"It was necessary not to let the team down!" Junior girls of the Sky Grac team talk about the BRICS Games

Juniors from the International Sky Grace Rhythmic Gymnastics Clubs Association team shared their impressions of the tournament and told how training at the Academy together with Olympic champion Alina Kabaeva helped them.

Karolina Tarasova from Donetsk spoke in detail about how the preparations for the competition took place.

"It was very exciting to perform. This is the first competition that I have competed in. I really enjoyed performing here. The support is awesome. During the control training session they gave me feedback. I tried to fix them, they said the right words. And control training sessions helped me to perform well in competitions. I haven’t worked much with Evgenia Eliseeva yet, but over a period of time like this,  I have already become much better. Alina Kabaeva, Evgenia Eliseeva and Ekaterina Belova helped me prepare for this serious competition. And Ekaterina Dyukova, the director of the Academy, supported me. And of course, Marina Shpecht and ZlataTulubaeva, they judged at control training sessions, helped us, made some comments, I thank them. Thank you very much for preparing us for such starts, and we performed well!Thank you very much for preparing us for competitions like that, and we performed well," she said.

Ksenia Savinova from Gatchina shared how the support of Olympic champion Alina Kabaeva helped her.

"There is anxiety just before the exit but when you get up at the beginning, everything disappears from you. There were a lot of control training sessions, including those with Alina Kabaeva. This helped because you are not so scared to go to competitions. She told me that everything would be fine. "Calm down, don’t be afraid, competitions are like a holiday, and you have to go out and do well," she told me. We supported each other so that everyone performed well. I’m trying to catch up with the girls and become like them. My favorite coaches, choreographers and Alina Kabaeva helped me prepare," Ksenia said.

Asel Arapova from Kyrgyzstan also spoke about preparations for the competition.

"It was necessary not to let the team down in the first place, and I succeeded. I was told comments, mistakes, what needed to be corrected, and I tried to fix it on the carpet so that it would count for me. Alina Maratovna is very kind, good, demanding, and I really enjoyed working with her. According to the rules of Sky Grace, it is more interesting to perform, because there are more interesting elements there. The elements that only I do, which are in the rules, but they are not in the international ones."

In Kazan, the gymnasts took second place in the team championship, and in the finals of individual events, Asel won four medals.

"The first thing I had to do was not let the team down, and I succeeded. They gave me comments, pointed out mistakes, things that needed to be corrected, and I tried to correct them on the floor so that they would count them for me. Alina Kabaeva is very kind, good, demanding, and I really enjoyed working with her. It is interesting to perform according to the Sky Grace rules. It’s because there are more interesting elements. Elements that only I do, that are in the rules, but not in the FIG ones," Asel said.