Adrian Schultheiss is uncertain about his future in figure skating

[siberia82]

I found two radio interviews with Adrian Schultheiss (or maybe it's the same one, but I can't differentiate between them since I don't speak Swedish) which suggest that he has doubts about continuing with the sport.

http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel...rtikel=4301199

http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel...rtikel=4301415

[Civic]

Not a surprise. He may feel that he's expending a lot of time, effort and money without achieving the results he'd like.

[Jasmar]

Oh, I hope he doesn't give up. He's got so much potential to be someone really interesting in the sport. Like Gary Beacom or Ryan Jahnke. He looked so utterly defeated at Skate America, even after the event when I ran into him on the concourse. he was just in a daze. I was hoping this were going to get better.

[Jenna]

I thought he made vast improvements in the 09-10 season, only to regress a bit this fall. The coaching incident at Skate America was awful. I hope he can persevere!

[siberia82]

By carefully listening to the sequence of syllables, I've managed to determine that the first link I shared contains a 1-minute section of the full radio interview (which can be found in the 2nd URL). I sincerely hope a Swedish speaker will translate the latter for us.



I put both pages through Google Translate to get a rough English translation of the text which accompanies both audio clips:

http://translate.google.com/translat...ikel%3D4301199

http://translate.google.com/translat...ikel%3D4301415

[Lara]

Wrong thread sorry.

[shan]

: I hope he does well at Europeans!

[Finnice]

He says basically that skating has not been so nice lately. He has overtrained his feet and also the coach change has affected him so that he has even thought about quitting. He also plans to stay to the next olympics, but still has some doubts.

So, nothing really determinate. It only seems that he is a bit desperate now, and not at all in a good form.

I also hope he will in Bern. I love those voidy Swedish guys!

[ingwer]

This is a rough translation of the latter radio interview. Please note that I am native speaker neither in Swedish nor in English so there are probably many little nuances lost in translation and also many little mistakes, but the main idea should become clear.



Adrian Schultheiss made his big international breakthrough at last year’s Olympics: he was the first Swede to land a quadruple jump and his long program was brilliant. At the world championships a little later he made his personal best score and came in ninth place. He took his last step to the world’s elite last year.

But it seems not to be that easy. “I’ve had a little slump this year. There has been too much figure skating, I could not take it. Last summer my legs were overstrained and I was not able to train properly. Also the situation with my coach was difficult. Now I have changed coaches and I hope to climb up the rankings again.”

Schultheiss has even thought about quitting the sport altogether and finding something else for the future. He is not even sure if there will be a season 2011-2012 for him.

“I’ve wanted to go on until the next Olympics but we’ll see what happens next year. It is sometimes a little hard. But I hope for the best.”

So you are not totally convinced to continue, there is a little doubt?

“It is a little uncertain. It has not been so fun lately. But I hope the coaching change will help to sort things out.”

Three weeks before the Swedish nationals Adrian Schultheiss broke up with his coach of many years, Evgeni Lutkov. Now he has two coaches, Maria Bergqvist and Johanna Dahlstrand.

“This was needed to be able to loosen things up a little. Now I have a say in my own training. Things were not working out with my old coach any more.”

Do you feel there is now room for development? Are you going to raise the bar a little now?

“I hope so. But now I’ve chosen a coach who is in the first hand supportive and is there for me. The practices have become more fun.”

Next week it is time to leave all ponderings aside and put all efforts on the European Championships in Bern.

“I hope for a good placement. Actually I would like to be in the top five. Anyway, the season has not been that great so far. But top ten at least.”

Adrian Schultheiss has all the technical elements in his skating that are needed to place well in the competition. Now it is time to improve his presentation. The presentation score is almost as important as the technical aspect when it comes to points. But it is much more difficult.

“You have to have a story in the program, not just to skate around like a dead swan but to be alive and tell something.”

How do you see your own presentation?

“Last year I think it was good but this year the judges have not understood me yet.”

Are you difficult to understand?

“A little.” (laughs)

What do you think is the reason?

“I think my long program last year was really good but I did not get the scores I wanted until the world championships. It took some time for them to get the program.”

Last year Adrian Schultheiss used for the first time classical music, in his short program. He has been known of choosing very modern songs for his skating in the past. But he has not taken the step into the classical world in order to please the conservative judges.

“I don’t think the music determines the score the skater is going to get from his programs.”

Has your former music shocked the judges?

“Well, no, but maybe they don’t like it. Those who sit at the judging panel are often older people and not necessarily listen to the contemporary music that I do.”

Do you think it is good now that you combine classical and modern music?

“I never choose music that I don’t like. I don’t do anything for the judges or anyone but I do everything for my own sake.”

Do you have some spectacular moment in your new programs like the move we remember when you bend backwards and make a shooting move in front of the judges, something that sticks out?

“Not anything that much now, that was the real highlight (laughs). But in my long program I’m drying up blood from my arm, my friend died in a fight at the beginning of the program and my sleeve got stained by his blood. And in the short program there are some snake moves. But nothing like shooting the judges.”

So you have already made your best move. (laughing) When you make up a new program, how much do you think about the storytelling?

“I want the program to have a story, that I can make something up myself, so that it feels plausible and real when I’m skating. I want to know why there is a hand move or a facial expression in a certain moment, what should I feel when skating to it and so on. It feels better to skate to a story than to skate around to some music and choreography with no idea behind.”

Is it more important to you to understand it yourself than to make it visible for someone who’s watching?

“It’s the most important for myself because many people don't understand when I’m for example drying the blood from my sleeve, they think I’m washing something or scratching something itchy (laughing). But for me it is important that there is something behind everything I do.”

[shan]

Thanks for the translation ingwer!

[siberia82]

ingwer, thank you very much for your help! I wasn't sure anyone on FSU would have the patience to translate a 7-minute long interview, but I'm so glad that you did!

[siberia82]

A Swedish blogger shared an excerpt from the latest issue of a magazine called Filter which had an article on "Ice Loneliness" http://mymarkup.se/2011/01/konstakni...riefiskar.html I must say that Adrian seems miserable based on the interview. He reveals to the magazine that he has been feeling low since the 2008 Worlds (which I'm sure some of you remember was hosted by his hometown of Gothenburg).

This is the English translation from Google Translator: http://translate.google.com/translat...riefiskar.html

[Ziggy]

Schultheiss has so much untapped potential.

If only he improved his stamina and got programs bringing out his personality (like the "insane" FS last season), he could really shine.

Don't give up Adrian, you rock!

[ks1227]

I hope he will not quit. The interview translation makes it sound like he's still hoping for a better result, in which case perhaps he'll stick around. I love his voidy programs, especially last season!

[shan]

Does he have a fan page? It would be nice to send him encouraging words. I wonder if it would encourage him to know that he has fans on FSU. Or maybe it would terrify him!

[Mozart]

he's on facebook....

[shan]

Thanks Mozart, I'll have to check it out.

[SmallFairy]

A Swedish blogger shared an excerpt from the latest issue of a magazine called Filter which had an article on "Ice Loneliness" http://mymarkup.se/2011/01/konstakni...riefiskar.html I must say that Adrian seems miserable based on the interview. He reveals to the magazine that he has been feeling low since the 2008 Worlds (which I'm sure some of you remember was hosted by his hometown of Gothenburg).

This is the English translation from Google Translator: http://translate.google.com/translat...riefiskar.html

Adrian does indeed sound depressed in his quotes! I truly hope he doesn't retire!!

he says:
- I'm very confused right night. Lately I haven't been happy, I think I'm depressed. It's been like this since worlds 2008: first it was really a lot of things happening, then I was depressed during the summer and couldn't find any happiness in my skating. And this year it's all been crap. I have goals, big goals, but sometimes I have stopped dreaming. If I can't find the joy in skating again, I'm going to quit after this season. ( no no no!!!)

Adrian is leaning forward, sitting on his bed.

- Sometimes my girlfriend comes to watch my practices. That helps. I don't feel so lonely then. I land the harder triples and do nicer spins then. (awwww, that's so cute! she should get money from the Swedish fed to be able to leave all other commitments and watch his practices all the time!)

Adrians life is totally evolved around figure skating. He practices in the morning, the he goes home and rests a few hours, before he's back at the rink for the next session. The evening he sometimes spends with his girlfriend, who studies at the university and lives with her parents. His busy schedule has made sure he has no other friends left in Gothenburg. Mostly he meets up with a group of foreign skaters that he meets at competitions. When he's at home, he mostly sits on his bed and watches his aquarium. He loves his fishes and can watch "their behaviour" for hours and hours.

And as if all his other problems wasn't enough, the fishes seems to have caught an illness. He shows me a note that is the result of hours of studying in front of the aquarium, where he througly has made notes of what the fishes are doing. It says things like: "coughing up food" and "body shivers". He has also calculated their breath: 80-110 breaths per minute instead of 60, which is normal. Adrian is taking his list to a zoo-shop to get help finding the right diagnose and buy the right medication. he suspects their suffering from....gälparasiter/galleparasitter. (now that's one word I don't know in english.

End of interview.

A lot about fishes, and also some about skating, he seems like a really miserable man at the moment!! Poor Adrian, he needs some cheering up!! I guess you could write to SkateSweden to send him a message, or also to the svt-commentators, they are in Bern and I'm sure they will pass any encouraging words on to him... will see if I can find an e-mail adress...

Hope he kicks ass at Euros and is pushed forward by that! no way he's allowed to quit, no way!!!

[siberia82]

As always, we appreciate your translations, SmallFairy. I always miss the little details with Google Translate. I would guess that "gälparasiter" refers to gill parasites.

My heart sank to my stomach after watching Adrian's SP at Euros. He was already in a dark place emotionally, so I can't imagine how he's feeling right now. I think he needs a big hug from his fans. (((Adrian)))

[Jasmar]

He sounds seriously, clinically depressed. I know nothing about the Swedish skating federation, but with his talent, wouldn't it seem like someone would be keeping an eye on this sort of thing –*and trying to get him some help?

I deeply hope he finds help and comes back fighting. He's such a breath of fresh air on the ice, even when he's off.