“He said he didn’t want to change anything”: Annabel Morozov - about parting with Narizhny and the desire to become a champion

- In mid-February, you paired up with David Narizhny, after a few months of training you acquired the status of one of the best Russian dance duets, won two stages of the Russian Grand Prix and ... suddenly decided to leave.

Can you at least give a general idea of ​​what happened?

- I had no desire to leave, the circumstances just happened.

This is probably a situation in which no one is to blame, but it’s impossible to stay together.

- According to Irina Zhuk, under whose leadership you and your partner trained in Moscow, the reason for the gap is Narizhny's refusal to prepare for the Russian Championship in America, since there is very little time left before the tournament.

- Not certainly in that way.

We started having problems as a couple back in the summer, when we trained in Florida for three months.

I saw David didn't like it very much.

It was the first time he left his parents for such a long time, so it was hard for him emotionally.

Plus, stomach problems began - he could not eat American food.

I tried to help, cooked the food myself, but it helped little.

It all ended with the fact that we stopped even getting out somewhere, since David did not want to leave the house.

Stopped sharing problems, closed.

I hoped that the situation would change when we returned to Moscow, but this did not happen.

In addition, it became uncomfortable for me to train in Moscow - there were reasons for that.

- Sadly…

- We, in principle, from the very beginning understood: there could be difficulties, because, being in Moscow, I miss my parents who live in the USA in the same way.

I was not always comfortable, especially when I had to live in Novogorsk at a sports base for two years.

Therefore, we, in fact, decided: we will train in one or another country, especially even before the Beijing Games, my father (Nikolai Morozov.

), Alexei Gorshkov, with whom I skated with Andrei Bagin, and Irina Zhuk with Alexander Svinin, who trained David, united in one coaching team.

It seemed to imply that we would not be left without attention under any circumstances.

After the stage in Kazan, which ended on November 7, that is, more than a month and a half before the start of the Russian Championship, I persuaded David to fly to America for two weeks.

I thought we needed to change and correct a lot of things in the programs.

That is, to do everything possible to prepare as well as possible for the Russian championship.

But he was against it, despite the absence of any visa and financial obstacles for this trip.

Then I, in fact, asked him how he imagines our training with him next season.

- And what did he answer?

- He said that he did not want to change anything, because everything suits him, and you can develop in terms of sports on your own, not really relying on coaches.

But I can't do that.

I am not an Olympic champion, I do not have enough experience to work independently and, moreover, progress without outside help.

I can, say, change some part in the program, but at the same time I am not sure that

it will work out

better than a professional trainer.

I constantly need an outside perspective.

Naturally, I wanted to have a partner with whom we would always support each other.

And it hurt to be convinced otherwise.

- How was it decided not to compete in the Russian Championship?

- When we talked, discussing our own future, I, frankly, wanted to hear that maybe I'm wrong, all my doubts are far-fetched, David still wants to ride with me and is ready to take some steps for this, and in general, it is stupid, finally, to leave after so much work has been done.

But that did not happen.

There were only some reproaches and not the slightest attempt to somehow fight for our couple not to cease to exist.

We didn’t decide then whether we would prepare for the Russian Championship, but then I received a message from David: “I am writing to the federation that we are not participating, right?”

The point here is not that David did not want to fly to America after Kazan, but in much more global things: which of us and how sees his own future in dancing.

And how do you see your future?

- Probably, the way all athletes see it: I want to become a champion.

Although, in fact, I don’t want to win any particular title, but to be remembered by the public, by specialists.

With what partner it can happen, I don't know yet.

- Have you thought about looking for a partner in America?

- I thought.

Moreover, I do not rule out such a possibility if it fails to do this in Russia.

It's hard to guess something here.

- In dancing, it is believed that partners need to slide for a long time before they are paid attention to.

- Before I started skating with David, I didn’t have to change a partner, and, frankly, it was scary: with Andrey Bagin, we had to learn some elements for a long time, and generally get used to each other for a long time.

I was much younger than him and just didn't understand a lot of things.

Did a lot of things wrong.

- For example?

- I didn’t try to say or ask something once again, I didn’t think that you need to look at your partner while skating, contact with him, work for each other.

At first it seemed to me that everything would be just as difficult with the new one.

But it turned out to be much easier, because I already understood a lot myself, including how to avoid previous mistakes.

Therefore, now I am not afraid of the thought that I will have to start a lot from the beginning.

What is the most important thing for you in a partner?

— So that he wants to achieve the result as much as I do.

That this should be in the first place.

I understand very well that we could have good results with David.

But it is pointless to make long-term plans when there is no mutual understanding within the couple to such an extent.

Sooner or later everything will break anyway.

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- I am surprised that with such a professionally successful father, the desire for results is so strongly developed in you.

We could live in pleasure, and in any country, get an education, have fun with friends, without denying ourselves anything.

“I just love riding.

Always liked it.

When mom and dad had already broken up, dad took me for the weekend, and we went to the skating rink.

My father then had a large group in America, in which Shae-Lynn Bourne, Daisuke Takahashi, Florent Amodio, Javier Fernandez, Miki Ando trained at different times, and I skated on the same ice - I repeated some elements, pieces of programs.

Then she began to perform as a single skater.

I liked the audience, I liked everything.

I remember how Maxim Kovtun and I went to McDonald's.

I was ten years old and he was 15 or 16. With Shae-Lynn and Miki Ando, ​​we still keep in touch.

- Who is easier for you to understand - Russians or Americans?

- I wouldn’t say that I have problems communicating with anyone, but mentally I’m definitely not an American.

Father is Russian, mother is French.

The fact that parents live in America does not change anything in this regard.

- All the skaters who have ever trained under the guidance of your father said that no other director puts on such convenient programs as Nikolai Morozov.

— It really is.

Dad is a very creative person, so training is never boring, even when you have to skate for seven hours in a row and change some pieces in the program 100 times.

To be honest, I have not yet seen programs that I would like more than my father's.

In the same way, I didn’t notice that one of the directors skated so well.

- By the way, I noticed that the author of absolutely all your programs with both Bagin and Narizhny, according to the English version of Wikipedia, is the father.

- Every time we tried to put the program from someone else, they failed.

Dad thought he could do better, and he did.

Even when he watched other couples perform, he always noted in what places he would change the program if he put it on himself.

He explained why, in his opinion, it is inconvenient for athletes to skate in certain productions.

And it has always been very reasonable.

- At the same time, while you were skating with Bagin, as far as I know, Nikolai constantly sent you to train with other specialists.

What's the point?

- In the fact that, according to the father, this allowed not only to gain some new knowledge, but also to compare yourself with other couples.

It really was great.

Therefore, I still try to work with a variety of specialists at every opportunity, if possible.

In this case, you constantly seem to receive nourishment from new ideas, new views.

When Bagin and I skated with Alexei Gorshkov in Odintsovo, the coach also did not mind that we were working with other teachers in parallel.

- And how did Alexander Svinin and Irina Zhuk feel about this initiative, with whom you started skating, paired with Narizhny?

- Each time I asked in advance whether I could contact one or another specialist.

Nobody ever forbade me to do this, but there was a feeling that this was not very accepted in the group.

- Which of the coaches through whose hands you went through was the coolest to work with?

“You can’t say that right away, because everyone is very different.

Marina Zueva is an absolutely outstanding master in explaining the idea of ​​the program in detail, putting gestures, a look, so that the program plays as much as possible and makes the strongest impression.

She knows a lot, constantly talks, and her energy is enough not only for all the athletes, but also for a bunch of her pets.

Igor Shpilband did not miss even the smallest technical detail: he could always explain how best to make an arc or enter one or another element into the program.

Plus, I really liked looking at Igor's other couples: how they train, communicate with each other.

It's also a very big school, actually.

- If everything works out quickly and you find a partner, will you leave to train with him in America?

- Absolutely not necessary.

I never intended to move to America and live there permanently.

There are also coaches from whom you can learn a lot in Russia, and I don’t want to say at all that it is better on the other side of the ocean in this regard.

Everywhere has its advantages.

It just seems to me that if athletes have the opportunity to train in different countries, this should be used.

- If the competition is lost, are you able to feel happy?

- Yes.

But only if you skated well and did everything and even a little more.

I always remember that sport is sport and someone can be better even with my perfect performance.

It hurts when a pair turns out to be higher, which in reality was not the best.

- Hand on heart, did you and Bagin hope to get to the Beijing Olympics last season?

- At first I did not believe in such an opportunity, because I thought that Zagorski - Gureiro would fight for the third vacancy.

But Tiffany, who we are friends with, once said that she and John would most likely not be able to qualify for the Games due to her illness, and even said something from the series: “You have a chance.”

But then everything turned upside down and it turned out: there is no chance, there is only one candidate for third place in the national team, and it's not us.

Did you understand it yourself?

- Dad, even before the start of the competition, advised Andrei and I not to have any illusions.

He said in advance, because he did not want us to be upset about this.

But I still got upset.

I've been thinking about these Games all year.

That the ice is slippery, everyone falls and there might really be a chance ... We worked like hell for this chance.

Well, yes, I understood everything in my head.

And yet, for the next month, it was very hard for me to watch others ride.

- Tamara Moskvina said not so long ago that for the sake of the result, an athlete must be able to push everything personal into the background.

Do you agree with this?

“So we have to do this all the time, one way or another.

I can’t, say, go to a meeting with a girlfriend in the evening if I have a workout in the morning.

I can’t go to some party on the weekend if I have to compete next week.

This is fine.

Yes, I know there is a life after sports, it is completely different and perhaps no less interesting, but for now I like to be focused on what I consider to be the main thing in my current life.