At the 1998 championship I took first place in the individual all-round event, becoming overall European champion for the first time.
It was an unexpected victory, of course, but definitely no accident. By that time I had already won several prizes at junior competitions, but I wasn’t counting on winning an adult competition. All the top gymnasts were at that championship in Lisbon, including four Russian girls: Zaripova, Batyrshina, me and Chaschina. We took third place in the team event. Nobody suspected that I might win. Irina Alexandrovna later told me that she had wondered whether they would give me a real score or not. She decided they wouldn’t because I was too young, despite the fact that I was performing better than everyone else…But actually, they did give me a real score. I should say, however, that I was always just one hundredth of a point ahead of my good friend Zhenya Pavlina from Belorussia. I phoned Mum to tell her I’d won the European championship and she couldn’t believe it. “What do you mean, you’ve won? It’s impossible. You’re only in fourth or fifth place?” I told her she’d been watching some out-of-date reports, and she started crying into the phone. Nobody expected it. And of course I was simply delighted. It was my first big win. And in 1999, I took first place overall in the world championship.
