Alina Zagitova
- Thread starter The Finn
- Start date
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2022
Yeah, that journalist is notorious for her vitriol. I think in the same piece she also said that Medvedeva had no talent whatsoever. And that the "next gen" Russian girls - Valieva, Scherbakova, Trusova, etc. were all products of the coaching system without much difference between them. Such nonsense all around. Alina replied firmly and yet politely to that borderline hate-speech.
- Joined
- May 28, 2019
Alina Zagitova and Artur Dalaloyan will take part in the "Golf for Goodness" auction
"On July 28, the Pestovo golf club near Moscow will host the "Golf for Goodness" charity auction in support of the "Constellation of Goodness" Foundation, organized by Liga Stavok (The Betting League) and the Moscow Region Golf Federation. Ambassadors and friends of the Liga Stavok - Olympic champions Alina Zagitova, Artur Dalaloyan, Alexander Bolshunov, Evgeny Rylov will take an active part in the auction.
Alina Zagitova and Artur Dalaloyan will personally present to the public their signature lots with autographs: figure skates and an Olympic jacket."
"On July 28, the Pestovo golf club near Moscow will host the "Golf for Goodness" charity auction in support of the "Constellation of Goodness" Foundation, organized by Liga Stavok (The Betting League) and the Moscow Region Golf Federation. Ambassadors and friends of the Liga Stavok - Olympic champions Alina Zagitova, Artur Dalaloyan, Alexander Bolshunov, Evgeny Rylov will take an active part in the auction.
Alina Zagitova and Artur Dalaloyan will personally present to the public their signature lots with autographs: figure skates and an Olympic jacket."
Last edited:
- Joined
- May 28, 2019
- Joined
- May 28, 2019
Olympic champion in figure skating and star of the Scarlet Flower ice show Alina Zagitova
“And then I broke my arm around the wrist. Due to the fact that I fell a lot on it when I studied new jumps. I went to the competitions with a special light splint, and broke my leg there,” - Alina Zagitova, Olympic champion in figure skating and star of the Scarlet Flower ice show, recalls her path to victory.
— Alina, just recently, in May, you've turned 20. By this moment you have achieved everything that any figure skater dreams of, won all of the titles. You've won the Olympics at the age of 15, the championships of Russia, Europe, Worlds. I can’t even imagine what anyone ca wish for with such a list ... By the way, how did you celebrate your birthday?
— I flew to Dubai. I was alone there, without my family, but my friends Dasha Usacheva and Anya Shcherbakova came there, with whom I train with Eteri Georgievna Tutberidze. This is the first birthday that I did not celebrate with my family, I missed them very much.
— Was there any gift that made a big impression on you?
— When I returned to Moscow, many gifts awaited me, including from my fans from different cities of Russia. I am extremely pleased, they even gave me a certificate for an air balloon ride! In general, soft toys are thrown onto the ice after each performance. Sometimes very big - there were teddy bears taller than me. One of the fans once sent a bouquet of a thousand and one roses. To be honest, I don't even know his name. Fans give me a lot of flowers. Sometimes they are brought to the Khrustalny Ice Palace, where I train. Someone once delivered 14 bouquets of 101 roses. I am grateful to all my fans, they support me, their love is always with me.
— Alina, for several seasons you have been taking part in Tatyana Navka's ice shows. How did it start?
— I have known Tatyana Alexandrovna for quite a long time, I have always admired her numerous merits in sports and, of course, ice shows, which she became the producer of. And when I suspended my sports career and stopped competing, Tatyana Alexandrovna invited me to participate in the winter fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. Now the Sochi theme park is hosting a tour of the Scarlet Flower ice show. From August 6, for a month, I will go out on the ice in the main role of Nasten'ka. I invite everyone who will be on the Black Sea coast at this time to our stunningly beautiful performance.
— Isn't it hard to endure such a rhythm: every day there is a show on ice?
— I got used to it already. I can say that in Sochi that such a tough schedule is not expected, which was, for example, in the winter in St. Petersburg, where the show "The Scarlet Flower" was held two, sometimes three times a day. And now I even have one day off a week. But I'm not going to swim or sunbathe. It is necessary to prepare for the show on the ice, to tune in. For me, work always comes first, and only then everything else. Last year, also in Sochi, I took part in the Ruslan and Lyudmila ice show and swam in the sea only three times in two months. Although, in principle, from the very morning until seven in the evening I had free time, but I prefer not to go to the beach during the day, so that later it would be easier to concentrate and perform in front of the public on the ice.
— Your father's life is also closely connected with ice, please tell us about your parents. Do you know their love story?
— My dad Ilnaz Zagitov was an athlete, a hockey player, he played for different clubs, for Izhstal, Neftekhimik, Neftyanik, now he is already a coach. Dad is five years older than mom. I know that my parents met each other in Izhevsk. As far as I remember, they were introduced by friends. It was my mother's first love, and my father's too. Since then they are together. Their relationship for me is an example of a real great feeling. They are devoted to each other, dad is very attentive to mom. My parents never quarrelled in front of us in our lives - my younger sister and I have never seen such a thing. Mom, Leysan Zagitova, herself really wanted to do figure skating at one time, but their family did not have enough money for this. But now she is also "drawn" into the sport, you can say she is my manager. Mom has three beauty salons in Izhevsk. That's why I love to apply make up, take care of myself. All this was instilled in me by my mother. Now she is more engaged with me, and her business is in the background.
— Let's recall how your path to victories began.
— I started skating at the age of five, but I tell everyone that it was at six or seven, because my dad played hockey for different teams and we moved with him from one city to another. And only when I was in Izhevsk, I took up figure skating professionally, when I was six or seven years old. And at twelve I ended up in the Tutberidze group. At first I went to Moscow with my mother, but then Eteri Georgievna said that my mother did not need to be near me so that she doesn’t distract me from training, although this has never happened. And then grandma Nadilya, my mother's mother, came to me in Moscow. She lived in Izhevsk, worked for many years in a cosmetics store, and held the position of manager. Mom is her only child. Unfortunately, my grandfather is no longer with me, he passed away early. My grandmother behaved like a devoted person, she is a very beautiful woman, and many suitors rolled up to her. But she told everyone: "I had the only husband, and I don't need anyone else."
She gave a lot of time and energy to her family. When my mother could not take care of me, my grandmother always helped, took me to training, to classes. I remember how in Izhevsk she picked me up after classes at school, but there was no money for a taxi, and we walked for a very long time with three bags - in one there were textbooks and notebooks, in the other - skates, in the third - a sports uniform for PT. My grandmother felt sorry for me and dragged everything by herself. So in Moscow she came to the rescue too, and said: “I will stay with Alina.” Oh, and she suffered for it. When something didn’t work out for me at the rink, my mood deteriorated. And then my grandmother scared me: “That's it, Alina, we are packing our suitcase, we are returning home to Izhevsk.” Sometimes she really collected it and put it outside the door, and I dragged the suitcase back. Now all this is remembered as a funny anecdote.
I am very grateful to my grandmother, she was alone with me in Moscow for six years. At first we lived with our relative, because there was no money for a rented apartment. And every morning from the "River Station" we went by metro to "Belyaevo" to the ice palace "Khrustalny". I got up at seven. Training began at ten, and only at eleven in the evening I returned home. People who watch skaters' performances on TV sometimes don't even realize how much effort has been expended. We have a sport where you can’t show how hard it is for you, but you need to do everything with ease. Therefore, it seems to everyone that skating is not at all difficult, but in fact there is a lot of work behind it.
— Didn’t you ever want to leave Tutberidze, go home?
— Leave? .. No, but they kicked me out. As Eteri Georgievna says, I was lazy. Until the age of 12, I was engaged in figure skating in Izhevsk - in the provinces, they did not demand so much from us there. And at the moment when I got into the Tutberidze group, it seemed to me that I was squeezing the maximum possible out of myself. But apparently this was not enough. I was not used to such loads yet, I did not understand what they wanted from me. But then I started to get some kind of triple jumps (I didn’t do them in Izhevsk). And then in training, I broke my arm around the wrist. I went to the competitions with a special light splint, and broke my leg there. I returned home to Izhevsk with two plaster casts to recover from injuries. Time has passed. The casts were removed, I had a little practice in my hometown and went to Moscow. And at the very first training session, Eteri Georgievna told me: "I'm kicking you out." Of course, I got upset. But what to do? I switched to another coach at the same rink - Anna Tsareva. I am also very grateful to her, because she took me through such a difficult period. But I didn't get much. Then I decided to return home to Izhevsk. My grandmother and I bought a bouquet, came to Eteri Georgievna to give flowers, thank her and say goodbye, saying: “We are leaving Moscow, thank you for everything.” And she says, "Let's try again." Why she made such a decision, I don’t know, it’s probably better to ask her.
— In any case, this is a wonderful decision, without it the world would not see your victories. Tell us about your coach Eteri Tutberidze. They say she's quite tough??
— I think that without firmness there would be no such results. Also, Eteri Georgievna does not work alone, there is another group: a choreography coach, who is also a programme director, Daniil Markovich Gleikhengauz and Sergey Viktorovich Dudakov, he helps a lot in jumping. Success is the right team and stability. We train every day. I return home tired. The mood is not the best. At such moments, after hard training, I don’t really like any contact with people, and my parents naturally want to ask me, find out the details. I answer: “Mom, dad, I can’t talk.” In fact, I am not a gift at all, my character is complex. Now I have already moved the whole family to Moscow, as I wanted. Because I missed my parents were dearly, they came only for the New Years, and the second time I saw them in the summer. And I decided at all costs to move them here. But now, in the summer, everyone is resting, dad and grandmother are in Izhevsk with my sister, and my mom and I are still in Moscow.
— It is extremely important for a figure skater to be in shape, not to gain excess weight. Are you on a strict diet?
— When I took part in the championships, I hardly even drank water. Both during the competition and during the preparation period. We just rinsed our mouths and immediately spit everything out. Because even one or two hundred grams of excess weight for the body of an athlete is noticeable, the body begins to behave differently. Jumping is harder. My usual food is yogurt. I don't eat fatty foods, I've given up sweets as much as possible. Although I love sweets, chocolates. I had a sweet tooth. Now it's less. My grandmother cooks well. For six years, living with me in Moscow, she made all sorts of vegetable salads and cutlets for me. Soups also, but I'm indifferent to them. In principle, everyone in our family loves to cook: my grandmother, my mother, and my sister and I. I like this process, it somehow relaxes me. Especially when there is time and energy. I recently baked salmon in the oven. So tasty! I ate a piece myself. Now I managed to more or less normalize my weight, because at some point I gained a lot - four kilograms. It seems to me that even for an ordinary person this is a lot. Especially for an athlete. Then I began to listen more to my body, and somehow I managed to lose weight.
— I know that you are studying at the RANEPA (Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration). At the extra-mural/correspondence department?
— On full-time. Faculty of Journalism, at the "Production and cultural policy" department. I study literature, and law, and history, a lot of things ... When I passed the school exams, I thought for a long time where I should go. I wanted to become a journalist. Because now my life is connected not only with sports, but also with television, and this is very interesting. It is not always possible to attend all classes, it is difficult to combine training on ice and study. But still I try. I have already moved on to my third year. This summer, in June, like all students, I passed the exams. It was very nerve-wracking, of course. But, thank God, everything ended successfully. I took exams and tests on a general basis. Sometimes the teachers showed me even closer attention than they did the others. Which is doubly hard. In this session we had such a subject as law. I tried to study the laws, and there are so many of them that it is impossible to remember everything. But I prepared myself, and I had a tutor. As a result, I passed the exam with flying colours. But they didn’t give me a 'pass' in physical education. Imagine, there were rumours on the Internet that I was being expelled from the institute due to the fact that I had not passed the test in physical education. This is very funny. I do sports every day and I have some achievements. I thought that I could be given an automatic credit. I understand that everyone should be on an equal footing. But I train every day at the ice palace. We have choreography and strength exercises there. We do push-ups twenty times ... Well, I figured out the physical education test - I passed it.
— Literally every step you take is discussed on the Internet. When you became the host of the Ice Age show on Channel One, there was a lot of criticism against you from haters. How did you get it through it all?
— It was actually a very difficult moment for me. Of course, I'm not a TV presenter. Maybe I was unprofessional at first. But I took criticism so hard then! And even now sometimes I don’t understand why people behave this way, when they don’t even know me personally. It's still a mystery to me. I even sometimes want the person who criticizes me to come to me, express all the claims in my face and explain, argue them. Alexey Yagudin helped me a lot to cope with the situation. He is such an energetic person, he has more experience, he gave me advice, suggested something and, when necessary, helped me. The shooting day on the show "Ice Age" lasted from nine in the morning to twelve at night. We filmed several programs at once, and in the evening I could no longer do anything from fatigue, sometimes I freaked out. I tried not to show it to anyone, but my strength was running out. And at that moment, just Alexei Konstantinovich supported me. I had both speech technique tutors and a psychologist. Actress Anna Glazkova - she starred in films and TV shows, worked in theatres in Moscow - worked with me and helped me in every possible way. All day she sat nearby, chewed everything, as they say, and put it in my mouth. She suggested with what intonation it was necessary to pronounce the text, where to pause. She showed me many different exercises for the development of the speech apparatus, and together we said my “favourite” tongue twisters, especially ones with hissing sounds...
— I like your approach. If something doesn’t work out, you immediately find a tutor for yourself.
- This, probably, has been customary since childhood, my mother always took me to some additional classes, not only to the rink, but also outside the ice, for example, for additional stretching and to tutors for the school. If something doesn’t work out for you somewhere, you always need to work out extra.
— Tell me, are you interested in coaching? Or do you still not think about it at 20?
— I am interested in working with children. Together with my coaches, I have already held master classes on ice in different cities. For example, in Khabarovsk. I like it.
— You have so many interests: studying at the Faculty of Journalism, and master classes, and ice shows, and projects on television…
— Yes, I try a little bit in everything, learn new things. During the pandemic, I also passed the driving tests. Now I drive my own car. There was such a situation recently: I was stopped for the first time in my life. I was wondering why, I didn’t seem to break anything, I wasn’t driving fast, almost 40 kilometers per hour. But it turned out that the traffic policemen recognized me and just wanted to take a picture with me. I told them: “Why did you scare me like that?” I really enjoy driving. Recently, I have started soap making. Myself, with myr own hands, made soap and gave it out it through my social media to my fans. It seems to me that in this way I transfer to a person, one might say, a piece of my energy. Also, sometimes I knit, when I have a mood for it, I draw, I make pictures with rhinestones. But now less often. There is not enough time.
— Of course, everyone is interested in your personal life. You were noticed at several hockey games, and immediately there were rumours that you liked some hockey player ...
— I do not advertise my personal life. But, in principle, I can say that there has always been a lot of hockey in my life, including because of my dad. Since childhood, my mother and I went to his games, and he constantly talked about hockey at home. I still go to matches, I do not see anything surprising in this.
— You, I know, have three dogs…
— First, I got Masaru, after winning the Olympics in Pyeongchang, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave her to me. I was leafing through a magazine at the training camp before the Olympics, and I liked the photo of a certain dog. I asked my mother: “Maybe we will take me such a dog if I perform well at the Olympics?” She replied: “Yes, we will think about it.” Immediately after my victory, I was interviewed by journalists. And they asked: “Now what do you want most of all?” I replied that I really liked the Japanese breed of dogs - Akita Inu. The journalists were surprised: "Alina, why do you need a dog, ask for an apartment or a car for the victory." But I answered them: “No, I want such a dog.” And Shinzo Abe fulfilled this dream of mine. He personally gave me Masaru in a formal ceremony in one of the capital's hotels. Then my dad worked in Kazan, coached a hockey team there, and my little sister got a little chihuahua dog. Naturally, they took her with them when they moved to Moscow with me. She also lives with us now, very cheerful, mischievous. And recently, literally a year ago, I got a dog Shanti of the Maltipu breed, it was presented to me by fans.
— Who walks with all these dogs?
— When I have time, I walk with Masaru, I often take her with me, she even starred in various TV programs with me. And small dogs usually use their special diapers, I rarely take them out for walks. But Shanti loves to walk very much. It happens so that in the mornings when I leave home for training, I'd tell her: “Shanti, I won’t take you with me this time.” And she starts to whine so much and looks at me with her eyes so plaintively that I give up: "Well, let's go." Then she sits on the rink, waiting for me. I will take small dogs with me to Sochi. And Masaru spends the summer in Izhevsk, in our house, she feels good there with my grandmother. In autumn they will return to Moscow.
— Alina, I'm just shocked, you have enough energy for everything, even for dogs. Where do you draw the energy from?
— Proper time management! I don't even know, I just live like this all the time. I want something and I do it. And now, at twenty, I think it's time to try everything.
“And then I broke my arm around the wrist. Due to the fact that I fell a lot on it when I studied new jumps. I went to the competitions with a special light splint, and broke my leg there,” - Alina Zagitova, Olympic champion in figure skating and star of the Scarlet Flower ice show, recalls her path to victory.
— Alina, just recently, in May, you've turned 20. By this moment you have achieved everything that any figure skater dreams of, won all of the titles. You've won the Olympics at the age of 15, the championships of Russia, Europe, Worlds. I can’t even imagine what anyone ca wish for with such a list ... By the way, how did you celebrate your birthday?
— I flew to Dubai. I was alone there, without my family, but my friends Dasha Usacheva and Anya Shcherbakova came there, with whom I train with Eteri Georgievna Tutberidze. This is the first birthday that I did not celebrate with my family, I missed them very much.
— Was there any gift that made a big impression on you?
— When I returned to Moscow, many gifts awaited me, including from my fans from different cities of Russia. I am extremely pleased, they even gave me a certificate for an air balloon ride! In general, soft toys are thrown onto the ice after each performance. Sometimes very big - there were teddy bears taller than me. One of the fans once sent a bouquet of a thousand and one roses. To be honest, I don't even know his name. Fans give me a lot of flowers. Sometimes they are brought to the Khrustalny Ice Palace, where I train. Someone once delivered 14 bouquets of 101 roses. I am grateful to all my fans, they support me, their love is always with me.
— Alina, for several seasons you have been taking part in Tatyana Navka's ice shows. How did it start?
— I have known Tatyana Alexandrovna for quite a long time, I have always admired her numerous merits in sports and, of course, ice shows, which she became the producer of. And when I suspended my sports career and stopped competing, Tatyana Alexandrovna invited me to participate in the winter fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. Now the Sochi theme park is hosting a tour of the Scarlet Flower ice show. From August 6, for a month, I will go out on the ice in the main role of Nasten'ka. I invite everyone who will be on the Black Sea coast at this time to our stunningly beautiful performance.
— Isn't it hard to endure such a rhythm: every day there is a show on ice?
— I got used to it already. I can say that in Sochi that such a tough schedule is not expected, which was, for example, in the winter in St. Petersburg, where the show "The Scarlet Flower" was held two, sometimes three times a day. And now I even have one day off a week. But I'm not going to swim or sunbathe. It is necessary to prepare for the show on the ice, to tune in. For me, work always comes first, and only then everything else. Last year, also in Sochi, I took part in the Ruslan and Lyudmila ice show and swam in the sea only three times in two months. Although, in principle, from the very morning until seven in the evening I had free time, but I prefer not to go to the beach during the day, so that later it would be easier to concentrate and perform in front of the public on the ice.
— Your father's life is also closely connected with ice, please tell us about your parents. Do you know their love story?
— My dad Ilnaz Zagitov was an athlete, a hockey player, he played for different clubs, for Izhstal, Neftekhimik, Neftyanik, now he is already a coach. Dad is five years older than mom. I know that my parents met each other in Izhevsk. As far as I remember, they were introduced by friends. It was my mother's first love, and my father's too. Since then they are together. Their relationship for me is an example of a real great feeling. They are devoted to each other, dad is very attentive to mom. My parents never quarrelled in front of us in our lives - my younger sister and I have never seen such a thing. Mom, Leysan Zagitova, herself really wanted to do figure skating at one time, but their family did not have enough money for this. But now she is also "drawn" into the sport, you can say she is my manager. Mom has three beauty salons in Izhevsk. That's why I love to apply make up, take care of myself. All this was instilled in me by my mother. Now she is more engaged with me, and her business is in the background.
— Let's recall how your path to victories began.
— I started skating at the age of five, but I tell everyone that it was at six or seven, because my dad played hockey for different teams and we moved with him from one city to another. And only when I was in Izhevsk, I took up figure skating professionally, when I was six or seven years old. And at twelve I ended up in the Tutberidze group. At first I went to Moscow with my mother, but then Eteri Georgievna said that my mother did not need to be near me so that she doesn’t distract me from training, although this has never happened. And then grandma Nadilya, my mother's mother, came to me in Moscow. She lived in Izhevsk, worked for many years in a cosmetics store, and held the position of manager. Mom is her only child. Unfortunately, my grandfather is no longer with me, he passed away early. My grandmother behaved like a devoted person, she is a very beautiful woman, and many suitors rolled up to her. But she told everyone: "I had the only husband, and I don't need anyone else."
She gave a lot of time and energy to her family. When my mother could not take care of me, my grandmother always helped, took me to training, to classes. I remember how in Izhevsk she picked me up after classes at school, but there was no money for a taxi, and we walked for a very long time with three bags - in one there were textbooks and notebooks, in the other - skates, in the third - a sports uniform for PT. My grandmother felt sorry for me and dragged everything by herself. So in Moscow she came to the rescue too, and said: “I will stay with Alina.” Oh, and she suffered for it. When something didn’t work out for me at the rink, my mood deteriorated. And then my grandmother scared me: “That's it, Alina, we are packing our suitcase, we are returning home to Izhevsk.” Sometimes she really collected it and put it outside the door, and I dragged the suitcase back. Now all this is remembered as a funny anecdote.
I am very grateful to my grandmother, she was alone with me in Moscow for six years. At first we lived with our relative, because there was no money for a rented apartment. And every morning from the "River Station" we went by metro to "Belyaevo" to the ice palace "Khrustalny". I got up at seven. Training began at ten, and only at eleven in the evening I returned home. People who watch skaters' performances on TV sometimes don't even realize how much effort has been expended. We have a sport where you can’t show how hard it is for you, but you need to do everything with ease. Therefore, it seems to everyone that skating is not at all difficult, but in fact there is a lot of work behind it.
— Didn’t you ever want to leave Tutberidze, go home?
— Leave? .. No, but they kicked me out. As Eteri Georgievna says, I was lazy. Until the age of 12, I was engaged in figure skating in Izhevsk - in the provinces, they did not demand so much from us there. And at the moment when I got into the Tutberidze group, it seemed to me that I was squeezing the maximum possible out of myself. But apparently this was not enough. I was not used to such loads yet, I did not understand what they wanted from me. But then I started to get some kind of triple jumps (I didn’t do them in Izhevsk). And then in training, I broke my arm around the wrist. I went to the competitions with a special light splint, and broke my leg there. I returned home to Izhevsk with two plaster casts to recover from injuries. Time has passed. The casts were removed, I had a little practice in my hometown and went to Moscow. And at the very first training session, Eteri Georgievna told me: "I'm kicking you out." Of course, I got upset. But what to do? I switched to another coach at the same rink - Anna Tsareva. I am also very grateful to her, because she took me through such a difficult period. But I didn't get much. Then I decided to return home to Izhevsk. My grandmother and I bought a bouquet, came to Eteri Georgievna to give flowers, thank her and say goodbye, saying: “We are leaving Moscow, thank you for everything.” And she says, "Let's try again." Why she made such a decision, I don’t know, it’s probably better to ask her.
— In any case, this is a wonderful decision, without it the world would not see your victories. Tell us about your coach Eteri Tutberidze. They say she's quite tough??
— I think that without firmness there would be no such results. Also, Eteri Georgievna does not work alone, there is another group: a choreography coach, who is also a programme director, Daniil Markovich Gleikhengauz and Sergey Viktorovich Dudakov, he helps a lot in jumping. Success is the right team and stability. We train every day. I return home tired. The mood is not the best. At such moments, after hard training, I don’t really like any contact with people, and my parents naturally want to ask me, find out the details. I answer: “Mom, dad, I can’t talk.” In fact, I am not a gift at all, my character is complex. Now I have already moved the whole family to Moscow, as I wanted. Because I missed my parents were dearly, they came only for the New Years, and the second time I saw them in the summer. And I decided at all costs to move them here. But now, in the summer, everyone is resting, dad and grandmother are in Izhevsk with my sister, and my mom and I are still in Moscow.
— It is extremely important for a figure skater to be in shape, not to gain excess weight. Are you on a strict diet?
— When I took part in the championships, I hardly even drank water. Both during the competition and during the preparation period. We just rinsed our mouths and immediately spit everything out. Because even one or two hundred grams of excess weight for the body of an athlete is noticeable, the body begins to behave differently. Jumping is harder. My usual food is yogurt. I don't eat fatty foods, I've given up sweets as much as possible. Although I love sweets, chocolates. I had a sweet tooth. Now it's less. My grandmother cooks well. For six years, living with me in Moscow, she made all sorts of vegetable salads and cutlets for me. Soups also, but I'm indifferent to them. In principle, everyone in our family loves to cook: my grandmother, my mother, and my sister and I. I like this process, it somehow relaxes me. Especially when there is time and energy. I recently baked salmon in the oven. So tasty! I ate a piece myself. Now I managed to more or less normalize my weight, because at some point I gained a lot - four kilograms. It seems to me that even for an ordinary person this is a lot. Especially for an athlete. Then I began to listen more to my body, and somehow I managed to lose weight.
— I know that you are studying at the RANEPA (Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration). At the extra-mural/correspondence department?
— On full-time. Faculty of Journalism, at the "Production and cultural policy" department. I study literature, and law, and history, a lot of things ... When I passed the school exams, I thought for a long time where I should go. I wanted to become a journalist. Because now my life is connected not only with sports, but also with television, and this is very interesting. It is not always possible to attend all classes, it is difficult to combine training on ice and study. But still I try. I have already moved on to my third year. This summer, in June, like all students, I passed the exams. It was very nerve-wracking, of course. But, thank God, everything ended successfully. I took exams and tests on a general basis. Sometimes the teachers showed me even closer attention than they did the others. Which is doubly hard. In this session we had such a subject as law. I tried to study the laws, and there are so many of them that it is impossible to remember everything. But I prepared myself, and I had a tutor. As a result, I passed the exam with flying colours. But they didn’t give me a 'pass' in physical education. Imagine, there were rumours on the Internet that I was being expelled from the institute due to the fact that I had not passed the test in physical education. This is very funny. I do sports every day and I have some achievements. I thought that I could be given an automatic credit. I understand that everyone should be on an equal footing. But I train every day at the ice palace. We have choreography and strength exercises there. We do push-ups twenty times ... Well, I figured out the physical education test - I passed it.
— Literally every step you take is discussed on the Internet. When you became the host of the Ice Age show on Channel One, there was a lot of criticism against you from haters. How did you get it through it all?
— It was actually a very difficult moment for me. Of course, I'm not a TV presenter. Maybe I was unprofessional at first. But I took criticism so hard then! And even now sometimes I don’t understand why people behave this way, when they don’t even know me personally. It's still a mystery to me. I even sometimes want the person who criticizes me to come to me, express all the claims in my face and explain, argue them. Alexey Yagudin helped me a lot to cope with the situation. He is such an energetic person, he has more experience, he gave me advice, suggested something and, when necessary, helped me. The shooting day on the show "Ice Age" lasted from nine in the morning to twelve at night. We filmed several programs at once, and in the evening I could no longer do anything from fatigue, sometimes I freaked out. I tried not to show it to anyone, but my strength was running out. And at that moment, just Alexei Konstantinovich supported me. I had both speech technique tutors and a psychologist. Actress Anna Glazkova - she starred in films and TV shows, worked in theatres in Moscow - worked with me and helped me in every possible way. All day she sat nearby, chewed everything, as they say, and put it in my mouth. She suggested with what intonation it was necessary to pronounce the text, where to pause. She showed me many different exercises for the development of the speech apparatus, and together we said my “favourite” tongue twisters, especially ones with hissing sounds...
— I like your approach. If something doesn’t work out, you immediately find a tutor for yourself.
- This, probably, has been customary since childhood, my mother always took me to some additional classes, not only to the rink, but also outside the ice, for example, for additional stretching and to tutors for the school. If something doesn’t work out for you somewhere, you always need to work out extra.
— Tell me, are you interested in coaching? Or do you still not think about it at 20?
— I am interested in working with children. Together with my coaches, I have already held master classes on ice in different cities. For example, in Khabarovsk. I like it.
— You have so many interests: studying at the Faculty of Journalism, and master classes, and ice shows, and projects on television…
— Yes, I try a little bit in everything, learn new things. During the pandemic, I also passed the driving tests. Now I drive my own car. There was such a situation recently: I was stopped for the first time in my life. I was wondering why, I didn’t seem to break anything, I wasn’t driving fast, almost 40 kilometers per hour. But it turned out that the traffic policemen recognized me and just wanted to take a picture with me. I told them: “Why did you scare me like that?” I really enjoy driving. Recently, I have started soap making. Myself, with myr own hands, made soap and gave it out it through my social media to my fans. It seems to me that in this way I transfer to a person, one might say, a piece of my energy. Also, sometimes I knit, when I have a mood for it, I draw, I make pictures with rhinestones. But now less often. There is not enough time.
— Of course, everyone is interested in your personal life. You were noticed at several hockey games, and immediately there were rumours that you liked some hockey player ...
— I do not advertise my personal life. But, in principle, I can say that there has always been a lot of hockey in my life, including because of my dad. Since childhood, my mother and I went to his games, and he constantly talked about hockey at home. I still go to matches, I do not see anything surprising in this.
— You, I know, have three dogs…
— First, I got Masaru, after winning the Olympics in Pyeongchang, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave her to me. I was leafing through a magazine at the training camp before the Olympics, and I liked the photo of a certain dog. I asked my mother: “Maybe we will take me such a dog if I perform well at the Olympics?” She replied: “Yes, we will think about it.” Immediately after my victory, I was interviewed by journalists. And they asked: “Now what do you want most of all?” I replied that I really liked the Japanese breed of dogs - Akita Inu. The journalists were surprised: "Alina, why do you need a dog, ask for an apartment or a car for the victory." But I answered them: “No, I want such a dog.” And Shinzo Abe fulfilled this dream of mine. He personally gave me Masaru in a formal ceremony in one of the capital's hotels. Then my dad worked in Kazan, coached a hockey team there, and my little sister got a little chihuahua dog. Naturally, they took her with them when they moved to Moscow with me. She also lives with us now, very cheerful, mischievous. And recently, literally a year ago, I got a dog Shanti of the Maltipu breed, it was presented to me by fans.
— Who walks with all these dogs?
— When I have time, I walk with Masaru, I often take her with me, she even starred in various TV programs with me. And small dogs usually use their special diapers, I rarely take them out for walks. But Shanti loves to walk very much. It happens so that in the mornings when I leave home for training, I'd tell her: “Shanti, I won’t take you with me this time.” And she starts to whine so much and looks at me with her eyes so plaintively that I give up: "Well, let's go." Then she sits on the rink, waiting for me. I will take small dogs with me to Sochi. And Masaru spends the summer in Izhevsk, in our house, she feels good there with my grandmother. In autumn they will return to Moscow.
— Alina, I'm just shocked, you have enough energy for everything, even for dogs. Where do you draw the energy from?
— Proper time management! I don't even know, I just live like this all the time. I want something and I do it. And now, at twenty, I think it's time to try everything.
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2018
Me too. I do nothing significant now yet I still feel like I have no time for anything. I'm such a loser next to Alina...
- Joined
- May 28, 2019
Three women in Alina's life that are not known as much (as Leaysan & ET) by fans, and to whom Zagistan should be thankful for their contribution to Alina's success:
- Alina's first coach, Natalya, that told Leysan to do everything to keep Alina in fs
- Grandma Nadilya, without whom Alina wouldn't have achieved anything in those 6 years in Moscow
- Coach Anna Tsaryova that took her in during the interim period between "You're out" & "Let's try again" and kept her in Moscow
- Alina's first coach, Natalya, that told Leysan to do everything to keep Alina in fs
- Grandma Nadilya, without whom Alina wouldn't have achieved anything in those 6 years in Moscow
- Coach Anna Tsaryova that took her in during the interim period between "You're out" & "Let's try again" and kept her in Moscow
(short ad for a salon in her stories)
- Joined
- May 28, 2019
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