Mariana Vassileva: "I was very pleased when the Belarusian volunteers said that they supported us”

By Vestnik Kavkaza

In early May in Belarus the 31st European Championships in Rhythmic Gymnastics took place. Representatives of 38 states in the face of fierce competition competed for prizes. The overall championship triumph was predictable — the Russian team scored more than 150 points. The second in the team standings turned out to be the hosts, the athletes from Belarus. The third step of the podium was occupied by the Ukrainian team. Yet the continental championship was rich in intrigue and unexpected denouement. The Azerbaijani team took home a bronze medal, but only after a protest made by coach Mariana Vasileva, who stood up for her pupils because of an understated point for Marina Durundy.

After completing the competition, Mariana Vasileva commented on situation to Vestnik Kavkaza: “I cannot understand during all these seven years, why people do not want to give a chance to those who are honest and doing creative work. Our team is working honestly, creatively and with dignity. We never want to win when we make mistakes. The only thing I feel that our team has infringed only when we are really better than others.”

It turned out that the Juniors were undervalued, though they brilliantly performed in group exercises to the legendary song of Michael Jackson.

“The Juniors are all great. They survived this stress, they were in first place for two days in a row. This is extremely hard. Firstly, because you play early in the morning, you do not know in terms of rest how they would perform, as well as the judges have no basis for comparison. But I think they coped, they left only pleasant impressions. I have received a lot of congratulations worldwide: experts in gymnastics, as well as a lot of fans. And I was very pleased when the Belarusian volunteers said how sick they were for us from the heart, because they saw that our children deserved more than they received,” Mariana Vasileva said.