Status: For Nano Wrimo, finished November 28, 2012 at 51,214 words
The New Queen
The Invitational
Being at Lake Krugloe was a dream at some points and a nightmare at other times.
On the bad side, a lot of bratty juniors were coming up and they did not respect Anna or any other senior for that. It was mostly the females, Evgeny didn’t coach them to be brats, they were just unhappy that Evgeny was foucusing more on Anna then them. Its hard being head coach of juniors and personal coach to Anna. He was dealing with a lot of crap from both sides. He was even starting to get grey hair. That’s the ultimate sign.
On the other hand she loved being there again. She got to be with Maria and Aliya. Unfortunately Vika had long been retired, but it was ok, she was still visiting them quite often and called Anna at least three times a week to talk. She also got much closer with some old friends, like Igor, David and Denis. Especially David. It was like, now that she was an adult they were close. She sometimes even felt sexual feelings toward him. I mean who wouldn’t? he’s gorgeous for a 28 year old.
Sometimes Anna wanted to be with him, but other times she didn’t want to. He kept her grounded in a way. She didn’t want to ruin their relationship. She sure ruined her relationship with Pavel and Sam once they became closer.
…
After the Scam Cup she was on her way. She was choosen for the European team but denied the offer. Evgeny thought she should go as a two event gymnast but Anna wanted to stay at Lake Krugloe and focus on all the events at once. She really wanted to help in Paris. The Europeans weren’t that important.
So instead she stayed back with the injured Maria and together they walked it unfold from their dorm room.
Europeans were a lot easier than worlds or the olympics or any world cup event. Without the Americans or the Chinese it was a lot easier to win a medal. So when the Russians won a silver medal it wasn’t a surprise. It’s actually quite good. Alexandrov said they had the best chance at bronze.
On the team they could see Aliya really rallied them up. Being the oldest at almost 26 years old is hard. We could all pretty much agree that after 23 no one really takes you seriously as a gymnast. The sport is for the young, and for generations it still is.
Anna really wanted to change that. What if she won another all-around title? She could do it, although she hasn’t seen all of the competive field so it would be tough to call. She could prove at almost 23 years old that you could do anything if you try. I guess it’s something for her to think about on this journey.
…
Sam called Anna a lot when she was at Lake Krugloe. She didn’t know why. She didn’t want a relationship like he wanted so maybe he was trying too hard. Anna thought about it and she really didn’t want to go back to Michigan after Paris. Nastia had taken an influence on her. Although she didn’t want to be a Russian Nastia she wanted to continue on this path. She read Shawn Johnson’s book when it came out in 2012. Anna thought about writing a book on her journey to 2016 and then another book on her journey to 2020. She could live off that. And continuing with sponsors and doing publicity.
She just didn’t want to leave Russia again. You saw what happened.
…
The Russians scheduled one invitational before the olympics. They were going to pick a preliminary team for the Olympics, test it at the invitational, then bring a revised team to the olympics. If you made the preliminary team you were pretty much a guarentee for the Paris team as long as you preformed well at the invitational. Anna, Maria and Aliya were selected for the team along with two other young gymnasts. It was weird knowing the team was dominated by gymnasts over 20 years old. They were changing the face of gymnastics one step at a time.
Anna had designed a leo for GK that the Russian’s decided to use for the invitational and maybe even as an olympic leotard. It was a white sleeved leotard with a blue sweet heart like body and a red outline. It featured the Russian colors.
Anna wanted to use the invitational as a chance to continue to test the all-around. She wanted to feel it. She wanted to feel passion behind the all-around. She wanted to feel how she did in Rio. If she went for the second gold it would take a lot of work. She would be the oldest all-around champion in…well, I have to check my facts but she’d be the oldest in history at 23 years old. She would turn 23 the day after the all-around.
Before Anna could think to Paris she got some news…
On the bad side, a lot of bratty juniors were coming up and they did not respect Anna or any other senior for that. It was mostly the females, Evgeny didn’t coach them to be brats, they were just unhappy that Evgeny was foucusing more on Anna then them. Its hard being head coach of juniors and personal coach to Anna. He was dealing with a lot of crap from both sides. He was even starting to get grey hair. That’s the ultimate sign.
On the other hand she loved being there again. She got to be with Maria and Aliya. Unfortunately Vika had long been retired, but it was ok, she was still visiting them quite often and called Anna at least three times a week to talk. She also got much closer with some old friends, like Igor, David and Denis. Especially David. It was like, now that she was an adult they were close. She sometimes even felt sexual feelings toward him. I mean who wouldn’t? he’s gorgeous for a 28 year old.
Sometimes Anna wanted to be with him, but other times she didn’t want to. He kept her grounded in a way. She didn’t want to ruin their relationship. She sure ruined her relationship with Pavel and Sam once they became closer.
…
After the Scam Cup she was on her way. She was choosen for the European team but denied the offer. Evgeny thought she should go as a two event gymnast but Anna wanted to stay at Lake Krugloe and focus on all the events at once. She really wanted to help in Paris. The Europeans weren’t that important.
So instead she stayed back with the injured Maria and together they walked it unfold from their dorm room.
Europeans were a lot easier than worlds or the olympics or any world cup event. Without the Americans or the Chinese it was a lot easier to win a medal. So when the Russians won a silver medal it wasn’t a surprise. It’s actually quite good. Alexandrov said they had the best chance at bronze.
On the team they could see Aliya really rallied them up. Being the oldest at almost 26 years old is hard. We could all pretty much agree that after 23 no one really takes you seriously as a gymnast. The sport is for the young, and for generations it still is.
Anna really wanted to change that. What if she won another all-around title? She could do it, although she hasn’t seen all of the competive field so it would be tough to call. She could prove at almost 23 years old that you could do anything if you try. I guess it’s something for her to think about on this journey.
…
Sam called Anna a lot when she was at Lake Krugloe. She didn’t know why. She didn’t want a relationship like he wanted so maybe he was trying too hard. Anna thought about it and she really didn’t want to go back to Michigan after Paris. Nastia had taken an influence on her. Although she didn’t want to be a Russian Nastia she wanted to continue on this path. She read Shawn Johnson’s book when it came out in 2012. Anna thought about writing a book on her journey to 2016 and then another book on her journey to 2020. She could live off that. And continuing with sponsors and doing publicity.
She just didn’t want to leave Russia again. You saw what happened.
…
The Russians scheduled one invitational before the olympics. They were going to pick a preliminary team for the Olympics, test it at the invitational, then bring a revised team to the olympics. If you made the preliminary team you were pretty much a guarentee for the Paris team as long as you preformed well at the invitational. Anna, Maria and Aliya were selected for the team along with two other young gymnasts. It was weird knowing the team was dominated by gymnasts over 20 years old. They were changing the face of gymnastics one step at a time.
Anna had designed a leo for GK that the Russian’s decided to use for the invitational and maybe even as an olympic leotard. It was a white sleeved leotard with a blue sweet heart like body and a red outline. It featured the Russian colors.
Anna wanted to use the invitational as a chance to continue to test the all-around. She wanted to feel it. She wanted to feel passion behind the all-around. She wanted to feel how she did in Rio. If she went for the second gold it would take a lot of work. She would be the oldest all-around champion in…well, I have to check my facts but she’d be the oldest in history at 23 years old. She would turn 23 the day after the all-around.
Before Anna could think to Paris she got some news…
♠ ♠ ♠
still behind...