Irina's interview ....

Irina's Interview

Thanks very much for the translation.
Irina is so admirable in the determined way she fights against formidable odds.
Irina is my favorite female skater, and I was sure rooting for her to win her sixth European title.
I hope that Irina will be well rested for Worlds.
I'm glad that she has more training time in Moscow now, without having to travel, in order to be well prepared for Worlds.
GO IRINA!

Mozart-just wanted to welcome you to GS Carlsbad,CA a fine city

lavender said:

Well we were talking about Irina. However Irina is more experience than Sasha. Irina also said that Michelle's not two faced awhile ago.

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So you say she's two faced, but then believe her when she says that Michelle is not? If you're going to discredit her, then don't use her word to back one of your beliefs.

chuckm said:

I also read between the lines that she feels she will win Worlds in Moscow and the OGM in Torino because of the wins she was unfairly deprived of it in 2001 and 2002

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I thought she only talked about past experiences, and didn't mention future ones? You're kind of reaching there. And I actually don't think she's talking about quid pro quo from the judges. She said something about a "higher fairness", which I take to mean that you lose some that you should've won and you win some that you should've lost, and that it all balances out in the end. Call me naive, if you like.

Jimena

Lost In Translation

I strongly suspect some of what Irina was trying to get across has been lost in translation. Russian "meaning" doesn't translate easily into English. Irina has always been very upfront about how she felt about the Olympics, in short, she felt she should have won. Her federation and government reinforced that feeling. So you can't really blame her for that. She is not two faced and I find her comments refreshingly honest. She has always liked Michelle and has never held her responsible for her placements. As for her medication, she needs them to function, but as someone else posted, they have miserable side effects that can be life altering. I wouldn't wish steroids (she calls them hormones) on anyone. I know because I have had to take them myself. I think we should all have a little charity for a gutsy and hard working young woman who deserves our respect. She is also one h--l of a skater.

Linny said:

Thank you, Yana, for translating. I wish I knew more than one language (if you don't count computer programming languages).

I hear Russian spoken frequently by co-workers. The inflection seems to be different.

Could that explain the difference between Irinia's English inflection and what we read in the Russian translations?

Lin

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Hi Linny.

Could you please explain what you mean by "inflection", especially with regard to the way Irina speaks in English? I would say that the everyday Russian tone of voice would differ somewhat from the American English - which also differs from British English. I personally try to "adopt", and it seems to me Irina "adopts" fairly well (i.e., all the excessive smiling and cheerfulness). I know some people from Slavic spoken countries that do not "adopt" very well and seem to some American English speakers as too abrasive, harsh and sometimes arrogant - only because of their tone of voice.


I am not quiet sure how that would explain some of the things she says to Russian media. I obviously read this interview in print (as opposed to seeing it on a video), and see most of her English interviews on TV. Even if you print the English interviews, they would still seem very pleasant and cheery. This one..if it sounded somewhat dark in print, I can only imagine how she may sound like while answering these questions

I have to say that it's not just Irina who say one thing to foreign journalists and then another to her native country's journalists/ Take T&M for example. They like to say how much they feel at home in Chicago, but then are quoted in Russian as to how much they can't wait for the ice rink to open in STP so they could move back home (it is my understanding there is a new one under construction).

Ptichka raised a very good point here. NA journalists simply won't ask "risky" questions - it's always "how did you feel when you fell" or "how did it feel to win", etc.. Maybe if she were to be asked some challenging questions, then maybe she would actually say something that "controversial".


I still have a feeling she is a bit on the "two-faced" side. Take the Olympics for example. She was very composed and "sportsman"-like on NBC..not so to the Russian media! (and heck, I would never blame her for that!) Or, she was always telling ABC about her close friendship with Sokolova, and now she wasn't happy to share a hotel room?

However, it is her right to say what she wants. She obviously has the reason to send an "I am such a pleasant person" message to the American public, after all, that's where she spends her summers touring and making the money, which pay for her and her mother's medications. But isn't that a characteristic of a two-faced person???

Yana

STL_Blues_fan said:

Hi Linny.
Ptichka raised a very good point here. NA journalists simply won't ask "risky" questions - it's always "how did you feel when you fell" or "how did it feel to win", etc.. Maybe if she were to be asked some challenging questions, then maybe she would actually say something that "controversial".Yana

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I think American sports journalists consider figure skating a little girls sport and they don't want to hurt any mother's feelings.

I don't know if Christine Brennan does interviews. I'm sure she could be quite risky if she did (does).

Joe

Joesitz said:

I think American sports journalists consider figure skating a little girls sport and they don't want to hurt any mother's feelings.

I don't know if Christine Brennan does interviews. I'm sure she could be quite risky if she did (does).

Joe

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Well, she just did at US nationals, not risky at all. at least from my point of view.

mzheng said:

Well, she just did at US nationals, not risky at all. at least from my point of view.

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Just being so American sugary sweet. It is a little girls sport in the USA.

Joe

Yana, I agree with your comments about Irina, especially that last bit about her relationship with Elena Sokolova. I had always thought they were great friends, so Irina's comments about not wanting to share a room with her really surprised me. I can certainly understand not wanting, in general, to share a room at a competition, just for the sake of privacy. But Irina seemed to take it a step further and make it more personal by implying that she specifically didn't want to share with *Elena* (as opposed to just anyone). Not very friendly to her supposed good friend.

I got the feeling that she didn't like sharing a hotel room because she and Elena are on different "body clocks", so one would be moving around when the other wanted to sleep, or they each had pre-competition jitters, and were making each other's worse, but maybe Irina is just too courteous to say that Elena snores.

eyria said:

Yana, I agree with your comments about Irina, especially that last bit about her relationship with Elena Sokolova. I had always thought they were great friends, so Irina's comments about not wanting to share a room with her really surprised me. I can certainly understand not wanting, in general, to share a room at a competition, just for the sake of privacy. But Irina seemed to take it a step further and make it more personal by implying that she specifically didn't want to share with *Elena* (as opposed to just anyone). Not very friendly to her supposed good friend.

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I took that comment as more that since they were competing against one another , there was added stress b/c both girls have different sleep schedules etc and that combined with the normal competitive stress probably created problems. There's no doubt that these girls probably are friends off ice, but usually in a competitive situation one is focused on the task at hand and is probably not in the mood for socializing. Even though MK and Irina are friends and there is a lot of friendly interaction between them, I bet neither MK nor Irina would want to be roomates at a competitive event.

As for the two face comments: I notice that in all of these Russian interviews the athletes tend to slam America (ie Yagudin saying how he will never train in the US) yet it seems that they are quite happy touring in the US. I wonder if it's just the thing to do in interviews.

Question: Is Sokolova the "Best Friend" Irina mentioned in one of her interviews? I can't recall.

The remarks about Sokolova about sharing the room seem a bit catty. However, I can also understand that during a competition you can't let your guard down and sharing a room with someone is no fun. But the remarks are still a bit catty from someone who told national newspapers that they were close friends.

I just thought that since Irina got a another chance in life and have a new found love and joy in skating, she'll be able to move on instead of dwelling of "what should have been mine" mentality. Oh well....

I didn't take her comments about sharing a room with Elena as anything personal against her. Irina specifically mentioned that they went to bed and got up at different times. That can be very frustrating if you really need your sleep (like for a competition and you're not feeling well to begin with).

I have a friend that I've known since college and we are going on a trip this weekend. I love her dearly, but I am dreading having to share a hotel room with her. Our personnal habits just don't mix well. I know this because we tried to share a dorm room in college and it almost tore the friendship apart. Sometimes you just can't live with a friend.

soogar said:

As for the two face comments: I notice that in all of these Russian interviews the athletes tend to slam America (ie Yagudin saying how he will never train in the US) yet it seems that they are quite happy touring in the US. I wonder if it's just the thing to do in interviews.

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When did Yagudin say he will never train in the USA? He actually trained in the USA with Tarasova. I don't think you got your facts right.

Touring a country is quite different from living there to train. It means living away from family and friends, working long hours, feeling lonely, etc.- everything a person in a foreign land goes through. Touring with shows is a very different environment, and they know it is only going to last a few months. Plus they are preparing for the skate every day, which makes it easy to focus.

Vash

Soogar, I noticed that too. In foreign press particularly the Russian journalists, it's like they answer the questions with "I want to go back to Mother Country. America is very materialistic BUT I'm building a home here just for investment..."
Yep, that's how you handle the Russian Press

soogar said:

As for the two face comments: I notice that in all of these Russian interviews the athletes tend to slam America (ie Yagudin saying how he will never train in the US) yet it seems that they are quite happy touring in the US. I wonder if it's just the thing to do in interviews.

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The Americans didn't respect his right to drunk driving. :sheesh:

Joe

Vash01 said:

When did Yagudin say he will never train in the USA? He actually trained in the USA with Tarasova. I don't think you got your facts right.

Touring a country is quite different from living there to train. It means living away from family and friends, working long hours, feeling lonely, etc.- everything a person in a foreign land goes through. Touring with shows is a very different environment, and they know it is only going to last a few months. Plus they are preparing for the skate every day, which makes it easy to focus.

Vash

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The facts were right. It is though some years ago that Yagudin mentioned that "he will never leave Russia like Kulik did. He loves Russia."

I think that it is quite natural that e.g. Russian skaters love their own country, and put it on the first place in their heart. My guess is that under similar circumstances American skaters working in a foreign country would have similar feelings?

For someone who "loves Russia", Yagudin has done some strange things---like wearing a Canadian jacket at an international competition. The Russian press was outraged about that.

Ita...

mpal2 said:

I didn't take her comments about sharing a room with Elena as anything personal against her. Irina specifically mentioned that they went to bed and got up at different times. That can be very frustrating if you really need your sleep (like for a competition and you're not feeling well to begin with).

I have a friend that I've known since college and we are going on a trip this weekend. I love her dearly, but I am dreading having to share a hotel room with her. Our personnal habits just don't mix well. I know this because we tried to share a dorm room in college and it almost tore the friendship apart. Sometimes you just can't live with a friend.

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I too have friends and even FAMILY that I love dearly, but would never want to share a hotel room with.

I also interpreted Irina's comments along the lines of God making things right just to be reflective of the notion that sometimes things in life don't seem fair at the moment, but things have a way of working out in the end. Another poster said this more eloquently than I am.

I admire Irina's success as an athlete, and I applaud her for fighting back from an illness. I say give the woman a break.

DG