Interview with Maria Pasek

Love? This is also there

Maria Paseka - about her favorite cars, feelings and the next Olympics

Maria is one of the most beautiful gymnasts in the world. And he smiles so that you will not forget! We last saw her performing at Olympic Games in London, where she won a silver medal along with her teammates, members of the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation, which is supported by VTB Bank. And bronze in individual competitions - vault. And then ... Maria simply disappeared from the big platform for the fans. In a frank interview, the site Masha spoke about what happened and is happening in her life.

"The dream of the Olympics stopped me from leaving the sport."

- Masha, you had such a beautiful takeoff, what happened then?

I still don't understand it myself. I was preparing, preparing, but I was tortured by injuries. One, the other ... Somehow everything went head over heels in the first season after the Olympics. I don’t know, maybe fatigue made itself felt?

I remember very well how you said with burning eyes after the Games in London: “If I don’t take my gold at the next Olympics, I won’t calm down. I am ready to work for another four years. " And suddenly - tiredness ...

You know how it happens: you wake up in the morning and you don't want anything. Or, on the contrary, it seems that you want to do something, but for whatever you undertake, nothing comes of it. I could not understand what was happening to me, although I knew: such situations in sports - when, after an incredible emotional take-off, a strong recession sets in - are not uncommon. But it was still uncomfortable. It annoyed me terribly, in all seriousness I was already thinking of ending with gymnastics.

- What stopped?

The very dream that I spoke about. As I imagined that at one moment everything will collapse ... I remember when we were preparing for London, my mother told me: "As soon as you start, your adrenaline will sparkle." And I laughed in response: "Mom, what are you, if I get to the Olympics, then I'll finish right away." And now I understand that my mother was right.

"Since childhood, I love cars!"

- Few people know that you love cars. I can imagine how you felt when you were handed the keys to the Audi, a gift for the London Olympics.

In fact, I pressed the pedals there in the courtyard and that's it. I had no rights then. If I, like Aliya Mustafina, had already turned 18, I would, of course, have sat down and gone without hesitation. And so, I decided to sell the car. I thought I'd better help my parents, who were building the dacha at that moment. True, when I sold it, I almost cried.

- Why?

I really wanted to ride this car around the city! But nothing, I bought it easier, with a rear wheel drive. At first it was very scary to drive, because it skids on it, but now I'm used to it - it's cool.

- That is, you like as a driver ...

When I am driving, when there are no traffic jams, I drive and rest. I like it. If someone asks for a lift, she is always ready, just to sit down and go once again. Thanks to the car, I had a feeling of complete freedom. I started driving whenever I want. I don't depend on anyone now, as it was before. If necessary, I will take time off from the coach and go. Sometimes it's just where the eyes are looking. I will see a beautiful clearing, go out, sit quietly, sort out my thoughts, rest my soul, throw off the load that accumulates in the hall.

- How long have you loved cars so much?

Since childhood! Mom told me that when they gave me a doll, I just threw it away and started playing with the toy cars. And I always dreamed that I had a car on the control panel. I went to dad. I have my mother's appearance, but my character ... I love speed very much. Once we were racing with my father on a motorcycle 240 km / h. The wind is terrible, scary, but the adrenaline is off scale. And dad calculated everything, the road was smooth, before the turn we slowly dropped the speed ... But I only trust my dad to give myself a ride. He is not a professional racer, but his love of technology is his hobby. So he infected me too. The first time I got on a motorcycle with him was when I was three years old. At 12, she was already driving a car in the schoolyard. I still remember how tight her steering wheel was.

- It seems to me that you have matured a lot lately ...

I myself feel that something has changed in me. Love? This is also there. But when I'm at the training camp, I don't even think about it.

- Is it possible?

But it simply cannot be done otherwise. My boyfriend is too former athlete: I was engaged in sambo, he understands me. I said that I have a dream - I want to perform at one more Olympiad. He is ready to wait, so we only have days off - since now I drive the car myself, it's not a problem to come from the base. And there are shells in the hall, full concentration is needed here, and, most importantly, you come here to work. This evening you can call, cry, if something did not work out. They will pity me - it's easier for me. Everything, exhaled, tomorrow is a new day ...

- They say that love makes us more mature.

This is true. After all, you have responsibility for the person who is next to you. You need to take care of him, take care of him. I really don't do half of what I probably should have done. Sometimes I come home to cook something, but I’m already too lazy - tired. Still, most of the time is now occupied by training.

- When was the last time you wore heels and a dress?

On New Year... And then literally for five minutes. I clinked lemonade with my mother - and that was all. I’m driving almost all the time, and I’m not allowed to wear heels for a long time, my legs start to hurt, and they must be taken care of.

- Have you not been interested in modeling agencies yet? I’ll be surprised if this is not the case.

They said they would call, but three years have passed, and silence. This is in America around the girls who won medals at the Olympics, such a stir that the guard. And after all, we by and large no one knows or sees. Although when we go out somewhere, we constantly hear: with your 164 centimeters in heels, you look better than professional models.
But I'm not worried about this at all. And I don't want to be in the model, to be honest. Now, if you just advertise your sport somehow in order to attract attention to it, why not try it? And so ... I am now going to my dream. I really want to win olympic gold, I really hope that I will succeed. I have the gold of the European Championship this year, I want to win gold medal at the world championship.

The famous gymnast answered the questions of our readers

“Masha is very sociable, there will be no problems with her,” a colleague who is much more experienced in gymnastics told us. - Just have time to throw up questions ... "

And so it turned out, and there were more than enough questions for the two-time Olympic medalist-2016 in artistic gymnastics: the readers were clearly delighted with the opportunity to communicate with our beauty thanks to the online conference on the MK website. We tried to choose the most interesting for you ...

Once in an interview you said that you can laugh for no reason, even if you fell from a springboard ... Is this your usual state, are you always positive?

As I am told, I am a sunny person, and I believe in it. Here's an example: I was driving to you at MK today and constantly noticed that all our people are kind of gray, unhappy ... I was in the car with my childhood friend, we talked and laughed, and I realized how much the people around became withdrawn and closed. They looked at us from neighboring cars with obvious irritation, condemning us for allowing ourselves to be happy.

You are deservedly considered one of the most beautiful gymnasts in the world, but little is known about your personal life. Do you have a boyfriend? Recent times you are often seen in Stretovich's company ...

After the Olympics, my boyfriend and I broke up, and we had been dating for 4 years. There was both a proposal and thoughts about the wedding, but now he decided that we need to part, it will be better. Although he helped me a lot when, after London 2012, due to injuries, I was generally ready to finish with performances ... And the fact that they see me with Vanya Stretovich is my childhood friend. We met either 6 or 7 years ago. When I was in trouble, I could come to him and cry. And now they figured out that we are already a couple and a family.

Masha, what is the Russian women's artistic gymnastics team lacking to get ahead of the United States? After all, there is always just a little missing, not counting the team all-around. For you personally, after all, just a little bit was not enough to "gold" - seven tenths. Is there a problem with coaches, equipment, training centers?

We have it all. The fact that seven tenths was not enough for me - most likely I was very nervous, because I was thinking about a medal. Probably, it was not necessary to get stuck, but just jump. To bypass the United States, I think, you need to be calmer and not be nervous. Although when the first two places are at stake, mistakes are most often born. The rivals probably have nerves of steel ...

Why are you performing in only one kind of program? Are you inferior to the youngest gymnast in the team, Angelina Melnikova, on the balance beam or in floor exercises?

I perform only in the vault, because, as they say, he is still better in my national team than the others. I have not performed on the balance beam since 2010, since I underwent surgery on two heels. The fact is that a log has ribs, and when there is an emphasis on them, it becomes very painful. I didn't do the uneven bars in Rio, because there was someone. And floor exercise with my back would be a luxury, but I had to somehow "live" up to the Olympics.

TV commentators often focused on the "scotch" on your body, which was quite a lot! It is a little unclear how such a device can save from injury or soothe pain?

What many call scotch tape is called “teip” in medicine. I have weak ankles (at one time I broke my legs a lot in those places), and doctors advised me to wrap them with tapes so that when I land my leg does not "hum" to the side, a broken leg or other injury occurs. And on the hips there are long lines of stickers - this is already called "kinesio tape", or simply "kinesio". I have back problems, and the masseur of the Russian men's team wrapped my back so that the pain went away, and the stickers somehow held my muscles and ligaments. Some may think that this is ineffective - in fact, it helps a lot. Even with sprains, you feel better.

- Somehow Aliya Mustafina showed her labor corns. Do they all have them?

As long as you are in sports and train every day, the calluses do not go away, like guitarists. And when you finish with sports, after about a year and a half, your hands become normal, smooth. So it doesn't bother me. But I can say that until I finish with sports, I have not even thought about it. But now, after the Games, the most important thing is to improve health.

- Maria, why did you choose gymnastics? And what subjects did you succeed in school?

Once, at the age of six, I was watching TV with my mother, and the news showed a girl jumping on a trampoline in the Dynamo sports complex. And then I told my mother: I want it that way too. Mom said: you can break the legs-arms, this sport is dangerous. I threw a tantrum, and my mother was forced to take me to the same Dynamo. And why, in the end, not a trampoline, but gymnastics? We still have 4 shells, and they work different groups muscles, there is some kind of variety. And the trampoline is also scary. Then there was the Sambo-70 Sports and Education Center, then the Pedagogical Institute physical culture and sports. While I was in school, I was seriously interested in biology, but I didn’t pull algebra.

- Has anything changed in your life after the Olympics? Achievement of success?

Except that there are more trips to television and a lot of interviews - here I am in your newspaper now. And as for the realization, I am sure: it will come when I leave gymnastics.

The Russian woman, who won the silver medal at the OI-2016, is unhappy with her performance in Rio.

Honestly, I could have jumped better. I thought they wouldn't give me second place. You saw, I was even upset. When I took a step back at landing, I thought, everything - you can go home. But the judges decided differently. Second place is a good result

- How did you prepare for the performance?

When I got up in the morning, it was scary at first. I started to do hair, make up - it calmed me down. I jumped very well during the warm-up, I liked it. And on the way she interrupted, there was a lot of adrenaline.

- And what were you thinking about?

To do my own thing, for which I have been preparing for all four years. And then let the judges decide and give marks. I did not follow the jumps of my rivals,

Gymnastics... Silver performance by Maria Paseka!

- Is it more difficult here than at the World Championships?

These are different competitions. There is more responsibility here, the feeling that you are playing for your country. The Olympics take place every four years, and the World Championship every season. The sensations are very different.

- Aliya Mustafina said that she changes along with gymnastics. You too?

Maybe yes. New elements, new rules appear. It's different every four years.

- They say that few children come to gymnastics. Do you have someone to share your experience with?

I can tell my sister ( smiles). In fact, we do not have very many halls, and the conditions in some of them are not very good. This is good for us in the national team, we train at the Krugloye Lake base. If I was sent from there to some ordinary sports school would hardly have been able to train there. Therefore, I have a dream - to build a specialized gym, to recruit children to prepare for the national team. But this is a difficult topic, desire alone is not enough.

- How many normal halls are there in Moscow?

It's hard to say offhand, because now this is happening in my head - horses are running in a circle ( laughs).

- I competed with you, who is already 41 years old - this is already the seventh Olympiad for her. Are you capable of this?

Probably unlikely. Oksana is a great fellow, she is the same age as my mother, What willpower a person should have - I know how many injuries Chusovitina had. This is a unique woman.

- Did the doping officers often bother the national team here?

When we arrived at olympic village, they took samples from a number of girls the next morning, and from me - every other day. And with Angelina Melnikova - both times. But this is better than in London, when the whole team was taken away at once.

- What will you do after the Games?

First I will rest in Spain. Then I'll go to Germany for treatment, check my back, and then we'll see. I do not plan to end my career.