Immediately after the Russian jumping championship, the skaters went to Novogorsk near Moscow to begin preparations for the Spartakiad of the Strongest. “I wanted to work without prying eyes,” Gallyamov explained this strategy.
— During your performances this season, including the Russian Championship in Chelyabinsk, there was a strong feeling that you are so strong, and, most importantly, stable, that you simply cannot lose to anyone - that is, you have perfected everything you do on the ice. And suddenly - defeat from Elizaveta Osokina - Artyom Gritsaenko in the personal jumping tournament. Do you attach importance to this yourself?
Anastasia Mishina:
In fact, this tournament is non-standard. And the rules are very different from our usual competitions. Therefore, it seems to me that there is no point in taking the result as some kind of serious defeat. A small mistake was made, the other pair turned out to be better. This is fine.
“Has it really not even crossed your mind that those who always walked behind you actually turned out to be much more dangerous rivals than they might have seemed?”
A.M.:
No. At the end of the tournament, Sasha and I, for example, received a separate prize for the best throw. But this particular element did not turn out very well in the semi-finals. That's why we actually lost. Therefore, we did not have any thoughts that something was going wrong.
— Sasha, do you agree with your partner?
Alexander Gallyamov:
The Russian Jumping Championship is, after all, not so much a sporting competition as a show, a slight distraction from the usual work environment. There is absolutely no point in taking him very seriously. Plus - specific regulations. You must not only complete all the elements flawlessly the first time, but do them in every subsequent round. If you remember last year’s victory in the jumps of Grigory Fedorov, this is exactly what he won. I probably did about ten quadruple lutzes in a personal tournament. This is precisely the meaning of the competition: you need to be able to stamp out the elements, no matter how many times you have to perform them.
A.M.:
In regular competitions, you can score points through other elements. And here, in fact, the whole intrigue is that there is no such possibility.
— Watching how you performed at the CSKA Arena for three days, I thought that for athletes of your level this could be a good motivation - to bring each of the elements of the program to the absolute best level in the world.
A.M.:
In fact, our preparation for the tournament did not go entirely according to plan. Several situations arose due to which, for various reasons, we could not train as planned. Therefore, we are glad that, despite all the problems, we were able to prepare well.
— In individual competitions, you were the only pair out of eight who performed all three prescribed elements in one sequence. Was this a strategic move?
A.G.:
Well, you understand, we ride with Moskvina, who likes to arrange everything so that people pay attention to it. Tamara Nikolaevna immediately told us: most likely, other couples will act in the same way - stop after each element, rest a little and move on to the next one. And we, after all, are a couple from the northern capital. So we need to perform everything in the capital’s style, beautifully, with transitions between elements, and the performance itself will be remembered and have a finished look.
“I think everyone appreciated it.”
A.G.:
We felt it too. After qualifying, we went to the locker rooms, where other coaches were already there, and they just told us, like: wow, even with the transitions, you finished skating almost half a minute before the end of the allotted time.
— The strictly limited time, combined with the possibility of a second attempt, did not serve many people well, it seems to me. In general, I think it’s psychologically wrong to go out on the ice with the thought that you can allow yourself to fall. But this very thought was written on the foreheads of some athletes.
A.G.:
Well, in the team tournament we were not limited by time, so we could afford to perform slowly. But there, unlike a personal tournament, there was no room for error. So it turned out that those who declared the quadruple elements found themselves in a difficult position: they had to perform them the first time.
— Is a million rubles in prize money a good motivation?
A.M.:
It seems to me that monetary motivation, if you focus on it, confuses the athlete a little. It’s as if the very meaning of achieving something more, becoming better, is lost. You said about the expectation of failure, which is written on your forehead, but it seems to me that it’s the same with medals and cash prizes: as soon as you start thinking about them, you immediately lose.
— Have you thought about this in Moscow?
A.G.:
You know, when I started my career in single skating and had just moved to St. Petersburg, Kirill Davydenko once told me: “Never think about what you can get from figure skating. Think about how you will do your job, and prizes and medals will come later.” In fact, I remembered these words for the rest of my life. I heard them when I was 10 years old, and I still keep them in my head.
— Has it become easier or more difficult for you psychologically compared to last season?
A.M.:
It seems to me that it’s simpler. Last year was the first without international starts, experimental. Everyone was waiting for something, not knowing what exactly. Now everything is much more predictable. Internal competitions have become more refined; they are really interesting to participate in. Last year, sometimes we didn’t even understand what to prepare for. The current clarity itself provides motivation for preparation. We have a plan. If the situation with access changes somehow, we will be ready.
— Sasha, you are quite active on social networks, you spend a certain amount of time on this, but the number of subscribers is not too large and, it seems to me, does not imply commercial gain. Are you striving for it?
A.G.:
I’m generally not the kind of person who tries to do something just for the sake of money. For me, communicating with fans on social networks is a kind of entertainment. An opportunity to change your mind, move away from your usual routine, from training. I decided to try it and have been doing this for four months now. In principle, it’s interesting. I definitely don’t plan to stop in the near future. And the number of subscribers is growing, by the way.
— Somehow it passed me by: why are you Mishki among your fans?
A.M.:
Apparently, because of my last name.
A.G.:
Initially we had two nicknames - Bears, or MiGs, MiGaliki. The first one took root. Apparently, the fans just like the way it sounds. But we definitely don’t invent this.
— I know that many coaches disapprove of the fact that an athlete is on social networks, as it takes away energy.
A.G.:
Firstly, this is a stereotype. And secondly, to each his own. Although I spend quite a lot of time on social networks, I train and prepare for competitions more than seriously. I am already 24 years old, I have some experience, I know what and when to give up. Tamara Nikolaevna does not prohibit anything in this regard either. He knows that Nastya and I ourselves feel a certain line. We understand what can be posted publicly and what should not be posted.
— As follows from your social networks, you spent New Year’s Eve dressed as Santa Claus. Why didn't you take Nastya with you?
A.M.:
Nastya was out of town, getting ready to celebrate the New Year.
A.G.:
That’s why I worked for two. And on January 1st in the morning we flew to Ilya Averbukh’s show in Krasnoyarsk to skate “The Nutcracker”. We have such an interesting profession: while everyone is resting, we are working. And even if we return to your question about popularity, we have already understood from the example of the New Year’s video: if you post such a video, 200 thousand views are guaranteed.
— I’m still waiting for the moment when you post at least a piece of the program that Anzhelika Krylova choreographed for you, and which you, in the end, did not skate. Or is it still a secret?
A.G.:
In fact, there is no secret. In that program we took two compositions by Lil Jon. The first is a track that was very popular in its years. Such hip-hop, but as if from the previous generation.
A.M.:
It is often used at hockey, basketball, and various gaming events.
— I heard that you really liked this program.
A.M.:
That’s right. This was something completely new for us. But Tamara Nikolaevna looked with her eyes and said that she had already seen this. And she added that she herself sees us with different music.
A.G.:
By the way, it seems to me that “Ode to Joy” turned out to be much more epic and interesting.
- Agree. But here’s what I thought: Marina Neyolova once said that a famous actor very often becomes a hostage to his most successful role. He himself, perhaps, would like something different, but fear arises: the public may not accept it. And this fear greatly limits the artist. Perhaps you too may be afraid of becoming hostage to your assertive and, to some extent, aggressively sporty style? Don't you get tired of it?
A.M.:
For programs we use music and styles that work for the result. If we suddenly feel that it’s no longer working, we’ll start looking for something new. Moreover, our show numbers contain both lyricism and modernity. In "The Nutcracker", they skated the classics. This was also a new experience for us. New images, ballet.
A.G.:
By the way, we thought of leaving the program that we did with Krylova for demonstration purposes. Alternatively, you can post an excerpt on Telegram.
— How does Vladislav Dikidzhi present his dances?
A.G.:
He dances really well. He probably had over a million followers on TikTok? But by the way: in his videos, Vlad dances hip-hop, which I don’t see on his ice. This proves that this style is very difficult to apply in figure skating.
— That’s probably why Daisuke Takahashi’s famous “Swan Lake” made such a strong impression at the time?
A.G.:
This is really not an easy task. You mentioned Daisuke, and I remember Nathan Chen, whose choreographic track was partially done in hip-hop style. Taking hip-hop as the main program format is much more difficult.
A.M.:
Here, it seems to me, it’s a little easier for dancers. They, after all, have special step tracks, a lot of choreographic elements that allow you to diversify the program. There are too many difficult technical problems in pair skating. Sometimes it happens that paired elements are out of tune with the music and style. If this happens, it really hurts the eye.
A.G.:
If you look at our free program, there is quite a bit of parallel skating in it, and we quite consciously tried to get rid of it. In my opinion, it is much nicer when athletes ride in pairs. And not just hand in hand, but so that there are some interesting changes. What can you do in hip-hop? Just dance in parallel somehow, or lightly hug your partner around the waist.
— In pair skating there is now a tendency to include very difficult jumps in programs. Triple Lutz, triple loop. From time to time I even hear talk that Alena Kostornaya and Georgy Kunitsa are going to try the triple axel.
A.G.:
We were the same at first.
A.M.:
We tried the triple Lutz several times in competitions, and there were successful attempts. Now we look quite carefully at the printouts of the results and see that some mistakes are visible in the young couples, who, in principle, perform complex jumps quite consistently. Either the rib is incorrect, then it’s a “kick,” or it’s under-rotated. And it turns out that at this stage it is much more profitable to make a simpler jump, but with greater advantages.
At the same time, we regularly train more complex jumps. Just so that it is possible to quickly make a replacement if the need arises.
A.G.:
I would say if they change the base cost of complex elements. The same triple Lutz now costs even less than before. It is clear that 0.1 is not critical, but for sports pairs the cost of the element could be kept higher. Doubles are much less likely to take this jump than singles skaters. By the way, when Nastya and I skated for the first season, in addition to the lutz, we tried to do a 3 - 3 - 2 cascade in the free program. That is, this also happened.
— What in general, in your opinion, should be most highly valued in pairs skating? In other words, what would you propose to change if you had the opportunity?
A.G.:
Well, look: the fact that after the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang they lowered the cost of quadruples was a definite plus. In pairs skating, many beautiful transitions between elements have appeared, programs began to look completely different. That is, the level of presentation of programs has increased noticeably, which, as I understand it, is what the International Skating Union wanted to achieve.
Now, I think we can move towards giving more significant premiums for complex elements. In Russia we have them at domestic competitions - a point for a quadruple throw, two points for a quadruple twist. So, frankly, I don’t understand the outcry that these elements are not rated highly enough. The fact that bonuses were expected for them was known at the beginning of the season. If we introduce a similar practice at international competitions, it would make our sport even more spectacular.
A.M.:
And I would definitely return the bonus for complex elements that are performed in the second half of the program, as it was ten years ago. As far as I remember, the bonuses were removed due to the fact that many couples put three lifts at the end of the program, and began to break them due to fatigue. That is, it became too traumatic. But you can extend the rule only to jumps and throws. Or allow one lift, one jump and one throw. Then, thanks to the second half, we could gain a little.
— Not long ago I talked with choreographer Sergei Plishkin, who works with Perm sports duets, and he said: add 10 seconds to us and we will show completely different programs. Do you ever feel like you don't have enough time?
A.G.:
When we first install the program and begin to roll it out, it immediately becomes clear that it will not be possible to leave some beautiful pieces of transitions between elements. You just have to throw them away. It's a shame, but there's nothing you can do about it.
A.M.:
I would really like a little more time for choreography, for some dance routines. It would be a little simpler physically, and more creatively, and more interesting for the audience as an actor.
— I have to communicate quite a lot with outstanding athletes who have already completed their careers. It is noteworthy that almost none of them talk about medals when you ask what achievement in life people consider the most important. What is most important in your current life? That same Olympic gold medal that was never awarded at the Beijing Games?
A.M.:
Regarding the medal, I wouldn’t say that we are really looking forward to it now. Time has already passed, and this has become not as important for us as it was a year ago. But as for athletes who are no longer so young, but continue to perform in pairs skating, it is important for us to continue to remain at a high level, to keep this bar. Therefore, you have to constantly think about staying one step ahead. It's really difficult, especially with opponents like they are now. Every year they surprise us more and more, and it’s great that we manage to remain in leadership positions.
— How long are you ready to ride?
A.M.:
It seems to me that such a decision should come on its own. We ourselves will understand when enough is enough. The more important thing is that Tamara Nikolaevna still has a desire to work with us.