New interview
with Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii
- You competed at the high-level competitions this season, and it's another level of responsibility, more pressure. How did you cope with this?
Dmitrii: From the very beginning of the season we tried to discover this new level for ourselves, so it's rather strange to talk about pressure. We didn't dwell on it. First of all, we tried to show our best skating - to skate cleaner, clearer, in synch; in order to prove ourselves on the world stage. And we succeeded. For Sasha and me: the more people in the audience - the better, it's easier to perform.
Aleksandra: I can add from myself, that the whole season we tried to skate more maturely. I tried to do everything more consciously than last year. I also tried to "make friends with my brain" and it actually happened. We are happy with the season. Yes, Dima?
Dmitry: Of course. We talked about this many times.
- Which competition is the most memorable?
Dmitrii: Of course, the World Championship. It was not that easy, preceded by hard and systematic preparation. And Japan isn't close. You see, the World Cup is the key, the most important competition of the season, and the fact that we were able to show our best in Japan evokes strong emotions. It is impossible not to recall the European Championship as well. Our first medal on this level! And nevertheless the World Championship is the most memorable one.
Aleksandra: I also remember the Grand Prix event in Canada. Our first major international competition, we met with skaters of our team there, met with the guys from other countries. Why do I remember that event in Canada? Because we skated cleanly and became only forth. And I remember how Dima and Morgan (Cipres - note) comforted me. And for a long time I could't recover. So if we talk about the first half of the season, the most memorable event for me was “Skate Canada”. And in the second half - Euros and Worlds. A spent a lot of energy preparing for these events. I remember, I was delighted when I realize that Worlds are on the same week as my school holidays, so it was easier to cope with studies.
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- Nowadays most of the senior couples have more or less the same elements, same jump sets and etc. What can you do to compete with them?
Dmitrii: Now pair skating became more like ice dancing, because everyone does almost the same elements, and we want to add some more complicated technical elements. For example, new jumps. But you need to be 100% sure to add them into programs.
Aleksandra: Only when you jump a hundred out of a hundred.
Dmitrii: I would say ten out of ten. As for the rest, according to the new rules, I am not sure if it makes sense to learn, for example, a quadruple twist.
Aleksandra: And I would really like to learn a quad throw. But our coach has a different point of view.
Dmitrii: Artur Leonidovich (Minchuk) understands that quad throws are traumatic. And since the throw landings are much more difficult than jumps, as they requires more energy, more height. And you can easily get hurt while training it. So it turns out that you will spend a huge amount of energy, but one mistake on an element like this will throw you far back.
If the difference in points in pair skating was at least the same as it is in singles, then it would be worthwhile to learn difficult elements. For example in singles: a triple salchow is 4 points, and a quad salchow is 10. Then it’s worth the risk. And if a quad twist with a little mistake cost less points than a very goos triple twist, then why you need to try this element? At Russian Nats there was a couple who did a quad twist and they received less points than other pairs with good triple twists. And it happened despite the fact that quad twist is difficult to do physically for both partners. It is almost impossible to do a split on the quad twist; and you can execute a quad tans-twist on;y with a 10kg "cat". So you need to add difficulty only by executing the "guaranteed" elements, which you can do consistently. This also applies to both pair elements, and jumps. But sooner or later everything can be learnt and done, so I believe that we need to develop in this aspect.
- If we are talking about jumps - you have 3-3 combination. Are you planning to add something new?
Dmitrii: We are working on all triple jumps now. We have a separate time dedicated only to jumps. We are jumping, working on them, and we'll see later which ones will turn out to be more consistent. But I am convinced that difficult jumps are the future, probably even at the Beijing Olympics. Therefore, one way or another, if we want to compete with top teams who get all 10 in PCS and +5 GOE, then we need to move in this direction. Today, top teams are coming close to the maximum scores with error-free skating. And in order to get on that level, we try to work and develop in all aspects. Of course, we want to win, but there is no athlete who doesn't want this. And we understand that we need to work very hard and make efforts to become better and achieve our goals.
- Did your relationship change during this season?
Aleksandra: Dima and I have known each other for a long time, we have learnt each other characters, but, probably, this year we started to feel each other better as partners.
Dmitrii: You see, every year we get better and better in terms of on ice connection. We learn new transitions, turns, and even programs are easier for us now, because we already know how to do things together. When we started to skate, we didn’t understand how it's possible to di kilian - it’s so difficult! And now we are performing steps and blocks, and we are working much faster, because every year we are on our interactions. Why do Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron skate this way? Because they have been holding each other hands from the age of 8. Why did Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir skate like this? Because they were skating together from childhood. The more you train, the more different situations arise and you have to adjust. And when they arise for the hundredth time, you already know what you need to be do, because you already have this experience.
They are working on their SP with Natalia Bestemianova and Igor Bobrin, Nikolai Morozov will choreograph their LP
