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2001 Tournament of Champions w/ Svetlana BoginskayaWritten February 2001 © Stephanie SchneiderLocation: Pittsburgh Northstars Gymnastics (Pittsburgh, PA)
Date: February 3-4, 2001
This was a really unique experience that almost didn’t happen. I had really wanted to go to this meet because I’ve always loved how Pittsburgh Northstars runs their meets, but there was another event that coincided with this one, therefore not allowing some of our girls to go. In the end though we ended up signing up, and everyone was able to go.
A few weeks prior to the meet, our gym received a phone call saying that Svetlana Boginskaya was going to be a special guest. Needless to say I was thrilled! I’ve watched Svetlana since the very first days of my gymnastics fandom. Other than the fact that she was an incredible gymnast, I always admired her because I too have always been tall (for a gymnast anyway). Not to mention her fabulous choreography! Her passion for the sport always shone through, and her career spanned more years than the majority.
Anyway, our team was spread out over two days (four sessions total), so I actually ended up staying almost the whole weekend, which meant even more. We arrived at the gym early Saturday morning, and after watching the first two rotations, my teammate Katie, her grandma, and I walked over to where Svetlana was sitting. She was selling leotards and other gymnastics related items, so we looked at some of it. Meanwhile, I was just glancing over at her; it was weird because I’ve been around famous gymnasts before, but that feeling of “what do I say?” never really goes away.
So Katie’s grandma walked over to her and told her that I really wanted to meet her, so of course I went over. Right away I told her how much of a fan I was; she was really nice, and we ended up talking for a few minutes. I told her I was competing tomorrow as a level 7, and she said “so I’ll see you tomorrow.” She has a really cool accent, but she speaks very good English; it was neat to hear her speak in person. She asked me where I was going to go to college, and when I said Penn State, she said that she might work out with the gymnastics team sometimes because she coaches at Woodward, which is near there. I made sure to tell her how I always loved her floor routines. She didn’t really say a lot about herself though; she was so modest. Then of course, Katie, who is obsessed with Kristen Maloney asked her if she knew her, and she said yes. She must get to talk to all of the national team members and everything. I remember she was like, “I don’t blame you” when Katie told her that she liked Kristen Maloney. It was really cute how she said it. Anyway, I wanted to talk to her about Kristal. I wanted to ask her a couple of other things too, but I was just so in awe to be talking to such a world-class gymnast that a lot of things I wanted to say just slipped my mind.
After a few other people came over to talk to her, I told her it was nice to meet her and she said it was nice to meet me. It wasn’t until later in the day that I saw her again because I was busy supporting my teammates, but in between the second and third session, I went over and asked her if I could get a picture with her. She must have had so many people ask her for autographs and pictures by then, but she was just as nice as before and gladly posed for a picture with me. They were taking professional pictures that she would sign for like \\$15, but of course I had brought my brand new camera with me. I really hope it turns out. :) I also saw her husband, who was there with her. I don’t think I would have recognized him if it wasn’t for some people that pointed it out to me. I actually noticed people asking him for autographs!
Later that evening, after the third session, I brought over an old IG magazine with her on the cover for her to sign. Right away, she’s like, “wow, look at this.” I was probably the only one there that had something like that for her to sign; everyone else just got her to sign their meet program or whatever. So I think she remembered me just because of that. She also posed for a picture. I asked her if she did things like this often, and she said not too often but when she could. I told her I thought it was really nice for her to come and do this for the weekend, and she thanked me very nicely.
Throughout the day, before and after each session they would show a video of Svetlana, and a few times I glanced over at her, and she just seemed so unaffected by everything. When everyone would cheer for her, she would just smile. It was so cool though because it was like I was watching a video like I would at home, but I could just glance over and Svetlana Boginskaya would actually be right there. When you get accustomed to being around people like that though, you realize that they are just normal people like you and me.
The next morning was my meet, and it was really neat watching the video that they played prior to the start of the meet because everytime I watch gymnastics I always get really motivated, but I never actually watched a gym video minutes before a meet. Anyway, the whole morning, I was solely concentrated on my gymnastics, but the highlight of the whole weekend came during awards. Svetlana had been handing out all of the medals all weekend, and it was truly and honor to receive my medals from her. I actually think she recognized me from the previous day, and the first time I went up to receive a medal, she said “Good job Stephanie.” It was so cool! I got a couple of pictures during awards as well. After awards, she was signing for anyone that wanted an autograph, so I got her to sign the picture of her that we all got and one of my medals.
So, that was my weekend with Svetlana. It was definitely my most memorable meet ever, and I’m really glad I got the chance to personally talk to someone I’ve looked up to for so long. I can’t wait to get my pictures back. :)