This was posted on FSUniverse by Eislauffen. The original interview is in German and I translated Ilia Klimkin's piece :
Interview Ilia Klimkin, Kazan 2006
Q: Congratulation on your return. How did you do this? For a year you were away from the window after your operation on your Achilles.
A: It was very, very difficult. The return after the operation. The healing has been occurring since *this* September. Until then, I could hardly do a thing. I could not get in shape, the jumps were not happening. Then I became depressed. Then I got to know a doctor who helped me get through this. A good person. I worked with him since October. He is sometimes a doctor, other times a psychologist. For this performance, I thank my coaches (Kudravtzev and Irina Kolganova), and I would like to thank all the people who helped me pull out of this hole (slump) that I had fallen in. Only the coaches, the doctor and them (the other people), stood by me.
Q: And did the Federation give you support?
A: What could they do, how can Pisseev support us? Just work, we believe in you, we will wait for you. The Federation cannot be like a mother. They say- we believe in you, we will wait for you, come back. Everything falls upon myself and the people around me, both on the ice and at home, to help me get out of the hole.
Q: Were there any thoughts to stop (skating, retire)?
A: Yes, such thoughts naturally occur. They come when you go to training and before you could do two quads and now you find even triples and quads difficult. Then these thoughts come. In September, the leg swelled up, hurt a lot; I couldn't skate, couldn't jump. And there is nothing one can do about it! The operation was, in our opinion a success, however the organism does not come back so clearly. (My interpretation: the operation was successful, however he didn't recover his feel for his jumps and skating). Either you skate with the pain or you have to be careful [and not do anything]. That's how it is.
Q: You had lost almost a year.
A: The operation was in November 2004, however before I could not skate anymore. The last time I was in Germany (Worlds in Dortmund), I had to give up (ie pull out of the event). Then I was in a few exhibitions. The last time I was in Germany (Ingolstadt, 2004) was before I had to go under the knife. There in Ingolstadt, I was more or less skating on one leg. After the opertation, I was four months off the ice, then I had 3 months rehabilitation with any jumps. By the beginning of the season, by June I did a triple salchow. In July there was a downturn and whatever progress was made was gone. The leg began to hurt again, and then there could be no further progress (recovery wasn't going smoothly). That really felt bad. The people near you, we all train together, are doing things, jumping, and you are sitting at a beginner level and aren't doing anything. That is naturally difficult.
Q: Great that you continued.
A: Thank God there were people who didn't let me give up.
Q: And in what mood did you come to Kazan?
A: We were here a month ago in Kazan, for the Russian Cup (an internal competition not to be mistaken for CoR), and I skated my short program very well. The first clean short program with a quad.
Q: Kazan brings you luck.
A: This is not only a lucky place for me. Here I am always recognized, I have many friends here. I am recognized (appreciated) , and therefore I like to skate here a lot. Here is a very pleasant atmosphere, which is of no small significance. In St. Petersbergy, (CoR) it was more difficult to pull myself together. In Petersbergy, it was very, very difficult! Frist of all, the stadium is cozier (smaller), the spectators are more domestic (friendlier), yes, that does make a difference. There in Petersberg, you feel like you are in a universe, this stadium with 15,000 spectators...it wasn't pleasant to be there. I have skated before in Russia in small championships, and only under the old judging system. It was very difficult in the Cup of Russia (CoR). But here...And I am now in shape and we've been working toward it. Since the beginning of November, the leg has permitted me to train twice a day. I now have stamina to work on the jumps and the transitions. Our work is yielding resuts. What we have done in two months, shows us that it is not has hopeless as we thought.
Q: Are you going to make changes for the European Championships?
A: No, what changes? First I have to skate! Hopefully, the ice will be good. Here the ice in the short program was not especially good. Everyone complained about it. It was very rough and there were big holes in it. And when you get caught in a hole, there is nothing you can do. In the short program, I caught a bad piece of ice. The jumps were already over, I wanted to forget about it, and I decided to to just go ahead [literal translation: give it gas and accelerate immediately] move one, it [the fall] already happened.
Q: How much pressure was there, since there was only two spots for the Olympics?
A: Yes! As the situation with Andrei Gryazev shows, one can mess up and be far down in the standings. There was a lot of pressure. It was very difficult to go out, for everyone in the short program. In the long program it wasn't any easier, because the boys are now very strong. The boys (younger skaters) want it too, battle and skated very well. One can see the levels (my interpretation: high skill) at these Russian Championships.
Q: The long program was very good, the short program less so.
A: Yes, but in the short program, as I have already said, there was very difficult pressure. There are many who skate at the same level and want to be near the top 3. All want it, all have the ability- the first eight can have the ability to make it to the third position (in other words, it was very deep field), however now everyone knows how to control the excitement. Really though, no one could deal with it, and everyone made goofs (mistakes). Some made more, others made less (mistakes).
Q: Yes, even Plushenko.
A: Even Zhenya, yes. He only did a triple toe loop. I think that Zhenya is not in his best shape now. He made a mistake on his quad toe loop in practice which is not charactistic of Zhenya. Anyhow, not in this quality (my translation: It doesn't matter with the qulaity of skating that happened here). It can happen once in a while, but not so much.
Q: Thank you very much.
Original link:
http://hometown.aol.de/sk8tingworld/homepage/sport.html
Interview Ilia Klimkin, Kazan 2006
Q: Congratulation on your return. How did you do this? For a year you were away from the window after your operation on your Achilles.
A: It was very, very difficult. The return after the operation. The healing has been occurring since *this* September. Until then, I could hardly do a thing. I could not get in shape, the jumps were not happening. Then I became depressed. Then I got to know a doctor who helped me get through this. A good person. I worked with him since October. He is sometimes a doctor, other times a psychologist. For this performance, I thank my coaches (Kudravtzev and Irina Kolganova), and I would like to thank all the people who helped me pull out of this hole (slump) that I had fallen in. Only the coaches, the doctor and them (the other people), stood by me.
Q: And did the Federation give you support?
A: What could they do, how can Pisseev support us? Just work, we believe in you, we will wait for you. The Federation cannot be like a mother. They say- we believe in you, we will wait for you, come back. Everything falls upon myself and the people around me, both on the ice and at home, to help me get out of the hole.
Q: Were there any thoughts to stop (skating, retire)?
A: Yes, such thoughts naturally occur. They come when you go to training and before you could do two quads and now you find even triples and quads difficult. Then these thoughts come. In September, the leg swelled up, hurt a lot; I couldn't skate, couldn't jump. And there is nothing one can do about it! The operation was, in our opinion a success, however the organism does not come back so clearly. (My interpretation: the operation was successful, however he didn't recover his feel for his jumps and skating). Either you skate with the pain or you have to be careful [and not do anything]. That's how it is.
Q: You had lost almost a year.
A: The operation was in November 2004, however before I could not skate anymore. The last time I was in Germany (Worlds in Dortmund), I had to give up (ie pull out of the event). Then I was in a few exhibitions. The last time I was in Germany (Ingolstadt, 2004) was before I had to go under the knife. There in Ingolstadt, I was more or less skating on one leg. After the opertation, I was four months off the ice, then I had 3 months rehabilitation with any jumps. By the beginning of the season, by June I did a triple salchow. In July there was a downturn and whatever progress was made was gone. The leg began to hurt again, and then there could be no further progress (recovery wasn't going smoothly). That really felt bad. The people near you, we all train together, are doing things, jumping, and you are sitting at a beginner level and aren't doing anything. That is naturally difficult.
Q: Great that you continued.
A: Thank God there were people who didn't let me give up.
Q: And in what mood did you come to Kazan?
A: We were here a month ago in Kazan, for the Russian Cup (an internal competition not to be mistaken for CoR), and I skated my short program very well. The first clean short program with a quad.
Q: Kazan brings you luck.
A: This is not only a lucky place for me. Here I am always recognized, I have many friends here. I am recognized (appreciated) , and therefore I like to skate here a lot. Here is a very pleasant atmosphere, which is of no small significance. In St. Petersbergy, (CoR) it was more difficult to pull myself together. In Petersbergy, it was very, very difficult! Frist of all, the stadium is cozier (smaller), the spectators are more domestic (friendlier), yes, that does make a difference. There in Petersberg, you feel like you are in a universe, this stadium with 15,000 spectators...it wasn't pleasant to be there. I have skated before in Russia in small championships, and only under the old judging system. It was very difficult in the Cup of Russia (CoR). But here...And I am now in shape and we've been working toward it. Since the beginning of November, the leg has permitted me to train twice a day. I now have stamina to work on the jumps and the transitions. Our work is yielding resuts. What we have done in two months, shows us that it is not has hopeless as we thought.
Q: Are you going to make changes for the European Championships?
A: No, what changes? First I have to skate! Hopefully, the ice will be good. Here the ice in the short program was not especially good. Everyone complained about it. It was very rough and there were big holes in it. And when you get caught in a hole, there is nothing you can do. In the short program, I caught a bad piece of ice. The jumps were already over, I wanted to forget about it, and I decided to to just go ahead [literal translation: give it gas and accelerate immediately] move one, it [the fall] already happened.
Q: How much pressure was there, since there was only two spots for the Olympics?
A: Yes! As the situation with Andrei Gryazev shows, one can mess up and be far down in the standings. There was a lot of pressure. It was very difficult to go out, for everyone in the short program. In the long program it wasn't any easier, because the boys are now very strong. The boys (younger skaters) want it too, battle and skated very well. One can see the levels (my interpretation: high skill) at these Russian Championships.
Q: The long program was very good, the short program less so.
A: Yes, but in the short program, as I have already said, there was very difficult pressure. There are many who skate at the same level and want to be near the top 3. All want it, all have the ability- the first eight can have the ability to make it to the third position (in other words, it was very deep field), however now everyone knows how to control the excitement. Really though, no one could deal with it, and everyone made goofs (mistakes). Some made more, others made less (mistakes).
Q: Yes, even Plushenko.
A: Even Zhenya, yes. He only did a triple toe loop. I think that Zhenya is not in his best shape now. He made a mistake on his quad toe loop in practice which is not charactistic of Zhenya. Anyhow, not in this quality (my translation: It doesn't matter with the qulaity of skating that happened here). It can happen once in a while, but not so much.
Q: Thank you very much.
Original link:
http://hometown.aol.de/sk8tingworld/homepage/sport.html
