“I want to ride a rope into the abyss.” New Star — about the pain and thrill of high jumping

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The Russian Winter Athletics Championship created a sensation on a global scale. Natalya Spiridonova not only defeated Olympic champion and three-time world champion in the high jump Maria Lasitskene, but did it by showing a landmark result for the first time in her career — two meters. In an interview with Sport, Spiridonova told how she got into athletics instead of basketball, that she gets a thrill from jumping, admitted that she also has haters, and also admitted that instead of the Russian Championship she could have ended up… in the hospital.
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«Appendicitis was suspected»
— After the Russian Championship, I learned that the day before the tournament the situation was critical.

— Yes, the day before we did a good workout, and already before going to bed I felt a pain in my stomach. At first I thought it was okay. I fell asleep and woke up at night from wild pain. I woke up my mom and said, “I feel really bad, what should I do?” She gave me some medicine, it relieved me a little, I was able to fall asleep again, but only for an hour and a half. At four in the morning I woke up again and was already thinking about calling an ambulance. But the thoughts stopped me: they’ll put me in the hospital, but what about the Russian championship. In general, I hoped that it would be released in the morning.

— Did this happen shortly before the start?I say: “Mom, we’re calling an ambulance.” The car arrives, the doctor comes in, I lie down so she can examine me — and then the pain suddenly disappears. It was as if she never existed. I even felt embarrassed in front of the doctor. But we were told that we still had to go to the hospital for examination. Let's go, I got tested. It turned out that everything was normal, although we were told that we would have to be examined again. After that, I returned home, called the coach, and said: “That’s it, let’s pack our things and fly out in the morning.” I was scared to go to bed; to be honest, I was afraid that the pain would return. But everything worked out well.

—Doctors suggested that it could be?

—Appendicitis. But after taking the tests, nothing was found.

— Did you have a premonition that after all this worry something wonderful was going to happen?

— The coach and I just laughed: what’s wrong, we have some kind of… then overcoming. Last year, there was also a story before the Russian Championship, although of a different nature — there was a problem with documents, but it was serious, and there was talk of withdrawal.

— Did the jumps in the finals start to turn out the way you wanted right from the start?

— On the contrary, during the warm-up it seemed that the repulsion was not very good. Even the thought flashed: today is not my day. But I immediately threw it away. I concentrated on every jump.

—Maria Lasitskene says that she immediately forgets the jumps. Do you remember?

— I remember in detail the first attempt at two meters. I came across it and thought: what should I do? I put so much effort into jumping 1.97, but here I have two! I ran and pushed off, not believing that I would take it. This year such a jump was not planned. And they wanted to get to 1.97 sooner in the summer — closer to the Friendship Games.

— And in the next attempt they took !

—I talked with the coach before, she gave me instructions about the run-up, and I got up just thinking about doing everything right. I don’t remember the moment of repulsion. The next memory is when I land and look: the bar is up! And only after three seconds I thought: this is two meters!

— It’s as if you tried to do a somersault after that, but landed on your neck.

— It wasn’t a somersault, I don’t know how to do it and didn’t try. I don’t know what it was (laughs). Emotions simply overwhelmed.

— The famous jumper Blanka Vlasic danced after successful jumps, sprinter Usain Bolt portrayed a tense bowstring. Maybe you should start your own tradition?

— No, I don’t want to invent anything on purpose. Let it be what happens on its own, from the heart.

— After your victory, you said that you wanted to celebrate it with some junk food — a burger or pizza. Did it work out?

— Pizza or burger — no, but I ate pancakes with chocolate that evening.

— Is this also forbidden food?

— Well, for the night, of course, yes (laughs).

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«I saw my brother's medals and said: I want it too»
— How did your path in athletics begin?

— I fell ill with bronchial asthma at the age of five. In elementary school, I was even exempted from physical education—I was only allowed to do something very easy. And my older brother was involved in Greco-Roman wrestling. I remember he brings home medals, and I cry: “I want it too.”

They took me to the attending pulmonologist, and I asked her: can I play basketball or volleyball? For some reason I was drawn to these sports. And the doctor replied: “Natasha, it’s not dusty halls that will benefit you more, but fresh air.” And we decided to listen. She passed the medical examination and ended up in athletics — at the Nadezhda Youth Sports School. I was ten years old. Six months later, I already completed the third adult sprint category, which is where I started. Then she began to combine sprints and long jumps, then high jumps were added. She could also throw a spear and push a shot. As a child, I wanted to collect more medals and hang them on carnations (smiles). As a result, I stayed in the high jump.

— Did you find your coach right away?

— I was very lucky. I didn’t choose him, but from the very beginning I ended up with her — Ekaterina Stanislavovna Alekseeva. My whole family and I have a very warm relationship with her, she is like a second mother to me.

—Did you dream of becoming an Olympic champion as a child?— No. But my mother told me that I once saw Elena Isinbaeva on TV and said: “I want to be like her.”

— Then I had to pole vault.— Is it scary to fly so high?

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—I have no fear of heights. On the contrary, I want to try something as extreme as possible. It’s scary, but that’s the thrill, the adrenaline! I want to jump with a parachute or on a rope into an abyss.

— In Sochi there is such entertainment — you can jump into a gorge from 200 meters.

— I know. I really want to, but I haven’t decided yet. It’s scary: suddenly your heart stops.

“I haven’t seen Lviv in Kenya. It’s even offensive.”
—You started doing athletics, it turns out, in 2012, and in 2015 -th this sport in our country has become, to put it mildly, problematic — doping scandals, suspensions.

— When I was little, I didn’t think about the problems of athletics. It was only when I started traveling to international tournaments under a neutral flag that I began to learn something.

— It was a shame — why does everyone have a flag, but I don’t?— But still, the prospects for our athletics were vague even then, and they are even more vague now. Didn’t want to leave?

— I never had such thoughts and still don’t have them. As long as I can do it and my health allows it, I will jump.

—What is your favorite thing about high jumping?

— Emotions. I won’t say that I really like training and withstanding loads. It's complicated. But you understand why you are doing this. The joy when the bar stands still after a jump is a thrill!

— You said that in terms of emotions for you, international tournaments were not much different from Russian ones. But in your career you had a victorious World Junior Championship in Kenya, that is, in a country where an ordinary person would never even visit. Are there really no crazy impressions left from there?

— No crazy people. I took the victory calmly: when I jumped 1.91, which brought me gold, I simply clapped my hands. Maybe I still didn’t know how to express emotions, I kept everything to myself. I remember how we stood on the pedestal: our anthem was not played, but I still sang it to myself.

— And there are no memories left of the country? Didn’t you go on a safari?

— They didn’t take us. Other teams traveled, but we saw nothing except the stadium and the hotel. It’s even insulting — no lions for you, or anyone else.

— Do you now receive letters from foreigners?

— I receive negative messages from there. I’ll post a video of the jump, for example, and it starts: “So you’re sitting there, in your Russia,” “Work to nowhere.” I try not to read it, I delete it right away.

— But do you receive good messages?

— Much more.

«Even without the flag, everyone would know that we are from Russia»
— Motivation is a common word now in conversations with athletes. For example, in normal times, as the Russian champion, you would now go to the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow. But you're not going anywhere. Is this very demotivating?

—No. My attitude to it is this: if we are not going anywhere, then this is the moment. Why think about something that we cannot influence in any way? It’s better to think about your tasks for the summer, about preparing for important tournaments. That is, about what is in our power.

— Is the fact that prize money is now being paid in domestic tournaments a big help?

— Yes, thanks to the federation for this. I had eight starts during the winter season. Except for the Russian championship, they were all paid. It is very nice. Yes, and now they are trying to make everything beautiful — somewhere to the music, for example, we jump. I would like to come to such competitions.

— Many people are unable to tune in. The same Lasitskene, it seems to me.

— Masha has seen a lot, won the Olympic Games and World Championships. It’s probably really more difficult for her to find motivation at the Russian championships. We, the young ones, haven’t seen much. In the sector we have competition and motivation to win.

— Some Russian athletes will most likely go to the Olympics — but without a flag, without an anthem, without a uniform. If the President of World Athletics did allow you to participate in international tournaments, would you agree to go?

“If we had a team, like we used to travel, albeit under a neutral flag, and if we were not forced to sign any declarations, of course, we would go. We work so hard, put in so much effort, naturally we want to compete on the international stage. And in any case, everyone would know that we are athletes from Russia.

— Last year, one blogger made a sensational video about the troubles in athletics — in particular, the lack of conditions. Have you watched it?

— Yes. Indeed, conditions are not available everywhere. In the same Bryansk in the summer you can perform at a beautiful stadium, but now they were jumping in, consider it, a basement — it’s hard to breathe, it’s damp. The paths are waves, you can twist your ankle. And I didn’t have conditions in Pskov before either. Five years ago he, too, could have made an unpleasant picture for us. But now there is a new stadium, an arena. Although it’s not complete, it’s enough for me. There is also a section for height. True, in winter you can only jump there with your left foot; it will be difficult for right-footed people to train unless everything is rearranged. I run along the wall, I barely have enough space for an arc, but it’s enough. And in general, there is support from the authorities, the governor takes part and helps.

— The last question is this: are high jumps useful to you in your life? To jump over a fence, for example.

— Only if through puddles and snowdrifts (laughs). Seriously, in life, my sport helps me deal with problems with a cool head. Don’t lose concentration, don’t freak out, don’t rush, but be able to stop in time and comprehend everything.