I think it’s perfectly possible from the age of 4 or 5, though I began slightly earlier – at 3. Mum had noticed my abilities and took me to lessons in a rhythmic gymnastics club. Let me stress, though, that this wasn’t a specialized sports club, but just a group where toddlers learned rhythmic gymnastics, or rather played it. The focus was on games and dancing. We had a very wise teacher. She loved children and understood their psychology very well, and included elements of rhythmic gymnastics in the games that we adored. They didn’t set us any super-complicated tasks because they realized that we were children and the most important thing was to instill a love for this type of sport and a desire to do it. In all that time I never once had the thought that I didn’t want to go to the gymnastics class. That’s why I’m against treating small children the same way as adults and putting them under lots of pressure. Even if the child is really enthusiastic about the classes to start with, after a year or two she might lose interest in it for ever and just say “Mum, I’ve had enough. I don’t want to go any more.”