Status: For Nano Wrimo, finished November 28, 2012 at 51,214 words
The New Queen
Don't Worry, Be Happy
A month later and it was time to choose the Olympic team. During this whole process the juniors could train at home. Anna chose to stay mostly because Evgeny was staying. If she stayed she got to train with the Olympic team including Viktoria and Anastasia Grishina who she was becoming close friends with.
The team was obviously based on the top four gymnasts at the time, Afanaseyva, Mustafina, Grishina and Komova were the best choices and then Maria Paseka was added specifically for her vault.
Anna was in on picking the team. She didn’t get to pick but she got to add her opinion a bit and she was in on the process. That little edge was what she needed for the years to come. Paseka had that edge when it came to vault, that Nabieva didn’t have. If Anna kept up with all of Russia’s weak spots she would be on the team.
Right now she was the best all around choice, she just had to keep it up four more years. The more Anna thought about it the more she was okay with it. She had to think about it rationally. To get a job you needed experience, and to get experience you need a job. She wanted to job on the 2016 olympic team, she needed to rack up the experience to get a spot. Viktoria and Aliya had the experience. Ksenia had more than enough experience.
…
Anna and Maria sat around the TV in their dorm to watch the team finals of the 2012 London olympics. They were so nervous, mostly because they needed a medal of some kind. It's been eight years since Russia has won an olympic medal. That's eight years too long.
Anna thought about Rio already. She tried to keep her head level by not thinking about it but it was so hard. She wanted the experience. ALready her team mates were having a blast in London and no matter what they would have those memories.
She could imagine meeting all those cool new people, even Sam Mikulak who she thought was super cute.
She didn't even care about winning medals, as long as she had fun it really didn't matter. Ok, that’s a load of shit, she would like to win medals. But if she met her future best friend forever or soul mate, not winning medals wouldn’t be that bad.
By the time Anna's day dream had ended she just witnessed Anastasia Grishina butcher a tumbling pass which started another mistake from the olympic veteran, Ksenia Afanaseyva.
"Oh" Maria turned the TV off. "Better luck next time" she said. but then she thought about it. Next time, would be there time. "Oh" They never really thought about that. Each year Anna has said ‘better luck next time’ but that time she said it, the next time would really be there time. She could already feel the pressure building.
Anna laid back on her bed and thought more about Rio. How glorious would it be if she helped aid the team in their first team gold medal since the Soviet days?
"Do you ever dream about Rio?" Maria asked. Anna nodded. Maria sat on Anna's bed. "The weight of the world is on our shoulders...if we even make it"
"Don't think like that" Anna said. "We'll be in Rio, trust me"
The team was obviously based on the top four gymnasts at the time, Afanaseyva, Mustafina, Grishina and Komova were the best choices and then Maria Paseka was added specifically for her vault.
Anna was in on picking the team. She didn’t get to pick but she got to add her opinion a bit and she was in on the process. That little edge was what she needed for the years to come. Paseka had that edge when it came to vault, that Nabieva didn’t have. If Anna kept up with all of Russia’s weak spots she would be on the team.
Right now she was the best all around choice, she just had to keep it up four more years. The more Anna thought about it the more she was okay with it. She had to think about it rationally. To get a job you needed experience, and to get experience you need a job. She wanted to job on the 2016 olympic team, she needed to rack up the experience to get a spot. Viktoria and Aliya had the experience. Ksenia had more than enough experience.
…
Anna and Maria sat around the TV in their dorm to watch the team finals of the 2012 London olympics. They were so nervous, mostly because they needed a medal of some kind. It's been eight years since Russia has won an olympic medal. That's eight years too long.
Anna thought about Rio already. She tried to keep her head level by not thinking about it but it was so hard. She wanted the experience. ALready her team mates were having a blast in London and no matter what they would have those memories.
She could imagine meeting all those cool new people, even Sam Mikulak who she thought was super cute.
She didn't even care about winning medals, as long as she had fun it really didn't matter. Ok, that’s a load of shit, she would like to win medals. But if she met her future best friend forever or soul mate, not winning medals wouldn’t be that bad.
By the time Anna's day dream had ended she just witnessed Anastasia Grishina butcher a tumbling pass which started another mistake from the olympic veteran, Ksenia Afanaseyva.
"Oh" Maria turned the TV off. "Better luck next time" she said. but then she thought about it. Next time, would be there time. "Oh" They never really thought about that. Each year Anna has said ‘better luck next time’ but that time she said it, the next time would really be there time. She could already feel the pressure building.
Anna laid back on her bed and thought more about Rio. How glorious would it be if she helped aid the team in their first team gold medal since the Soviet days?
"Do you ever dream about Rio?" Maria asked. Anna nodded. Maria sat on Anna's bed. "The weight of the world is on our shoulders...if we even make it"
"Don't think like that" Anna said. "We'll be in Rio, trust me"