penultimate bit (got tired, will finish tomorrow!)
Q. What have you seen in Milan?
A. I have already been in Milan at Lombardia Trophy. But that time Daniil Markovich and I went to the centre and only walked by Duomo, without entering. But this time Eteri Georgievna and I queued all the way, entered inside. It was so quiet there. And you know, my heart calmed down. Then we went shopping, I bought facial masks, and calmed down completely.
Q. Have you changed a lot this season?
A. Of course, I have got more experience. It made me mentally stronger. I started listen to myself more - what to do, how to deal with warm-ups, listen to my movements, mood. What needs to change, to be removed, to be added. I started control food – if yesterday I drank more water than needed, then liquid intake should be reduced the next day. I started paying more attention to certain things, and not like “I came out on the ice, skated and went free”.
Q. What was the most memorable from the Olympics?
A. Not sure. OG, obviously is the most important competiotion, but to be honest at first I felt like it was an ordinary competition. Only on my way to the Olympic village and back to the rink, passing by the Olympic rings I was realising that I am at OG.
Q. Maybe that was because Russian team performed without the flag and national anthem? What did you feel during the award ceremony?
A. When I was on the podium, I was singing the anthem in my head. You probably saw my face during that? No? there are pictures. At first I didn’t know where to look, then I spotted a flag held by fans and started looking at it. Tbh, I was afraid to start singing the national anthem loudly, so that the IOC couldn’t tell after that I had violated some rules. So was singing in my head. But our hockey players after the final were not afraid and sang it.
Q. After the Olympics in Moscow there were a lot of events, which you had to attend. AT the same time you had to prepare for the Worlds and not to relax. Was it hard?
A. Yes, it was a difficult time for me as after return from Korea I got ill, and being sick I was attending all these events. But I needed this myself. We attended the event with the president of Russia. V.V. Putin marked Zhenya and me in his speech, he awarded us with the orders. After that we spoke a bit, asked for building a new skating rink for our school. There are many people who want to train and all figure skaters and trainers require sufficient space. Of course, it is very good when one gets invited to such events. You thin “Yes! We did it”, but excitement, even if pleasant, takes a lot of energy. You come home and all you want to do is to lie down and not to get up.
But one needs to get ready that you become a public person, everyone wants to communicate with you, you are required to go to events. If you don’t do it, there’s always a person who’d say “She became conceited” or something like that. And I don’t want to be spoken about in this way. I’m not conceited.
Q. Do you get recognised on the streets?
A. After the Olympics I didn’t walk on the streets much as the skating rink is nearby. And then we left for the show, then holidays, and then we went to Izhevsk. In Izhevsk, of course, people know me. In Moscow sometimes the passers by recognise me. Sometimes they ask to take a picture. I never refuse. When we got back from the Olympics, the school organised a fete at the skating rink for us. Of course, now there’s more attention. Sometimes you go to the locker room and some kid might say “Mum, look, that’s Alina Zagitova”. It didn’t use to be like this.
Q. In 2017 you won the junior Worlds, and in 2018 you became Olympic champion. How do you explain such fast progress?
A. We worked very hard. I realised that the main thing in training is to trust your trainers completely. Listen to what they say and do what they advise. Then there will be a result. There are a lot of strong athletes in our group. Young girls jump quads. The competition pushes me forward.
Q. there is an opinion that the figure skating is getting more athletic, technical, and the art and all related things is getting less important. What do you think?
A. The figure skating is both sport and art. We do not just skate our programmes, we want to show and pass our feelings, emotions to spectators. But we get points for our performances, and so we must do it not only artistically well, but to manage to do all the technical elements well too.
The free Don Quixote I skated for 2 seasons. But from the moment of creation and the first skate of this programme to the Worlds this programme had changed a lot. I changed a lot myself. I started to understand better, what I show on the ice. I show a ballerina, who dances this ballet, and I want to tell spectators what my ballerina is feeling. So that before performance when I only put on the tutu, I am changing. I start walk differently, turn my head differently, turn my head, hold my back. I become different. So the figure skating is not only jumps.
Q. Do you have any regrets that your life is different from lives of other teenagers?
A. I like my current life. Every day has a schedule which needs to be followed. But I have enough of interaction with the kids at the rink. We go to competitions, see a lot of new. We communicate with interesting people, because figure skating is such a sport that you can meet with choreographers, dancers, actors, musicians. Personality is developed from childhood, and people who stay in sport are the strongest. So I have a very interesting life.
Q. Who is your best friend?
A. My mum.
Q. You probably do not see you parents very often as you live in Moscow with you grandmother
A. I see my parents. Recently we went on holiday together, to Dominican. We stayed in the same hotel as last time. I liked it. But this time I was a little bored as I was waiting for Masaru. I knew that she would arrive at the end of May. I see my parents during the public holidays. When my little sister has school holidays, she and our mother come to Moscow. When my dad transits through Moscow on the way to the game he calls and we meet. I live with my grandmother. 3 years ago she moved to Moscow for my sake, and my mum, dad and Sabina stayed in Izhevsk. My grandmother is always with me. She is at home, she looks after me, she comes to the rink, tells me about my mistakes, cooks. All the chores are with granny.
Q. Which dish by granny is your favourite?
A. (struggling to translate properly – various pies and sweet things). She cooks tatar pies for occasions. I can eat those, not much, as I need to watch my weight. If you put on additional weight, it will be more difficult to jump, to skate. And I want to look good. But I eat well.
)
And why would they ban him/her? As far as I know sarcasm isn’t prohibited. I certainly have never landed in prison for it
thanks a lot! it must take a lot of time to translate all of that.
