Mustafina Wins 4 Olympic Medals

By Parvez Fatteh, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

Alexandra Raisman (C) of the U.S. celebrates winning a gold medal during the women’s gymnastics floor exercise victory ceremony with silver medallist Romania’s Catalina Ponor (L) and bronze medallist Russia’s Aliya Mustafina in the North Greenwich Arena during the London 2012 Olympic Games August 7, 2012.    REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Tatar Russian Muslim gymnast Aliya Mustafina has now bagged four Olympic medals at the 2012 London Games including a gold. She started with a silver medal as part of the team all-around, with the Russian team finishing second to the American team. She subsequently took home a bronze in the individual all-around competition. Mustafina then topped things off with a sparkling gold medal in the uneven bars competition. Finally, for good measure, she put on a dazzling display in the floor exercises but finished third, gaining her the bronze medal.

Mustafina is now officially the most decorated Russian athlete at the 2012 London Games. “I must say it’s a great pleasure to win so many medals for my country,” she told the press, “All that hard work wasn’t for nothing. It’s a great feeling.”

It has been a trying couple of years for Mustafina, not only because the of the pressure of international competition, but also from having to recover from a serious knee injury. But it seems that she has the vigor to continue with high-level gymnastics. “I’m certainly not stopping now. I’m going to continue now. I’ll continue training. I’ll start training for the next Olympics right away,” said the seventeen-year-old. “You know, I’m not used to going to going to an event and winning just one medal. You get a taste for it, and you want to win more medals.”

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