The Academy gymnasts summed up the results of the international Step to the dream tournament and the entire season

The Academy gymnasts summed up the results of the international Step to the dream tournament and the entire season.

Elizaveta Geraskina from Moscow told how her coach Elizaveta Chernova set her up for the start in Yerevan:

"Elizaveta Chernova told me to perform here calmly, most importantly, attentively, and for myself, so that I, first and foremost, enjoyed it. I really liked the clubs; I tried really hard to convey the image of a shaman."

She recalled her first tournament from the Academy and assessed her progress:

"My first competition with the Academy was the Spring Cup in Krasnoyarsk. Well, I wasn't particularly confident back then. I remember performing with the ball, and that's what I remember most. I was catching everything with both hands, playing it safe, and was really afraid of losing the apparatus. I don't think I had any emotions at all back then. I was just working, I need to catch it, I need to do it. But now, I guess, I'm trying to work with artistry. To go out there and enjoy it, please Alina Maratovna, Elizaveta Markovna, and the audience. So I enjoy it too, so I can do it with pure emotion. I want to say a huge thank you to Alina Maratovna for accepting us into the Academy, for always helping us, and for giving us the opportunity to attend competitions like these. Also, a huge thank you to Elena Egorova and Elizaveta Chernova. I love you very much."

Yana Zaikina from Volgograd noted that the support helped her at the tournament in Armenia:

"I wrote to my coach, Evgeniya Eliseeva. My coach was at the Russian Cup with the girls. She told me not to get upset, to pull myself together, to perform for myself, for the audience, to please everyone, my coach, and Alina Maratovna. I'm so grateful to her for supporting me. I really like it when so many people support me, because it really energizes me and gives me strength."

The gymnast shared what conclusions she had made this year:

"I think I've become much more technically advanced this year. I tried to be more consistent this year. I managed to do three events clean at the Hopes of Russia competition. I almost didn't do one event. At this competition, too, one event is good, the other not so much. That means I need to pay more attention to concentration and work harder in training. I really enjoyed the recovery camp at the Academy. We went to the beach, swam, did exercises, and ran. It gave me more energy."

Karolina Pakhtusova from St. Petersburg also told how she remembered this season:

"For me, the most memorable was probably the Russian Championship. I made it into the 24th place and was named to the Russian national team reserve. I think I've become more confident in going out and competing, as there have been so many competitions, much more than last year. This season has been truly intense. I might have even improved in some areas of my artistic skills. But I'll still improve, and I'll try to practice all the risks so they always work. Thank you so much to my coaches for preparing me, to the choreographers, and to Alina Maratovna."

In Armenia, Liza won gold medals in the ball and clubs events, Yana won the clubs event and silver with the hoop, and Karolina won the hoop and ribbon championship among gymnasts born in 2011. Their coaches are Elizaveta Chernova, Evgeniya Eliseeva, and Alina and Irina Gusarova. Their choreographers are Elena Egorova and Ekaterina Belova.