EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH OLYMPIC MEDALLIST ANNA RIZATDINOVA

Anna Sergiivna Rizatdinova was born in Simferopol, Ukraine on July 16, 1993.

Anna Rizatdinova now aged 24, is one of the world’s top individual rhythmic gymnasts.

Her childhood dream came true when she won the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.

Both Anna’s parents grew up in Russia before they moved to Crimea.

Her mother ran a gymnastics club in Simferopol for many years and Anna started to train in gymnastics in Simferopol at the age of 5 and was coached by her mother Oksana Rizatdinova.

Anna is a twelve-time world medallist, and two-time European medallist, but the highlight of her career was winning the bronze all round medal in the Olympic Games in Rio 2016. Anna’s career: Gymnastics became her life from a really early stage, and she started to compete at a professional level at the age of 15. Anna has won over 33 medals throughout her professional career competing all around the world including European championships, world cup championships European and World Games and her latest being the Olympic Games at Rio 2016.

After the Olympic Games Anna announced her retirement from the competitions at the age of 23.

Now living on the Costa Blanca, Anna kindly agreed to do an interview for CBNews:

JF: Hi Anna, at what age did you start gymnastics? AR: I started gymnastics when I was 5 years old. JF: Did you ever dream as a small girl that you would become a top international gymnast?

AR: I had a dream from a very young age that I wanted to be a top gymnast and win a medal at the Olympic Games. I used to work together at the gym in Simferopol with Kateryna Serebranska who competed in the Atlanta Olympic Games and I really wanted be like her.

JF: Your first coach in rhythmic gymnastics training was your mother, was it difficult for you to have your mother as a trainer or did it have benefits?

AR: Yes, very difficult. When I came home from the gym I wanted to be with my mum as a person but I was with my trainer and we would speak about gymnastics at dinner, we spoke about gymnastics at bedtime, we spoke 24 hours about gymnastics, but my mother helped me very much.

JF: How many hours a day were you training?

AR: I started at 9am in the morning and I finished at 7pm in the afternoon, everyday including Saturdays. Sunday I had free.

JF: At what age did you start doing international competitions?

AR: My first international competition was in Baku in a junior group team at the age of 15, we came 5th, that was very good for us as our first time.

JF: When did you move to the Deriugina School in Kiev?

AR: After my first international competition I moved to this school at the age of about 15.

JF: What type of relationship did you have with your trainer Ireesha Blokhina?

AR: She is an amazing person, she helped me so much, she is like my psychologist, she always helped me before all my competitions when I was nervous or concentrating very hard, she would always say “Smile Anna and enjoy this, you are a very good gymnast and you can do this.”

JF: Do you think it is very important for a gymnast to have a good trainer?

AR: Yes, definitely, it is very important. You must always have perfect communication with your trainer and be on the same wave length to achieve top performance.

JF: What is your favourite apparatus and why?

AR: Hoop, because I won the gold medal in Kiev in 2013.

JF: Did you work much harder when you were at the Deriugina School? How did it change your life?

AR: Yes, this school is very difficult, you need to work really hard, it is not for all gymnasts. I was without holidays, I only had three or four free days in the whole year.

JF: So did you miss your family?

AR: Yes of course, but I was living in Kiev from 16 years of age without my family and I could only see them for one month but I needed to concentrate only on my sports and my career.

JF: Who chooses your leotards and your music, is that a mutual thing or is it decided by your trainers?

AR: This is a mutual thing between me and my trainers, it is very important for me that the music is what I like so I can dance and perform to it, my favourite type of music is Michael Jackson, I have used a lot of his music throughout my career.

JF: Which do you remember as one of your favourite performances?

AR: Well I have many favourites, my gold medal with the hoop in Kiev, this was my first gold medal so it was very special, and also in Guadala- jara, Spain, I scored a total of 19, 00 with clubs and ball. That was also an incredible moment. But my very special moment was at the Olympic Games in Rio. After my ribbon routine I thought I have won a medal, I cried so much with happiness and emotion. The ribbon routine was very difficult because of the humidity and the heat.

JF: Is there a lot of rivalry between the Ukraine and Russian gymnasts?

AR: No not at all, I am very good friends with Margarita

Anna in action at one of her world cup competitions

Mamun they are very talented girls and work really hard, I also have a very good relationship with their trainers.

JF: Did you have any injuries during your training for the Olympic Games and did you need to take any time off ?

AR: No I was very lucky, I trained really hard and I was really healthy.

JF: What do you think is a perfect age to retire from gymnastics?

AR: 21 / 22 is the right age I think. I saved myself for my last year, as I was going to compete in the Olympic Games but I knew that afterwards I would be retiring. So I worked really hard and I thought if I win a medal I go, but if I don’t win a medal I will continue.

JF: Who is your favourite gymnast and why?

AR: I like gymnasts with a lot of expression and emotion, I like Almudena Cid, Anna Bessonova and Evgenia Kanaeva.

JF: What advice would you give to other gymnasts to help them become better and more motivated?

AR: You must really like the sport and work very hard and always have a dream in your head that you want to aim for and you must work so hard to reach your dream.

JF: Will you become a trainer now that your competing days are over?

AR: Yes, I have a lot of experience and I would really like to share this with all gymnasts, I like gymnasts who work very hard. I will look forward to helping them in the future.

JF: You are going to write a book for children about your life and your career, can you tell us a bit about that and when you are going to publish it? AR: Next year I will publish it hopefully. I am going to write how, step by step, Anna became a bronze medallist at the Olympic Games. It will be very interesting and very nice for children to read and understand, I wished when I was little that I had such a book to read and learn from.

JF: What would you advise as an eating plan for gymnasts? AR: I have never been on a diet in my lifetime. I work very hard and when I was training for the Olympic Games I lost one kilo nearly every day, so my trainers let me eat what I liked. But I normally eat for breakfast coffee with milk maybe some eggs, also nuts, for lunch maybe chicken and salad and then in the evening maybe fish and salad. I also like chocolate very much so sometimes in the morning a I have a small amount. JF: On a more personal level when you were training and competing for so many years did this affect your personal life a lot, like no time for boyfriends, going out, partying etc. Did you miss that? AR: No I just concentrated on my career, I just was training, training and training all the time. I had my dream and I knew I had to work really hard to achieve it. My gymnastic friends would say to me “Anna you are crazy, how can you be without going to parties and dances and not have any boyfriends etc.?” But I knew after I finished my career I would have plenty of time for boyfriends, parties, children and everything.

JF: Well thank you very much for your time and for answering all my questions, is there anything else you would like to add for up and coming gymnasts of the future.

AR: Yes, I am a very good example for all young girls, if you have a big dream, you take it, you work hard and you can achieve it. I worked very hard for 17 years to achieve my dream and everything is possible.

Anna has also done modelling for top designers