Svetlana Khorkina, a fierce competitor known as the Diva, won 7 Olympic medals and 20 Worlds medals. She posed for Russian Playboy. Her autobiography is titled “Somersaults in High Heels”.
When her son was born 2011 2005 she refused to name the father.
And she hangs out with bad boys.
Some translated excerpts from a recent interview:
“I was ashamed of the National Team in Beijing”
– Do not you think that the ambitions of the people working in professional sport in recent years have lessened? Fewer and fewer coaches are willing to work toward results with the same level of dedication that you once worked with alongside Boris Pilkin.
– I don’t even know what to say. We have decent coaches and there is a strong tradition in the schools, you just need to somehow work out a system. But you’re right, with Pilkin, we always worked for maximum results; looked for what we could do to win. After my coach passed away, I thought a lot about how lucky I was that fate connected me with him! Because I was refused from the gym. Not only because of my height, by the way, for many other criteria I was also considered a “no.” and Pilkin took me. …
At my last European Championship in 2004, I also competed with an injury – a broken metatarsal bone. I was supposed to be in a cast for 4 weeks but I removed the cast after 1 week and went to go compete. I didn’t understand how I could not do it? It’s my team!
… everyone still loves to talk about how Arkaev was a monster. Yes, he was tough and strict and in addition, he always called a spade a spade – and that’s not always pleasant. But, he got results and Alexandrov was invited back to get results. He did it. After Beijing, who could have imagined that in 2010, our team would have won the team finals at the World Championships for the first time in 19 years, and that Aliya Mustafina would become the all-around champion? …
– What is your impression of the current Russian team?
To be honest, the results sometimes make me feel ill. …
read more on Because Fan is short for Fanatic – translated interview with Khorkina
What can you say to that?
(via RRG)
Gymnastics Coaching.com 