Dina Averina won the Moscow stage of the Grand Prix this week. She impressed everyone with her uninhibited style of performance and the quality of the images. Sports understands how the strongest gymnast in the world has turned into a real queen.
If it wasn’t so tactless, after the competition, Dean Averin should definitely ask if she fell in love. And don't be surprised if the answer is yes. She became second in the all-around and won the clubs and ribbon finals — a pleasant, but not the maximum and rather ordinary result for a gymnast of this level. But the main thing was not medals, but geyser-like energy and burning eyes. Feeling of freedom and awareness of your perfection. We have not seen such a Dina for a really long time. Or maybe they have never seen it at all.
It’s rather strange to say something like that about an 18-time world champion, you see. We definitely remember her differently and in the most incredible circumstances. We saw how Dina and Arina, two girls from the Volga region, stubbornly promoted their own style — a new criterion for mastery in working with objects. And this is in conservative gymnastics, accustomed to long-necked swans on the carpet and allowing only one variation — a black or white swan.We know how this new style became dominant in the world — everyone else had to reach out to the Averins in their ability to handle maces, ball and ribbon.
We remember how Dina and Arina came out from behind the backs of two beautiful caryatids — Margarita Mamun and Yana Kudryavtseva. The more explosive and ambitious Dina, without preliminary fittings, took on the burden of the leader of the Russian national team, and hence the world rhythmic gymnastics. And she dragged him without a break for fatigue, injuries and Olivier on New Year's Eve for six years. During this time, she won more world championship gold medals than anyone in history.In general, she has always been a fighter and a reliable shoulder to lean on. And even the Olympics in Tokyo, which turned into her personal drama with a silver medal and only the fourth place of her sister Arina, for which Dina worries as for herself, she passed with dignity. And, trusting the convictions of the head coach and her own inner voice, she continued her career. Almost two years were spent on restoring health, searching for new images and revealing the inner world in parallel with participation in competitions.
But human strength is not unlimited, and there are a lot of distractions around. A few months ago, it seemed that Dina was a burden to everything that makes up the routine of an active athlete. She spoke with much more pleasure about studying at the university and about master classes for children than about plans for training and competitions. It's hard to keep the fire going when so much has already been won, and there are no full-fledged international competitions and are not expected. Therefore, hardly anyone would be surprised if Dina decided to announce her retirement from the sport.
And here such a 180-degree turn is almost a fouette. Dina was so stunningly beautiful at the Grand Prix that it seems she has a whole Olympic cycle ahead of her. Now I especially want her health not to fail, and the conditions allowed her to perform at the highest level. Her new exercises, especially the «Bolero», are more than a sport, they are a personal contribution to the art.
However, so far even the Games in Paris look like something unrealistic. After all, the suspension of Russian athletes was recently extended again. And the fact that in these conditions Dina makes such a transformation makes her even more valuable.
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«Dina has become a fabulous girl, a fabulous gymnast and an artist — just an artist,» said the head coach of the national team Irina Viner about her. Life experience shows that only a person with a heart full of great feelings can strike such sparks from the chest, as Dina Averina did on the carpet of the Moscow stage of the Grand Prix. This is not necessarily love in the classical sense. Love for yourself, gymnastics and your own thorny path is no less a wonderful reason to sparkle.
An interesting observation: at some point in Novogorsk, a fashion began for tiaras in hairstyles to complement the image of gymnasts in different exercises. They came in the form of flowers, ribbons, headbands with crystals, and even miniature crowns. Fashion did not bypass Dina either, she had a lot of such jewelry during the season of the Tokyo Olympics. Lala Kramarenko puts on performances with her most complex styling. In general, she has recently paid great attention to her appearance, preferring complex theatrical images at the intersection of high fashion and ballroom dancing. Gymnasts had never worn anything like this before, so Lala, one might say, launched a new trend. royal jewel, there is one interesting property. She puts a lot of pressure on her owner, especially if she does not feel the best at the moment. Any weakness under the crown immediately looks obvious and irrevocable.
At the same time, Dina's slightly disheveled bun looks like a challenge against the background of her divine swimsuits. A true symbol of freedom and looseness. Because a true queen can afford any hairstyle.