“Love Israel” magazine, created to show the positive aspects of Israeli culture regularly overlooked by the media, interviews artistic gymnast and Floor Exercise champion, Alex Shatilov, in this article. Shatilov made aliyah with his family from Tashkent Uzbekistan at age 15, and and continued his training only two days after making aliyah. As an Israeli athlete competing internationally, Shatilov proudly believes that, “We don’t just represent ourselves — we represent Israel, and it is something that is always present with us.” To watch a clip [03:08] of Shatilov performing in the 2017 European Championship in artistic gymnastics, click here.