A great look back from twice Olympic medallist, 2008, Anton Golotsuskov, taken from Chapionat at https://www.championat.com/other/article-5567602-anton-golocuckov-rossijskij-gimnast-intervyu-biografiya-travma-pochemu-zavershil-kareru-foto.html
This is a Google translate.
“Give me some painkillers, I’ll perform!” I didn’t know about the fracture yet.” Monologue of gymnast Golotsutskov
The two-time Olympic bronze medalist told how he fought for a ticket to the Games with a broken leg and recovered from a terrible injury.
This is the sixth material in the “Letter to Your Past” series, which the “Championship” does together with the “Additional Time” charity foundation. Famous athletes share their memories and reflect on the difficulties they faced in a monologue format.
Anton Golotsutskov is a Russian athlete, gymnast, Honored Master of Sports of Russia. Two-time bronze medalist of the 2008 Olympic Games, two-time silver and bronze medalist of the World Championship, three-time European champion and multiple tournament medalist, multiple Russian champion and Russian Cup winner. Retired from his career in 2012.
It's 2007, Stuttgart, World Cup. Then we qualified for the 2008 Olympics. It was necessary to be among the top 12 teams. Three days before the World Cup I fell ill with a sore throat. I had a temperature of about 39, I was given antibiotics to bring it down. On the day of testing, I didn’t feel very good, but I still went through all the apparatus and did all the combinations. The next day we had to perform.
At the very first shell, three people were injured. Maxim Devyatovsky seemed to jump first - he injured his leg, then Nikolai Kryukov jumped - he injured his leg. And then I jumped, with my strongest and most difficult jump, and also received an injury - a fracture of the metatarsal bone.
The senior coach came up and asked: “Guys, what should we do? Everyone is traumatized." Everyone refused to perform due to injuries, so I went up to the doctor and said: “Rewind your leg, give me painkillers, I will perform!” I didn’t yet know that my leg was broken.
During the performances of other athletes, my painkillers more or less took effect. Although, how can I say it worked. When you have a fracture, it doesn’t really help. I went and made a crossbar. It was not so difficult, because the only place where the leg was involved was on the dismount. I landed on one foot.
But on this apparatus I was on the back-up; there were those who could perform better on the horizontal bar. But there were no people at all on the floor exercise: three of the five were injured, and at least three had to compete on the apparatus.
While I had a rest, I calculated what combinations I should make in order to qualify. It was hard to think through, since I, being the European champion in freestyle, came with a very complex program. Overall, I expected to win a medal here too. But in the end I came out and did easy freestyles. A trainer was running behind me along the platform, telling me which ligament to do next, because I was a little confused from the pain shock. It was incredibly painful, but I pulled myself together because I understood that I couldn’t let the team down. I understood that I would have a year to heal all my wounds. I needed to get 12 points for the team to qualify for the Olympics. I got 12,250 and passed out. I did everything, and we got to the Olympic Games.
From that Olympics I brought two bronze medals, but one of them absolutely had a golden tint. Everything was enough for me then, I did the program very well, but judging is not always objective. Bronze means bronze. For God's sake. The whole world saw how I performed and that I received a low rating. I didn't have enough points to get gold. But both bronzes hang in my home, I’m proud of them. Not every person is given the opportunity to have Olympic medals, even after going through the same path as me. But I achieved this result; in any case, it’s worth a lot. Life is such a thing. As Leps sings: “Some need to fly, some need to crawl.”
Then he was actively preparing for the 2012 Olympics and was the captain of the team. But a serious injury occurred and my legs stopped moving. There were thoughts that I wouldn’t be able to walk again, but I pushed them aside. I'm not a timid person. In any case, I was thinking about how to recover and move on. At the hospital they put a lot of blockades on me so that I could walk. It was a difficult period, but I prepared. After the experience in 2007, this injury did not scare me at all.
When I was traveling from hospital after recovery to the sports center to prepare for the Russian Championship, one of the media representatives called me and asked: “Anton, do you know that you are from the exhibit team?” I was extremely upset because the head coach acted very meanly. He did not warn me and gave an interview that I had been invented. At that moment I was in good shape.
If I had been given the opportunity without being suspended, I would have competed at the Olympics. At least on their own shells.
Now you can say anything, people can judge me. As they say, after a fight you don’t wave your fists. It happened the way it happened.
I had the opportunity to go to the Olympics. I met with the Minister of Sports, then he was Vitaly Leontyevich Mutko. He said: “Anton, if you are confident, then we will put you on the team.” However, I already refused then. They made their choice, let them perform as they want. This is their right. In any case, I was already preparing to end my career. I wanted to do it beautifully after the Olympics, but it was a bit unsuccessful.
I don't regret what happened. I wouldn’t want to change anything in my life, because thanks to this I have the life I enjoy today. At that time, I had already let go of the situation and took care of my family. Met my beloved wife.
My wife is my Olympic gold medal.
In general, I never perceived gymnastics as a job. It was more of a hobby. My dad brought me to gymnastics, but after a while he died. I continued to go to training to distract myself. Connecting with coaches and peers helped me overcome the negative thoughts of losing my father. Plus I liked the environment. I walked, jumped on the trampoline and had fun. That’s how I stayed in sports.
We had guys on the national team who delved too deeply into gymnastics with the thoughts: “This is my job! I have to win the world championship." I've never had anything like this. Even when I went to the Olympics, I didn’t think that I needed to win any medal. I was just going to do what I was taught, to show it to the whole world. If you give it 100%, the result will not take long to arrive. I didn’t focus on the fact that gymnastics was my job. It rarely happens when you get into the right business the first time and find your calling in it.
This is probably why I don’t have much to say to my younger self. I lived by honor, I lived correctly.
The only thing I would advise my 20-year-old self is to remove the ego a little in your relationship with your coach.
I'm talking about youthful maximalism, when you try to prove to a coach somewhere that he is wrong. But every athlete goes through this, and if this does not happen, the athlete will not be able to achieve results. Everyone must live this moment and cope with it.
In principle, how I lived, how I trained, what I strived for, everything was exactly like that.
The fact that I have an explosive character is probably even a plus. There is definitely no need to reduce this. You need to know your worth. Having character is extremely important for every athlete. If you are an amoeba, I apologize for the expression, then you will never achieve results. Each athlete is an individual, so the coach’s task is to find an approach to the athlete so as not to suppress him, but at the same time not to praise him.
The coach praised me only once in my life. He said from the bottom of his heart that I gave 150% of 100% at the Olympics, where I won two bronze medals.
In conclusion, I can say that I was absolutely minding my own business. I loved gymnastics and continue to love it. I share my experience with children and enjoy it. I can say for sure that I am in the right place.