One year ago, Irina Alekseeva could not have imagined making the Russian team for the 2018 World Championships in Doha, much less qualifying to the All-around final. But after living and training half her life in the United States, the 16-year-old Alekseeva suited up yesterday alongside childhood hero Aliya Mustafina to help Russia qualify second to tomorrow’s team final at the Aspire Dome, and even clinched a spot for herself in Thursday’s All-around final.
“It feels really, really good to be here, especially with the Russian team,” says Alekseeva, also known as Ira Alexeeva.
Then aged 7, the Moscow native followed coach Dina Kamalova when she moved to Texas in 2010, the same year Mustafina captured the All-around title at the world championships in Rotterdam. Alekseeva rapidly rose through the junior ranks and hoped to compete for the American team. In recent years, she has won international invitationals representing her club, World Olympic Gymnastics Academy, but without citizenship, her Olympic aspirations were stalled.
“[Returning to Russia] has always been an option,” she says in flawless American English, “but we started contacting them last year and they invited me to the training camp.”
Alekseeva joined the Russian national team in May and has been mainly training at the national training centre outside Moscow. In August, she helped Russia win team gold at the European championships in Glasgow.
“It’s a different atmosphere [in Russia],” says Alekseeva, whose two older brothers attend university in the United States. “There are so many good gymnasts, but I get to train with them, and they’re amazing, so they teach me a lot!”
Mustafina, who was also coached as a junior by Kamalova at CSKA Moscow, was one of Alekseeva’s earliest idols in the gym. 
“I was one of the little girls and I always saw her practising and looked up to her,” recalls Alekseeva with a big smile, “and now that I’m back and practising and competing with her, I think that’s so cool!”
Alekseeva relies on her more experienced teammates, including two-time Olympic champion Mustafina, to relax in competition.
“The older girls have a lot of experience because they’ve done this so many times,” she explains. “I get nervous and I start going really fast, and they tell me, ‘Calm down! You’ll be fine!’”