Aliya in her new Olympic Games outfit. The teams were kitted out at the Bosco Olympic centre in Moscow last week
'Europeans went quite well, for me personally and for the team. There were no big blunders or falls and we were able to show a good result. If we continue to work in the same way as we approach the Olympics, everything will be fine ... Although of course we will need to do a little more in Rio. For the Olympic Games, everything will be right.
'My knee [Aliya suffered a torn meniscus for which she had surgery last November] is all right, there are no problems with it, I am not worried.
'We will try to fight for first place. But we will be happy with any medals. As usual, our main rivals will be the teams of America, China and the UK.
'It will now be very, very difficult to fight Simone Biles [in the AA] because she has a very large D score. In general, in the individual competition, my goal is just to perform well. The most important thing in the Olympic Games is to help the team. [She says that she isn't focussing on one particular event]. The main thing is to do everything correctly.
'Gymnastics has never been a sport where there is anger or hostility between athletes from different countries. We are always very friendly, say hello, chat. Sometimes we support each other. For example at a competition in Baku [European Games 2014] Giulia Steingrueber's coach asked me to help prepare the bars. I have no problem with this - it is normal in our sport.
'You always get nervous before the big competitions. But I know what to expect at the Olympics and how to prepare. This will be my second Olympics, it will be a little easier.
'I heard what is going on in track and field athletics [Russian athletes have been banned by the IAAF]. The way that this has happened is unfortunate. I don't really know anything about it - at one point I heard that maybe the whole Russian team would not participate, but it was nothing serious. I hope everything will be fine.
'We will continue to prepare over the coming weeks at the same intensity. The only thing we have changed is our day off - which is now Wednesday, instead of Sunday. We have done this to make sure that it will be easier to compete on a Sunday in Rio. Otherwise - there is nothing new.'
Source - http://m.championat.com/article/sport/other/251468/
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