What’s Kanayeva’s story?

Many people think that Yevgenia Kaneva will become "Kabaeva's second". This is not a word game. Regarding Russian beauties, perhaps your first reaction is the names "Kournikova" or "Sharapova" that are annoying to hear. However, in Russia's domestic selection, the title of "the most beautiful woman" belongs to the former The Queen of Rhythmic Gymnastics and current member of the State Duma, Kabaeva. Well, using such an analogy, we are about to tell the story of Kanayeva.

Train, compete, win awards, become famous, and then live a completely different life. Countless successful athletes have followed this path, but in Kanayeva's vision, these undoubted goals are not something she is willing to mention at the moment.

“I think if athletes are interviewed, they should talk about sports-related matters and nothing else. People come to me (for interviews), is it because I wrote a book or something else? What?" The 19-year-old Kanayeva looks sweet, but speaks with a slight impetus. Since the Beijing Olympics, she has been interviewed by more than 40 media accompanied by her coach, most of them from Russia, and some from European and American media. For this new life and new rhythm, Kanayeva adjusted as much as possible.

Photos of beautiful girls are popular with the public, so every time she is interviewed, Kanayeva’s main energy is actually spent on showing off her poses. "I'm not a model. I just need to take the photos and then go back to training." It's not always the sports media that come here because of the fame, so Kanayeva often deals with professional photo photographers. That's not the case. A smile and a click of the shutter will do the trick. After all the hard work, Kanayeva often feels that she is more tiring than training.

Rhythmic gymnastics has always been Russia’s strength, but to say how much attention it has received domestically seems to be an exaggeration. Therefore, when Kanayeva takes off her makeup and changes into her competition clothes, what people often see is a sweet-looking girl. It is still rare for her to be recognized while walking on the street. "I used to think that I might be recognized in the future. But now this is just the beginning. I can't always remember what I have gained. Otherwise, my status will drop immediately, and then I will have to quit and live in this world. The glory of the past is gone.”

Kanaeva has done very well, winning gold medals in the Olympics, World Championships and European Championships, and is hailed as the second in artistic gymnastics after Kabaeva. The new queen of the world. But many times, she is still the obedient little girl in the eyes of the coach, without any big-name attitude. "In a sense, I am already an adult, but there are still many things that I don't know. In any case, the coach will help me. She has much richer life experience than me." Coach Ting If you want to achieve the training goal, no matter what Kanayeva thinks in her heart, this is what you can hear from her mouth.

Except for her days competing abroad, Kanayeva spends most of the year in Moscow, either training at the Gazbrom Club’s training ground or resting in her dormitory— - Two points and one line are perfect.

In June of this year, Kanayeva changed her dormitory. It was the first time she had a room alone since she left her hometown of Omsk to train in Moscow. Since the age of 12, Kanayeva has been living in a team dormitory with two or three girls. Or it can be said that collective life helped the little girl survive the most difficult period of time. "We have been living quite happily, and there is nothing we are not used to. You know, there are many people in this world who live next to trash cans. In comparison, we are already happy people."

People who practice sports, no matter how successful they are later, actually survived the days of hard work. In order to seize every opportunity, Kanayeva stayed in the team from March 2005 to before the Beijing Olympics and never returned home. In order not to disturb her children's training, her family also endured I didn't go to visit and only relied on phone calls to keep in touch.

After winning the individual all-around championship at the Beijing Olympics, Kanayeva cried hard in the locker room. However, no one, including the coach and her mother, went up to persuade her not to cry, because they all felt that the little girl who "can't cry and doesn't want to cry" should really relax. "During training, she never seemed to cry. As long as you tell her the request, she will try her best to complete it without thinking about anything else." Irina Weiner was Kanayeva's head coach. The little girl followed her mother here because of her fame, and then became her disciple.

Kanaeva did not learn from the wrong teacher, although her rise to fame was indeed slower than that of her senior sister Kabaeva. At the 2007 European Championships, Kabaeva's knee injury recurred after her comeback and she was unable to compete. So Kanayeva, whose name was only one letter different from hers, finally had the opportunity to stand on the stage of the competition.

Kanaeva’s family is not big. Her grandmother, father, mother and brother all live in the old house in Omsk. After the Beijing Olympic Games, the family finally had a rare opportunity to reunite. Among these important family members, the one that Kanayeva misses the most is her grandmother.

“Grandma taught me a lot.

When I was 5 years old, she took me to the gym and I started practicing gymnastics. Later, when I got older, I saw her doing cross stitch, and I was immediately fascinated. I gathered around her and asked her to teach me. "Kanayeva said that when she feels irritable or nervous, she will often take out a cross-stitch and embroider it for a short time, and then her emotions will calm down immediately, which is very useful.

Kanayeva The relationship between Yeva's family and rhythmic gymnastics did not begin with her. Her grandmother, who brought her in, was a true sports fan and was particularly keen on sports with artistic expression. It was under her influence that Kanaye The boy's mother has practiced rhythmic gymnastics in a professional team for 10 years, and his father is a famous Greco-Roman wrestling coach. It was because of these experienced advisers that he chose his career path. , Kanayeva has never been confused. To describe it in four words, she can move forward bravely.

“I like training and competing. Rhythmic gymnastics is such a sport that cannot be achieved without long-term training. If you don't practice for a month, you will be out of shape, and you are likely to get injured during recovery. "Career longevity is a problem that all athletes have to face. For rhythmic gymnasts, this range has been limited to death early. "Now just be patient and overcome more, because even if you don't want to quit in the future, I can only rest, I have no choice.

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