By Aleksandra Vladimirova for R-Sport

Russian gymnasts have good prospects at the world championships which will take place in Japan this year in October, European Champion in Artistic Gymnastics Sergey Khorokhordin told R-Sport.

The Russian team finished in sixth place at the world championships last year in Rotterdam.

"We have two other 'veterans' besides me — (Maksim) Devyatovskiy and (Anton) Golotsutskov. But the main part of the team is six or seven years younger than us. We had not really competed like this as a group before. There was a new team at worlds [last year]. And the unexpected happened there: one of the 'older' gymnasts got injured. I don't really want to think about that worlds, but at this next world championships we have even better chances and at the Olympics, they will be even better. I think we can fight for a medal in the team championship this year", Khorokhordin said.

The 25-year old gymnast added that the fight for a place on the podium in Japan will be very tough. "There are a lot of teams now — and I mean teams — who really want to go to the Olympics and so the team competition will be a fight to the death. I am sure a lot of country's are preparing cohesive teams. Gymnastics has been focussing on individual events recently. And 100 guys come to worlds to compete on one event, be it pommels or rings. And only the eight strongest advance to finals. And now there will be a lot of teams who will not be compromising and sending specialists, they will be preparing all-arounders", the Russian all-Around Champion said. 

Khorokhordin, who participated in the Olympic Games in Beijing where he finished fifth in the all-around, said that the men's team was trying to fend off any negative thoughts ahead of the upcoming world championships.

"You can't write Russia off and say we won't make it. We don't even talk about that in the team. But that is sport. Some guys want to go to the Olympics at all costs, because they want that kind of an unofficial ending to their career. But it will be the first Olympics for some — we have a lot of young guys in the team. We have a good group, really; we can fight and we can get results", Khorokhordin said.

Khorokhordin chose not to comment on his own chances of going to Tokyo. "I missed Europeans with an injury and did not compete at Russian nationals. For the first six months of the year, I was essentially lost. The guys who went to Berlin (at the European Championships) were more worthy of it than I was at the time and I went home to nurse injuries. As far as my own chances are concerned, I'm not the kind of guy who talks ahead of time. The main thing is to be healthy. At any celebration the first toast is almost always for health. For athletes health is even more important. If I am healthy, the team will need me; that's what I think about it", Khorokhordin said.

The gymnast admitted that long workouts in the hot summer were hard. "This year means going to the Olympics, so they let us know there would be no rest. In a few days we are going to Spain for training camp. These kind of camps used to be for recovery, but now they are for preparation. Sure, the sun and the beach are there, but we will be working 90 percent of the time in the gym. A lot of people are saying a lot about our chances at the Olympics, but you have to earn the trip there first", Khorokhordin stressed.