Carly Patterson Responds With A "Lol" On Svetlana Khorkina Saying She Is A Strong All Arounder While The Current Gymnasts Are Not

Svetlana Khorkina, one of Russia's most successful gymnasts, does not think that the current gymnasts are true all arounders....

Svetlana Khorkina, one of Russia's most successful gymnasts, does not think that the current gymnasts are true all arounders.

The former gymnast gave an interview to sportsdaily.ru where she was asked about the comeback of compatriot Aliya Mustafina who gave birth to a daughter five months ago.

"I was told she’s getting back and already training at Round Lake," Khorkina said according to Gymnovosti's translation. "I heard somewhere that she’s supposed to fully return to the sport next year. I think that if you return you should do it to win medals."

Khorkina, who gave birth to a boy one year after her retirement, said that she did not return to gymnastics as the rules at that time - according to her - did not allow event specialists.

"I’ve always been a strong all-arounder which indicates my universality – I could fight for an Olympic gold on every apparatus," she added. "Current girls aren’t like that. They’re event specialists."

USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour quoted the tweet which linked to Khorkina's interview adding "Has she heard of Simone Biles?", to which US former gymnast Carly Patterson responded with "Lol".

Patterson competed against Khorkina in 2001, 2003 and 2004. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, the American athlete beat Khorkina in the all around and won the gold medal. 

After the competition, Khorkina told media that Patterson only won because she is American.

Svetlana has thrown shade at Carly several times in the media, even after they both retired from the sport. 

The Russian athlete competed at 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics. She qualified to the all around and uneven bars finals, beside the team final, at all three Olympics. At 2000 Olympics, she qualified to the floor exercise and vault finals but gave up her vault spot to teammate Elena Zamoloditchkova who went on to win the gold medal.

She won Olympic medals in the team, all around, floor exercise and uneven bars finals.

In her book, she wrote that she would have continued competing to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, had she won the uneven bars gold medal in Athens.

Written by Gigi Farid