The Academy hosted a control training session ahead of the all-Russian Sky Grace Cup competition!

Our students Valeria Medvedeva from Novosibirsk, Ksenia Savinova from Gatchina, Karolina Tarasova from Donetsk, Anna Vakulenko from Volgograd and Kristina Voitenko from Novosibirsk will perform at the all-Russian Sky Grace Cup competition at the Academy.

During the control training session, Olympic champion Alina Kabaeva assessed the gymnasts’ exercises. After Karolina Tarasova’s performance with a jump rope, the Olympic champion told how to recover after training.

"You have to swim, at least half an hour, minimum. Or first lower your legs into cold water for a minute, then into hot water for a minute. You need to do this three times," she said.

Kristina Voitenko had wrong music played during her session, and Olympic champion Alina Kabaeva recalled an incident that happened at the Olympic Games with a team of synchronized swimmers.

"At the Olympics they played the wrong music for synchronized swimming. Can you imagine how many people there were in the group? And they all jumped into the pool, got out and started again. But they all had to get together. This is a team, can you imagine? And you are by yourself. And it’s very good that it happened this way. This can happen at competitions," she said.

Alina Kabaeva explained after Kristina Voitenko’s performance with a jump rope how to deal with anxiety.

"It’s better to worry now. I got all of you together on purpose, and got you in the right mindframe, so that you feel that the competition is coming soon. But the most important thing is not to burn out. You’re worried, but the element needs to be done," the Olympic champion said.

After Valeria Medvedeva’s performance with a jump rope, Alina Kabaeva spoke about an incident that happened to her while performing a pirouette at the continental championship.

"Once at the European Championships I did a pirouette and bent into an attitude. And I got dizzy. And I understand that I went in the other direction. No big deal, I got my bearings," she recalled.

The all-Russian Sky Grace Cup competition will be held from April 9 to 15 according to the International Sky Grace Rhythmic Gymnastics Clubs Association rules. Gymnasts will perform with five objects: a rope, a hoop, a ball, clubs and a ribbon.