- Joined
- Jul 28, 2003
Original
[size=+1]Albena Denkova, Maxim Staviski: GETTING THEIR DUES!!![/size]
On April 17 of last year, Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski, representing Bulgaria in ice dancing, officially announced they were leaving Alexei Gorshkov, their long time coach. At the time, I wrote, “Having flown from under the Russian wing, Denkova and Staviski became entirely independent in the big Olympic game. That game can wield rather unexpected results”.
It did not happen in Turin. Skaters ended up in fifth. In Calgary, though, the victory was unarguable – Denkova and Staviski led throughout all three stages of competition to win their first World Championship Gold medals.
They gave “SE” an interview immediately after the medal ceremony.
“I am assuming that leaving Gorshkov for Natalia Linichuk you were counted on winning at the Olympics?”
M.S. “Not that we counted on it… We were preparing for it. Actually, we always prepare the same for all competitions. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Olympics or Bulgarian nationals. Any competition can prove fatal because we lack political back up of other strong terms. But, of course, we realized that Olympics were the most important competition. Especially if there is a chance to ascend the podium or even win the gold. We were working for it. But it didn’t work out. ”
“How hard did it hit you?”
M.S. “Hard. We really did skate well at the Olympics.”
“Yet early in the season you went to the “Grand Prix” event in Japan and were second there, losing to the Canadians Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, competitors you always bested in the past. What were you thinking then? That the program wasn’t working, or that others are now too far ahead?”
A.D. “We were in very good shape going into that competition. But it didn’t work. It happens. In Japan, we skated the compulsories well, but not so with the Original and Free. From that point on I decided that I will no longer think of judging or placements. I’ll only think of showing good skating. And of making it enjoyable for myself and for the people who come watch us. Perhaps that’s what helped Maxim and me get the confidence back.”
M.S. “Indeed, we no longer considered the marks either at the Olympics or here in Calgary. Though we didn’t go to that first competition to win either. We came to show our program, and to hear others’ opinions. We have a very difficult move in switching coaches, and we had to see for ourselves if it was the right move. In Osaka, despite the second place, we heard many good things about ourselves; we just needed time to change some things, to make it more rule-friendly. After that, it’s just skating the program over and over, and improving general form. We managed to do it rather quickly.”
“Why then did you skip Europeans? You didn’t have enough time to complete what you set out to?”
M.S. “No. We were ready. Before that we skated at an open competition in Italy, and we did well. Skipping Lyon was a purely political decision our coaches made for us.
“Did you explain to you why exactly they thought of skipping that competition?”
M.S. “Somehow, Linichuk and Karponosov never brought us into the intricacies of their work. They just told us they thought it was right to skip the Europeans. To conserve strength, to keep the emotions before time comes. To calmly, without extra stress, bring ourselves directly to the Olympic Games. By the way, when I saw the ice dancing “mess” in Lyon, I was incredible happy I wasn’t there.”
“Nevertheless, it didn’t work at the Games either. Did you decide to go to Worlds right a way?”
A.D. “It greatly helped us to go to Bulgaria for a few days after Turin. We never expected such a fan support from the whole country. The president and the prime minister met with us, we felt great respect from everyone. We got many letters. I was told that the same kind of letters came to Italian TV stations. People kept on believing in us, and that gave us new strength, made us get it together, forget about all the disappointments of the Games, and start preparing for the World championships.”
M.S. “You can’t imagine what was happening in Sofia after the Games. We couldn’t get out of the car because pedestrians immediately recognized us, came up to us, told us we shouldn’t despair and to please continue skating. The country president said that all of Bulgaria feels for us. Even people who one would think shouldn’t be interested in figure skating were engaged. One evening as I was driving a policeman stopped me and said that he wife is a great fan of ours, and that he himself now watches on TV all the shows were we skate.”
“Did he stop you for breaking the rules?”
M.S. “Yes, but when I reached for my wallet he started waving as if I just deeply offended him. Honestly, we didn’t expect anything like this.”
“I still don’t understand how you managed to get over the shock so quickly. You planned to win, and only ended in fifth.”
M.S. “Tell me honestly, how could we be shocked after so many years of competing when we were consistently put in places well below what we really deserved?”
“But there is always the ‘last drop’ as they say. It seemed to me that the Olympic performance finished you off.”
M.S. “Quite the opposite. Personally, I just got anger. I didn’t break down walls, but inside I was seething with anger.”
“What about you, Albena?”
A.D. “Honestly, I was close to giving up several times. For example, after the Worlds in Dortmund, and then in Turin. I can only repeat – thank G-d we went to Bulgaria. Then I understood that we just had to compete in Calgary if for no other reason than for the people who are such fans of ours. Without that, I doubt I’d be able to get myself together.”
M.S. “I never give up. I guess that’s how it should be. Albena, after all, is a woman. Though I don’t know how we’d react had we not won this gold medal. We worked too hard for it. We waited too long. We wanted… to get our dues after all.”
“At the press conference Benjamin Agosto said that with today’s competition it’s normal for a team to win once competition and be in fifth at another. If you look at the your Turin results objectively, was it just circumstances or suspect judging?”
A.D. “You have a better view from the outside. Why would you make us make such determinations? We thought we skated the free dance in Turin very well.”
“Better than in Calgary?”
M.S. “It’s hard to compare those performances. We gave it our all both here and there. Though it was more difficult in Calgary. The rink here is small. Smaller than in Europe. It “constricts”, prevents us from fully letting lose.”
A.D. “Even at large rinks we skate very close to the boards. So the rink size matters a lot.”
“What were you thinking after you finished skating and were waiting for your main competitors to finish?”
M.S. “For some reason, I was thinking how strange it will be to not see the Russian flag above the podium. Believe it or not, but my dream was always to compete against Navka and Kostomarov and to beat them. For so many years we skated together, competed against each other. Roma even told me once that for him and Tatiana it’s boring to skate without us there. I don’t want to say that Calgary was boring – you could see the level of competition for yourself, but it was bizarre.”
A.D. “Me, I never watch those skating after us. It’s easier for me to go to the locker room and wait for the results there.”
M.S. “I was watching. I had an ambiguous impression about the Canadians. They are a strong team, they skte well. They have excellent lifts. They’ve improved a lot from last year. But I believe that the Lithuanians deserved the silver more. I didn’t see the how the French skated in the final, but I really liked their Original dance. There are actually a lot of good teams now. Everyone skated great. So it’s hard to judge who should be where. Matter of taste, as they say.”
“Will you really consider staying eligible for the time being as you said at the press conference?”
A.D. “I could only make a decision like that after a lobotomy.”
M.S. “I’d go on. We just need a break, and then make a decision on a cool head.”
A.D. “Maxim, don’t scare me like that. I am already under constant stress for the past months.”
“Albena, why not?”
A.D. “I don’t know. At the beginning of the season I was almost certain we’d stay eligible for another year. Next World championships are in Japan, and we havee a lot of fans there. By the middle of the season, after NHK Trophee I was already saying that staying any longer is impossible. It was too tough. Now, I don’t even know what to say. We train a lot, we give it our all, we constantly deprive ourselves of things. We don’t have social lives, nothing like that. I guess it’s right that we need to relax, to weigh everything and decide if there is a point in continuing with this career.”
“Not long ago you said that if the situation in your old rink were different, I’d never leave Gorshkov. What was that situation?”
A.D. “Let’s not talk about it. I don’t like it when athletes starts maligning their old coaches. We are very grateful to those who worked with use before, because those medals are in part theirs. Yet it was Natalia Vladimirovna (Linichuk) who gave use what’s most important – freedom and self confidence. She and Gennady (Karponosov) watched us with so much love during the practices. We trusted us, believed in us, and adored every step we made on ice. It’s very important to see all that in the coach’s face. That’s what we were missing for the past two years.”
“I know you considered several options when you were looking for the new place to train.”
A.D. “That’s true. Many good coaches were already busy with other skaters. Linichuk was the first one we visited. We stayed there, because we decided there was no point in a further search. Though up until then we discussed many different candidates.
The decision to leave Gorshkov was indeed very difficult. Perhaps it was easier for Maxim. Throughout his career he skated with most Russian coaches. Me, when I moved from Bulgaria to Moscow, I immediately started training with Alexei Geogrievich. I felt that no one else in the world can really train dancers. Everything he told use, everything that was happening at practices, I took as the absolute truth because I had no idea it could be different. It’s silly, really, but that’s how I felt. I guess that’s why I was so impressed with Linichuk.”
“Did she originate the idea for the free dance?”
A.D. “Yes. I really wanted to skate to ‘Bolero’. For a long time I wanted it. I dreamed of leaving that dance for the Olympic season. But when Linichuk suggested Albinoni’s Adagio it was hard to argue with it, that music is indeed stronger and more emotional. I am happy that in the end it was just as we had planned.”
2006
[size=+1]Albena Denkova, Maxim Staviski: GETTING THEIR DUES!!![/size]
On April 17 of last year, Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski, representing Bulgaria in ice dancing, officially announced they were leaving Alexei Gorshkov, their long time coach. At the time, I wrote, “Having flown from under the Russian wing, Denkova and Staviski became entirely independent in the big Olympic game. That game can wield rather unexpected results”.
It did not happen in Turin. Skaters ended up in fifth. In Calgary, though, the victory was unarguable – Denkova and Staviski led throughout all three stages of competition to win their first World Championship Gold medals.
They gave “SE” an interview immediately after the medal ceremony.
“I am assuming that leaving Gorshkov for Natalia Linichuk you were counted on winning at the Olympics?”
M.S. “Not that we counted on it… We were preparing for it. Actually, we always prepare the same for all competitions. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Olympics or Bulgarian nationals. Any competition can prove fatal because we lack political back up of other strong terms. But, of course, we realized that Olympics were the most important competition. Especially if there is a chance to ascend the podium or even win the gold. We were working for it. But it didn’t work out. ”
“How hard did it hit you?”
M.S. “Hard. We really did skate well at the Olympics.”
“Yet early in the season you went to the “Grand Prix” event in Japan and were second there, losing to the Canadians Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, competitors you always bested in the past. What were you thinking then? That the program wasn’t working, or that others are now too far ahead?”
A.D. “We were in very good shape going into that competition. But it didn’t work. It happens. In Japan, we skated the compulsories well, but not so with the Original and Free. From that point on I decided that I will no longer think of judging or placements. I’ll only think of showing good skating. And of making it enjoyable for myself and for the people who come watch us. Perhaps that’s what helped Maxim and me get the confidence back.”
M.S. “Indeed, we no longer considered the marks either at the Olympics or here in Calgary. Though we didn’t go to that first competition to win either. We came to show our program, and to hear others’ opinions. We have a very difficult move in switching coaches, and we had to see for ourselves if it was the right move. In Osaka, despite the second place, we heard many good things about ourselves; we just needed time to change some things, to make it more rule-friendly. After that, it’s just skating the program over and over, and improving general form. We managed to do it rather quickly.”
“Why then did you skip Europeans? You didn’t have enough time to complete what you set out to?”
M.S. “No. We were ready. Before that we skated at an open competition in Italy, and we did well. Skipping Lyon was a purely political decision our coaches made for us.
“Did you explain to you why exactly they thought of skipping that competition?”
M.S. “Somehow, Linichuk and Karponosov never brought us into the intricacies of their work. They just told us they thought it was right to skip the Europeans. To conserve strength, to keep the emotions before time comes. To calmly, without extra stress, bring ourselves directly to the Olympic Games. By the way, when I saw the ice dancing “mess” in Lyon, I was incredible happy I wasn’t there.”
“Nevertheless, it didn’t work at the Games either. Did you decide to go to Worlds right a way?”
A.D. “It greatly helped us to go to Bulgaria for a few days after Turin. We never expected such a fan support from the whole country. The president and the prime minister met with us, we felt great respect from everyone. We got many letters. I was told that the same kind of letters came to Italian TV stations. People kept on believing in us, and that gave us new strength, made us get it together, forget about all the disappointments of the Games, and start preparing for the World championships.”
M.S. “You can’t imagine what was happening in Sofia after the Games. We couldn’t get out of the car because pedestrians immediately recognized us, came up to us, told us we shouldn’t despair and to please continue skating. The country president said that all of Bulgaria feels for us. Even people who one would think shouldn’t be interested in figure skating were engaged. One evening as I was driving a policeman stopped me and said that he wife is a great fan of ours, and that he himself now watches on TV all the shows were we skate.”
“Did he stop you for breaking the rules?”
M.S. “Yes, but when I reached for my wallet he started waving as if I just deeply offended him. Honestly, we didn’t expect anything like this.”
“I still don’t understand how you managed to get over the shock so quickly. You planned to win, and only ended in fifth.”
M.S. “Tell me honestly, how could we be shocked after so many years of competing when we were consistently put in places well below what we really deserved?”
“But there is always the ‘last drop’ as they say. It seemed to me that the Olympic performance finished you off.”
M.S. “Quite the opposite. Personally, I just got anger. I didn’t break down walls, but inside I was seething with anger.”
“What about you, Albena?”
A.D. “Honestly, I was close to giving up several times. For example, after the Worlds in Dortmund, and then in Turin. I can only repeat – thank G-d we went to Bulgaria. Then I understood that we just had to compete in Calgary if for no other reason than for the people who are such fans of ours. Without that, I doubt I’d be able to get myself together.”
M.S. “I never give up. I guess that’s how it should be. Albena, after all, is a woman. Though I don’t know how we’d react had we not won this gold medal. We worked too hard for it. We waited too long. We wanted… to get our dues after all.”
“At the press conference Benjamin Agosto said that with today’s competition it’s normal for a team to win once competition and be in fifth at another. If you look at the your Turin results objectively, was it just circumstances or suspect judging?”
A.D. “You have a better view from the outside. Why would you make us make such determinations? We thought we skated the free dance in Turin very well.”
“Better than in Calgary?”
M.S. “It’s hard to compare those performances. We gave it our all both here and there. Though it was more difficult in Calgary. The rink here is small. Smaller than in Europe. It “constricts”, prevents us from fully letting lose.”
A.D. “Even at large rinks we skate very close to the boards. So the rink size matters a lot.”
“What were you thinking after you finished skating and were waiting for your main competitors to finish?”
M.S. “For some reason, I was thinking how strange it will be to not see the Russian flag above the podium. Believe it or not, but my dream was always to compete against Navka and Kostomarov and to beat them. For so many years we skated together, competed against each other. Roma even told me once that for him and Tatiana it’s boring to skate without us there. I don’t want to say that Calgary was boring – you could see the level of competition for yourself, but it was bizarre.”
A.D. “Me, I never watch those skating after us. It’s easier for me to go to the locker room and wait for the results there.”
M.S. “I was watching. I had an ambiguous impression about the Canadians. They are a strong team, they skte well. They have excellent lifts. They’ve improved a lot from last year. But I believe that the Lithuanians deserved the silver more. I didn’t see the how the French skated in the final, but I really liked their Original dance. There are actually a lot of good teams now. Everyone skated great. So it’s hard to judge who should be where. Matter of taste, as they say.”
“Will you really consider staying eligible for the time being as you said at the press conference?”
A.D. “I could only make a decision like that after a lobotomy.”
M.S. “I’d go on. We just need a break, and then make a decision on a cool head.”
A.D. “Maxim, don’t scare me like that. I am already under constant stress for the past months.”
“Albena, why not?”
A.D. “I don’t know. At the beginning of the season I was almost certain we’d stay eligible for another year. Next World championships are in Japan, and we havee a lot of fans there. By the middle of the season, after NHK Trophee I was already saying that staying any longer is impossible. It was too tough. Now, I don’t even know what to say. We train a lot, we give it our all, we constantly deprive ourselves of things. We don’t have social lives, nothing like that. I guess it’s right that we need to relax, to weigh everything and decide if there is a point in continuing with this career.”
“Not long ago you said that if the situation in your old rink were different, I’d never leave Gorshkov. What was that situation?”
A.D. “Let’s not talk about it. I don’t like it when athletes starts maligning their old coaches. We are very grateful to those who worked with use before, because those medals are in part theirs. Yet it was Natalia Vladimirovna (Linichuk) who gave use what’s most important – freedom and self confidence. She and Gennady (Karponosov) watched us with so much love during the practices. We trusted us, believed in us, and adored every step we made on ice. It’s very important to see all that in the coach’s face. That’s what we were missing for the past two years.”
“I know you considered several options when you were looking for the new place to train.”
A.D. “That’s true. Many good coaches were already busy with other skaters. Linichuk was the first one we visited. We stayed there, because we decided there was no point in a further search. Though up until then we discussed many different candidates.
The decision to leave Gorshkov was indeed very difficult. Perhaps it was easier for Maxim. Throughout his career he skated with most Russian coaches. Me, when I moved from Bulgaria to Moscow, I immediately started training with Alexei Geogrievich. I felt that no one else in the world can really train dancers. Everything he told use, everything that was happening at practices, I took as the absolute truth because I had no idea it could be different. It’s silly, really, but that’s how I felt. I guess that’s why I was so impressed with Linichuk.”
“Did she originate the idea for the free dance?”
A.D. “Yes. I really wanted to skate to ‘Bolero’. For a long time I wanted it. I dreamed of leaving that dance for the Olympic season. But when Linichuk suggested Albinoni’s Adagio it was hard to argue with it, that music is indeed stronger and more emotional. I am happy that in the end it was just as we had planned.”
2006
