MADRID, 5 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The captain of the Spanish rhythmic gymnastics team, Inés Bergua, explained on Monday that they are arriving at the Paris Olympic Games “like little girls”, with the “expectations of doing well” and wanting to “put into practice the work of three years”, after an Olympic cycle in which they have achieved great results such as the European gold in the mixed team.
“We are like little girls because everything is new, but finally what we have been waiting for so long is becoming a reality,” said Inés Bergua, captain of the Spanish rhythmic gymnastics team at a press conference organised by the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) in Paris.
The gymnast believes that they are “more prepared than ever” and “with a lot of desire, enthusiasm and motivation to compete”, although their expectations are “to do well”. “It is clear that the results of recent years serve as an even greater motivation for us to continue fighting to be at the top”, she announced. However, she made it clear that the expectations are those that they set for themselves and that they try to “isolate themselves as much as possible from external factors”.
The Huesca native stressed the importance of psychological work. “It is essential to prepare for any competition, but it is even more so at the Olympic Games. We have been with a psychologist all year doing group work and individual sessions, so visualisation is also part of this work,” she said.
The athlete is aware that it will be “shocking” to see the arena full, but she wants to think that “it means going out on the mat once again and doing the same as always,” and that “it is just another competition,” while indicating that they train “six days a week, from Monday to Saturday, about eight hours a day.”
“Apart from the number of hours, there is a lot of demand on those hours, a lot of repetition. We seek perfection, although that doesn’t exist, but we do strive for the maximum possible,” he concluded.
For her part, the Spanish coach, Alejandra Quereda, confessed that she is “very excited and eager to enjoy the experience to the fullest.” The woman who won bronze in Rio 2016 as part of the team, said that she has “the same desire as if it were her first Games.”
“They are the first from this perspective and we have already passed on to the girls all the learning we have had during our sporting careers. Now we hope to be able to live this experience to the fullest and that the work comes out, which is really what is important,” he said.
Quereda acknowledged that “now we suffer more” because there are things that she cannot “control.” “We have already given and contributed to each of them all our experience, all our knowledge, all that technical part, and now the most important thing remains, which is to endure on an emotional level and have that day with luck on our side so that everything works out,” she said.
The coach said she was “proud of the work done and satisfied” because “the preparation has been very good,” but she is aware that “in this sport, 100% does not exist,” although “the probability of success is very high.”
“What we are looking for is to be able to show our best exercises and show our best version and shine on the Olympic mat,” he stressed, although he did not hide the fact that “today, both individually with Polina (Berezina) and Alba (Bautista) and as a team, they are at their best,” and that “they are in the best form, the best moment of their sporting careers.”
Polina Berezina tries to “take the competition as just another competition, so as not to make this event something special and not have more nerves or more pressure,” with the aim of “enjoying this experience to the fullest because reaching the Olympic Games is already the greatest prize.”
The Moscow native recalled that throughout the season the coaches tried to convey to them the importance of “enjoying every step and giving their all”, striving to do their job “as best as possible”. For her, arriving in Paris has been “another world”. “This is a paradise for athletes, seeing the greats there, walking alongside them and feeling like one of them. It’s amazing,” she said excitedly, while announcing that she hopes to live “the best experience” of her life.
She also acknowledged that she and her teammates have not stopped smiling since they woke up this morning to catch the plane, and that they want to “enjoy the day to day, the competition” and try to show everything they have worked on in these years “of work and effort” and she stressed the “enthusiasm” with which they face the competition.
Finally, the other Spanish gymnast who will compete in the individual category, Alba Bautista, stressed her “desire” and confessed to being “super excited” to go out and compete on a mat in a big stadium. In addition, she was “super proud” of her teammates and reiterated her “desire to compete and live the experience” of being in the Olympic Games together with other great athletes.
After the experience at the World Championships in Valencia, he believes that the atmosphere “will be a bit similar” but “not as ‘heavy'” as on that occasion, and that this experience will help them not to be affected as much, because in the end it is “going out on the mat and doing the same thing as always,” he added.