– Do you remember the last time you competed in Ust-Kamenogorsk at any competitions?
– It was a long, long time ago. These are certainly not “Musketeers. Twenty years later,” but… I was about seventeen years old, the competitions were then held in the Olympian module. These were city or regional competitions.
– The last time you combined two types of jumps, you managed to win the World Cup in the Croatian Split in the triple jump and win a bronze medal on the “length”. What caused the decision to practice these disciplines at the national level?
– These competitions are more like a control training for me.- check the result of our preparation for the summer season. We are checking the method that we have chosen. We haven’t changed anything radically, but there are small nuances that we have changed. Two distances are an indication from the coach to see the speed qualities and technical performance. The task of showing a very high result here and now is not in front of me.
– What result will suit you here?
– I think the result for 14 meters will suit me. The preparation was not purposefully for the triple jump – we had only been on the run for a week and a half. There has never been such a number of training sessions after which you can show very far jumps right now.
– Your strongest competitor is Irina Ektova. How tough will the competition be on her part at the upcoming championship?
– I do not know what form the Ira is in now, and what goals it pursues. Perhaps this is also a passing start for her. In addition, you can go to competitions under load, after a lot of work. Or maybe not. It is very difficult to say. Besides, I’m not in the best shape right now, and it’s hardly worth waiting for jumps over 14.3 m. But what will be for sure is an interesting competition, to which, taking this opportunity, I would like to invite all Ustkamenogorets and guests of the city.
– For the first time in a very long time, a whole troop of relatives, friends and other personal fans will come to cheer for you. Is there some moment of excitement present?
– Of course! Many will come to cheer for me personally for the first time! This is very important and exciting for me. I want to meet their expectations and please them with a successful performance and a beautiful start. Besides, there will be an interesting fight not only in jumping. I’m looking forward to the 400m and 800m races, hurdles, men’s high jump, men’s shot put are always interesting. In general, it’s worth taking the time to watch all the competitions from the beginning to the end!
– And what else can make an Olympic Champion worry?
– Yes, anything (laughs)! In any case, I will be worried, because this is the first start of the season, especially after a long break. Secondly, these are the fans who may come to watch me specifically. especially when you perform at home, it’s always exciting.
– Especially after a 13-year break?
– Yes, native walls, they say they help, but they also make you worry twice as much.
– You have been in Ust-Kamenogorsk for quite a long time. In your opinion, what is the state of athletics in our city, and East Kazakhstan region as a whole?
– This sport has started to feel better. With the advent of a real home for athletics, which became the athletics arena, hopes for the best appeared. We adults also train here, and a very large number of small children come. The results, of course, are growing. With the advent of this arena, athletics in East Kazakhstan Region will begin to progress much more. Of course, we have won prizes in the team competition at the republic level before. But in two or three years we will claim the first place. Now is just the starting point.
– How much is your current form comparable to the one when you showed results in 15 m?
– If we take the result at 15 m and beyond for 100%, then now … 50 percent.
– In that case, when should we expect 100% readiness?
– We will bring the peak of our form to the World Cup, which will be held in August in Beijing.
– Beijing. This city is remembered for your performance at the Olympics, when you managed to jump 15.10 m, but you did not climb the podium, was it probably terribly insulting then?
– No, for some reason it wasn’t offensive at all. At that time, I did not expect that I would even get into the top six! I did not expect the final result with the fourth place in any way. At that time, I had been doing triple jumping for only one year, and it was very difficult to count on such a result. There were such people there, and they had a very serious fight among themselves, and I managed to get into it. I was just shocked at the time! I just couldn’t think of any place at that moment. I was so delighted just from the fact that I can jump over 15 m, and not just one random jump, but a whole series! Emotions were just off the scale. Then six people jumped 15 meters at once, and it was something impossible! This has never happened again.
– You had a chance to get to the Olympics in Athens. What discipline were you planning to perform in then?
– I was going to fulfill the standard in the long jump, get a license. I was doing well then – already in the winter season I showed 6.5 m. In this discipline, I might not even get into the main competitions, judging by the world results. I was just starting out in the long jump then, and the Athens Olympics would have given me nothing, by and large.
– Why did you decide to convert to the triple jump?
– There was such a moment – the Spartakiad of the peoples of Kazakhstan was held. I was going to compete in the long jump there. But since the East Kazakhstan Region team is made up with the calculation to “close” as many species as possible and earn as many points as possible, we had a small failure in the triple jump – we simply did not have people there. And so, Tamara Ivanovna Buchatskaya asked me to perform in this discipline. About three weeks before the start, we decided to just study this type of athletics. Before that, I tried it for the last time when I was ten years old. When they started to remember, it all seemed very difficult to me, I was confused in repulsions, my legs were tangled. But then I managed to win in these competitions, and with a very decent result – 14.05 m.
– Just like that?!
– No one, including me, expected this. moreover, I jumped from a very short run–up of seven steps, because I could not show higher speed, and if I could, then I would not be able to push off from it. But then I said it was the first and last time (laughs). I didn’t even think about the future in the triple jump!
– As they say, if you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans?
– Yes, that’s right. But at the same competitions, I fulfilled the standard for the World Indoor Championships. Because of this, the coaches’ plans all collapsed and changed, and I went to the Asian Championship in Jordan to jump both triple and long. I was indignant for a long time, saying, what am I going to do there on triple? But, nevertheless, we also managed to win in the triple jump with a score of 14.69m! It was only after that that we started thinking about trying it out. They decided that my speed was too low for long jumps, and in triple without speed, but using technique, you can show high results.
– Usain Bolt says that 100 meters is a royal distance, but his love is 200 meters. Did your love coincide with the crown discipline?
– Yes, you can say that. I feel calm in the triple jump. In 2006-2007, I thought about retiring to high jump. I showed 192 cm then, and in the all–around (and here your correspondent grabs his head – the best Kazakhstani high jumper Marina Aitova has 199 cm as a personal record!). But the length was still closer to me. I was not comfortable in the high jump sector.
– If it’s not a secret, what will the preparations for the World Cup in Beijing include?
– We plan to perform at several stages of the Diamond League, at the Spartakiad of the Peoples of Kazakhstan in Almaty. I will not force my preparation and I will not perform at all stages of the Diamond League – it is not worth chasing a diamond. For me, the main start of the season will be the World Cup. But I will not “splash out” 100% there either. For me, the Beijing start will also be a kind of stage in preparation for the Olympic Games. We will perform carefully so that there are no injuries and gradually lead ourselves to Rio de Janeiro.
– Be sure to follow the events in the world triple jump. Now the Colombian Catherine Ibarguen, who jumped even for your personal record, has taken the first roles. How difficult will it be to fight her at the biggest starts?
– During the time that I had a break, the company of the strongest jumpers has been greatly updated. Ekaterina Koneva and Ibarguen, many new girls have appeared, who have made it to the top ten. The competition, of course, will be very serious. But sport is an unpredictable thing. Maybe the Colombian showed her best last year, or maybe it was just the beginning for her. No one can predict. We will prepare for our results and I am not going to look at others. The main thing is to show all your capabilities at the Olympic Games!
– Athletes have two opportunities to perpetuate themselves: to win the Olympics or set a world record. You said in the not so distant past that it would be possible to take a swing at the result of Inessa Kravets. Is this issue still on the agenda?
– It’s every “threesome” that has such thoughts. The record is already 20 years old this year. And many of us were “getting close” to this indicator. But the record still stands. When this result falls, it will be a very big event for athletics.
– And what is more valuable for you: to set a world record anywhere and ever, which no one will beat, or to win a second Olympic gold?
– To win the second Olympic gold medal with a world record. It would be very beautiful!
A source:
http://vksport.kz/
