Lala Kramarenko won the individual all-around and exercises with ribbon BRICS Games. She finished almost every exercise in tears. Sports admire the fortitude of the country's best gymnast.
The entire tournament rested on Lala. After the Averin sisters left the sport, Kramarenko remains the undisputed leader of the team. At the last Russian Championship, she won the individual all-around by ten points and took all the medals in individual events. Now Lala is the most titled athlete of the national team, she also has team gold at the 2021 European Championship.
By the standards of rhythmic gymnastics, this achievement is not the coolest. For example, by the age of 19, Dina Averina was a three-time European and world champion. But under the conditions of suspension, Russian gymnasts simply do not have the opportunity to achieve more.
Shortly before the BRICS Games, information was actively disseminated online about Kramarenko’s withdrawal from the tournament due to injury. Interest in the competition would drop significantly. Unfortunately, it is not an exaggeration that to a large extent the entire rhythmic gymnastics tournament rested on one athlete. Yes, competitors from other countries finally appeared, but representatives from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Thailand and Serbia initially did not have much chance of winning medals.
In reality, who could compete with the Russians – gymnasts from Belarus. But they didn’t show the best results either. Thus, in the individual all-around, bronze medalist of the European and World Championships Anastasia Salos became only fourth. However, according to the rules of the BRICS Games, only two gymnasts from the same country can be on the podium, so Russian Diana Chugunikhina was left without bronze. In exercises with clubs, Salos again lost to Chugunikhina.
17-year-old Maria Borisova, who took second place in the individual all-around, seems to have only recently begun to gain confidence and stability. Clear progress is associated with her mentor, the legendary Olympic champion Alina Kabaeva. Despite a silver medal in the individual all-around and gold in hoop exercises at the BRICS Games, Borisova has yet to consolidate stable results.
Russia's absolute champion Anna Popova apparently has not fully recovered from the illness reported by commentators. Perhaps for this reason, at the BRICS Games she skipped the individual all-around and competed in exercises with a ball and in exercises without an apparatus. She brought the Russian team two gold medals.
Under these conditions, all responsibility in the individual all-around and ribbon fell on the fragile shoulders of Kramarenko, who proves time and time again that no problems can prevent her from taking gold. It is almost impossible to imagine that the coaches would decide to remove the athlete, even despite the injury. It is too important to preserve its reputation: Russia, even during sanctions, “takes out” all rivals.
“I can’t” is not a reason to give up. At the same time, performing with an injury in sports is a common thing. Suffice it to remember how gymnast Laysan Utyasheva continued to train and perform with multiple fractures of the scaphoid bone of one leg, or how figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva heroically skated with a broken arm at the Russian Championships. In an interview with MK, Medvedeva explained: “An injury is an injury, but you can’t stop. If you have a chance to perform, if you can, perform, don’t miss it.”
This is probably the main difference between an ordinary person and an athlete – to go through pain to achieve big goals. During the qualifications and individual all-around, Lala went out on the carpet and each time finished her programs in tears, and the words “I can't do it anymore” were broadcast live. As Yana Batyrshina later reported, the injury is so serious that it probably cannot be done without surgery. But despite the unbearable pain, Kramarenko did not give up, once again proving to everyone that no obstacles on the way to the goal can stop her. The victorious smile after the exercises only proved it.
Another question is, is the goal worth such sacrifices? When Russian gymnasts miss the Olympic Games, many people think unequivocally – it’s not worth it. But the essence of such a victory is not just the BRICS Games medal. An athlete receives much greater pleasure when he realizes that he was able to overcome himself. Would Dina Averina, with major back problems, have been able to compete cleanly at the Olympics if she had not previously competed with the same pain at less significant tournaments? Doubtful.
Due to Lala’s emotionality and vague future prospects, more and more comments began to appear on social networks about the imminent end of her career. There is an opinion that many exercises have become much more difficult to perform due to Kramarenko’s age. Nevertheless, the starts prove that she is ready to continue. How many? The question remains open.
Recently, in an interview with the YouTube channel “Discipline,” she noted that “most likely her career will pass by the Olympic Games.” But for some reason, the confidence remains that every athlete in his soul continues to believe that the Games will still happen in his life.
At the 2028 Olympic Games, Lala will be 23 years old. The Averina sisters took to the Tokyo 2020 carpet at the age of 23. This gives hope that Kramarenko will find the strength to continue his career for another Olympic cycle. And, looking at her character, I very much believe in this.
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