Alexandra Soldatova: sport comes first for me

Already on December 28, the premiere of the show of Olympic champions “For Sport! City of the Future”. Despite the New Year’s Eve dates, the show’s director Anton Nikolaev decided not to use the hackneyed Christmas theme in the script. At the center of the show is the story of a young gymnast and the robot Thespian. It is with them that the audience will have to go through all the trials, which will be developed against the background of stunning futuristic 3D-decorations.

As part of the preparation we managed to meet and talk to one of the participants of the show, gymnast, leader of the Russian national team, two-time world champion and two-time European champion in the team event Alexandra Soldatova. During the interview Sasha told about her sports career, shared her plans for the future and gave some advice on how to achieve goals in the coming year.

The beginning of the sports path

– Sasha, tell us, did you choose gymnastics yourself or did gymnastics choose you?
– Of course, it was an unconscious choice, I would say that the choice of gymnastics for me is pure chance. When we still lived in Ufa, my brother practiced gymnastics. We didn’t even know about such a sport as rhythmic gymnastics. And later, when we moved to Pushkino, my mother decided to enroll my brother in the section, but she was told: “We only have girls. She was not confused and gave me away(smiles).

– How old were you then?
– I was seven.

– Seven years old is the right age to come into gymnastics?
– At that time it was normal. Now I would say that seven years old is too late. Because many children have been practicing since the age of four or five.

– Did you initially have any ambitions? Did you want to go to the Olympics?
– At first, no, I just fell in love with the sport and trained for myself. I didn’t make any plans for the future, because at that time I didn’t know anything: neither Olympics nor World Championships. I just did what I liked.

Inspired by example

– Were there any competitions in your life that changed something in this respect?
– I don’t think there were any competitions. It was pretty gradual. My attitude changed when I came to the training camp. There I saw the level of the girls and thought: “Wow”. That was a turning point for me.

– Are there any gymnasts you look up to?
– In some ways I look up to Alina Kabaeva, I really like her constant optimism. I agree that sport is 50% training and 50% psychology, so I also try to be in a good mood, no matter what is going on around me.

– Have you ever won thanks to your moral attitude?
– Nothing comes to mind at once, but there were competitions when I felt very bad physically and won on moral willpower. It happens in sports too(smiles).

Big sport regime

– How many times a week do you train?
– Six days a week, every day I train for 7-8 hours on average. As you understand, I have enough physical loads in the gym, so I don’t have time for any other sports hobbies.

– Do you watch your nutrition?
– Proper nutrition is very important for an athlete. I tried everything on myself: to eat and not to eat, to eat this, fifth, tenth. There were a lot of experiments, and in the end it turned out to be quite simple. Now I think that it is better to eat often but not much, mostly something protein – that’s probably all of my special preferences(smiles).

– Did you have to lose weight for competitions?
– I didn’t have to lose weight extremely, because in principle it is better not to bring myself to such a state – it is very dangerous for the body.

– Do you follow your drinking regimen and how important is it to drink a lot of water during the day?
– It’s probably true that you should consume as much fluid as possible, but to be honest, I don’t manage to keep track of it all the time. So yes, it’s probably helpful, but I haven’t tried it yet(smiles).

On the other side of the screen and the other side of the screen. On future plans

– Do you follow any competitions?
– I have a lot of friends from different sports and I make sure to follow when there is a broadcast. I find some of them specially on the Internet, because not all competitions can be watched on TV. I always try to support our athletes, even from a distance.

– What is the most important for you now?
– At the moment sport is in the first place for me in all my plans for the future. The main thing is to show my maximum, everything I am capable of.

5 rules of Sasha Soldatova: love, remember, smile

Each of us has our own rules, our own benchmarks that help us not to lose our way and not to deviate from the intended goal. The list of achievements of 19-year-old gymnast Alexandra Soldatova includes conquered podiums of the most prestigious competitions, Russian, world and European championships. Together with our colleagues from Oh my look! we asked Sasha a few more questions and made a list of rules that every girl who has a dream, a goal and a favorite cause can adopt. It turned out to be very motivating!

● When it gets hard, remember what you are doing all this for, how many things you have already gone through. Then it will be easier for you to understand whether you are ready to give it all up, to sacrifice your efforts.

● Love what you do, no matter what it is.

● Love yourself. It’s really very difficult, but it’s very important: love yourself for who you are.

● Improve yourself all the time. Not just in sports, studies or your favorite thing, but in everything.

Always be in a good mood. Whatever is going on in your heart, never show it. Life is not always easy.

We thank Oh My Look! and G.Bar dress rental service for their help in organizing and styling the shoot.