- When it was announced that Montreal would not be able to host the World Cup on time, did you discuss with the tournament organizers and the International Skating Union (ISU) the fate of the ice Oscars?

- For everyone who was involved in the project, starting with me and Oliver Hoehner (owner of the Swiss show Art on Ice. - RT ) and ending with the Canadian Figure Skating Federation and ISU, the news that the World Cup did not take place was a huge shock. Unlike most fans, we all too well understood how much effort, nerves and money we all invested in this project.

I have said many times: our sport is going through quite difficult times even without coronavirus - it keeps afloat primarily due to Russia and Japan. How figure skating will survive the current blow, in what form and with what opportunities it will return to normal life, how long it will take for the athletes to restore their physical and moral condition, I think no one will undertake to predict. I myself have always been an optimist, but now I feel only one feeling - a colossal inner indignation, as well as confusion.

- Does the situation allow you to do at least some kind of remote work?

- Now it’s only possible that you can communicate with one of your friends and colleagues over the phone or broadcast some old shows on the Internet. I know that the Canadian Figure Skating Federation is going to launch a flash mob - the idea came up to invite skaters who were on the list of winners of the ice ceremony to put on costumes in social networks in which they were going to go on the red carpet. Several North American skaters have already responded to this request, by the way. So it is quite possible that the project will be implemented.

- And what is your opinion on the issue of holding the World Cup after the COVID-19 pandemic?

- Complex issue. It has now been more than two weeks since skaters all over the world are deprived of the opportunity to conduct training on ice. He was repeatedly convinced: if a person does not ride for three weeks, then it takes him at least two months to return to his previous level and gain a relatively good competitive form. No one knows how long our isolation will last.

If it ends in early May, then theoretically we can talk about hosting the World Cup in the fall. But I honestly don’t see any reason for such a decision: in this case, in figure skating, the calendar will completely change and everything will turn upside down. And the likelihood that until May the situation will normalize in all countries without exception is not too great.

- How seriously hit the skaters cancellation of spring and summer shows?

- She hit not only the skaters, but also our sport as a whole. By the economics of those countries where these shows were to be held, by producers. It's not just a huge loss of money.

Worst of all, those involved in show business in sports found themselves in a state of utter uncertainty. It’s like a long-distance train that leaves on schedule, and a day later it suddenly gets up in the middle of the desert due to a faulty route, and it is not clear who and when will be able to eliminate the breakdown and how hundreds of people will survive in this desert.

- That is, the situation is close to a disaster?

- We didn’t just lose the World Cup. Many skaters were ready to celebrate a triumph in this tournament. And now, when the guys lost this opportunity, they lost a foothold. The producers, who were supposed to launch their shows around the world right after the end of the season, had been preparing for this for many months. We developed logistics, paid for arenas, rented hotels, entered into contracts with many companies, paid in advance ... How now to deal with all this? I don’t think that in the world now there is at least one open skating rink. Perhaps after some time the situation with training will begin to normalize in China, but in America in the foreseeable future this will not happen for sure.

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Publication by Ari Zakarian (@arizakarian) Mar 25, 2020 at 10:44 am PDT

- I want to believe that sooner or later life will return to normal, but it may happen that people simply have nothing to pay for training ...

- This is another completely real prospect, by the way. In the same way, people most likely will not even have the idea to go to any shows: after all, what is happening now is only the beginning of the crisis. If it drags on, the question will not be about training and entertainment, but about how to survive on your own and feed your families. In this regard, hockey, basketball, and other popular sports, as well as the entire show business as a whole, come under attack.

- What will you do personally if it turns out that the profession is unclaimed?

“I don’t even want to think about it yet.” There are no ideas. There is only a feeling that life has stopped. I am not inclined to escalate, but I understand perfectly nonetheless that we all turned out to be hostages of a very serious situation. The only advantage is that I finally got the opportunity to spend a lot of time with my family at home in Las Vegas. Although at the same time I feel the most powerful psychological discomfort: I can not, as it turned out, sit in front of the TV, watch news or TV shows and do nothing.

- Do sports people communicate with each other?

- Now everyone is working hard to transfer any activity to online mode. You need to at least do something and somehow raise your spirits. It is important for people to feel that they are not alone. Our idea of ​​laying out costumes and voting online for the best options is a link in the same chain.

- What is Las Vegas now?

- The weather is beautiful, there is simply no one to enjoy it: all casinos, restaurants, cinemas, shopping malls are closed, several large food shopping centers operate. The process of buying products is not fast, since a very limited number of people are simultaneously launched inside and they should not come close to each other. But there is no panic. People clearly follow the recommendations. What pleased me personally was that the first thing in the city was that all the arms stores were closed. For some reason, the mentality of some Americans is such that in any crisis situation, along with products, they begin to buy up weapons.

“Do you also have weapons in your house?”

- No. As long as I live in America, I honestly never thought that I might need it.