Meshkova comments her three golds and her Olympic ticket

Anna Piunova, a professional climbing photographer and the editor-in-chief on Mountain.ru, has helped out getting some comments and pics from Victoria Meshkova after she won three gold and an Olympic ticket in the European Combined Championship. Last year, the 20-year-old did eleven Boulder and Lead WCs and her best results was #11. Five weeks ago, she tested positive for Covid-19 and could just do five indoor sessions as a preparation for the competition.

"I don’t believe that I’ve got three golds. My overall goal was to get an Olympic ticket and these three medals seem in the background. I thought bouldering was my strongest discipline but surprisingly won the Combination because of Speed and Lead. Bouldering is an unpredictable discipline for me. It depends a lot on the route setters team and what kind of boulders they set. It might happen that routes just didn’t work for you, for your style. I was more certain in Lead. When I saw the route I understood it’s my style and I just have to find a rhythm and keep moving. I forgot about emotions and just enjoyed climbing.

I climbed a lot outside in Bakhchisaray in the Crimea area in the spring’s lockdown and after climbing I did a lot of physical training following Dmitry Sharafutdinov’s programme. It was not hard for me to find motivation as I like doing physical and fingerboard staff. I climbed and walked a lot, getting some fresh air, monitored my diet, and didn’t worried. After coming back home from Crimea I was much stronger. Later in July, I felt big progress in Alushta where we came for the national team training sessions. I’ve got the nerve to climb, my leg’s technique changed and the mobility in the hip joints improved."