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Alexander AbtSasha Debuts New Season on Hometown Moscow Ice November 17, 2003
As has often been the case in this twenty-seven year old athlete's career, disaster struck soon after in the form of injury. Just one day before Abt was scheduled to fly to the European Championships, he fell on a jump at practice, seriously injuring his landing ankle. After a tremendous start to the season, Abt was forced to withdraw from the event, as well as the World Championships. Despite the injury, Abt skated a record number of shows and exhibitions over the past year, and performed as the headliner with Prince Ice World tours in Japan. Now, after almost ten months since his last competitive event, Abt is back and ready to compete with a spectacular new program, the sensual flamenco Nyah. Kathleen: You grew up with a lot of hardship, perhaps a little better off than some Russian families, but poor by American standards. What was childhood like as a skater for you? Sasha: Hardship? When we started working at six years old! (laughs). If you qualified, you kept moving up. From six years old, I was completely working every morning and only practicing, going to school, then back to the ice, the whole day. But it was good. It kept me busy, which is what my parents wanted do to keep me from going out to the streets. When you're young, it's really hard to keep qualifying, but it was like having a regular job as a little kid. It was so difficult because you want to play, to go outside with the others, but you can't. Kathleen: Who made you keep going, your parents or the state? Sasha: My parents. Usually the families are not very rich and sports is the only way to make some money, so they "give their son to the sport". Kathleen: Did you ever want to stop, to just quit and live a normal life? Sasha: Yes, lots of times. My mom said, "You have to do it - you have to keep working", and that was it. She pushed me. She would shake me out of bed in the morning, and it would be so cold, twenty below zero, and I would want to sleep but I would have to get up and catch the train. My dad was always working and wouldn't get home until around 8:00 at night, sleep, and then back to the factory. He made computer chips and circuit boards, some for the space program. If he worked here [United States], he would be rich, but in Russia he made very little money. When I was little, I fantasized about being a space man, an astronaut. Kathleen: When growing up under the regime of the USSR, did you think of America as "the enemy"? Sasha: Before I left Russia, it had already begun to become like the United States. We had the revolution, and the system from the U.S. came to Russia and our country grew up very, very fast in the American way. Then, when I was thirteen and started traveling internationally and going to the competitions, I couldn't speak English. Now it's the Chinese guys that can't speak English (laughs). But we all wanted to talk with each other and I wanted to communicate, so at first I tried with my hands. I never learned English in school in Russia. When I spent four months traveling in Britain as a teenager with my coach, I really started to learn and speak the language. Kathleen: You're doing two Grand Prix events this season: Cup of Russia, in your hometown of Moscow, and NHK Trophy in Japan. These are the last two events in the season. Is that better because you'll know going into them how your competitors have scored and where you have to place to make it into the Grand Prix Final in December? Sasha: I'm nervous. I haven't competed in a long time. But it doesn't matter which events I skate. I just go out there and do my stuff. I think the new Code of Points will help a lot of skaters and will help the system. Every element will be decided. Everybody will work harder to make points and improve the quality of their programs to get points. The point system makes figure skaters do better quality to get more points. Kathleen: You once told me that when growing up, Kurt Browning was the skater you most admired. Are you nervous about doing a program to music that is one of his signature exhibition pieces? Sasha: Well, I saw Kurt Browning's program, and I like him. He's a super skater. But Zhulin thinks the Spanish style, like my Mask of Zorro program, suits me, and he decided to do that kind of program for me with Nyah. It doesn't look like Kurt's program. Kathleen: You sustained a bad ankle injury last season, the day before you were to fly to compete in the European Championships. It was healing, but then you re-injured it in Japan last summer. How is the ankle now? Sasha: Injuries come from mistakes. It's not "bad luck", it's mistakes. We try to do something better than the others - there's a lot of competition. So, we try our best, keep making changes, and doing new things. Last season with the bad boots, I got injured because I made a mistake. Changing the boots mid-season caused problems. I tried three pairs, nothing felt right. I kept pushing myself, and I got injured. Then in Japan, I was doing a lot of jumps, triples, and the last show I was really tired, and I re-injured it. Now I'm back to my old boots which I've had for four years, I feel so comfortable and I feel ready now. Kathleen: Russians frequently say that they like the friendly, outgoing nature of Americans. Yet, they also say that they have a hard time trusting, and that's why they tend to stick together in Russian cliques. How do you feel about Americans now that you've lived in the U.S. for a couple of years? Sasha: It's not American or Russian. It's up to the people, not about nationalities, but about individuals. We were growing up together and came to a different country together (Me, Roman, Vakhtang, and many others). All of us are friends, and now we are here in America. We speak the same language, so maybe that's why we seem a little bit closed. If American skaters moved over to Russia, it would be the same I think. Kathleen: You have that interesting tattoo on your left shoulder blade. Tell me about the significance of the Dragon. Sasha: I was born in the "Year of Dragon" on the Chinese calendar, and so was my son. He's also dragon because it's a twenty-four year cycle. But I actually got the tattoo when I was sixteen. I was in North Ireland, near Belfast, surfing. A lot of surfers come because there are no sharks, the water is too cold. We had a lot of fun, a lot of partying, and my "present" was the tattoo. The guy who did it for me was called "Sailor Bill" (laughing). It took almost two hours, and it hurt! Kathleen: You are wildly popular in Japan. Are you enjoying your headliner status with Prince Ice World tours? Sasha: I like it. It's a great company, they pay good money, and I think I've done a good job. A lot of people come, and now a lot of skating stars perform with them. I think the reason the Japanese fans love me is because they have very popular cartoons over there - Japanese animation - and I look like one of the characters - the one (smiles) with the big brown eyes and long hair. Kathleen: People can't talk about your career without mentioning the big injuries you've sustained. When you're on television, even the commentators list them as you take the ice. Sasha: I'm the only skater who's had four major operations. When I was really injured and people wrote me off as finished, it's like you're just supposed to cart yourself off somewhere. During that time, only my best friends and family didn't forget me. But I missed so much time. I met my wife right before my big injury, right before I spent all those months in the hospital. I wanted to show the people that cared for me that I could come back. She motivated me. True motivation comes from two things - hate and love. It's two different engines that make people do the crazy things. Kathleen: So that's the love part. What about the hate? Sasha: The hate part? Usually I'm not a hate person. Love motivates me. Some people are motivated the other way - they hate somebody or something, and that pushes them. I'm not that way. I like life. Kathleen: On that note, any more children planned in the near future? Sasha: Yes, (laughing), when I get the house! After the Grand Prix series, Alexander "Sasha" Abt plans to defend his title at the Russian National Championships. If successful, he will compete at the European and and World Championships later this season. Beginning in April, Abt plans to tour for his fans in France and Japan. |
When
Alexander "Sasha" Abt skated his Wonderful World exhibition
at the 2002 World Championships in Nagano, television commentators sadly announced
that his competitive days were most likely over and that he probably would
not be returning for another eligible season. At that time, this appeared
to be the case - Abt was burned out and ready to move on. But the 2002 European
silver medalist sat down with coach, friend, and former World Ice Dance Champion,
Alexander Zhulin, who told him he was making a mistake. Abt re-considered,
a new partnership was formed, and last season, the duo made impressive progress
as Abt won three Grand Prix medals and the Russian National title.