“The main thing is that people believe me”: Zakharov on elections to the Saratov Duma, assistance to pensioners and rivalry with the Chinese

- We spoke with you in early March, and you did not say a word about the fact that you are thinking about a political career.

How long ago did you come up with the idea to try yourself in this capacity?

- Quite a long time ago.

Well, now I just realized that many people support me in this endeavor.

Therefore, he took the risk of running for the September elections.

I am nominated as a deputy to the regional Duma from the New People party - this is a rather interesting party that focuses on business, on youth, which is quite relevant at the present time.

There is a change of generations, and many guys do not fully understand what to do with it.

I would like to show that in terms of development, our Saratov region is a fairly promising place where you can not only stay, but also work with dignity, participate in the life of the country.

I believe that my deputy activity will give an opportunity to implement many projects in this direction.

- Are you talking about sports projects?

- Not only.

Sport, of course, will remain one of the priorities.

I travel a lot around the country and see what exactly our city and region lacks.

That is why I would like to develop a separate project designed for people of retirement age.

Now, unfortunately, most pensioners, even those who continue to work, are faced with the fact that they have absolutely nothing to do in their free time.

But there are many alternatives: it can be classes in various types of physical activity - yoga, swimming pool, some sections of interest.

- Who will pay for all this?

- I hope that such initiatives will find a response both at the private and state levels, when the project is finally formed.

So far, to be honest, I haven’t delved into the details very much, but even from my own experience I’ve been convinced many times: if you are able to interest some idea, there is always money for its implementation.

I often communicate with people who have experience of various successful social projects in large cities, including Moscow, since many initiatives somehow diverge from the capital to the regions, and so far my interest in this is only growing.

- Athletes from the regions after the end of their careers often seek to move to Moscow.

Have you thought about it?

“I’ll cheat if I say no, but that was a long time ago.

Now I decided for myself that this is definitely not a matter of the near future.

Therefore, all my current life plans are connected only with Saratov.

I like living here, I like to see how the infrastructure is developing powerfully, a lot of things are being built, including the Water Sports Palace, and I am very pleased to understand that I can help my hometown become even better.

- Surely, you have noticed that athletes who go into politics are subjected to the most severe criticism despite their bright background.

Doesn't bother?

- Yes.

But to some extent I can understand people.

Everyone thinks about the same: how can a person who has given all his strength to his sport instantly switch to a fundamentally different kind of activity and become successful in it?

Consider yourself asking yourself this question.

- In my understanding, it is very important that a person who decides to go into politics clearly understands why he takes this step.

After all, someone does so, simply succumbing to the persuasion of others, and in this option, the choice error was inherent in the beginning.

I still put myself in a different category.

I don’t want to say that I am somehow particularly well versed in political trends, but I know exactly what is happening in my native region in the field of sports and how to cope with those “sores” that exist.

In Saratov, I am a fairly well-known media personality, I have certain connections, I have already accumulated life baggage.

Plus, I am aware that sports alone cannot raise the level of social well-being in the region.

This is important for me because my parents and my family live here.

Therefore, I do not think that the range of my interests should be limited exclusively to sports issues.

The main thing is that people believe me, as they believed Zakharov the athlete.

- Any of them can ask you: "What can you change if in some areas of the region there are still no even normal roads"?

Questions like these come up from time to time.

But, you know, at one time I managed to become an Olympic champion, without having any special conditions for this.

People laughed in my face: they say, guy, there is no chance here, don’t even dream.

And I dreamed.

I realized at some point that you just need to work.

You first do everything that depends on you, and then you can talk about the chances.

- I agree, but in the same Penza, where there are more diving pools than in Moscow, coaches are still trying to send students to the capital so that they achieve something. 

“This is a big problem that exists in many cities.

Some of the athletes and specialists are lured to larger centers, although I would not say that they are promised some exorbitant salaries.

I agree that Moscow gives the athlete completely different perspectives and opportunities.

But when this option was offered to me, I refused.

In general, I could not imagine how I could go somewhere without my mentor Tatyana Korobko.

I stayed in Saratov and I must say that even in very difficult years, the region found an opportunity to support me.

Another thing is that such issues need to be dealt with jointly with sports federations, involve local authorities, look for sponsors, communicate with them, and so on.

In this case, it will quickly become clear that any region is able to do much more for athletes than it seems at first glance.

— What, in your opinion, is missing in Russian diving to catch up with the Chinese?

- If we think globally, of course, we do not have such a number of people involved, respectively, there is no opportunity to form a new team almost every Olympic four years.

But in fact, a lot comes from the attitude of the athletes themselves to what they do.

First of all, there should be an understanding: what do you want to achieve?

I would say that in my time everything was much tougher in terms of requirements.

Nowadays, many people treat sports in a somewhat imposing, relaxed way.

They consider the mere fact of getting into the national team a success and do not strive for more, do not set grandiose goals for themselves.

I won’t say that everyone is like that, but there is certainly a trend.

Accordingly, the coaches have a similar attitude: why complicate the program or fight over perfect technique if the athlete does not strive for the maximum result?

- I’m listening to you and I can’t understand how the most ordinary Saratov boy could, as a child, clearly decide that he should become an Olympic champion?

- Yes, I somehow never understood: why does a person do this or that business, if he does not want to become the best in it?

What is his motivation?

Perhaps I was just very lucky to meet a coach who thought the same way.

If I said during the lesson that I couldn’t do it anymore, Tatyana Valeryevna (Korobko.

) answered: “If I couldn’t, no one would ask you anything.”

So it is with the Chinese.

It seems to me that we have imperceptibly become accustomed to the idea that we cannot be better than them.

And this is not normal.

Are we not able to perform the same difficult jumps?

Can.

We do not know how to enter the water without splashing?

Another question is who does it better.

So, you just need to train, prepare yourself for complexity, risk, heavy loads.

And to the fact that not everything will work out right away.

- Is there an athlete in the current Russian national team for whom you are more worried than for others?

— Zheka Kuznetsov, my former partner.

I perfectly understand that his age is already limiting him in some way, but I can’t help rooting for him - we have gone through too much of our life together.

Of the young, I like Ruslan Ternova on the tower, Nikita Shleikher on the springboard.

These guys can definitely compete with the Chinese.

The main thing is that they themselves believe in it and correctly set further priorities.

Such a priority should definitely not be the task of becoming the best in Russia.

- How legitimate did it seem to you to compare the results of the Russians at the recent national championship in Penza with the jumps that the Chinese demonstrated at the World Championships?

Why not compare scores?

At the same Schleicher, I saw individual attempts that would be very well appreciated at the international level.

Perfectly synchronized jumped Ternova with Alexander Bondar, and in the personal final Ruslan performed his attempts fantastically.

As part of the World Cup, it could well have been a gold medal, or even two.

I really liked it, in a word.

- Bondar said in an interview that, having received Ternovy as a partner in synchronized jumps, he immediately felt what young passion and young, hot blood are.

- I can understand Sanya.

I had such a situation only once - at the last Russian championship in my career, where I jumped synchronized with Ilya Molchanov and we lost just a little bit to Kuznetsov and Schleicher.

Firstly, a young partner immediately adds responsibility: he looks at you with such eyes that it becomes embarrassing to make mistakes.

You kind of unwittingly take on a double responsibility.

Secondly, it immediately adds a certain status to the newcomer.

I remember how I myself got into sync with Gleb Galperin for the first time in training.

We were ordered to simply make a “soldier” from the springboard so that the coaches could see how similar the manner of attacking the board was, I was shaking with joy from the mere fact that such an athlete was next to me.

In the case of Molchanov, I remember his coach asked: “maybe we should not include in the program the most difficult jump for Ilya - four and a half turns forward?”

Moreover, Ilya adapted to my attack, which I do without jumping, and he is not very used to this.

I was even surprised: what do you mean we won't?

We will definitely.

And he reassured the coach, he said: “Believe my experience, he will cope, he will not go anywhere.”

Everything worked out for us then, although I saw how Molchanov was shaking.

Then he thanked me for these four and a half turns, which he himself would not know when he would have decided to do at the competitions.

That is, a person simply reached a new level for himself.

Therefore, I am only glad that we have such a bright duet on the tower.

- In other words, Bondar and Ternov have a great future?

“I'm just sure it'll be a great story.