“Finally I see how my son is growing up”: Shubenkov on the transfer of the Olympics, the 2015 World Cup gold and participation in the CS: GO tournament

"I do not hold on to past merits"

- Why did you refuse to take part in the centralized gathering of the national team in Novogorsk?

- I am not a fan of centralized training all year round, so I come to the training camp as necessary. We solve this issue with my coach Sergey Klevtsov.

- How were your training sessions in isolation?

- Honestly, boring. Usually by this time I get in shape and start going to competitions, and life becomes more fun ( laughs ). Therefore, the last two months have not been the most interesting, but the main thing is that everything is already ending.

- Did you manage to keep fit at the proper level?

- In general, yes, the classes were held under the guidance of my mentor. But you need to take into account the fact that in the near future I do not need to go to the start, and, accordingly, to the peak of form. Therefore, for me now is a transition period.

- What are your conditions in Baranul? Do the measures introduced to prevent the spread of coronavirus allow exercise outside?

- Yes, you can go outside, although sports facilities are still closed. But I have a forest near my house, school grounds where you can do physical exercises.

- The authorities of Moscow allowed from June 1 to engage in sports on the street, but this must be done in masks. What do you think about it?

- It's hard to imagine that. Of course, athletes have special masks that simulate training in high altitude conditions. Usually they are used by styers, I myself have never been involved in this. Probably, ordinary rag masks are not very suitable, although if you do not run very fast, then why not?

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Publication by Sergey Shubenkov (@ sergey.shubenkov) Mar 12, 2020 at 9:12 am PDT

- How did you perceive the news that to get a neutral status, Russian athletes need to pay $ 250?

- I paid ( laughs ). To be honest, I didn’t even think whether it was right or not. It’s unpleasant, but we have no other way.

- Did the cancellation of the competition affect your financial situation?

- Yes, income has decreased, but I'm not complaining.

- Your coach said that you plan to take part in competitions in Monte Carlo and Turku. Is it so?

- Yes, they will be held in mid-August. I think the season will not start earlier, so now this is the only opportunity, why not take it? Although in some form, I still would like to compete.

- Do not you consider the option of making up for the lack of starts at the expense of winter tournaments, which you usually skip?

- It's hard to say, wait and see. While August is my fulcrum, we are preparing for it. It is not clear what will happen next, what will be the restrictions, whether the borders will open. In addition, the issue of neutral statuses has not yet been finally resolved. Therefore, I can’t think so far.

- So, there are no thoughts on the Olympics next year either?

“Not really.” We hope that it will take place, that they will let us in, and that we will tear all.

- Can you evaluate how you personally will be affected by its transfer?

- For me this is not so important. Because athletes always have a major start in the season that needs to be prepared for, be it the Olympics or the World Cup. Of course, it’s a shame that the Games will have to wait another year, I would like to try my hand now. But the transfer was necessary, because because of the pandemic, the training process would still turn out to be blurry and at the competitions themselves everything would look very sad.

- August 28 will mark five years from the day you won the Beijing World Cup. How significant is this anniversary for you?

- Yes, so far this is my biggest and biggest victory in my career. But of course, I will not celebrate the anniversary, because I have already celebrated when it happened. A couple of weeks passed, everything was forgotten, we are working on. And after that championship, a lot of cool things happened to me: Russian records, triumphs at the stages of the Diamond League, just interesting starts. Therefore, I do not hold on to past achievements.

- Do you keep souvenirs from that World Cup?

“Only the number and a few photos.” I remember that during the award ceremony, the Chinese organizers approached me and asked me to leave a handprint in a frame with some kind of mass like gold plasticine. All the winners did this, even there is a gallery where they are stored. Although, perhaps, this cunning Chinese Communist Party was collecting our data ( laughs ).

- Watching videos from winning events?

- The coach often does this. And to be honest, before the victorious World Cup I could not look at myself from the side. Even if he wanted to, when viewing it, he began to get very worried, as if he was running the distance again. And the Beijing race with pleasure reviewed many times. But overall I don’t really like it.

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Publication by Sergey Shubenkov (@ sergey.shubenkov) Jan 28, 2020 at 8:42 PST

"Some people think that I haven’t played enough."

- What else do you do in self-isolation, in addition to training?

- I communicate with my family as much as I have never communicated. Because when traveling begins, I am not at home for a very long time. Finally, I see how my son is growing, I am actively participating in this process, which cannot but rejoice.

- Your son Yaroslav is two years old. Does he understand what his father does?

“No, he's still very small.” Moreover, this should not be expected from older children. As part of my social activities, I sometimes spend Olympic lessons in schools. And I categorically ask you not to bring pupils younger than the eighth to ninth grade. Because only at this age does realization come to know what professional sport is, what efforts it requires, how everything functions. And fifth graders or sixth graders do not understand anything. Yes, they like to communicate with me, but not as an athlete, but as an adult cool uncle who can tell something interesting about himself.

- You took part in the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament. How long have you been fond of this game?

- This is a story from a distant childhood, when we with yard friends went to a computer club for pocket money and there we made hives. Now everyone is already adults, but sometimes I want to shake antiquity. Therefore, we regularly gather and repeat those battles.

- How did you get the idea to take part in the tournament?

- They asked me if I can play, if I want to compete. I decided that you can try. It turned out that some of my colleagues are also able to do a lot and you can fight them to understand who is cooler in this discipline.

- How does your family feel about this hobby?

- I really like computer games and cut into them almost every night. By the way, at the training camp this helps a lot to solve the problem with leisure. After all, no matter where I come, I only need a laptop, a power outlet and the Internet. Therefore, relatives are already used to it. Some believe that I did not play enough in my childhood, so now I'm trying to catch up. Perhaps it is.

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Publication by Sergey Shubenkov (@ sergey.shubenkov) May 24, 2020 at 12:33 pm PDT