The announcement of the cancellation of the Olympics caused her severe disappointment, the Corona forced a dramatic change in her training routine and competitions, but Linoy Ashram did not let any obstacle break her - all the way to the European Championship title • In all this, she also has time for a relationship with a young swimmer "To
"I'm told I'm modest, but there's me in reality and there's me on the surface."
Linoy Ashram, this week
Photography:
Efrat Eshel
It was a nerve-wracking moment for Linoy Ashram.
She was among the last gymnasts in the European Championships, number 14 out of 16, with all the gymnasts who could pass her having already finished their performance.
She had already secured the silver medal and knew that in order to overtake Belarusian Alina Arensko, who led the competition, she needed a whopping score of 26,500 in her last exercise - the hoop.
"I knew I had to do a perfect exercise. I finished it without mistakes, and then I went out with Ayelet (Sussman, her coach) to the waiting area. We stood in front of the TV, hugged and prayed. I heard my heart beating.
" When the score, 26,500, appeared on screen In hugs and kisses.
We started crying, we both.
It was my most exciting moment in the competition.
That, and the moment that came after a few minutes, when I went up to the podium and received the medal.
I sang the anthem, looked at the flag hoisted above, and I had tears in my eyes. "
There were those who called your win a "star-studded championship" because the Russian gymnasts did not participate in the championship.
"It did not change anything for me, I do not think about my competitors. In every competition there can be someone who does not participate, for all sorts of reasons. I only think about what I have to do, my exercises and my grades, and try to look at the others as little as possible. By the way. "It is true that the Russians were absent, but the Belarusians were there, and so were the Bulgarians. So the best gymnasts in the world were."
The past year has been hard to digest for Ashram.
The Corona has forced a dramatic change in the training routine, the cancellation of all competitions in Israel and abroad, and most importantly, the cancellation of the Olympics, to which it has looked for the past four years.
"Because of all the isolations and closures we had nowhere to train for the European Championships." The Olympic Committee and the Achievement Sports Unit were looking for a solution for us so that we could prepare in the best possible way.
Decided to let our team live in Wingate.
For two months we slept, ate and exercised there.
This is what helped me get to the most prepared competition there is.
If I did not have a place to train, I do not know how I would have competed. "
"When I got on the podium and got the medal. I sang the anthem, I looked at the flag hoisted up, and I had tears in my eyes." Ashram at the European Championships in Kiev
* * *
A year of artistic gymnastics is built from competition to competition.
Ashram and her teammates were supposed to start 2020 in building the exercises slowly, then raise the level of difficulty, improve the choreography and adapt the exercises to changes in the constitution.
This year a strange situation arose, in which no one could predict how Ashram's exercises in the championship would be received, or which elements would earn her a high score - and which would not.
"I'm sure if I had preparatory competitions, the exercises could have been completely different from what they looked like, and maybe better," she says.
"For years Ayelet and I have been building the exercises together for each competition. If I advance from the qualifiers to the finals, we make corrections, and sometimes even completely replace the exercise. Here we did not have it. There was only one final day.
" We came to the competition 'on the blind '.
Usually, at this time of year, the judges already know by heart the exercises of each gymnast.
This time no judge knew anything, we saw on them that they were focused on the exercises. "
Did you feel like you were in the" zone "?
" First, I had fun finally getting back on the surface, competing.
I've been waiting for this for so long.
Since the World Championships in September 2019 I have not had any competitive framework.
In a normal year we fly to competitions twice a month.
"Before the competition I had a good feeling. Not a feeling of first place, but I felt I was very ready, that the exercises were ready, and that I just had to go to the surface. I knew I could come back with a medal, but I did not think about it, I just concentrated on the exercises."
And for the first time in your life there was no audience in the hall.
"Yeah. It's a shame, because an audience gives you energies that bounce the exercise. But I try as little as possible to think about the audience or whoever is there, because it can divert my thread of thought."
Even before you, Israel's artistic gymnastics team took the gold in the championship.
Are you in touch with them?
"Yes, even though they train elsewhere and we are not together much. I was glad for them that they won."
What made you the Olympic Committee's decision to postpone the Olympics to next summer?
"I got the message in March, in the middle of training. Ayelet suddenly called me aside, I did not understand what happened. She told me that the Olympics were postponed for a year. I was very disappointed because I felt ready, physically and mentally, and I wanted to compete. I waited so long.
" For the first two days I had a hard feeling of disappointment.
Then the token fell to me, that I have another full year to get better and lift the exercises even higher, to get to the Olympics better than I am now.
I decided to look at it only from the positive side, that I gained another year of experience. "
* * *
She was born 21 years ago to Oren, a counter-officer in the regular army, and to Hedva, a teacher.
Third daughter in a family of four children.
She has an older sister, Chen (26), a brother who is three years older than her, Idan (24), and a younger sister, Hila (8), who started practicing artistic gymnastics last year.
Linoy testifies that she was an active and restless girl.
Her mother, who had previously studied ground gymnastics, decided to channel the energies of the 6-year-old girl into an artistic gymnastics class.
But the beginning was difficult.
"I realized for the first time that there is a difference between me and the other gymnasts," she recalls.
“It started from the fact that I am not from Eastern Europe, and it was not normal, because the industry is dominated by former Soviet Union countries.
At first I was treated differently, and I saw that the coaches really treat my girlfriends, who are Russian, more.
Believe in them more.
"On the other hand, maybe if they had treated me from the beginning as an equal between equals, I would not have reached my level today. I said to myself, okay, they do not believe in me? I will tear myself apart and prove to them that they are wrong, that I can. Before and after training. I covered my feet. I had no point (stretching of the feet), my feet were stiff.
"But I found a solution.
Under the sideboard in my house there is a small hole, and I would sit for hours on my knees straight, put my feet in the hole and watch TV.
Just stretching.
Like this every day, for hours.
After a year, my legs became supple.
"My coaches were in the market, they did not understand how it happened. I would do spaghetti and tensions at home, I trained a lot, because I had a drive to prove to them. When I won the Israeli Youth Championship in 2014, all the coaches asked themselves what happened here. They said, 'Probably That she is good. "
The one who recognized the potential was the director of the Hapoel Rishon Lezion Association in artistic gymnastics, Ofir Even, now the personal manager. He saw the determination and motivation of the young gymnast, and the financial problem did not go unnoticed.
"When I was little, my parents financed everything, from flights abroad "To clothes for competitions. The value of each garment is 5,000 shekels, and I need some costumes. There was financial pressure. I wanted to help them and I thought to myself, maybe I do not need this sport at all. Luckily, the association lifted the glove and started helping me financially."
Ashram says she discovered who she really is only at the European Girls' Championships in Baku, in 2014, from which she returned with two bronze medals.
"There was a therapist from an Azerbaijani athlete who called me the 'Black Panther,'" she smiles. "He told me I was coming to the hall first and leaving last, and I was really there all day and all night. Much".
Sussman: "If a girl does not have determination and toughness, it will be difficult to develop them. The mental part of this industry is very strong and will affect the gymnast. Already at the age of 11-10 you can see a girl in mental strength. For example, when she is told to do 100 shots in the air, "Let's take a look." Some girls see that they are built for it, that already at the age of 6 they are flexible, light and long-legged. Linoy was not like that physically, but she had a lot of desire and determination, and with hard work she succeeded.
"Her determination came from home.
Linoy is her father's stamp.
He is tough, demanding, a perfectionist.
From the mother she took warmth and tenderness.
It is a combination of both, with charisma and charm. "
* * *
In the last 15 years, she has won 47 medals, including 11 at the World Championships - including the silver medal at the 2018 World Championships, and three gold medals at the Israeli Championships.
At that championship she bought herself the status of a surprising and restyling gymnast, one who can change an exercise while competing and maintain a very high level.
"The judges were in the market from me, because I did a completely different exercise with a hoop in the final. It's not only a technical change, but also a mental one, but I'm calm with him, because if Ayelet decides to change the exercise in the middle of the competition, it shows me how much she trusts me and how much She is confident that I will perform it at the highest level. We trust each other with our eyes closed.
"We are very similar," says Sussman, 40, "we are the only sabras in the industry, we both have roots in Yemen, and we are similar in character and movements.
Today I also feel that there is a dialogue between us.
If I used to insist with Linoy on something because I knew what she was capable of doing, today it's a different Linoy, flowing with me.
She is a partner, initiator and developer of elements for herself and others.
She knows the constitution and lives, breathes and loves gymnastics.
Without it, it is impossible to succeed. "
Ashram:" When I was younger, it was not like that.
All the time I needed to be told what they wanted from me.
Today I feel I have grown up, I am not the same Linoy who was a little girl.
I understand things and can already talk to Ayelet in the same mind.
We understand each other even without words, in looks.
I look at her and know what she wants from me.
We are now consulting with each other.
She is the coach and she decides, but I have a statement that is important to her, and I feel it helps me.
"Ayelet is both the trainer and the choreographer of my exercises. She finds the music, builds the exercises and is currently considered one of the best in the industry."
There are quite a few stories about the toughness of coaching in the industry, including shouts, curses and a rigid regime.
Have you encountered this?
"With us it does not exist. We work on the basis of mutual respect. There is toughness in training, there are days when the tones go up, but it is part of the sport. We have no curses and no beatings."
How do you deal with the pressure in international competitions?
"Stress does me good, gives me motivation. I know a whole country is behind me and they support me. They tell me, 'our hope'. I only look at who they want me to succeed. When I get on the surface, in all the exercises, I feel comfortable and try to be at the peak of focus. "When I go up every time with a different device, I do not think about what was before. I leave the most concentrated locker room there is and do what I know how to do."
* * *
The path to fulfilling Ashram's dreams included one significant concession: school.
"I haven't had much time to be in school since ninth grade," she says, "I would come here and there, just for exams. But if I hadn't exercised, I would have gone in the direction of medicine. I loved chemistry, biology and math, my head scientific and realistic.
" I invested as much as possible in my studies, but I managed to do a half matriculation, because I already had a hard time continuing in high school. Even so, my grades were pretty good, because I went to private tutors, even if it was 10 in the evening or 5 in the morning, and I got Support from the school where I studied, the Real Gymnasium in Rishon LeZion.
They sent me material, adapted the tests especially for me and were very flexible for me. "
She still did not complete all the matriculation exams. In the army she served full service in the ICT Corps, as an outstanding athlete.
There is an argument that artistic gymnastics is a beauty, but it is not a sport.
"This industry is one of the few that includes almost every possible feature that needs to be sported, so I do not understand how people think it is not a sport.
It has agility and bouncy, as in athletics, coordination with a ball and all the devices, as in basketball, concentration and cardiopulmonary endurance.
I could see myself as an athlete in other disciplines because I do a lot of things in the process.
"I am good at running and high jump, I have the ability to jump and I also like to swim."
Her most serious injury was in her right knee in 2017. It was a tear in her meniscus, following which she had to undergo surgery. "Today I am fully qualified to compete, as seen at the European Championships. She clarifies, “I feel just fine, even though I have some pain in training.
In the competition everything is forgotten.
I only think about what I need to do, and feel no pain.
My endurance is already so high that no matter what, I will be able to handle it. "
Which device do you like best?
" There is no one like it.
Each device is something completely different, it is not that they are similar and you can choose between them.
The feeling in each one is different, the music is different and the movements are completely different.
In the ball I like the long movements and all the slides and transitions, when it is usually accompanied by romantic and exciting music and I make an appropriate expression.
"The batons are something springy and nimble, and everything is happy, circus. The hoop is more dramatic and powerful, and it also has more power. And the exercise with the film changes, sometimes it's happier and sometimes deeper. "That is, in a very Israeli style that brings something different."
Sussman: "Every device requires a completely different expression, and not many people manage to do that. We work on it very hard in training. Linoy has a ballet teacher, Galina Bersky, and there are teachers for modern, hip hop, aerobics. It helps a lot in expression and movement on the surface." .
Along with the medals and records, she created a new element in the last European Championship, which is already identified with her: a collection of five consecutive jumps in the baton exercise.
"I always knew I could do it, because I had already done a sequence of four jumps. Now that I went up to five, it gave me a very high score. I'm the only one doing it right now. Other than that, I have two more jumps in the exercise, so I'm registered for seven. Jumps in this exercise. "
* * *
Since returning from the European Championships, Ashram has undergone three corona tests, and went into isolation at her parents' home in Rishon LeZion. At the end of her isolation, she returned to training. .
"I see only my parents, my brothers and capsule have built with all the gymnasts and the coach," she says. target left Tokyo Olympics, and great competition next will be the European Championship on June 9, 2021, to be held in Bulgaria.
agenda starts at In the morning she goes to the training tent in Wingate. At 7 she is already on the surface with the ball, batons, ribbon or hoop, and only after seven hours of training does she get an hour break for lunch and a light rest. In the afternoon she returns for more long training hours, ending only at night Thus, every day, six days a week. On her day off, usually in the middle of the week, she walks, swims or spends time at the sea.
The maintenance cost of a gymnast the size of an ashram is about 2 million shekels a year, and includes flights, clothing, art and teachers. Hall hours, treatments performed by attached physiotherapist Natalie Bartler, tax massages
Aggist Roni Shchori, and medical staff, as is customary with elite athletes.
This amount comes from a complex of bodies: the Olympic Committee (Ashram belongs to the 'Golden Staff' and receives a scholarship of NIS 8,500 per month), the Sports Director, the Achievement Sports Unit, the Hapoel Rishon LeZion Association, the Gymnastics Association and the Rishon LeZion Municipality.
Beyond that, it has sponsors who provide it with ongoing financial support - Rav-Briach, Bank Hapoalim, Always and Adidas.
"They are my financial back. Thanks to them I have peace of mind, which helps me concentrate on the goal. It is not obvious."
* * *
In the past, Ashram said she was a shy type.
Today she feels more confident.
"My self-confidence has gone up a bit and I'm more confident in what I can do, but the shyness remains. I'm told I'm modest, but there's me in reality and there's me on the surface. Because there I'm a fighter, and out there, when I meet new people, I'm quiet. For myself, I'm quiet. "
This month she lectured at "Israeli Girl Week", in front of thousands of girls and boys.
"The feedback I received from girls moved me greatly. I was told that I was a role model for them, and that they wanted to be like me. Every day I get hundreds of messages on Instagram and Facebook, even from people who do not know me. Sometimes they even contact me on WhatsApp. Little girls write to me. "I'm 7 years old, and I'm your fan. 'Parents write to me, ask for greeting videos, and I shoot and send. It's really exciting to be a role model, and girls go to gymnastics because of me. I'm happy I can touch a lot of people."
When girls look at you, they see your athletic and slender body.
Artistic gymnasts starve themselves?
"There is no starvation in our industry. You can not say we do not eat, because we do eat. We eat things we know we are allowed to eat, proteins and carbohydrates in moderation, and also vitamins. I maintain a healthy diet and know what is right for me and what I should eat, and I keep. About myself and my health. "
What can you break with?
Fries?
pizza?
hamburger?
"I really like my mom's homemade schnitzel, or one I make. Schnitzel excites me more than anything."
Who are your role models?
"In the field of sports - Neta Rivkin, who was an artistic gymnast before me and participated in three Olympics. Only three gymnasts around the world did it. I learned a lot from her about the industry. Outside the world of sports I adore Gal Gadot, who is also a Wonder Woman in terms of determination and strength. Impressive in my eyes. "
Do you have time for hobbies?
"In my free days I like to hike. To be outdoors, in nature, on a lake or in a creek. To do hiking trails in the north or south. When I'm home, I like to watch romantic comedies and series. Now I plow on 'Grey's Anatomy,' 17, so I'll probably finish in a year or two.
"I listen to music all the time, mostly quiet songs that calm me down and make me have fun.
When I need to relax, I go for a walk and listen to music.
Before the European Championships we were closed at Wingate for two months, we really did not leave.
So sometimes, in the evenings, I would put on headphones and surround the whole Wingate four times with songs.
I did not feel the time pass. "
Men start with you on social media?
" Send me a lot of Instagram messages in the style of 'Hey, I'd love to meet you', or 'You are a champion, I would love to meet you' ".
And what do you answer them?
" I do not answer, because I have had a friend for a year and a half. "
Sefri.
" He is my age, serves in the IDF as a soldier, and was a basketball player, so he also comes from a sports background. "
Sussman: "She has an amazing partner, a successful and ambitious guy, who encourages and supports her. For an athlete it is very important who her partner is. If it was a guy who just wants to go to parties every day, it would hurt her. But he is in the military, and their lives are very compatible - "They are both very busy. The love there is great, and it only makes her feel good."
shirz@israelhayom.co.il