From ECorn:

2. Who is your favorite Russian and foreign gymnasts?

- I don’t really have a favorite gymnast, but there are many athletes whom I respect.

3. What were your favorite countries/places that you've visited?

- There are many beautiful and amazing countries. But I’m a patriot of my own country.

From Charles:

4. What do you think about the websites for you and your teammates?

- I am finding the websites interesting and I think that people who are interested in gymnastics and in what I am doing, in particular, will find them a better source of reliable information rather than most of the media.    

From mrparke007:

6. Whose your biggest influence in gymnastics? A lot of people probably assume it's Khorkina, but was there someone else who motivated you through workouts or who's accomplishments you looked at and said "this person has accomplished what I wish I could accomplish." What did/do these people do to help you stay focused? Have they offered any great advice to you?  What have you learned from them?

- I have a lot of books at home, some of them are about gymnasts. My desire to train to achieve good results was influenced by most of them (i.e. Larisa Latynina, Olga Korbut, Mikhail Voronin and many others). Alexei Nemov, Larisa Latynina, Mikhail Voronin, Svetlana Khorkina became my role models and my advisers later on, (there were others as well, but those four people made a significant impact on my life).

7. What did you think of Ksenia's performance in the AA in Beijing? How do you view the performances of your teammates during any AA compared to TF? We heard that Ksenia had really focused more on her shot at the AA rather than upgrading her difficulty on UB, but we all knew Russia's best chance at an AA medal would come from you. How did her focus on the AA affect your own preparation for Beijing?

- Ksiusha (diminutive of Ksenia) performed her best, well done! I wouldn’t want to talk about the team finals in Beijing. It is all in the past, all the necessary conclusions were drawn. I can definitely say that all the girls in the team, even while making mistakes, tried to do their best and to work till the end.
In my opinion, team result significantly helps to succeed in individual competition. That’s why the sequence of the competitions (Team Finals, All Around, Event Finals) could be a partial answer to this question.  The main focus was on the team during preparations. Individual competitions are the personal preferences of the gymnast and the coach (but every member of the team would be happy if her teammate showed good results, that`s for sure). 

8. You have a very classical taste in music, since most of your FX routines have been to classical pieces and mixes that incorporate classical music. Where does that come from? Do you play any instruments? Does it come from your ballet experience?

- I am going to tell you straight away that I have no experience in ballet dancing or dancing or similar things at all (When I was a child many acquaintances, referring to my name, desperately wanted me to do dancing. But I was interested in more extreme activities like tree-climbing or canoeing; basically I liked sports and tourism). For a short period of time I was at the school of arts, where I was playing the piano. But when I was 9 I had to make a choice, because I didn`t have enough time to do both music and gymnastics. I made my choice and think that it was the right one.

9. What elements in your routines are the hardest for you to train? We only get to see the routines during competition, but the difficulties you encounter in training certain elements never get aired. For instance, Nastia Liukin had major endurance issues on UB in the past, and her dismount in particular caused her lots of problems.

- Every move requires a sufficient attention and hard work. The essence of sport is overcoming obstacles.

10. Your recent knee injury is the kind that ends the careers of many professional athletes that play basketball, football, soccer, and the like in the U.S. What events/elements have been the hardest to train again after your knee injuries? Have you taken out certain things or reduced your training to prevent straining/reinjuring yourself? Does the injury make you doubt your ability to remain competitive?

- I like gymnastics and think that my career hasn`t finished yet. I am ready to go all the way.  My injury does affect me a bit, it makes me feel fear more. But look at Paralympians! They work wonders! The main thing is to conquer yourself!

11. What are your plans after you retire? Do you plan to move from Russia? Are you going to go into coaching? Will you attend university? If you had to do something OTHER than gymnastics, what would it be? Has your mother pushed you to consider any career options?

- I haven’t thought about my plans for the time when I am going to retire from gymnastics.

From Janafan:

12. What is your favorite floor routine you've ever performed in competition? Also, if you could perform to any piece of floor music, which would you pick?

- Winter.

From kewlioto:

14. Oooooo ask Pavs how she picks such awesome music!? like, how does she find it/what inspires her choices?

- Thanks. It means that I have a good taste. I am taking music choice very seriously. I am picking only those pieces which both my choreographer (who will make the routine) and I would like.

From Mytrinitysong:

15. Ask Pavlova if she plans to stick around for London 2012.

- I’d like to go to London, but at the present moment I wouldn`t plan anything. Time will tell.

From TchachiBessoPavs:

18. How do you feel about some judging decisions, many gymnastics fans feel like you are always robbed out of the medals mostly in the Athens AA and recently in the beam final in Beijing, do you feel like you did deserve those medals??(yes you did), do you feel that the judges are too harsh on you deducting you in mistakes that other gymnast don´t get deducted for?? the same happened with your floor in the Beijing AA, it was the best floor performance of the entire games and you received such a low score and no one can really tell why your score was that low.

- Gymnastics is a subjective type of sport. Usually there are two sides judging: Judges and the audience. It was simply a lack of basic points.

From Polina:

19. I'm an ordinary audience in Beijing Olympic, and I was deeply impressed with your performance. I wonder how you feel when you are in the stage? Were you enjoying the competition? And did you really care about the score when you did a good job? Finally I hope you will recover from injury soon.

- What I am feeling during competitions is a mixture of different emotions which is very difficult to explain. You have to feel it!

From Alan:

20. What advice do you have for children that want to follow your footsteps into gymnastics?

- The main thing in achieving your goal is a union between coach and athlete. It is better when children are obedient, but the connection with coach is very important too.  A child should not be afraid of the coach. It is better to express your opinion and tell your coach about your health condition (usual whining or showing the character don`t count).

From Rams:

21. Now that your leg is injured (unfortunately), what have you been doing during your recovery time? Have you been doing things that you normally wouldn't do because of gymnastics?

- I was spending much more time at home))

23. What kinds of music do you like?

- I like different types of music. It depends on my mood.

From Tonks:

24. Who do you think are the best competitors you ever competed against?

- The most serious competitor is yourself.

25. Is there any particular country you'd like to compete at?

- When you compete, very rarely you have an opportunity to see the country. That’s why it is difficult for me to say where I would like to compete.  

26. which country would you like to visit but so far you haven't been able to?

- There are many interesting countries.

27. What is your favorite gymnastics moment/memory?

- It is Russian Championships of 1997.

From Silence0:

29. Do you find it difficult to be coached by your mother?

- Yes, I do sometimes. But there are certain advantages.

From vpvpvpvp:

33. Why are you named Anna? Perhaps in honor of someone? There is an assumption that you were named after the famous ballerina Anna Pavlova, is it?

- The choice of my name is not connected with the ballerina. My parents couldn`t choose any name for me for quite a long time. Then they finally agreed on one. Later my godfather decoded my name to me (he is a philologist). I like this version very much! My parents` names are ANatoliy and NAtalia (AN+NA).

(Interview Copyrighted to Alan Owen. Permission is granted to duplicate the interview, either fully, or in part, in any Gymnastics publication and their related website, provided that a link or URL is provided to the Official Gymnast Websites.)

Terms of Use / Webmaster: Alan Owen / Hosted By: Hermon.net