"Many thanks to Alina Kabaeva and all the staff members of the Academy." Yana Zaikina speaks about the results of the Russian championship in Kazan

Academy student Yana Zaikina from Volgograd ranked in the Top Ten of the all-around among candidate masters of sports at the Russian championship.

She shared her impressions after the end of the competition:

"There were very competitive girls, we competed with them. I remember the all-around final most of all, when we did four events in one day. Alina Kabaeva motivated us, said that I was a fighter. This energized me, and I went out thinking that I would succeed, that I could do everything."

Yana also told about preparations for the tournament in Kazan:

"We had assessment training sessions with Alina Kabaeva, we did two rounds each. We had to do a clean round, two clean rounds — as best as we could. Alina Maratovna told us to work with more artistry. We asked the judges what mistakes we made. They told us, explained where the elbows were bent, where the leg was not stretched enough. It's actually really great that they told us this before and not after the start, and that we managed to work on these mistakes. To get the smallest penalty for the exercise."

The gymnast thanked Olympic champion Alina Kabaeva and the whole Academy team:

"I also want to say a big thank you to Alina Kabaeva for this opportunity to compete at the Russian Championship from the Academy, to my coach Elizaveta Markovna for preparing me. And to the entire staff of the Academy for supporting us and working with us."