Following the friendly meet against Germany and Switzerland which took place in Obersiggnthal on the 6th of September, Larisa Iordache agreed to chat with TCG.
Here’s a transcript of the conversation:
TCG: Larisa, how did you find the competition overall?
Larisa Iordache: It was a verification for the world championships, I tried to do easy routines, to focus on the correctness of execution. How should I say this… as if it were a first day at Worlds and I opted for easy but safe routines.
TCG: Congrats then because you did very well. For instance your vault today looked really well, maybe your best of the year in competition. How did you feel about it?
Larisa Iordache: It depends on the equipment too. Every gymnast has their own preference for a certain equipment and hopes to do as well as possible. I tried to do in every meet my best routines.
TCG: And today you felt it really well?
Larisa Iordache: Yes, I did feel good, but there’s room for improvement. I still believe I can do better.
TCG: How did you uneven bars routine go? Was it your plan routine?
Larisa Iordache: Not really, it depends on how things go during the routine and I make my decision on the spot, I need to save in a way in order not to get off.
TCG: You also added difficulty compared to last year…
Larisa Iordache: Yes, I did, on each event.
TCG: How do you cope with the new routine, there are many elements and basically the more elements you have the more tiredness accumulates. But you seem to be in good physical shape too…
Larisa Iordache: Yes, there are moments when you can feel tired, but it’s different during a meet, the adrenalin keeps you going and you can push through. But I did try after Euros to do some extra conditioning to get some stamina and this has helped a lot. I worked harder than prior to that.
TCG: How about beam, that crazy routine you did at Nationals with three super-difficult element. Will we see it again at Worlds or was it just an experiment?
Larisa Iordache. No, it was not just a one-time thing, that was the routine I have been training and I am still training it. But we will see how things feel at Worlds. My philosophy is “make it or break it” but we will see. I hope I will feel good, that I’ll be in my best shape and that everything will come together on beam the way I want it to.
TCG: But the routine you had today (out of 6.3 D) was not bad at all actually. You had an 8.8 execution score, after all it paid off.
Larisa Iordache: Yes, that was exactly what I wanted, to do an easy routine but something that I can do at any time. If someone comes and wakes me up at 2 in the morning I’ll still be able to make it the same way.
TCG: Finally, how is Diana Bulimar?
Larisa Iordache: I miss her so much, I miss competing with her, we help each other so much during meets, we have been friends for 7-8 years, we know how to motivate each other. I will keep supporting her and I will encourage her to come back as soon as possible.
TCG: Do you believe that she might travel with the team to Worlds, for moral support?
Larisa Iordache: I don’t know, she’ll do what it’s best for her and of course the coaches and the Federation can decide on that.
Article by: Bea Gheorghisor