I had mixed impressions of the Beijing Olympics, but one thing is for sure – the rhythmic gymnastics team was simply fantastic. It gave me enormous pleasure – both professional and aesthetic - to watch the performances by Zhenya Kanaeva and Olya Kapranova. Every sequence was a real work of art. And despite all Olya’s mistakes, the girls’ hard work paid off. And I was also really pleased by their win in the group competition. Our girls got into quite a tough battle with the Chinese, but they stuck it out and didn’t give in. Though there were lots of rumours at the Olympics about the wonders of Chinese medicine, acupuncture and other tricks.