Sovetsky Sport. May 1, 1970.
1. Who are your sports heroes and what traits of their character particularly attract you?
When you are still small and your impressions are more vivid, it it easier to imagine an idol, even after drawing his or her features. I liked Elena Volchetskaya very much as a child: when she performed, you could feel her persistent character, you could see that she always set herself a task and achieved it. The rest - her hard work, the fact that she doesn't spare herself during training - I guessed. Growing up, I saw these traits in many, but the force can always be even stronger (like Liszt - "fast," "faster," "even faster"). The ideal that I imagine probably doesn't exist in real life, but I see similar traits in many. I don't want to list them, otherwise it would be boring.
2. What human qualities of an athlete do you consider weaknesses, do you have them, and how do you fight them?
Diffidence. I could say that it is due to poor training, but that would not be true. Whether you are trained or not, there should still be a boast: I can, I will, I must prove to myself that I am strong. It requires the concentration of all nerves, every one. Here I am on the beam. If I relax, I'll fall. If I'm focused, I'll wobble and catch myself. But the spectator can still see it. This means that it is necessary not to eliminate, but anticipate, mistakes. And one who does not know how to control himself in this way, even if he is in shape, even if he is generally agile, sharp, and jumpy, is still a weak athlete.
My weakness is that until I am hit over the head, so to speak, and pushed up against the wall by circumstances, my true character does not emerge. Another weakness is excessive anxiety. Then I convince myself that I am not me, but like a robot - I was taught, I can and should do it, and without worry. In Mexico City, I had hope for a gold medal in the finals - somewhere in the secret places, but I crushed it within myself. I came out onto the carpet very collected, very angry, my hands were shaking and my voice was trembling - like now when I remember this - but I knew that I could control all this.
3. What is talent and what is its role in sports?
Jumping ability, quickness, speed - all this is external, this is not talent. If philosophy is the science of all sciences, then talent is the quality of all qualities - both physical and mental. I don't understand how a fool can be talented?
4. How do you understand your duty to society and society's duty towards you?
My duty to society is a duty to myself. This means an honest attitude towards myself, towards my work, passion, and exactingness. Society consists of people, and if each of them treats himself and, consequently, then society as a whole will treat me that way I would like to be treated - correctly. But here there is a chain reaction.The improvement of society forces us to improve in our attitude towards ourselves, to rise one step higher.
5. How do you imagine yourself twenty years from now?
When I leave gymnastics, I never want to get carried away with something completely different, to take my life in a different direction. And that no one would know me, no one would remember my successes that I once had. But you can't give up on yourself - the old experience remains, right? I am also very interested in this. If a person is talented in one area, he should show himself in another area as well: talent is a quality of qualities, a mental property. And if he does not show himself, it means he is weak, it means he is not talented?