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Fanni Pigniczki is a rhythmic gymnastics competitor who has already set several records. She returned home from the World University Games in Chengdu with results like no one else in her sport, as two of our three gold medals were won by her in China, reports Mandiner.
Fanni Pigniczki achieved a historic feat, as no Hungarian rhythmic gymnast has ever won a Universiade or World University Games before. The 23-year-old collected two of the three gold medals for the most successful Hungarian team of all time in Chengdu.
In an exclusive interview with Mandiner, Fanni Pigniczki, was delighted to talk about her gold medals in the history of the sport.
Photo via Facebook/Magyar Torna Szövetség – Hungarian Gymnastics Federation
“Actually, in hindsight, I am beginning to realize how much weight these gold medals carry, as no Hungarian rhythmic gymnast has ever won a gold medal at a Universiade or World University Games before,” recalled the gymnast, who is already preparing for her return to Budapest.
Fanni won the gold medal in China in the individual combined, i.e. on the basis of the combined results of the four apparatus events and the ball.
She has been preparing for competitions since she was a little girl with the help of Erika Deutsch-Lazsányi and coach Noémi Gellei.
Fanni’s grandfather, the famous world silver medalist table tennis player László Pigniczki laid the foundations for her passion for sport. The granddaughter tried ping-pong and 5-6 other sports before finally deciding on rhythmic gymnastics.
Fanni Pigniczki has already made her mark in the sport by qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics two years ago after Viktoria Fráter’s s performance at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Her 9th place in the World Championship and final place in the ribbon final last year is also a national record.
The World Championships are a more professional event than the Olympics, with twice as many competitors competing there, so this is of course the most important achievement of my career so far, although I have already collected a number of World Cup medals this season, and in the World Cup series I finished third with a hoop, Fanni explains.
“This year, I graduated with a Master’s degree in rhythmic gymnastics coaching from the Hungarian University of Sports Science and at the same time I have been studying psychology at Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church since last year, which I would definitely like to finish because I have long-term plans with this degree,” she noted.
In fact, I like to be able to occupy my mind with other things besides the many physical challenges that sport requires, so for me, learning is a pleasure, says Fanni, who is working extremely hard these days, because
after her success in Chengdu, there is no time to relax as she has the World Championships in Alicante, Spain at the end of August, that will decide her Olympic qualification.
“The stakes are high as last year one person qualified from the international field and this year the top 17 will get a ticket to Paris, so we are preparing very hard for the World Championships in Spain because I feel that if I can do the routines without any mistakes, I can get another Olympic quota,” concluded our historic gold medalist.
Via Mandiner, Featured image via Facebook/Magyar Torna Szövetség
