The Most Glamorous of Them All

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

Aliya Mustafina was selected as Glamour Russia's Sports(wo)man of the Year 2016 and managed to look positively glamorous in their photoshoot. Some anon once sent me a message stating that Aliya is like a phoenix, rising from the ashes time and again. I couldn't think of a better comparison (a cat with nine lives?) and that dress reminded me of it. It has ashes and flames for our phoenix. And the neckline reminds me of some old Soviet leotards. Considering that Russian gymnastics rose from those ashes, it's strangely fitting too.

"They say that in the gym, I'm a diva."

Olympic Champion in artistic gymnastics, Aliya Mustafina, always knows what to do, whether it's on the uneven bars, at a wedding, or on the moon. 

Aliya Mustafina took her first gold at the 2012 Olympic Games in London at the age of seventeen. The second was in Rio, where she unexpectedly raised her routine's difficulty. The coaches say, that Aliya has the nerves of steel and a complex character. She doesn't deny it, but in real life she is polite and has aristocratic calmness. For the duration of our photoshoot, Aliya acted perfectly collected and controlled, in the evening she was going to fly to Krasnodar. The sportsman was flying off to see her boyfriend, bobsledder Aleksei Zaitsev, they were going to apply for a marriage license at the registry office. And three weeks later, she posted a happy photo of her and her husband on instagram. 

-Congratulations! How did you celebrate the wedding?
Nothing grand. The guests were just a few of our closest friends. But I couldn't say no to the white dress and a bouquet.  

-How did you get into the sport?
Dad wanted me and my sister to do sports for the general benefits (Aliya's father is Farhat Mustafin, bronze medalist of the 1976 Olympics in Greco-Roman wrestling). Dad's friends looked at his and my mother's build and told him that me and my sister were most likely going to be short, therefore more suited for artistic gymnastics. My parents however didn't have big expectations. They thought that they could take us out of gymnastics when we started school. But we had started to make progress. 

 -Was there a moment when you wanted to quit?
Many times. Last summer was very difficult. I would come to training and think, I don't want to endure it or push myself. Even the girls from the team noticed it. For two weeks, I was like a ghost. Then I realized that we needed to do something about it right away, otherwise I would bury myself so deep that I won't get out. It is easier to recover from an injury than to get out of apathy. 

-And what kind of state are you in now?
Tranquility and peace. I'm taking a break, I need to miss gymnastics. 

-What have you been doing?
I read and watch my favorite fiction. I love 'The Hunger Games'. After the movie I was very taken with Jennifer Lawrence. Her colleagues in the film told in an interview that she could laugh with the castmates on the set and in the next second, cry on camera. I go to school and think of a degree not associated with sports. I don't want to be a coach. I have already spent plenty of time inside the gym. Perhaps I could take up the promotion of artistic gymnastics. Just think, we train, but don't have any support. And it's not about financing. We need more attention, publicity, shows, master classes. We must always keep reminding of ourselves. If we don't, nobody will. People will confuse artistic gymnastics with rhythmic. 

-Two Olympic golds at 22. What else could you ever ask for?
Anything. For example, ever since childhood, I have dreamed of going to the moon. But for now, everything is just the way I want.

The original article. There's also a video of the photoshoot with some extra snippets from the interview. 

A quick note: I was supposed to translate this interview ages ago, but it's New Year and I don't feel like sleeping so I finally have some time. Better late than never. And as always, take everything with a grain of salt, I'm "translating" (I used to study translation so I'm very hesitant about even using the word) from a non-native language to another non-native language.

P.S. If anyone is going to be the first Olympic Champion (?), or at least Olympic gymnast on the moon, it's going to be Aliya. She if anyone can do it.