Current Ukrainian Champion, Vlada Nikolchenko recently talked to European Gymnastics Website about her Rhythmic Gymnastics career.

Just three weeks left to go to until the Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships kick off!

Last week, several countries declined their participation at this event, including one of the favorite team, Italy. At the end of September, Russia also confirmed they won’t compete at European Championships this year due to the health crisis. Russia was already qualified for Olympic Games

“For us, the pandemic is affecting both physically and emotionally. Many competitions were cancelled. We are still training, went to a training camp this summer and got fit for the competitions. We are glad Irina Ivanovna Deriugina could manage to hold the Deriugina Cup last September.”

“After everything was closed because of the lockdown in March, we had three months to prepare for competitions. The situation in the country remained difficult even at the beggining of the summer. At the moment, we are intensively preparing for the main date of this year – the European Championships. It is very important for us, the athletes to feel the spirit of the high level competition. We believe that everything will work out, despite all the hard times and the latest news.”

“My aim is to to compete at Olympic Games and win a medal. Right now I am also studying to become a coach, looking forward the future.”

“Many fans wrote us and supported us during quarantine, when everybody in Europe was at home. We were also asked to shoot some videos as an inspiration and support for all the gymnasts, who couldn’t train. In Instagram, they are creating groups to support us and fanpages. I have 30 thousand subscribers on my Instagram fan page. In Ukraine, we have a Telegram channel of the national team, but the interest for rhythmic gymnastics never subsides.”

Kiev host the European Championships with the absence of the spectators in the stands.

Source: European Gymnastics