Posted on http://bk55.ru/mc2/news/article/2146/ on March 6, 2014
Originally written by Irina Meyer
Translated and edited by catts (Many Many Thanks catts!!!)

A rare interview with the two-time Olympic champion for the past 6 months, and some details of Evgenia Kanaeva’s family life.

Evgenia Kanaeva graced the cover of the February-March issue of the magazine HL. The 17-time World Champion, the first ever two-time RG individual Olympic champion and, as noted by a journalist the most modest of Olympic champions, mainly answered questions related to sport. On this basis, Evgenia noted that in RG the focus was primarily on the appearance, ‘but you can always work and correct. Any flaws can be concealed.’

The Olympic Champion noted that success depends not only on the athlete, but also on the trainers, choreographers and doctors. Concerning her own personal sacrifices she replied modestly, ‘striving, maximalism and a little masochist tendencies. I could not leave the gymnasium, could not quit exercising, and could not stop squeezing myself till the limit was reached. Through them I received comfort. I enjoyed overcoming my ability.’

‘Patience and pain are parts of the way to achieve the goal,’ said Evgenia in the magazine HL. ‘Without them nothing will work. You receive pleasure from the performances. I have been resting for the past 3 years, but it does not mean that the workload is less.’ The gymnast did not regret that there was little time for vacation, but remembered her first vacation with pleasure, ‘it happened when I was 19 and the vacation lasted 5 days and it was awesome. We were off to Paris after the World Championship, and we took it like a big gift.’ On the question of how to spend her first prize money, Kanaeva said, ‘on health for the loved ones.’

About private life, the Olympic champion does not like to talk, but usually responds in general terms, ‘great joy (for a professional athlete – editor added) when one can find the time and energy for relationships because the goals are too serious to be distracted. But there are exceptions. Before meeting my husband, I was not thinking about it and there was no plan. But it just happened that I met my man, so there was no doubt. It happened at the time a year before the Olympic Games in London.’

About her future plans Evgenia replied briefly, ‘now I am totally devoted to the family. What I am to do next is not yet decided. I will not leave sport, and time will tell in what capacity I will stay there.’ The journalist of HL did not seem to have asked about the main event for Evgenia now – her upcoming delivery. It is likely that the gymnast herself (most likely) did not want to talk about it, but not a word about the pregnancy was mentioned in the interview. Her personal trainer Vera Shtelbaums’ recent media commentary touched on this topic, and she told ‘Komsomolskaya Pravda’ that Evgenia will have a boy.

“Yes, Zhenya has done many pictures with ultrasound, and all clearly show it is a boy without mistake. Apparently, this will be a strong man. Already the baby weighs more than three kilograms, and at birth he will likely weigh more than four.’ Vera Shtelbaums even said Evgenia plans to name her future son Vladimir: in honor of the grandfather of her husband, player of the hockey team ‘Lokomotiva’ Igor Musatov.