Yana Zaikina summarized the results of the third stage of the Cup of the Strongest and talked about the recovery training in Turkey

Yana Zaikina from Volgograd became the champion in the all‑around at the third stage of the Cup of the Strongest among juniors. The gymnast assessed her performance at this competition and noted the support of the fans:

"The all-around went really well for me. The individual finals, certainly, didn't quite come together. But as the saying goes, there's no use getting upset, you just have to keep moving forward. I absolutely love it when our dear fans cheer for us. Especially when something goes wrong and you hear them shout, 'Yana, well done anyway!' It really motivates you. Part of you wants to cry a little, but then you realize what a huge support you have, the coach, Alina Maratovna, and such wonderful fans. It instantly gives you a boost of motivation. Thanks so much to them."

Yana shared an interesting memory from the training camp in Turkey and talked about the preparations at Novogorsk:

"I think we spent that time very productively. We were working on our new routines for the Masters of Sports category. We were so happy that people know who we are even in Turkey; it was incredibly nice. Even on our very first day, when we arrived at the gym, we, so to say, started practicing our masters’ routines, everyone there was just staring at us like this. When I took my new ball, it turned out that a girl from Turkey had wanted to use the exact same music for herself. So they called her over to watch me perform my ball routine to that music. It was a bit scary, but it felt great to be set as an example. 
We also spent some very productive days in Novogorsk. We had two training sessions a day: practicing two apparatuses in the morning and two in the evening, working on every single detail. We tried to upgrade the routines, adding chainés and inserting new pivots here and there."

The athlete talked about her new costume for the ribbon exercise:

"We decided to try and get a new leotard made in time for the third stage. We got it tailored in just one week. I think it turned out absolutely beautiful because, first of all, back when Alina Maratovna was competing, she performed her ribbon routine in a very similar leotard. It means so much to me that they made a leotard almost identical to Alina Maratovna's. It turned out gorgeous, and I think it looks simply incredible on the carpet."

The gymnast also thanked everyone who helped her with the preparation:

"I want to say a huge thank you to Alina Maratovna for coming here, supporting us, and walking out to the carpet with us. It means the world to us, and we love her so, so much. Thanks to Evgenia Mikhailovna for working with us all these days too. She literally spent every single day perfecting things with us, sitting there through it all, and guided us out at the competition. And we showed a good result. Thanks to Olga Dmitrievna for also sitting with us every day, helping us find where we could upgrade, what counts toward the score and what doesn't, prompting us. I thank all the fans, the Academy, all the coaches, choreographers, and everyone who helped me win!"

At the third stage of the Cup of the Strongest, Yana took first place in the junior all-around and the hoop final, and finished second with the ball and clubs.

Yana is a European champion and a silver medalist at the Russian Championships. She is a member of the Russian National team and lives and trains at the Alina Kabaeva Sky Grace Rhythmic Gymnastics Academy. Her coaches are Evgeniya Eliseeva and Olga Minigalina, and her choreographer is Ekaterina Belova.