Anastasia Maksimova: "Thanks to the new rules, rhythmic gymnastics will be more interesting"

The most experienced of the current Russian gymnasts, the Olympic champion of Rio 2016, spoke about her desire to attend the Sky Grace tournament, plans for the future and emotions from Tokyo 2020.

Last summer, the seven-time world champion in rhythmic gymnastics in group exercises Anastasia Maksimova performed at the Olympics in Tokyo at the age of 30 and after the 2020 Games did not make a statement about retirement. At the same time, at the end of November, Maksimova was selected to the athletes' commission of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). In a conversation with SE, the titled gymnast shared her impressions of the 2021 World Championships in Kitakyushu, Japan, assessed the prospects of Lala Kramarenko and her upcoming performance at the Sky Grace tournament in Moscow.

The experimental international rhythmic gymnastics tournament Sky Grace will be held on December 16-17 on the initiative of Olympic champion Alina Kabaeva. The general sponsor of the event is SOGAZ JSC. Gymnasts from different countries will compete in the all-around according to the competition rules of the 2001-2005 cycle and the rules of the 2022-2024 cycle. In addition to Lala Kramarenko, athletes from 13 countries and from four continents will take part in the tournament.

— Are you planning to attend the Heavenly Grace tournament? — Maximova's question.

— If it works out, I definitely want to go. The tournament will be very interesting for the audience — according to the rules, it is close to the times when Alina Kabaeva performed. Let's see how the gymnasts can adapt to them and what they can show.

— Now new rules are coming into force in rhythmic gymnastics. What is your opinion about the changes?

— During the lockdown period in 2020, when we lived and trained at the base, we actively discussed new rules. In my opinion, thanks to them, rhythmic gymnastics will be visually more interesting. The other day I went to a seminar in Novogorsk, where we listened to the judges' speeches about the rules. The girls from the national team have just started to master the programs according to new standards, they are entering the mode. Let's see how it will look live. Then it will be possible to give more detailed comments on this topic.

— They say that the new rules are very suitable for Lala Kramarenko. What do you think of her?

— I can say that she is an incredible talent. Irina Alexandrovna Viner-Usmanova noticed her from childhood and very diligently led her to the first team. Time will tell what will happen next. It is difficult to make predictions for young athletes. After all, there are many accompanying factors. God grant her health, athletic character, will and patience.

— According to the Ministry of Sports, rhythmic gymnastics is among the top 10 most popular sports in the country by the number of people involved. In your opinion, what is the main factor of such success?

— It's all about the figure of Irina Alexandrovna Wiener-Usmanova. She has brought up a whole generation of coaches, her former students, who work not only in specialized centers in Luzhniki and Novogorsk, but also throughout Russia. They train according to her methods and pass on an incredible experience to the new generation. Plus, before my eyes are examples of such successful athletes as Alina Kabaeva, Amina Zaripova, Evgenia Kanaeva...

I may want to continue training

— How useful is the experience of working in the ROC Athletes' commission for you?

— Very useful. The athletes of the national team train a lot, so they are not always informed by the latest news in the field of anti-doping, in some legal subtleties, in the specifics of communication with the media, etc. The Athletes' Commission does a lot of work in a number of areas and shares information with all members of the national team. It is important for me to be inside the process, to understand many nuances.

— Do you have more free time after Tokyo 2020?

— At the moment I am recovering from an injury. I haven't planned to finish my career yet.

— So you haven't thought about becoming a coach or a managerial position yet?

— It's hard to say. I haven't had a break from the Olympic cycle yet. Neither mentally nor physically. Therefore, I am not ready to discuss my future yet. I may want to continue training.

— Was the Tokyo Olympic cycle, which lasted for five years, the most difficult in your career?

— Absolutely. For some time I was recovering after the 2016 Games in Rio. Then I returned to the team, and I had to win my place back. We have the same conditions for everyone. After returning, you get into the third or second line-up and only by hard work can you prove that you are worthy of the foundation. Plus, the pandemic has done its job. It was not so difficult to experience quarantine on a closed base without seeing relatives, as much as thoughts about whether the Games would take place at all interfered. It is important for athletes to set a specific goal and achieve it. When the goal is illusory, it is doubly difficult to set yourself up for work.

— On Were there any moments at the 2020 Games that interfered with normal preparation?

— On the first day, two girls from our team were taken for doping testing at six in the morning. And we had a training session at seven. Me and Nastya Bliznyuk reached the gym, did a warm-up, but there were no girls. At that time, all our competitors were engaged in full compositions and looked at us with bewilderment. And for such training, we were allocated only an hour and a half on the carpet. Naturally, we are used to working many times more. As a result, the girls arrived only for the last 40 minutes, and we ran the program once without warming up. That is, the training was disrupted. At the Olympic Games, this is a disaster.

The sum of our points in Tokyo was supposed to be cosmic

— As a result, the Russians in the group lost the Tokyo gold to the Bulgarian national team. What happened?

— Irina Aleksandrovna Viner-Usmanova thought through everything to the smallest detail and complicated the program for us at the last training camp, which we held in Vladivostok. The sum of our points should have been cosmic. Even with the old program, we were ahead of the Bulgarians at the World Cup, and with the new one we had to increase the difference even more. But I'm not a judge, I can't judge myself from the outside. But the surprise of the head coach speaks for itself.

— With what feelings did you watch the performance of our national team at the 2021 World Cup?

— I was very worried about the girls. I knew the program they were doing. Plus, I understood how difficult it would be to perform after the Olympic Games. On the one hand, accumulated fatigue, on the other — a change of composition. There were three new gymnasts. Plus, Olga Karaseva was originally supposed to perform in Japan, but a few days before she left for Japan, she was injured. In this regard, Polina Orlova worked for the first time in group exercises, and Maria Tolkacheva got into the second kind. This is a huge stress. In three days, get up for new games and go to the world championship in an updated composition.

— In such a situation, two gold and silver in the group is an excellent result?

— Very worthy. I know that the coaches are happy with the girls' performances.

— After the Games in Tokyo you admitted that you were wondering whether to return to social networks or not. Did you feel so hard about the Olympic silver medal?

— To be honest, this period passed quite quickly. I think it happened thanks to the support of the coach, close friends and the whole country. I will never forget how we were greeted in Moscow. So from Tokyo will have only good memories, and all the bad things have already been forgotten.

Source: Sport-Express.