Interview and Translation: Adian Pitkeev

gallavich said:

Adian is on the cover of a magazine:

https://vk.com/bairta_gazeta?w=wall263553029_215

I think the article is talking about his grandpa - "My Dedushka - Kalmyk." Hopefully they will post the text.

Click to expand...

It has surfaced! - https://vk.com/podslushano_fk?w=wall-59111489_125493

(To be honest, I didn't hope it would, as I noticed that the cover was of the May issue and thought that if they hadn't posted it already, they hardly would - but they did )
I'll try to translate it when I have time...

I had a go at translating, Russian isn't my first language and it's always difficult to translate anyway so some things are a bit off, haha. It was good practice for me though, as a student of Russian!

"We agreed to meet with Moscow figure skater Adian Pitkeev at the place where he usually trains - at the Crystal Rink. On his break, the "young chap" approached us, with Slavic features that in no way fit with his native Kalmyk first name and surname. But this is only the first sight (first impression)…
2014-15 season was very successful for 17-year-old Adian. Firstly, he won gold at the Russian championships (Jr) and silver at JWC, and then, having already moved up to Seniors, he became the bronze medallist at Russian nationals.


"I want (to be like) Yagudin"

- Adian, thank you for making time to meet with us, despite your busy training schedule, which lasts from 1pm to 8:30pm every day, except Fridays. Tell us, what did your journey in figure skating begin with?
- I was only three and a half years old when, after seeing Alexei Yagudin's performance at the Olympics in SLC on television, I told my mother: "I also want to skate like that." And she brought me to my first ice rink, which was located near our house. Since then, for 13 years of my life there has been constant training. Since the transition to Juniors, and then into the Senior Russian team, the training schedule has become even tougher. But also, like in my childhood, I get pleasure from the fact that I'm on the ice. Sure, I am not able to walk around often, or socialise with friends…

- And why did you choose singles skating? Is it easier to rely only on yourself?
- Overall it is not so. For pair skating I do not fit in their parameters. Pair skaters have to be tall, around 185cm, and dancers - slightly lower, but my height is only 167cm.

- Everything you get, for example, is most difficult for you - quad toeloop, it seems…
- In fact, every figure skater has their difficulties. For example, someone has bad sliding (assuming this means skating skills/edges?), but in the emotional aspect everything is good - can please viewers, and charm the hall (/stadium/whatever). For another skater - they have great skating skills and there is contact with the public, but they struggle with their jumps. For me, everything is kind of ok with my jumps, but it's difficult to connect with spectators. Modern figure skating is progressing, the rules are quickly changing and now it's important to be universal. In order to manage everything - jumps, skating skills, and with emotions, would be in order. In this sence the Japanese have a strong school - they have everything balanced, high quality training, and emotional mood (??). It's not surprising that today they are the strongest.

-Progress in women's singles skating is obvious: Sotnikova's gold medal at Sochi, Tuktamisheva - at the recent world championships 2015. And when will we rejoice for our male singles skaters? And today is there a figure skater in the world who is the unconditional leader?
- No, there is not such a leader, and probably, there cannot me. For example, in Sochi 2014 the Japanese Yuzuru Hanyu was first, but at the recent WC 2015 he lost to Spanish Javier Fernandez. That is, the leader can easily shift. Why? In our type of sport, a large occurrence is that athletes grow, they improve figure skating schools. Well, and of course, another common reason - injuries.

- Which famous figure skater is your idol?
- Alexei Yagudin, and from the current skaters - Canadian-Japanese Patrick Chan. At that Olympics in 2002, with which, strictly speaking, I started my sporting path, Yagudin took the gold, and his style since then is a benchmark of male skating. Now the rules have changed, and today in skating just Patrick Chan has that balance and harmony I spoke about.

Don't worry, boy!

-Adian, how do you adjust to (prepare for?) a performance, and cope with nerves? Do you have a talisman for good luck?
- It's different for everyone. Some people have to put on their left or right skate first and step it onto the ice. Evgeni Plushenko, for example, on the eve of a competition, doesn't shave, girls carry a soft toy, some people instill in themselves "I am the best of all", and so on. And this is not considered shameful. I don't really believe in the magic of these "secret" ritualistic things. I prepare internally, I tell myself "Don't worry, man, everything will be alright." My grandpa gave me a bracelet in the form of beads, sometimes I take it with me. And also my aunt from Kalmyk gave me buddhist beads from juniper beads (?). I have them at home. She ordered it specially in the Elista khurul for me.

- Do you get really upset if you have skated poorly, or made mistakes?
- I get upset, of course, but I keep it inside. I can share it with my friends, I have two good friends. But I never bother my mother, my father, especially my grandpa or grandma with bad moods or sad thoughts. Even at deciding competitions overseas I don't phone them. I just turn off my phone, and they got used to this a long time ago. I tell them about it when I come home. Even if I'm performing in Moscow, I ask them not to come - once again I will get nervous, knowing that the people closest to me are in the arena.

- Reading your interviews in sporting papers, I noticed, that you answer confidently enough to the rather uncomfortable, biting questions of journalists.
- In fact, I don't always manage this confidently, although in the last time, it seems, I started to answer more thoughtfully. Overall, since my childhood I have been very shy, short-spoken, until I was 14 I generally didn't walk outside, I was shy/embarrassed/ashamed(?). Around three years ago came the comprehension happened of all events, you could say that I looked at everything more seriously, in particular, at what I do in a different way (sorry, this makes no sense, not really sure what he's saying here…).

- You grew up, probably?
- I became confident in my sporting life, on the ice, but here in reality, that is in my relationships with people, I still remained uncertain. For example, sometimes a person in communication with you really starts to leave from "the framework", they become impudent, rude, and I can't do anything about it: I can't also answer rudely, nor say anything directly - I'm scared of offending? The person loses their temper, and I don't understand why.

- You, in my opinion, are simply kind and humble. And these are good qualities in life. Tell us, how do you treat criticism? And praise?
- Towards criticism - positively. It helps me to become better. For example, I thought that here I needed something, and this is great, awesome, and, ah, no, it seems I was really wrong. When there is praise, I, of course, hesitate, I feel uncomfortable, but I like it.

- What is your strong side? And your weak side?
- I don't know, I find it difficult to talk about myself. My friends say that I'm kind and responsive. And I nevertheless consider my weak side to be excessive modesty (this was hard to translate, may be wrong, haha, as if this is what he's saying, he's making quite an ironic statement).

- Your mother, Olga Byacheslavovna, says that you are headstrong and purposeful. In your childhood you wrote stories, and gave them only to your grandma to read. And two years ago you made yourself a goal - to learn to play the electric guitar, and now you gladly perform difficult things. Tell us?
- One day in America I saw how one of my young acquaintances played the guitar so well. And I thought to myself "I also want (to play like that)!". I learned to play from the computer, I taught myself, and then I met with my friends, we played together, and now we repeat.

- I understood that you are a "man of action". You came, you saw, you did - the principle of a winner. You are studying in the 10th grade, do you have time?
- I finished the tenth grade ok. And now, unfortunately, I don't often go to school. It's very difficult to combine studies and training. The journey to the rink takes an hour and a half, and the way back is the same.

My grandpa is Kalmyk.

- Who named you Adian? Do you know what this name means?
- It was a friend of my grandpa's family with my grandma, Dyugev Adian Nimeevich, a famous doctor in Moscow, a doctor of medical sciences. Therefore my father decided to call me Adian, so that I, as he says, would not forget about my Kalmyk roots. And my mother also liked this name. And it translated from Sanskrit as "sun".

- Generally, looking closer, one notices Mongolian features in you…
- Maybe, you see, my grandpa was purely Kalmyk. Pitkeev Valeriy Ivanivich, colonel PVO, he is retired. But my grandma and mother are Russian. But all the same, people often immediately ask who my father is. They also say that I was born with a Mongolian mark. And in my family I am an only child.

- Have you been to Kalmyk?
- I have been twice, when I was six and when I was eight years old. I remember the last time I went, I caught a fish and fell from the bridge into the water - the fish seemed to be too large. And my grandparents go to Kalmyks twice a year - in May and November. My grandpa's brother lives there, uncle Victor, honoured artist of the republic, he played the Saratov harmonica in the ensemble "Tyulpan". His wife, aunt Galya, danced in this ensemble, and is also an honoured artist. My grandpa's sister, Lyubov Ivanovna Injieva is an honoured teacher of the republic. Now in May I wanted to go to Elista with my grandma and grandpa, but, obviously, it's not happening. It was revealed that my coach Eteri Tutberidze and I will go in May to America.

- Tell us about your parents, are they strict? What sort of traditions do you have in the family?
- They are not strict, they are democratic. My parents are simple, good people. My father is head of the department of logistics, and my mother now doesn't work, she provides us warmth and comfort of home. My father loves football, he is a fan of TSKA. And my grandpa is very kind, he always wants that I always win. He was born in Siberia, then became a soldier, commanded a company. My grandparents met in Kazakhstan and for forty years of their life together in army duty they travelled around almost all of Russia. He is strict, but he loves me. My grandma is an honourable worker of Russian education, and she and my grandpa are my most passionate fans. And I also have my friends at home - a pomeranian, a British cat and a talking parrot, Zhako. I come home tired after training, and they meet me, they run to me in my room and in seclusion, we play. Our cat is arrogant, with a haughty appearance, and loves comfort, the dog is agile, sweet, and Zhako loves to hug and kiss and be patted.

- What does sport give you?
- You could say that sport educated me (in terms of growing up). The constant trainings toughen my spirit, accustom me to hard work and exposure. In some situations, people can panic, lose heart, but athletes are able to cope with all this. And about the fact that a lot of sport improves health, I would argue. Figure skating is a sport with a high danger of injuries.

- And in conclusion: what would you like to wish our readers?
- That you all live happily and that your republic flourishes.

Aw thanks a lot for your kind effort, iskate! The translation is already very precious for us who don't really know Russian.
And thanks to gallavich and borzaya for bringing the links!

Adyan sounds kind and humble (maybe a little bit too humble), like the interviewer said. Also he seems really, really introverted (even more than I'd thought)... It's glad to hear that he has a very supportive family behind his back.

For anyone interested, Adyan's VK fan group provided a text version of this interview.

Thank you !!