Anna Pavlova: I was told that you can't recover from such injuries but I decided to come back
"I started to train practically straight after the operation. I went to the gym and did as much as I could, as much as my body would allow. You know, after every Olympic cycle it's nice to draw some conclusions and think over your career. When after the Olympics I got injured I had only 2 choices: leave or come back. The decision to come back came to me straight away, on its own. Maybe because, in spite of the concerns of doctors, everything went well. You know at first they even told me that there is no recovering from such an injury. Now I feel much better but of course missing such a long time of training is making itself felt. In theory, I could have even managed to be ready for the worlds in October in London. But you also need to be selected, take part in control tests, trials and I'm not going to be in good enough form going into them. But never mind, I'll train for next season.
If I'm going to fantasize a little, maybe I want to compete up until the Olympics in 2012. It depends on so many factors. First of all, how my body holds up. Secondly, while I haven't been able to compete the management of the national team has changed and there is a question about how we will work together. Thirdly, many new young gymnasts have now appeared. I haven't trained with them yet, but I think the girls have a lot of potential and will soon prove themselves"