Niina Petrõkina's mother speaks of pride at daughter's gold medal success

Natalja Masterova, mother of newly-crowned European figure skating champion Niina Petrõkina, said her heart skipped a few beats during her daughter's free skating routine on Friday.
"[My heart] was pounding fast, and it skipped a few beats. I guess I forgot to breathe for those four minutes," Mastervova told ERR after seeing her daughter win a historic gold in Tallinn. "After, when she stumbled a little, I was a bit shocked, but I knew it was normal for her. She always knows how to surprise us."
"But I don't think it's really sunk in for me either. I realized it was very expected, but still unexpected! We're trying to come to terms with it now."
According to her mother, Petrõkina has had to sacrifice a lot to reach the top. "When people say it's a beautiful sport and you're only on the ice for three or four minutes.... there is so much that goes into it! I was amazed how she woke up at five or half past five in the morning. In winter when it is dark and cold. She got up and ran to the cold rink to train. Then trained for an hour."
"When she went to school, we'd get in the car, we'd drive to school. When there was a practice during the school day, then she'd run from school to the rink and then back to school," Masterova continued.
"It was a time when she had no personal life at all. But I had the feeling that she had a clear goal. I'm so proud of her. I have seen how, step by step, she got closer and closer to her goal. "
"It was our goal," Niina interrupted. "Who made gave me such a beautiful hairstyle all the time? Mum!"
"Of course I try to help, but that's more the job of the coach and Niina," Petrõkina's mother said. "We were like good cop and bad cop. At some points I was the bad cop and the coach was the good one, and so Niina ran to her coach. At other times, the roles reversed and I became the good cop. As a result of all that, here we are now."
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Editor: Siim Boikov, Michael Cole