the level of difficulty. We simply couldn’t afford to make mistakes”.

Alexei Alipov
(bench-top shooting, trap, bronze medal)

“I don’t feel disappointed with my bronze medal. It’s just that I am not satisfied with what I have done. Every athlete is eager to win a golden medal at the Olympics. Of course, I wanted to repeat my own success at Athens but I knew that it would be hard. It is much more difficult to reaffirm you mastery than to prove it for the first time”.

Nadezhda Evstuhina
(weightlifting, up to 75 kg, bronze medal)

“First of all I am happy to have this medal. Of course, the results could have been slightly better. Only three months before during the all-Russian Championship in Saransk I lifted 275 kg, i.e. 11 kg more than the present result. The most important thing was to get the medal. That I did. It’s a pity that I couldn’t lift 117kg in the second try. Had I succeeded I could have won a silver medal. As for the push, it was quite normal.

Hadjimurad Akaev
(weightlifting, up to 94 kg, bronze medal)

“Do you want to know what I really think of it all? It was our coaches’ fault to put me in group B. I had better chances to win in group A, I am sure of that. At the pre-Olympics selection I did 195 kg in a jerk upstart and 225 kg in the push – a total of 420kg. Today Ilia Ilin won with the result of 406kg. But in the end I am only a soldier, I have to obey the orders. When they tell me to lift a certain weight, I just do it. When they sent me to fail, I fail. I have a silver medal from Athens, and now I have a bronze one from Beijing. I should win gold at the next Olympic Games”.

Anna Chicherova
(high jump, bronze medal)

“I supposed that the fight for gold and all other prizes would be on the level of 2.03 - 2.05m. It’s a pity that I couldn’t make it to 2.05, but I don’t lose hope to do that in the many competitions ahead. I’ve made many unnecessary tries in previous heights, although I entered the competitions quite sure that I should do it from the first try. Unfortunately I couldn’t do this and I did not save my powers for the 2.05 height. Probably It was wrong to sit still during the breaks while I should have been moving to keep the pace. I tried to calm down and begged all imaginable super powers to help me with this jump. When you’re at your last decisive try and you’re facing either victory or defeat you feel like neck or nothing. I wouldn’t wish for anyone to go through such an experience!”