Ksenia Afanasyeva : 'We are strong and beautiful'

Coach Nazarova watches as Afanasyeva performs floor

Ksenia Afanasyeva is a compelling person; the only member of the Russian gymnastics team (men or women) to have represented her country at two Olympics, she is self admittedly 'touchy', liking to have everything in its place and preferring to room alone.  But besides this, she is an excellent and caring team leader, concerned to keep up the spirits of the younger girls.

And then there is that wonderful floor exercise.  The World Floor Champion will unveil a new routine in London.  The pictures we have seen, from the Russian Cup (see left) promise another mature and expressively complex rendition.

In 2008 Afanasyeva was still a youngster who didn't have to worry about fear or nerves.  In London, 2012, she serves as captain to her team.   Read on as Lupita translates another in depth interview from Russian Gymnastics sponsors VTB.







Gymnasts are not often praised before an important competition.  The national coaches thanked Afanasyeva for maintaining her spot on the team and putting up confident results.  "Ksenia is the only gymnast from the Beijing team. To compete at a second Olympics is a great result. You need a strong character for that."

– Кsenia, are you the team’s captain?

– Yes.

– I don’t know what you think, but for me this is not a surprise. The girls often say: "Ksenya always helps us during the competitions. You go to her and she always finds the right words to make things easy ..."

– This might be so, because I’m the most experienced.

– Being captain of the gymnastics’ team is not a mere formality like in other sports.  In gymnastics, things happen on the podium with two coaches and the gymnast. And to encourage or to calm down is the task of the captain like it was Nemov’s or Khorkina´s.

– I am always concerned for the others. I feel different things at the same time: I feel nervous for myself and for every girl on the team. I am older, in all aspects. I have a long competitive experience.

– It’s simpler to talk about the others than about oneself. How can you describe the team?

- I look at the girls together: One could think that it’s difficult, everyone has her own character, but together we are a united team.

– Currently, all the team is strong, strong mentally, I would say.

– They expect a good result.   It’s even been announced ...

– Every gymnast is strong;  it’s difficult to be on the team.

– What do you mean? Rivalry inside the team?  ... No, you know it’s difficult to be side by side with someone strong. On the other hand, we just came back from Penza for a mock competition, I watched the girls, and they are all together. They all have strong characters but they’re together.

– Do the girls ask you what the Olympics are like?

– They don’t ask.  I tell them, I’m nervous. They even tell me: “Ksyusha, calm down. Everything is okay".

– Do you remember Beijing well?

– I don't remember Beijing.  Everyone asks: "How did you feel at your first Olympics?"  I was 16.  I understand now that at 16, gymnasts are not as nervous or as afraid as I am right now.  Now I understand where I am going. I think this is the reason why the girls are quite calm.

– This is not bad …

– I hope so.

– What do you fear more precisely?

– Everything… I am nervous about their health, the performances, I want them no to cry, not to feel pessimistic …

– Did you experience all this?

– The Olympics are not always the same. When I came back from Beijing, I remember that it was tough. I had trained for four years and I came back empty-handed. I don’t’ want the girls to live the same experience.

– Are the alternates flying to London?

– They’ll stay here until our departure and the beginning of the competition. They cannot replace us once the competition is started. I feel sorry for all those who didn’t make the team. This is our sport. Some people are out of the big battle. It would be impossible for me to stay at Krugloye and to train if I knew that I had no chances.

– You didn’t compete at the European Championships due to an injury. Did you see anything unexpected?

– Gymnastics is about beauty and grace. We are strong and beautiful. Our rivals may have upgraded their routines before us. Yet we represent beauty. My girls didn’t surprise me at the European Championships because I see them every day. I know what they are capable of doing.

– What do you tell yourself during a competition: "Сalm down, Ksyusha …! or  "Wake up, Ksyusha!"?

– Every competition is different. My mum is able to find the tender words as only a mother can do …

– Are you very hard on yourself?

– Yes, a lot.

– What for?

– That’s something personal. Believe me, there are reasons.  You grow up and you understand many things. For instance, I understood the previous generation of girls only six months ago:  I didn’t understand. We all train in the same place, more or less the same …  Now, after difficult seasons, I begin to understand them.

– And to force yourself on and on?

– This is the most difficult, to force yourself every day. My parents, my coach help me.

– How did your parents help you during those years?

– My mother finds new words every time. She was a gymnast, a Master of Sport; this is why I got into gymnastics.  Now she is a professor at a High School.  I study in Saint Petersburg to become a coach. Frankly speaking, I don’t know what I like in life.  I know pretty well that it won’t be something related to papers.  I don’t like to do the same thing for a long time.  I don’t want to sit at a desk.

– You are not going to do this in the near future. Mentally are you already in London?

– Yes, I have so many thoughts that I cannot deal with them. My brain is going to burst.

– About how it will go in London, or after London?

– About what is going to happen at the Olympics.  The rest… later.  How couldn’t I think?  I live alone in my room …

– You live alone. You shared a room with Ksenia Semenova before?

– I got used to silence.  Even with Ksenia there was tension at the end.  We were together in the gym, we had the same coach, and we shared the same room!  We got tired.  Later, we got together again.  Those things happen.  I think that when we were small, we didn’t feel the one year difference in our age.  But you have different tastes and your personality shapes up, you get different habits.  I like to rest during the day and Ksenia uses her computer.

– You are at the same time a team person and someone who likes to “swim alone”.

– For instance it’s difficult for me to live with someone.  I have to be on my own.  They sent different people to share my room with me, but nobody came forward.

– Why didn’t they come?

– I am touchy.  I like order.  I want everything to be where I like.  Мy mum says that nobody will be able to live with me.  But I got this passion for order from her.  On the other hand, we have been living without our parents for a long time.  This is also significant.  You will agree that it’s easier to have everything in order, you don’t waste time looking for stuff …  If your room is an absolute mess, you don’t feel at ease.

–  "I can do everything, I know everything, I make errors myself ", – Marina Nazarova says about you.

– I always want to teach, but I don’t want to learn myself.  I know that my character is complex and I don’t understand how my coach deals with me.  If I were her, I would quit.  If they correct my mistakes, I feel offended, I don't want to correct them and I want to have the others accept my point of view.

– Do you pity yourself?

–  For me the most difficult period was when I joined the national team.  How can you pity yourself all the time?  Without Маrina Nazarova I would have quit.  Sometimes I said in the gym: "I’m done, I won’t come back";  I packed my bag a few times and went to my parents.  Today, I cannot do without my own work and my coach’s.  Everyone has ups and downs.  The important thing is to have someone beside you who understands you.  I always find support in my coach.

But today I can say that our team is strong mentally.