These two in the Olympic season became the most dramatic and, probably, somewhere even an unhappy couple.
We lost everything that can be lost, and not to anyone, but including to our principal rivals - the wards of our own coach.
In such cases, the vast majority of skaters begin to think about changing the coaching staff, going somewhere - where, perhaps, they will love you more, promise more, take better care of you.
But today, quite unexpectedly, they are two absolutely happy people.
- At the beginning of autumn, skaters are usually asked about how they spent the summer. What comes to mind first?
Alexandra Boikova:
The training camp in Sochi turned out to be very fruitful.
They went for a month, and it was quite hard, because these are the first such long camps in our career, but we managed a lot for them.
- Can you be a little more specific?
A. B.:
We managed to fully recover.
We started trying new elements, which even in May we did worse than after a vacation in Sochi.
Dmitry Kozlovsky:
We have been working hard on the quad twist, and we continue to pore over it.
A. B .:
Plus, already at the training camp, we began to roll out a short program and put on a free program.
- The programs of the Olympic season were set for you by two well-known specialists - Alexander Zhulin and Nikolai Morozov. Now you are working with Nikolai Moroshkin, who is far from being so experienced and well-known. Is this an experiment?
D.K .:
None of the famous directors came into the profession, being already famous, right?
At some point in their career, someone believed in them, as, for example, Tatyana Tarasova once believed in Nikolai Morozov and attracted him to work with her athletes.
From that moment, probably, his rise as a director and as a coach began.
For many years we have watched Nikolai Moroshkin grow before our eyes.
It develops, has its own view, its own style.
And I am ready to offer this style to adult athletes.
“But something must have happened that made you think: why not try?
DK:
It's no secret that a specialist who is invited exclusively for staging, as a rule, does not have the opportunity to make adjustments during the season.
And there are a lot of changes as it rolls in.
Cooperation with Moroshkin gives us a number of advantages in this regard.
At one time, he helped us to thoroughly finalize the short program My Way, with which we set a world record at the European Championships 2020, and actively participated in the work on the next short program - Howl's Moving Castle.
Moreover, everything that he proposed was not just a superficial refinement, but fully staged fragments with a certain style and mood.
A. B.:
Together we also staged several demonstration numbers, and they all suited us very well.
Therefore, we decided that it was probably time to step a little further and bet on the season.
- Can you now say that your new programs are cooler than the Olympic ones?
D.K.:
Good question.
I think so: any program needs time.
Deadline, right?
On the one hand, we have already tried them in public, but in order to compare them with the most successful productions of our previous years, we need to bring both to the appropriate level.
And for this we need time.
I think that closer to the test skates, to the beginning of the Russian Grand Prix, it will be possible to talk about programs and evaluate them in the context of our career.
- During the Olympic season, the topic of competition between you and Anastasia Mishina / Alexander Gallyamov constantly came to the fore. Do you still practice on different ice?
D.K .:
In our club, there was an expansion of the singles group, in view of this, the amount of ice decreased.
So now we train together.
- Psychologically, it does not bother?
D.K.:
For us, this question does not matter.
A. B.:
We now have a lot of our own work, on which Dima and I have to fully concentrate.
- After the Olympic Games, you talked about what you consider your main task to continue to move your sport forward. But then it was not yet known that major international starts this season most likely will not happen. Hands down?
A. B.:
We have an incentive to skate, because we really want to show new complex elements.
D.K.:
In addition to Sasha's words, I can say that this particular season, which is now turning out to be so weak and scarce for international tournaments, can play into the hands of those athletes who want to take a step forward, go for a full upgrade in their skating.
It is extremely difficult to find time for such a transformation when you work as usual.
It's not just about adding some new transition or learning new support.
Behind the quadruple elements is an increased risk of injury, additional difficulties.
All this absolutely breaks the usual preparation, your state in these programs, rolling into other elements.
Everything is changing drastically.
In order for this to subside, in fact, you need not just time, but a full year, which you are ready to risk and sacrifice something.
So it's really good
- I know that you have been trying a quadruple twist for a long time. And what about the quadruple release?
A. B.:
It's good.
We train.
- A personal question for you, Sasha: which of these elements is scarier?
A. B.:
Twist.
For a very long time I was afraid to perform it on ice.
Although both Dima and Artur Leonidovich Minchuk constantly convinced me that twisting is much safer than throwing.
But I was afraid, because I understood: if something goes wrong, then not only I will be injured, but also Dima, who is under me during the twist.
In the ejection, everything is completely different: there, after I was released, all the responsibility lies only with me.
“I don’t think that in the event of an unsuccessful attempt, your partner would agree with this opinion.
AB:
Well, that's why Dima and Artur Leonidovich were very worried.
But in single skating I very often trained multi-turn jumps.
On the lounge, without the lounge.
I mean, it wasn't scary for me.
And I understood for myself that it was important to continue doing this: at the end of the season I always started jumping up various cascades in order to gain twist, the ability to adapt faster and better in the air if something goes wrong.
Therefore, purely physically, I was completely ready for the quadruple release.
For the first time we tried to make it without a lounge on the last day before the holiday, May 13th.
In general, I really love the number 13. And when it came, I read horoscopes, found out what was waiting for me today in order to calm everyone in advance.
- I can directly imagine this picture: you open the horoscope, and it says: "A quadruple emission is waiting for you today, Alexandra."
A. B .:
There was something like: try something new, today you will definitely succeed.
So I convinced everyone.
At the same time, I understood that, since I was ready, I had to go to the dump right away: the longer you think, the longer you are going, the more scared you become.
Therefore, Dima said: “Now let's go quadruple, and don't ask anything.
Go!"
- Were you satisfied with the result?
A. B.:
I did not leave, but the attempts were very, very promising.
In any case, we immediately decided for ourselves that the element needed to be trained.
This is important: once you understand that you are not just trying something, but entering it into the system, the probability of consistently successful execution becomes much higher.
Now we are throwing both on the lounge and without, in order to feel the opening, the landing.
- A similar question to Dmitry: is it scary to launch a partner on a quadruple element without insurance for the first time?
D.K.:
Tense.
The quadruple release caused a much greater state of internal tension in me than the quadruple twist.
Although these elements are completely different.
Different pace, different approach, different explosion, different spin.
Especially when the quads are already mastered by adults, mature athletes, and not by a strong guy and a little girl.
It's a completely different story.
And it requires a completely new and unique approach.
- Catching a person who flies into your hands after four revolutions is more difficult than after three?
D.K.:
If the twist starts well, the catch happens automatically.
This is already a movement that has been developed over the years.
It would even be interesting to look at the statistics, how many spins I have performed during my career.
In general, this is already an acquired skill that does not cause any problems.
- Do I understand correctly that twisting and throwing take away the lion's share of your time now? Or elements of such complexity cannot be trained a lot?
DK:
A very interesting question.
They, indeed, cannot be trained and “closed up”.
They need to be performed on a high-quality body that is ready to "explode", ready to completely bear the load.
AB:
Supports, jumps, skaters often do fatigue.
We used to also have this practice: we could fully train for an hour, and then jump for another half an hour.
This gives the very skill that coaches say about: wake up at three in the morning - you have to go and do everything, in any condition.
D.K .:
You can work on fatigue only with a fully learned element.
And on ultra-si elements, the body must be fresh in order to thoroughly approach the process.
You need to stretch the triple twist well, do the quadruple in the hall.
Then gradually, with a high-quality performance of the triple on ice, go four turns.
And do it very carefully.
Such elements definitely should not be performed five, ten times per workout - three is enough.
A. B .:
If you feel that there is some doubt, or something aches, in no case should you take risks: in this case, something will definitely go wrong.
- Have you checked?
D.K .:
At the training camp in Sochi, there was a situation when work on the quadruple twist was planned in the schedule of our training, but I myself felt that the body was not ready today, there was no necessary sharpness.
Accordingly, I warned the coaches, and we rescheduled.
When this element settles down, becomes more familiar to us, I think the sensations will be smoothed out.
But at the stage of study, ultra-si should be tried when you are sure: you will come in, do it and catch it.
We don't have any method of working for wear at all.
In the sense that figure skating is not some crazy marathon where you have to overcome yourself with superhuman effort.
We have an expected sport.
In the sense that spontaneous actions practically do not occur.
It's not a boxing match where you go up against your opponent and have no idea where he's going to throw his next punch.
- The most vivid impression of the summer, not related to training?
A. B .:
It was, of course, a vacation for me.
A long-awaited trip with a girlfriend to Istanbul for three days.
I got a lot of impressions.
- To be honest, I thought that you and Dima were also resting together.
- Oh no.
Of course, we are best friends, but this does not mean that we also have to go on vacation together.
We need to take a break from each other at least once in a while.
DK:
We already see each other too often.
- And what is the most vivid impression you will name, Dima?
D.K .:
That's just trying to remember.
So far it doesn't work.
The Olympic year has taken too much emotional strength from me.
This is not only connected with the Games, the year, in principle, turned out to be difficult.
Perhaps that is why I have not experienced any strong emotions for quite a long time.
Everything is more or less measured.
This despite the fact that my life is not limited to figure skating.
There are obligations, plans for life, which I try to translate into reality.
It is interesting to learn something new, to develop, to move forward in terms of one's development and education.
I like it, it makes me happy and motivates.
In general, there is no feeling that there is not enough time for an interesting life.
- Can you give a specific example of current hobbies?
D.K.:
Now I am reading a very interesting book, written by a professor at the University of Cambridge, of Korean origin, Ha Joon Chang - “How the economy works”.
It explains in accessible words that economics, for the most part, is the science of common sense and the sound choice of a person.
It is interesting for me to translate this into our current life, to understand what prospects are opening up in the formation of new economic and currency zones, new geopolitical models, schools, and ideologies.
This affects our current life much more than some of the processes that seem to us to be paramount.
- Listening to you, I remembered how 30 years ago I did an interview with Alexander Karelin, in which he said that it was impossible to live in Russia and not be interested in politics.
DK:
A close relationship with politics is a natural process in any politically developed state.
And “politics” should be understood not only as activities aimed at governing the state, but also the ability to establish ties in society.
There is an economist, Mikhail Khazin.
In one of his latest books, Stairway to Heaven, he just talks about the fact that politics is almost everything that surrounds us.
Any person who has achieved something in his life, one way or another, is related to politics and its system.
- Do these words mean that you see your post-sports life in political organizations? In the same State Duma, for example?
DK:
I would like to do something worthy for my country, which would be significant.
By my country, I mean Russia - I can’t imagine myself in a different status.
I don't want to go anywhere, I want to live here, I want to develop here and be involved in making the country better.
And, believe me, there is no pathos in my words, but only sincere love for the Motherland.
- Is there any purely sports activity that is not related to figure skating, in which both of you would really like to try yourself?
A.B.:
Karting, racing.
I went karting in Sochi with Dima, and with other guys from our group.
I really like the speed itself.
With pleasure I would try to ride behind the wheel of a racing car.
DK:
For me it's golf.
I like it when there is aesthetics in sports, a ritual process, enjoyment of this process.
It's no secret that I occasionally play tennis.
I love everything about it: packing my training bag, tying my sneakers, going out on the court, getting my racket, warming up, feeling this wooly ball in my hands.
The pleasure of the process helps a lot to rebuild, to switch the head.
When you do something professionally, you, to some extent, can no longer work exclusively for pleasure.
Because the profession one way or another takes away from you not only strength, but also emotions.
And it slowly becomes a routine.
I learned to make up for this by developing in other areas.
“Imagine, now Tiger Woods is sitting on one of the California ice rinks and says to his friends: “Finally, I can put down this damn golf club, put on my figure skating boots, slowly lace them up, enjoy the feeling of smooth skin, sliding blades ... »
D.K .:
I would be very surprised if Tiger Woods is aware of such details about figure skating.
For this to happen, our sport needs to develop strongly in all directions.