"She opened up and took a big step forward." Academy coach Evgeniya Eliseeva on Anna Vakulenko's performance at the Russian Championship

Academy gymnast Anna Vakulenko won bronze in the team event at the Russian Championship. After the competition, her coach Evgeniya Eliseeva noted the athlete's progress:

"I am very happy with Anya because this is my first Russian championship as a coach, and I was rather anxious. Nevertheless, I am so glad that she managed to brace herself, to demonstrate herself. We had only one loss in clubs in the finals; everything was rather clean. It seems to me that she unlocked, made a big step forward because she has just passed to the master of sport category, and it is a great honor to be among the strongest Russian gymnasts, and I am so happy that we managed to do that," Evgeniya said.

She also appreciated the teamwork of the staff and thanked Olympic champion Alina Kabaeva for her help in preparing for the competition.

"I am so glad that we had the entire preparation with coaches, with judges, with Alina Kabaeva, that everything was not in vain. We indeed did a great job, this is teamwork, the team victory. And therefore many thanks to our head, to our beloved Alina Kabaeva for being able to skillfully set up the training process, give proper guidance to judges, to us, coaches, to gymnasts, which led to such a result. When we are united, we cannot be defeated," she said.