20 QUESTIONS WITH... Elena Pirozhkova
Elena Pirozhkova is one of the top women’s freestyle wrestlers on the planet.
Pirozhkova captured a gold medal for the U.S. at the World Championships in women’s freestyle wrestling this past season in Strathcona County, Canada. It was the second World medal for the 2012 Olympian. Pirozhkova earned a silver medal at the 2010 World Championships in Moscow, Russia, the country that she was born in.
Pirozhkova took time out of her busy schedule to talk recently
with USA Wrestler: 1. Favorite movie? Kung Fu Panda
2. Favorite TV show?
Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, That 70's Show. 3. What kind of music do you listen to in your iPod before you compete? Country, hip hop, rap, classical, new age. 4. Favorite food when not watching your weight? The best food is straight from the garden! Those berries and
vegetables taste nothing like store bought! I love raw honey and raw goat’s milk.
5. Favorite sport other than wrestling? Gymnastics
6. Favorite athlete to watch in another sport? I love to watch athletes that are facing adversity or any kind of pressure.
7. Favorite wrestler and why?
Jordan Burroughs. I like the fact he is confident in his talent. He said he was going to win and went out and did it. It wasn’t just talk, he backed it up with great work ethic and skill. 8. Best piece of advice you've received? Do It Yourself. We don’t get anywhere doing things completely on our own, but we never want to rely on someone or some- thing completely.
9. What kind of advice would you give a younger wrestler who is just taking up the sport? Work hard, but have fun. Enjoy all parts of wrestling, the wins and the times when you are in the grind. Always remember that it’s fun to win medals, but don’t let them define who you are. 10. Best moment as a wrestler so far? Winning a World title. 11. Name three people you would love to invite to dinner? My dad. He passed away a year and a half ago and it would be nice to see him again. I miss him. My other two would be my mom’s parents that still live in Russia. I have never met them. 12. What is one thing you are afraid of? Spiders
13. How did you become involved in wrestling? My brother came home one day and told me to step on the scale. I was about 114 pounds back then. He told me to come to wrestling practice because they needed a 112-pounder. 14. What did you learn from your Olympic experience? It was absolutely amazing and yet heartbreaking. It’s great to see the whole world come together like that! But not medaling when I expected to win, that was heartbreaking. 15. How were you able to regroup and win a World title? I really looked hard at myself. There were a lot of questions.
Elena Pirozhkova has earned World gold and silver medals for the U.S. in women’s freestyle. Larry Slater photo.
One thing I realized was I can’t take things too seriously, after all it’s just wrestling. I think I put too much pressure on myself to win that I forgot to enjoy the process of competition, and was just focusing on the outcome. I was looking for some payback and redemption. I wanted to win, but this time I was more focused on the process of winning than the win itself. 16. Any idea what you will do when you stop competing? I want to go to chiropractic school. 17. How do you pass the time during an overseas trip? Listen to music, and nap if I can. It’s also a good time to have some good talks with people on the flight, especially people you normally don’t see too much.
18. Coolest place you've traveled to and why? Mongolia. We got to ride horses and we saw wild yak. To top
it off, we got to ride camels after. That was a pretty fun day. 19. What are the names of your parents’ nine children from oldest to youngest? Natalia, Viktor, Me, Alexander, Olga, Marina, Nina, Rita,
Maxim. 20. Funniest girl on the team and why?
It has to be Helen Maroulis. I don’t know if she is trying to be funny sometimes, but she makes me laugh. Sometimes it’s her stories, and the way she tells them, other times it’s just her actions or reactions to things. She is a good person, wrestler and drill partner. It’s great to have her on any trips I go on.
21 USA Wrestler
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