Anatoly Samokhvalov's interview with Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii
rsport.ria.ru
Pre-story: At the press conference after Pairs long program Dmitry told story how Aleksandra and he were hanging out in the hotel after practice on the day before that and came across “No one can challenge Tsar Samarin” video on Youtube. So Dmitry joked that since he had been living with Samarin in the hotel, he had to comply to his roommate.
And how did Tsar Kozlovsky feel when he woke up in the morning?
Dmitry: It was a joke. We have only one tsar - Samarin - after all. (Samarin won the Moscow Grand Prix in men's singles - editor's note). I woke up in a great mood and was looking forward to skate in exhibitions. It is a great addition to competitions. You usually prepare for exhibitions in relaxed atmosphere and do not think about the upcoming start. And this is awesome. All in all, I felt free on that beautiful morning.
Can you get used to victories? You now have some experience.
Aleksandra: I would not call it experience.
Dmitry: The key word here is "some." In fact, it seems to me that when you overcome yourself, discover something new, win, try new elements, new music, increase the difficulty of , you can hardly get used to victories. And speaking of us, we are very, well, just very far from this state. We are just starting our way.
So you don't have a phycology of the winners yet?
Dmitry: We have a psychology of the fighters. We are fighting ourselves.
Aleksandra: And, I hope, it will always be this way.
Dmitry: But what is called 'psychology of the winners' must be evaluated from the outside. We will fight with ourselves and we will defeat ourselves. Of course, we have this psychology of winners to some extend, but it is precisely to fight ourselves in order to achieve best results. This is the most important thing in the team work. And in sports in general.
When young Zhenya Plushenko first went to the Worlds and came to practice rink, he had those thoughts in his head: “I can beat this one. And that one.” He looked around and compared himself to his rivals, he didn't focus only on his skating.
Aleksandra: Everyone has it differently.
Dmitry: Yes, everyone has their own psychology of preparing for competitions. Sasha and I concentrate on each other. We try to become one and skate as one.
Is it due to the Leningrad intelligence and your reluctance to offend any other team?
Aleksandra: I don’t think so. Sport and St. Petersburg intelligence are two completely different things.
Dmitry: You see, we are standing not for not offending anyone, we are staying for the respect. This is an integral part of our team. We respect everyone, because we spend a lot of time on the ice. We work very hard, and we are well aware that all other team are doing the same.
A year ago, after the Grand Prix event in Grenoble, I asked you about your prospects going into Russian Nationals. Dmitry replied them: "We skate on a fairly high level. I won't say that we are now at the top worlds level, but we are striving for this." Now in addition to the high level of skating you also have some accomplishments. Has your psychology changed in a year?
Aleksandra: Our main aim is to skate clean, and it will always be this way. So there haven't been any changes.
Dmitry: Psychology hasn't changed in any way. And I think it won't change.
Maybe you are now more accustomed to the competition in pairs skating?
Dmitry: And in this regard we also relate to this matter as we did in the past. We have a very good coaching team, they instill certain confidence in ourselves. We see that our coaches give us the maximum and we are confident on the ice. Therefore, we can’t say that something has changed in our perception. We approach each new start very calmly and steadily. First of all, we try to train good before competitions. But you can draw conclusions and talk about it only after the event has come to an end.
Your coaches Tamara Moskvina and Arthur Minchuk are from different generations. Does their ways of communication with you also differ?
Dmitry: Tamara Nikolaevna is an amazing professional! It is incredible how she always knows how to interact with her students and guide them, carefully adjusting to each athlete. She always learns something new and keeps moving forward. Therefore, I can’t even call her a person from the past generation. We have a very respectful relationships between all of us and it works both ways.
Aleksandra: And it doesn't have anything with the difference in generations.
Dmitry: We communicate in the way an athlete should communicate with his coach and vice versa.
Keeping the distance?
Dmitry: In my opinion, it isn't a distance, it's professionalism.
Aleksandra: After practice we can joke with both Tamara Nikolaevna and Arthur Leonidovich.
Dmitry: Yes, but during the training process we are focused on the work, and during practices we interact strictly professionally.
The fact that Moskvina isn't a person from the previous generation periodically pops up in different interviews and conversations, as far as I remember, both Anton Sikharulidze and Alexander Smirnov admitted that they call her Tamarochka. And do you have such a moral right?
Dmitry: Tamara Nikolaevna is very cool about it, but at this point I personally can't call her Tamarochka.
Aleksandra: Me neither.
Dmitry: We love and appreciate Tamara Nikolaevna for what she does for us, for the way she works with us, how much time and efforts she spends. It means a lot. And because of this respect we can't call her anything other than by her name and her patronymic. Perhaps with time the situation will change, but not now. Only Tamara Nikolaevna.
Aleksandra: Our respect, of course, will never disappear in relation to her, but maybe when we grow up, we won't call her only Tamara Nikolaevna. Sasha Smirnov and Anton Sikharulidze are adults after all and we are not yet.
Dmitry: 'Tamarochka' is an indicator of their sincere love, it's a manifestation of some other kind of respect. Aleksandra and I are not event twenty yet (Kozlovsky is 19 years old, Boykova is 17 - editor's note).
Smirnov said earlier that Moskvina's main strategy is executing all elements and then starting to show the Leningrad Drama Theater. Do you hear similar phrases at practices?
Aleksandra: A bit different. She says: "We are focused on the elements, but we have to show everyone that we also skate artistically."
Dmitry: Elements should be woven into the overall concept of the program, as in ice dance. When you don’t even understand when the certain element starts. Dance teams start skating and their elements look like a whole. And pair skating should be the same. The level of figure skating has grown very much, it is impossible to do the technical part first and only after the pause start demonstrating skating and programs.
Leningrad pair skating is more about power and pomp.
Dmitry: We don't divide figure skating into Leningrad, Moscow or, say, American schools. Because this tendency of combining both elements and artistic skating is constantly developing.
But the style is still different.
Dmitry: Maybe. This can be seen from the outside and with a certain prolongation in time, but we ourselves can't say anything specific. Although the сoach's unique handwriting is always noticeable, of course. But we don't see it in the way the fans and specialists from the outside see it.
On an outside prospective, you are representatives of the classical school. Are you planning your future development within this style or maybe you plan to change something?
Dmitry: We have our coaches, and it seems to us that their work brings results. Therefore, it is incorrect to say that we would like to radically change our style. We are developing and we are still quite young. And we don’t where our path will lead us, which skating we will show in the future. We need to discover a lot of things, to work on many things, to develop more qualities in ourselves.
And what are you lacking now?
Dmitry: I think that we need to increase the level of skating, to get the sense of freedom on ice. This is the main thing.
Skating skills?
Dmitry: Gliding, interpretation.
Aleksandra: Interacting with each other on the ice.
Pair skating is, perhaps, the most heroic discipline in figure skating. How to tune back into work after terrible injuries like Natalia Zabiyako or Wenjing Sui had in the past?
Dmitry: We wouldn't like to talk about other athletes injuries. This is always a sensitive topic. And we try not to plunge into it, protecting both our nervous system and mood. Health is a very personal and sensitive issue, especially when it comes to other people. And we don't want to continue this topic.
You also represent this figure skating discipline.
Aleksandra: Everyone has their own way.
Dmitry: Our sport is one of the most difficult and traumatic, and many athletes try difficult elements for the sake of victories. It is a personal choice! But an athlete often get injured even outside the training process. Therefore, injuries have always been a part of this sport and they won't disappear anywhere in the future. It’s wrong to focus on this aspect. Especially on other people's injuries.
Who are your referent points in figure skating?
Aleksandra: No one.
Dmitry: Rather, we ourselves. We don't have any idols. Of course, we watch performances of many extraordinary skaters of the past and present, note some aspects and elements, but we can't say that we have any idols and want to be like someone else.
Aleksandra: Also, I can’t say that we want to be better than those skaters. And we see our rivals in a similar way - we note their skills and interesting elements, but there is no fanaticism.
Dmitry: We want to be ourselves and become the best version of ourselves. We prefer to focus on this.
Бойкова и Козловский: Москвину искренне любим, но Тамарочкой не называем
Российская спортивная пара Александра Бойкова и Дмитрий Козловский выиграла московский этап Гран-при, а на следующий день фигуристы рассказали РИА Новости, как... РИА Новости Спорт, 22.11.2019
Pre-story: At the press conference after Pairs long program Dmitry told story how Aleksandra and he were hanging out in the hotel after practice on the day before that and came across “No one can challenge Tsar Samarin” video on Youtube. So Dmitry joked that since he had been living with Samarin in the hotel, he had to comply to his roommate.
And how did Tsar Kozlovsky feel when he woke up in the morning?
Dmitry: It was a joke. We have only one tsar - Samarin - after all. (Samarin won the Moscow Grand Prix in men's singles - editor's note). I woke up in a great mood and was looking forward to skate in exhibitions. It is a great addition to competitions. You usually prepare for exhibitions in relaxed atmosphere and do not think about the upcoming start. And this is awesome. All in all, I felt free on that beautiful morning.
Can you get used to victories? You now have some experience.
Aleksandra: I would not call it experience.
Dmitry: The key word here is "some." In fact, it seems to me that when you overcome yourself, discover something new, win, try new elements, new music, increase the difficulty of , you can hardly get used to victories. And speaking of us, we are very, well, just very far from this state. We are just starting our way.
So you don't have a phycology of the winners yet?
Dmitry: We have a psychology of the fighters. We are fighting ourselves.
Aleksandra: And, I hope, it will always be this way.
Dmitry: But what is called 'psychology of the winners' must be evaluated from the outside. We will fight with ourselves and we will defeat ourselves. Of course, we have this psychology of winners to some extend, but it is precisely to fight ourselves in order to achieve best results. This is the most important thing in the team work. And in sports in general.
When young Zhenya Plushenko first went to the Worlds and came to practice rink, he had those thoughts in his head: “I can beat this one. And that one.” He looked around and compared himself to his rivals, he didn't focus only on his skating.
Aleksandra: Everyone has it differently.
Dmitry: Yes, everyone has their own psychology of preparing for competitions. Sasha and I concentrate on each other. We try to become one and skate as one.
Is it due to the Leningrad intelligence and your reluctance to offend any other team?
Aleksandra: I don’t think so. Sport and St. Petersburg intelligence are two completely different things.
Dmitry: You see, we are standing not for not offending anyone, we are staying for the respect. This is an integral part of our team. We respect everyone, because we spend a lot of time on the ice. We work very hard, and we are well aware that all other team are doing the same.
A year ago, after the Grand Prix event in Grenoble, I asked you about your prospects going into Russian Nationals. Dmitry replied them: "We skate on a fairly high level. I won't say that we are now at the top worlds level, but we are striving for this." Now in addition to the high level of skating you also have some accomplishments. Has your psychology changed in a year?
Aleksandra: Our main aim is to skate clean, and it will always be this way. So there haven't been any changes.
Dmitry: Psychology hasn't changed in any way. And I think it won't change.
Maybe you are now more accustomed to the competition in pairs skating?
Dmitry: And in this regard we also relate to this matter as we did in the past. We have a very good coaching team, they instill certain confidence in ourselves. We see that our coaches give us the maximum and we are confident on the ice. Therefore, we can’t say that something has changed in our perception. We approach each new start very calmly and steadily. First of all, we try to train good before competitions. But you can draw conclusions and talk about it only after the event has come to an end.
Your coaches Tamara Moskvina and Arthur Minchuk are from different generations. Does their ways of communication with you also differ?
Dmitry: Tamara Nikolaevna is an amazing professional! It is incredible how she always knows how to interact with her students and guide them, carefully adjusting to each athlete. She always learns something new and keeps moving forward. Therefore, I can’t even call her a person from the past generation. We have a very respectful relationships between all of us and it works both ways.
Aleksandra: And it doesn't have anything with the difference in generations.
Dmitry: We communicate in the way an athlete should communicate with his coach and vice versa.
Keeping the distance?
Dmitry: In my opinion, it isn't a distance, it's professionalism.
Aleksandra: After practice we can joke with both Tamara Nikolaevna and Arthur Leonidovich.
Dmitry: Yes, but during the training process we are focused on the work, and during practices we interact strictly professionally.
The fact that Moskvina isn't a person from the previous generation periodically pops up in different interviews and conversations, as far as I remember, both Anton Sikharulidze and Alexander Smirnov admitted that they call her Tamarochka. And do you have such a moral right?
Dmitry: Tamara Nikolaevna is very cool about it, but at this point I personally can't call her Tamarochka.
Aleksandra: Me neither.
Dmitry: We love and appreciate Tamara Nikolaevna for what she does for us, for the way she works with us, how much time and efforts she spends. It means a lot. And because of this respect we can't call her anything other than by her name and her patronymic. Perhaps with time the situation will change, but not now. Only Tamara Nikolaevna.
Aleksandra: Our respect, of course, will never disappear in relation to her, but maybe when we grow up, we won't call her only Tamara Nikolaevna. Sasha Smirnov and Anton Sikharulidze are adults after all and we are not yet.
Dmitry: 'Tamarochka' is an indicator of their sincere love, it's a manifestation of some other kind of respect. Aleksandra and I are not event twenty yet (Kozlovsky is 19 years old, Boykova is 17 - editor's note).
Smirnov said earlier that Moskvina's main strategy is executing all elements and then starting to show the Leningrad Drama Theater. Do you hear similar phrases at practices?
Aleksandra: A bit different. She says: "We are focused on the elements, but we have to show everyone that we also skate artistically."
Dmitry: Elements should be woven into the overall concept of the program, as in ice dance. When you don’t even understand when the certain element starts. Dance teams start skating and their elements look like a whole. And pair skating should be the same. The level of figure skating has grown very much, it is impossible to do the technical part first and only after the pause start demonstrating skating and programs.
Leningrad pair skating is more about power and pomp.
Dmitry: We don't divide figure skating into Leningrad, Moscow or, say, American schools. Because this tendency of combining both elements and artistic skating is constantly developing.
But the style is still different.
Dmitry: Maybe. This can be seen from the outside and with a certain prolongation in time, but we ourselves can't say anything specific. Although the сoach's unique handwriting is always noticeable, of course. But we don't see it in the way the fans and specialists from the outside see it.
On an outside prospective, you are representatives of the classical school. Are you planning your future development within this style or maybe you plan to change something?
Dmitry: We have our coaches, and it seems to us that their work brings results. Therefore, it is incorrect to say that we would like to radically change our style. We are developing and we are still quite young. And we don’t where our path will lead us, which skating we will show in the future. We need to discover a lot of things, to work on many things, to develop more qualities in ourselves.
And what are you lacking now?
Dmitry: I think that we need to increase the level of skating, to get the sense of freedom on ice. This is the main thing.
Skating skills?
Dmitry: Gliding, interpretation.
Aleksandra: Interacting with each other on the ice.
Pair skating is, perhaps, the most heroic discipline in figure skating. How to tune back into work after terrible injuries like Natalia Zabiyako or Wenjing Sui had in the past?
Dmitry: We wouldn't like to talk about other athletes injuries. This is always a sensitive topic. And we try not to plunge into it, protecting both our nervous system and mood. Health is a very personal and sensitive issue, especially when it comes to other people. And we don't want to continue this topic.
You also represent this figure skating discipline.
Aleksandra: Everyone has their own way.
Dmitry: Our sport is one of the most difficult and traumatic, and many athletes try difficult elements for the sake of victories. It is a personal choice! But an athlete often get injured even outside the training process. Therefore, injuries have always been a part of this sport and they won't disappear anywhere in the future. It’s wrong to focus on this aspect. Especially on other people's injuries.
Who are your referent points in figure skating?
Aleksandra: No one.
Dmitry: Rather, we ourselves. We don't have any idols. Of course, we watch performances of many extraordinary skaters of the past and present, note some aspects and elements, but we can't say that we have any idols and want to be like someone else.
Aleksandra: Also, I can’t say that we want to be better than those skaters. And we see our rivals in a similar way - we note their skills and interesting elements, but there is no fanaticism.
Dmitry: We want to be ourselves and become the best version of ourselves. We prefer to focus on this.
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