Eвгений Платов

Eвгений Платов

 

Неофициальный сайт

 

Новости


 


Articles

  

 

World Figure Skating No.33 Interview with Oksana Grishuk & Evgeny Platov  by Akiko Tamura (At Memorial on Ice, Nagano 2008)

 

World Figure Skating, 2008, May, No.33
Interview with OKSANA GRISHUK & EVGENY PLATOV  by Akiko Tamura

– Oksana, would you update us on what you’ve been doing Since the Nagano Olympics?
Grishuk: It is a long story. After the '98 Olympics, I lost my partner because he wanted to skate with someone else. I could not find a new partner at his level, so I tried to skate as a solo skater. But I wasn't accepted at first. I was depressed for a long time - like for a year and half. Then I received a letter from an American woman who had lost her husband of 40 years. She said she thought about committing suicide, but she stopped after watching our performance in the Nagano Olympics. It was very moving letter, and I was crying after I read it. I was deeply touched inside. I also received many letters from fans asking me to skate again. So I said to myself, maybe I should try again. So once again I tried to skate as a solo skater - this was in 2000. It was very hard in the beginning. After skating with a partner for so long, it was scary to skate alone. Then I found out I was expecting my daughter - this was the end of 2001.

– That's right! I almost forgot you are a mother. How old is Skyler now?
G: She is five and a half. I didn't bring her here because it was such a short trip and there is a big time difference. So I felt it was better for her to stay with my friends in California.
Platov : I can't believe you are a mother.
G: Me, either. She was about nine months old when I came back to the ice, coaching and choreographing.
– So how did you start skating together again?
P: It was a year and half ago - August, 2006. We were doing a reality TV show in Russia, Skating with Stars, and the producer asked us to skate together. At first, we said no, and he was very disappointed. Then he kept asking us, and two days before a big gala he asked us again, and we decided to try.
G: Our reunion was a very big deal in Russia because, being two-time Olympic champions, we are regarded as heroes.
P: It only took us 15 minutes to get back.
G: It took longer than that!
P: No, after 15 minutes it felt like it was only yesterday (that we skated together).

– How long did you train together in total as eligible skaters?
P: Nine years. And it came right back to us. Like riding a bicycle, you don't forget.

– I understand that when you dissolved the partnership, it wasn't necessarily easy. But are the hard feelings all gone now?
P: Yes. We started to talk again at the 2005 Worlds in Moscow. All of the past Olympic and World champions from Russia were invited to sit with the president. He wanted to show the world how many champions Russia had produced. The whole tribune section was filled with past champions from Russia - it was amazing.

– How did it feel to skate here in Nagano again?
G: It was just amazing. It was an almost magical experience to be here 10 years after we made history and became the first ice dance team to win the second Olympic gold medals. Japan is a place that brings us good luck. We did so many shows, NHK Trophy and a tour in 1994. All of those good memories came back.
P: It would have been even more emotional if we'd skated at the White Ring. I understand this (The Big Hat) was a hockey venue. But being in Nagano again itself is just amazing. I was speaking with Artur (Dmitriev) and asked, "How long (since the Nagano OIympics) does it feel like to you?" He said, "Maybe 4 or 5 years". We can push that to 6, but definitely not 10.

– But I must say, you two still look fabulous together. It was hard to believe there was such a long break.
P: Thank you. I wish there was more time for practice.

– What do you remember the most from the Nagano Olympics?
G: Stress and pressure. Also I was in a lot of pain because I had a stress fracture in my wrist. It was so intense - I couldn't sleep well at night. We just kept practicing our programs again and again. It was very, very difficult to defend the Olympic title.
P: In the Lillehammer Olympics in 1994, it was just fun for us. It was great that we won, but it would have been OK even if we lost because we were young. But in Nagano in 1998, we had to win. Second place meant a loss; it would have been an embarrassment us. So there was so much pressure for us to skate without mistakes. I remember after we skated a clean free program, Oksana started to cry and I was like, "We did it!"
– Probably because you were so strong and unbeatable, there were some people who were not in favor of you at the time. How did you feel?
P: I can understand that when the same team wins all the time, it is not fun for viewers. They want to see competition. I watch F-1 race, and when Michael Schumacher - wins all the time, I don't want to watch anymore. People want to see young, new winners. That's why there were some people who disliked us a little.
G: But those who didn’t like us were the ones who wanted to be in our position. I remember one skater said to my face that we had enough and we should retire so that they can win. I was just shocked.

– I remember the CBS coverage was so openly anti-Grishuk & Platov. It must have been hard watching that coverage since both of you were already based in the U.S. at the time.
P: Yes, I remember that they compared our compulsory side by side with Bourne & Kraaz. The commentator was a Canadian, and she repeatedly said we made a mistake. But honestly, there were no comparisons in quality, especially in the Golden Waltz.
G: For some reason, she didn't like us. Even at the '94 Olympics, she kept bringing us down. It is so unfortunate that they put someone in front of a TV microphone who is strongly against someone.
P: I can understand people having different opinions, but they need to realize how much influence TV has. One time, I was working as a commentator on Russian TV, and I talked about which three teams I thought should have been on the podium. I never meant to hurt anyone and was just saying my honest opinion. But some people still do not talk to me because of that. Since then I've learned that you just need to be aware of how much power you have when you are speaking on the national broadcast. You can bring someone down, or you can bring someone up easily. But it is not fair. I believe that TV commentators should be very fair and neutral.

– I feel American TV sometimes intentionally tries to make things controversial. They must think it is more exciting.
P: They influence people who do not even watch the sports. My girlfriend, she is my fiancй now, has nothing to do with skating and she never watched skating. When we first met, she said that I probably won because we were Russians and had political support. I handed her the videotape of our Nagano Olympic performance and told her to watch it. She came back in tears, saying we were so fast and so good. Then she started to get angry and asked that why the hell people were saying we won because of politics. (Laughs)
– Did you ever seriously fear that Krylova & Ovsyannikov might beat you one day?
G: Of course we did. Not just them, but we were afraid that any team might beat us one day. That's why we kept training so hard.
P: They were definitely closest to us. It was like 1st and 2nd place were set and the rest of teams fought for the 3rd place. Angelika and Oleg had very good feet and good programs.
G: That's actually the reason we had to change our coach. We were afraid that if we didn't do that quickly, the placement might have been switched, not because we were weaker but because that's how the coach wanted it. It was better for the coach to have a new champion at every Olympics. It shows that she can make anybody a champion. At the Worlds in 1996, our coach at the time said at the press conference that her bet is on the other team to win the next Olympics. When I found out about it, it was a big shock. That's why we switched to Tatiana (Tarasova).

– What is the biggest thing that Tarasova has given you?
P: We went to Tatiana in December 1996, right before the Russian Nationals, which we didn't compete in that year. We already made two programs ourselves because Natalia (Linichuk) stopped working with us. We were showing Tatiana the Tango.
There is a move in which we bend our knees very deep like this. Then she said. "Kiss her!" I was like, "What?" She said that we were just doing moves and there was no passion. A move without a passion doesn't mean anything, she said. She was like an artist giving colors to the painting.
G: To me, she wasn't the type of coach to teach technique or choreography. She was constantly screaming how great we were. She gave us a lot of confidence and motivation, which we really needed to win the Nagano Olympics
– Both of you have been coaching. Could you talk about your experience as coaches?
G: I am not coaching much at all. I just couldn't commit myself to be a coach.
P: I first worked helping Tatiana (Tarasova). It was great to work with a legendary coach like her -- I learned so much. Of course I knew her as a skater, but to see how she works as her assistant coach, it was a different experience. I also worked with Tamara Moskvina last summer. In order to become a good coach, you have to be like a sponge - you need to absorb everything that you want to learn.

– For someone as talented as you are, do you ever get frustrated with your students?
P: Yes, every single day! (Laughs) I feel like, "It is so simple! Why can't you do it?" Actually, the hardest part of becoming a coach is to forget who you were. First, I had to forget that I was an Olympic champion. I had to start from the beginning and prove that I could be a good coach. My mother is a school teacher -- she taught for 42 years in a class with 42 students. So I always consult my mother about teaching. She told me to stay calm and not to yell or scream because it won't help.
G: I used to coach five days a week. But I eventually stopped because it was very hard to deal with other coaches in the rink. I think it was even harder because I was two-time Olympic champion. They didn't like me to come to the rink. I was told that I may be an Olympic champion, but I was nobody as a coach – and they'd been coaching for a long time. They were just very hostile to me, and I didn't want to work like that.
P: That's the negative part. But there are also positive parts. When I went to a competition as a coach for the first time, I was so nervous that I thought the whole arena was shaking. As a skater when I start to skate and do the whole routine, I was OK. But as a coach, there was nothing I was able to do for four minutes. But when skaters perform well and people come up to you saying it was an amazing program, it feels great. When they get on the podium, the feeling of reward is incredible. It was probably even more rewarding than when I skated myself, because as a coach you think about skating 24 hours a day. When you are a skater, you don't think about skating 24 hours a day because you'll go crazy. But as a coach, you are constantly thinking about skating. A coach has to be like a psychologist, a mother, everything.

– Last question. What do you think of the ice dance today?
G: I can't comment on that because I don't watch skating anymore.
P: The new judging system created something that we didn't have. They have to do certain elements. We used to do maybe two twizzles. Now they have to do two with eight revolutions, four in each side - clean. Also lifts are difficult, so techniques are definitely there. The problem is that everybody has started to look the same. But techniques are improving, and there are some good teams.

– Can you name a few teams that you like?
P: French, (Delobel & Schoenfelder) is good, the second Russian team (Khokhova & Novitski) is improving a lot, and the young Canadian team (Virtue & Moir) is also very good. And I hope my team (Kerr & Kerr) is good, too. I hope they do well in the Olympics, but it is going to be a tough competition. In today's judging system, if you miss an element, anybody can beat you, so it is unpredictable and more exciting. Before, we knew pretty much who will win first, second and third place.

– Thatls right. You always won. (Laughs)

(At Memorial On Ice, Nagano 2008)

Copyright © Сайт открыт 25.10.2006 
Cоздание и управление сайтом - система CMS SiteEdit
 
Яндекс цитирования Каталог ссылок на интернет сайты с описаниями Cайт о И. Бобрине, Н. Бестемьяновой и А. Букине бесплатные форумы