Coaches Irina and Alina Gusarova speak about Varvara Toporova’s return and the new stage in Alexandra Borisova’s career

For Varya Toporova, the third stage of the Cup of the Strongest marked her first competition following a long hiatus and recovery period. Meanwhile, for Sasha Borisova, the tournament brought her first gold medal at a Cup of the Strongest event.

Coaches Irina and Alina Gusarova summed up the results of the competitions.

Alina Ivanovna noted that both gymnasts had done a great deal of work:

"This is Varya’s first competition after such a long time. She did a great job; she fought hard and really wanted this, so we all put in a lot of work, the doctors and the entire medical staff at the Academy. I’d also like to mention Sasha. She put in a tremendous amount of work, too. She gets nervous when competing, but here she overcame that and won the gold medal — her first one in this series of events. a truly large number of people were involved in Varya’s recovery. That includes the Martial Arts Academy, where she did physical therapy, and the Alina Kabaeva Sky Grace Rhythmic Gymnastics Academy. A huge thank you to everyone for the work they’ve done. It is all thanks to the doctors, the coaches, and our entire vast team."

Irina Nikolaevna also spoke about Varya’s recovery and Sasha’s progress:

"Varya has done an amazing job. She managed to recover after the kind of injury she sustained. It took a truly heroic character for her to follow all the doctors' and medical staff's instructions, adhere to the coaches' requirements, and carry everything out. And now we see the results. I also want to say a huge thank you to the doctors who helped her. They handled everything, the proper treatment, the right monitoring, and, above all, the rehabilitation. A huge thank you to the Academy and our director for helping make all of this possible. And most importantly, a massive thank you to Alina Maratovna for believing, and continuing to believe, in Varya, and for helping her move forward. She helped her recover and heal. Naturally, the credit goes primarily to her. I also want to thank Alina Ivanovna, who helped train the girls. She put in so much effort. The girls listen to her, and it is wonderful to see them performing so brilliantly. And then there’s Sasha Borisova, so charismatic, vibrant, powerful, strong, and beautiful. She has become more confident and more determined. Of course, it’s clear that things didn’t go quite as planned, but she has a strong desire to move forward and showcase beautiful, dynamic rhythmic gymnastics. I am proud of her. She’s done a fantastic job."

The athletes live and train at the Alina Kabaeva Sky Grace Rhythmic Gymnastics Academy. Sasha is a member of the Russian National team’s main roster.