Mathman said:
In truth, when it comes right down to it, what do we expect from an interview with any athlete?
An example how the interview could have gone with a better interviewer and two, well, "different" or "different behaving" girls.
DISCLAIMER: the following text is completely fictional, I know neither Miss Nagasu nor Miss Zhang - it is purely meant to illustrate my opinion on this.
Int.: Hey Mirai, hello Caroline - it's great you two could take some time to do this interview.
Girls: It's our pleasure. (right, I suck at speaking girl - would they say "It's our pleasure"?)
Int.: You two have known each other for a long time - how long exactly?
Girls: (well, what they said in the interview)
Int.: So you can't see each other very often - how do you make your friendship work?
Mirai: Sometimes it's really difficult. But that's what friendships are all about - you have to keep in contact, work for the friendship. So we try to write mails and call each other.
Int.: You are also rivals, not just friends. Does that have an impact on your friendship?
Caroline: Hmm. To some extend I guess. You know, last season - between the GPF/JGPF and Nationals we met quite a few times, exchanged christmas gifts etc. - and sometimes I couldn't help but thinking: how hard is she working right now for Nationals? Has she fixed her Flutz? Has she been working on those underrotations?
Mirai: Well, I have to agree with Caroline on that one. I also think that our friendship has changed a bit since I, well you know, somehow became equal to her - skating-wise. Before Junior Nationals in 2007 - I was just really admiring her for her skills and everything - and suddenly I was, well, just as good.
Caroline: I admitted that I sometimes have those thoughts about her skating etc. - but in the end our friendship helps me to see skating as what it is - just a sport. It's of course totally important to us - but so is our friendship. So when she wins over me - I am a bit disappointed at first, but then I see how happy she is - so I am happy for her.
Int.: So you were happy for her after she won Senior Nationals this year?
Caroline: I was, I really was. But I was also thinking - that could be you up there. If you hadn't messed up the short, if you had been a bit more confident, not so afraid to make mistakes...
Int.: You were a bit jealous?
Caroline: Yeah, I guess I was. A bit jealous about the medal and the title - but also about the fantastic experience she had, the way she got to enjoy her first Senior Nationals, the way she approached the competition.
Int.: All in all, Nationals 2008 are not filed under Caroline's best life experiences?
Caroline: No. I was stressed out, felt under pressure, felt intimidated - I know that I could have enjoyed it more, seeing all the girls I haven't seen for such a long time. I started to enjoy the whole experience a bit more after the Ladies' long, but I was also disappointed - so it's not one of my all time best weeks.
Int.: How do you like your stay here?
Mirai: It's great, fun, relaxing - and scary and intimidating at the same time.
Int.: How so?
Mirai: Well, it's great being with all these athletes, it's an honour for us. But there are times where I am just thinking: What are you doing here girl? These people have been to the Olympics, got World medals, are sometimes twice as old as you - or twice as tall in Lysacek's case - and they see you as their Senior Ladies Champ and expect you to take your rightful place among them. I am not really comfortable with that role yet - sometimes I would prefer being little Mirai again - who didn't make it out of Regionals in 2005. But then I think about all these things I would have missed, all the traveling I wouldn't have done, all the people I wouldn't have met.
Caroline: I guess success is never just totally amazing, it also results in pressure, in media attention etc. Perhaps that's what we really have to learn - how to deal with that and how to stay true to ourselves. It's not easy.
Int.: Caroline, what's your impression about Champ's camp?
Caroline: I am also honoured to be here. (chuckles) Everybody is saying that! (chuckles again) So I'll say a bit more - of course I am honoured to be here, but I also think that I earned the right to be here. I don't want to come over as conceited or anything, but being here also shows me that all my hard work is paying off. We are working really hard, missing out on a lot of stuff - for example, I don't go to a real school - and being here, among the "elite" just proves to me that despite the sacrifices it's worth it.
Int.: Tell me a bit about what you do when you don't skate or study.
Mirai: I only do the three s: skating, studying, sleeping. Just kidding here. Well, I enjoy watching TV, I am interested in fashion, in hairstyling - stuff like that.
Int.: What kind of TV shows?
Caroline: Don't ask! It's mostly reality stuff: Project Runway, Dancing with the stars etc. She can talk about it for hours and hours. And she got me totally hooked. I never watch that stuff at home - and I still think it's fairly stupid. But I am still watching. I am watching it, thinking that it's stupid and enjoying it at the same time. I am not as much into styling and fashion as Mirai anyway - I enjoy to look good, but once I found a good look I stick with it and don't muse about other possible looks.
Int.: What kind of TV shows do you watch?
Caroline: I actually like watching the news, I think it's important to know what's going on in the world - even if it's devastating. I also enjoy crime shows, you know CSI. I can't watch them very often - but I got the DVDs so if I have time I try to catch up with the storylines on DVD.
Int.: Caroline, what else do you do in your freetime?
Caroline: I really love to read.
Int.: What are you reading right now?
Caroline: I started reading the Jane Austen books a year ago - and have just finished Emma. I am also big on newspapers, crime novels. One of my cousins has this philosophical phase right now and asked me to read, what was the guy's name, Sartre? Well, I stopped after three pages. But perhaps I will try again in a few years.
Int.: What do you love about reading so much?
Caroline: Hmm. You know, despite traveling around the world and stuff - I don't really see that much of the world. But reading, it kind of gives me the possibility experience new stuff, to learn about different lives, different cultures. It's also my way to forget about competition pressure, training and school for a while.
Int.: What are you doing during the summer?
Caroline: Well, skating obviously. There will be a few shows, training the new programs etc. I also want to catch up with some reading, there is still one Jane Austen novel left. I am also looking forward to spend time with my family, for example my sister go this microscope - and told me that she already found lots of stuff to examine, so we are going to do that together. My Mom also tries to convince me to go on a small hiking tour with her, for a weekend or so.
Mirai: Skating and shows, of course. Studying. My Dad also bought this old car - and he thinks that I will have more time during the summer - so I can help him fixing it.
Int.: Your Dad thinks you can help him fixing a car?
Caroline: She is really good with that kind of stuff! There was something wrong with our TV at first. Then Mirai, I don't know exactly what she did, but she was working on the wires. I was like "Oh no, you going to be electrocuted". But she fixed it and it's been working fine ever since.
Mirai: I don't know how I do it, but I always enjoyed technical stuff etc., fixing things... So I am probably going to do that with my Dad. I will also try to catch up with some friends, one of them is planning a pool party in two weeks, I am really looking forward to that. Yep, those are my plans for the summer.
Int.: Well girls, thanks for that amazing interview and I am looking forward to seeing you next season!
Girls: Thanks to you too, it was real fun!
I don't want athletes to make drug references, or some weird jokes nobody gets. They don't have to be rebellious etc. I don't want them to break the law or offend people big time. I am a rather conservative German here, I am all against swear words (in fact, I very rarely use them), keeping certain topics out of a public interview, some details of your life to yourself.
My point is that if I was somewhere between the age of 10 and 15, perhaps mildly interested in figure skating - that interview would have scared me away. It was all about smiles, looks, girlish stuff - I got the impression that there were two dolls with no personality. 14-year-olds are real people, they tend to have real interests, they have lots of personality, their own opinions - why not show that? And the worst thing is that I got the feeling during the interview that at least Zhang is much more interesting than portrayed in the interview.
If a 14-year-old tells me that she enjoys reading - I ask what kind of books she enjoys to read. Or she just could have told the interviewer herself. I also had the feeling that she found Nagasu's TV-shows more amusing than interesting - why not say so? The interview made both girls look completely one-dimensional - and most 14-year-old kids I know are very much three-dimensional and intelligent enough to look behind such a PR-interview.
Of course they are skaters and it should be mostly about skating - but to attract younger people to the sport, younger audiences - you need real people. The real people are the difference between a real figure skating competition and some stupid computer game (I am sure there are computer games that allow you to create your own perfect little skater).
), Alla Kudryatseva after beating Sharapova at the most recent Wimbledon....
I have to assume there was a time constraint on the interview. Also, some parts may have been cut out.
I don't think they're "acting" as "adorable little ice goddesses", I think that's just how they are. And that's not at all surprising - I've met teenagers who speak and act the way Mirai and Caroline do.
