“This competition is 10/10." Karolina Tarasova talks about the results of the third stage of the Cup of the Strongest
Karolina Tarasova summarized the results of the third stage of the Cup of the Strongest and discussed the preparation challenges:
"I give this competition a 10 out of 10. I really enjoyed competing here; the atmosphere was great. I really like this hall; I like it here; there's a lot of support here. We had a lot of training, we had control training sessions, just training. We did two training sessions in the morning, four events, and in the evening, four events, two clean run-throughs, to make sure everything counted, then we practiced the risks. Before the competition, we'd reduce the workload and just make a plan in the morning, and in the evening, just five out of five, all risks and skills."
The athlete also shared advice from Olympic champion Alina Kabaeva and the Russian national team Head coach Tatyana Sergaeva:
"Alina Maratovna gave us feedback after each element, on how to step, how to position our feet, to make it cleaner. At the floor testing, she was with us via video call, helping us, and also telling us how to get ourselves in the right frame of mind to succeed, and how to prepare for the competition. She told us to do the second part first, then the first part, and then put together a run-through and go to the competition, so we'd be warmed up, and then we'd perform well automatically. And that's what happened to me. I competed in the first event, with the ball, and I was really excited. I went out, nervous and scared, but I did it automatically; I didn't even notice how I performed, and I also performed the hoop automatically. So her advice really helps me. I find Tatyana Sergaeva really similar to me in spirit and I really like her. I really enjoy listening to her and listening to her comments. She still helps us, even when we had control training sessions in Novogorsk. Here, after our performances, she comes to us to offer support and gives us notes."
Karolina became the champion in the hoop exercise and the bronze medalist of the third stage of the Cup of the Strongest in the all-around among juniors.