This year, Leontyeva competed in virtually all significant kayaking competitions and won the relay championship of Russia.
– The season was intense and difficult, – Anastasia admits. – I participated in almost all competitions. But I still consider the victory at the Russian Championship in Rostov to be the highest achievement. There I managed to win the national title in the 4x200m relay.
– Despite the victories and prizes, you say that the season was difficult. What exactly?
– Mostly psychologically. I had recessions in my physical condition, the so-called “pits”. But I still continued to perform, and at such moments the starts were not easy.
– At the same time, you were twice among the winners in a kayak-four (K-4) at a distance of 500 meters. Do you pay special attention to this event, since it is an Olympic one?
– Yes, we have several Olympic disciplines. In addition to the four, this is also a deuce and a single at a distance of 500 meters. Of course, I try to cook them. This is the prospect for the future.
– Do you have a dream to compete at the Olympics? And how real is it?
– Winning the Olympics is my dream. Well, what athlete does not think about it? If only Russia was allowed to participate in the Summer Games. In the meantime, I set myself the goal of getting a gold medal in the individual standings of the Russian Championship. Once the team managed to take first place, we must move on.
– Isn’t it a shame that there are not so many Olympic events in women’s rowing?
– Of course, it’s a shame, I think that our sport is deprived at the Olympics. Moreover, the number of species is decreasing, rowing is gradually being replaced by slalom. I wish we had more distances at the Games. Because for me, for example, the longer ones go better – five (5000 meters), a thousand. But I plan to go down from them to the Olympic five hundred.
– Why did you choose not a sports university, but rather a rather complicated University of Communications in terms of study?
– I prefer to be proactive. No athlete is immune from injury, no one knows what might happen in the future. Therefore, it is better to get an education at a good University, such as USTU. Now I am a first-year student at the Faculty of Economics and Management. Specialty – “Transport systems of agglomerations”. The University has a sports department, so they always let us go to competitions without any problems. Teachers are loyal to sports, we take tasks in advance, we fulfill them, we agree on everything in advance.
Source: Sovsport
