Olympic champion Hanna Huskova's mother died before the Olympics
"She wasn't in her best condition," — said former national freestyle team coach Nikolai Kozeko in an interview with Betnews.
Hanna Huskova, photo by NOC of Belarus
"I was recently at the national championship in Raubichi. I spoke with Hanna Huskova. Few people know, but her mother died before the start of the Games, and she, understandably, was not in her best condition."
"Her first jump in the final was not very successful — ideally, it shouldn't have been. To get into the top six who would compete for medals, she had to go all-in — perform a triple somersault with two twists. Only that would give her some chance. But Anya did a double and predictably dropped out of contention for prize places. I'm trying to understand the logic. It was there, of course — but it was four years old, when the same tactic brought her success. In Beijing, her rivals couldn't perform their triples, and Anya took silver," said Nikolai Kozeko.
He added that now the girls have perfectly mastered triple somersaults with three twists and perform them almost perfectly.
"The worst thing is that after the Beijing Games, there was no detailed analysis of the performances, which was always conducted in my time. At the 2022 Games, several tactical mistakes were made — and they were repeated in Milan. In the team tournament, our national team then did not make it into the final four because Hanna performed a simple jump — a double somersault with two twists. It wasn't even part of her competitive program. But again — they hoped to get into the top four with 'minimal effort.' However, you can't do that at the Olympics — you have to give it your all there," summarized Nikolai Kozeko.
He also said that freestyler Aliaksandra Ramanouskaya retrained as an IT specialist after an injury.
"Sasha Ramanouskaya, I know, studied to become an IT specialist, which, frankly, didn't surprise me one bit. She was always a smart and creative girl, very strong, with an inner core. In general, when I remember that team, my heart just sings — only now do you realize how strong we were then. I believe, practically invincible," added the legendary coach.
Hanna Huskova, Sasha Ramanouskaya, Nikolai Kozeko. Photo: betnews.by
Nikolai Kozeko led the national freestyle team since the 1990s, and Belarusian freestylers brought medals from every Olympics. In 2010, Alexei Grishin won gold in Vancouver; from Sochi-2014, Alla Tsuper and Anton Kushnir brought gold; Hanna Huskova won gold at the 2018 Olympics. After the events of 2020, after Nikolai Kozeko spoke out against violence, he was expelled from the national team. In 2026, Belarusian freestylers did not win a single medal at the Olympics.