GRANMA.–Outside of the platform where she rises in her performances and makes all Cuba vibrate with emotion, Marcia Videaux appears just as she is: a young, petite woman with a wide smile who, at the age of 21 years, fills the Cuban artistic gymnastics with prestige.
Pan American champion of vault, twice winner in the Central American and the Caribbean Games, and world medalist, the stellar Manzanillo-born athlete spoke to Granma newspapers about the sport she has been passionate about since she was four years old, and about her dreamed goal: to win a Olympic medal.
“I’ve been linked to gymnastics for over 15 years. I’ve grown up away from my parents, surrounded by equipment and exercises, endured injuries and even underwent a spinal tap, but it has been all worthy, because I can see the results despite all the sacrifices. And gymnastics is my life.”
–You always looked so serious and focused in the competitions.
–I like to focus. I stay away from the rest of the team, and think on what I have to do, I mentally go over the exercises and the performance. It’s a technique that works for me.
–Is the vault the equipment where you feel the most comfortable?
– It wasn’t at the beginning.I liked the uneven bars, but I grew afraid of one element I would hit with frequently during the trainings, so trainer Yosvani Santos saw my potential for the vault, and I have made more emphasis on it. It is my strong suit, although I should work in all four events.
–Of the remaining equipment, which one you think is most demanding for you?
–I love the floor exercise although it is complicated and exhausting because it demands a great physical effort to dance and do acrobatics for a minute and half. In addition, the balance beam makes me the most nervous in competitions, to the point I have fallen from it.
–Gymnastics is a sport where subjectivity influences on the qualification of the judges.
–Even though artistic gymnastics depends on appreciation, Cuban gymnasts, wherever they are, must set themselves to shine. I always give my all so the judges won’t hesitate when it’s time to qualify me.
–You already have your ticket to the Olympic Games in Tokyo. How are you coping with the stop posed by the pandemic of COVID-19?
–Being at home limited my trainings because I could only do physical preparation with stretching, flexibility and muscular work. It was not a completely negative experience though; it also let me recover from my injuries after an intense period.
–What are your aspirations for your second Olympic date?
–My dream is to win an Olympic medal. Therefore, in Tokyo, I will only take part in the vault event, which is the equipment I’m the best at and where I have more possibilities, since I can make complicated performances on it.
Translated by ESTI
