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Anatoly Samokhvalov's interview with Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov `We don't stress the Olympics too much' for ria.ru
About the previous Olympics:
VM: During the 2006 Turino Olympics I was 13, I wasn't even watching the pairs competition, recalls the best male partner in Europe Morozov. I knew that Totmianina/Marinin were skating, but I wasn’t interested as I didn’t understand much. I was only following the single skating and the Pluschenko/Yagudin rivalry.
AS: Who were you rooting for?
VM: Don't know really. It was such a cool rivalry that it what was interesting at the most.
AS: Yagudin's `Winter' or?
VM: What was cooler? Guess Yagudin's `Winter'. And his MITIM. Later in 2010 I made my first steps in the pairs skating, was learning some lifts, competing, but I did not yet understand what pairs skating is. The Sochi Olympics were clearer. In 2014 we were juniors, were only participating the Nationals and getting ready for the Junior worlds where we became 2nd. In 2018 I don't stress much about the Olympics, it's just yet another competition.
AS: Does it work?
ET: Convincing oneself kind of does work.
VM: It would just be easier. Guess it's possible to convince yourself. If we were thinking of the Olympics as of something completely different we would be stressing now. Yes, it might only be once in a life time thing, but am calm and glad we are going to Korea.
ET: When I was watching the Olympics it seemed like the most important thing in the athlete's life. One finish their career there, the others - get the motivation to compete and try to feel the same feelings 4 years alter. Just watching the Olympics was `wow!'. I recall how my mom would wake me up early in the morning so I wouldn’t miss the broadcast. I was being dressed for school while standing and watching the TV. In 2006 I already loved pairs, I was rooting for Totmianina/Marinin, and in 2014 for Volosozhar/Trankov. Now we are past the national cups, Worlds, Europeans so we are taking the Olympics as yet another international competition. We don't think it will be something superb or it's our only chance for something...
AS: Will you take a break after the games in Korea?
VM: No
ET: Of course no. We are too young to take a break. After the Olympics we'll be getting ready for the Worlds in Milano, then the usual vacation and the next season.
AS: As a kid Vladimir was chasing Pluschenko to get a signature.
ET: I was too. After Petrova/Tikhonov. Then I switched to pairs and was invited to participate a show `When the bells ring midnight', where I met Maria and Alexey. Recently I met Tikhonov and he said `I remember, you were playing squirrel!'. Now we are in touch, he always wishes us the best, supports us.
AS: When did figure skating become a pleasure?
VM: When we were juniors and things started working, we started winning medals in the GP.
AS: We know all about Vladimir's previous partners, but how long did it take you, Evgenia, to find your other sports half?
ET: Not so long. Before Vladimir I only skated with Egor Chudin. You could say it was him to bring me from Kazan to Moscow to Nina Mozer's group. We skated for 2 years together and then Vladimir can. So big, tall, strong and technical.
AS: The twice Olympic medalist Aljona Savchnko said that when Bruno Massot takes her in his hands and sends her into the air she doesn't need to work hard - the partner is so strong.
ET: Indeed they have a huge difference in height and weight. We are a more balanced pair but with a good common work. There is Vladimir's work and then there is mine. A pair. Then Germans on the other hand - he lifts he with one hand and throws wherever needed.
AS: You are a well polished pair.
ET: How long have we been skating together?
VM: 6 years. Well, here is your answer.
AS: Do you argue a lot?
ET: We try not to this season so we'll focus more on our work.
VM: The arguments and fights were mainly because of the mistakes.
ET: Or tiredness. Am tired, Vladimir is upset am hardly moving. Though being as strong as he is he can carry me till the next element, but if he is the one to be tired we would stop and it would be my turn to be upset.
AS: Does it happen that getting upset with the partner on the ice is beneficial?
ET: It's always negative. Especially for the one who got upset. There is an aftertaste that remains. In our case the disagreements pass very fast and are forgotten. We never really caused a serious damage to each other.
AS: Today there are a lot of strong women in the pairs skating. The 2002 Olympic champion Anton Sikharulidze once said the male skater should be the leader in the pair. Who is the leader in your team?
ET: Vladimir, of course. He is the leader because he is, I guess, saner.
AS: Do you have to push him sometimes?
ET: Never
AS: I once saw in the practice how Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya had to push her Australian partner Harley Windsor back into the ice, when he was already taking his boots off.
ET: No, it doesn't happen to us. Vladimir is very responsible.
AS: Those who have seen you at the practices a week before the Europeans said you left no chance to the others.
VM: We were so ready, loaded. During the GP we were a bit down, but now we are moving towards the peak. Mentally and physically. We are very confident.
AS: But how do you survive the failures, which happen sometimes all f the sudden, take the GPF or the SP in the Europeans in Moscow?
VM: We have to take it calmly and learn from those mistakes.
ET: And overcome them.
VM: Sometimes when you don't give up and overcome things fast it is a positive thing.
AS: Still, you are somehow look too confident for an Olympic season.
VM: Well, if we can provide at the Europeans and the Worlds, why wouldn't we be confident for the Olympics?
AS: The twice Olympic champion and your ex-group partner Maksim Trankov told you what the Olympics are like?
VM: Not recently, but we spoke a lot to him and the other Olympics: how did they live the Olympics, what happened there. We were curious to learn how things were in Sochi 4 years ago. But we have different interests now - there isn't much time left and we don't really want to stuff our heads with an additional information. There is no need. The time of the training camps is over.
AS: Do you ever recall those times when people did not believe in you, the way Trankov recalled?
VM: No, there were always enough teams on our ice.
AS: Did you ever feel alien?
ET: No. We were part of the process. When we would go to the competitions a lot of new pairs would join. Sometimes you come to the rink, someone greets you from the right, someone from the left and you have no idea who these people are. Even though we are in the same group.
VM: We were always following our goals, our dreams, never felt sorry for ourselves, never made things easier or missed the practices, hence the results. As for the looking back - yes, I miss those times when it all began. Even the times when things were bad and the thoughts to retire crossed my mind. But we overcame and the result was twice better.
AS: How many times did you give up?
ET: I recall once clearly. The first season in the seniors. The end of the season. Nothing works, we are fighting, blaming each other.. it was a defining moment. If we didn't overcome that we wouldn't be where we are now.
AS: Not matching personalities?
ET: No. We wanted it too much and it didn't work. So we were under a pressure. But then things started working.
AS: The junior teams win everything they can as the juniors and then break up.
ET: We were able to live through that period.
VM: The juniors might win the GP, some other competitions and then find themselves out of top 10 in the Nationals.
AS: Vladimir once said being bitchy is not about Evgenia.
ET: Right.
AS: Did you ever want to?
VM: You have to be sport motivated, not bitchy.
ET: We complete each other. Am softer, Vladimir is more serious. On the ice - we are one whole.
About the previous Olympics:
VM: During the 2006 Turino Olympics I was 13, I wasn't even watching the pairs competition, recalls the best male partner in Europe Morozov. I knew that Totmianina/Marinin were skating, but I wasn’t interested as I didn’t understand much. I was only following the single skating and the Pluschenko/Yagudin rivalry.
AS: Who were you rooting for?
VM: Don't know really. It was such a cool rivalry that it what was interesting at the most.
AS: Yagudin's `Winter' or?
VM: What was cooler? Guess Yagudin's `Winter'. And his MITIM. Later in 2010 I made my first steps in the pairs skating, was learning some lifts, competing, but I did not yet understand what pairs skating is. The Sochi Olympics were clearer. In 2014 we were juniors, were only participating the Nationals and getting ready for the Junior worlds where we became 2nd. In 2018 I don't stress much about the Olympics, it's just yet another competition.
AS: Does it work?
ET: Convincing oneself kind of does work.
VM: It would just be easier. Guess it's possible to convince yourself. If we were thinking of the Olympics as of something completely different we would be stressing now. Yes, it might only be once in a life time thing, but am calm and glad we are going to Korea.
ET: When I was watching the Olympics it seemed like the most important thing in the athlete's life. One finish their career there, the others - get the motivation to compete and try to feel the same feelings 4 years alter. Just watching the Olympics was `wow!'. I recall how my mom would wake me up early in the morning so I wouldn’t miss the broadcast. I was being dressed for school while standing and watching the TV. In 2006 I already loved pairs, I was rooting for Totmianina/Marinin, and in 2014 for Volosozhar/Trankov. Now we are past the national cups, Worlds, Europeans so we are taking the Olympics as yet another international competition. We don't think it will be something superb or it's our only chance for something...
AS: Will you take a break after the games in Korea?
VM: No
ET: Of course no. We are too young to take a break. After the Olympics we'll be getting ready for the Worlds in Milano, then the usual vacation and the next season.
AS: As a kid Vladimir was chasing Pluschenko to get a signature.
ET: I was too. After Petrova/Tikhonov. Then I switched to pairs and was invited to participate a show `When the bells ring midnight', where I met Maria and Alexey. Recently I met Tikhonov and he said `I remember, you were playing squirrel!'. Now we are in touch, he always wishes us the best, supports us.
AS: When did figure skating become a pleasure?
VM: When we were juniors and things started working, we started winning medals in the GP.
AS: We know all about Vladimir's previous partners, but how long did it take you, Evgenia, to find your other sports half?
ET: Not so long. Before Vladimir I only skated with Egor Chudin. You could say it was him to bring me from Kazan to Moscow to Nina Mozer's group. We skated for 2 years together and then Vladimir can. So big, tall, strong and technical.
AS: The twice Olympic medalist Aljona Savchnko said that when Bruno Massot takes her in his hands and sends her into the air she doesn't need to work hard - the partner is so strong.
ET: Indeed they have a huge difference in height and weight. We are a more balanced pair but with a good common work. There is Vladimir's work and then there is mine. A pair. Then Germans on the other hand - he lifts he with one hand and throws wherever needed.
AS: You are a well polished pair.
ET: How long have we been skating together?
VM: 6 years. Well, here is your answer.
AS: Do you argue a lot?
ET: We try not to this season so we'll focus more on our work.
VM: The arguments and fights were mainly because of the mistakes.
ET: Or tiredness. Am tired, Vladimir is upset am hardly moving. Though being as strong as he is he can carry me till the next element, but if he is the one to be tired we would stop and it would be my turn to be upset.
AS: Does it happen that getting upset with the partner on the ice is beneficial?
ET: It's always negative. Especially for the one who got upset. There is an aftertaste that remains. In our case the disagreements pass very fast and are forgotten. We never really caused a serious damage to each other.
AS: Today there are a lot of strong women in the pairs skating. The 2002 Olympic champion Anton Sikharulidze once said the male skater should be the leader in the pair. Who is the leader in your team?
ET: Vladimir, of course. He is the leader because he is, I guess, saner.
AS: Do you have to push him sometimes?
ET: Never
AS: I once saw in the practice how Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya had to push her Australian partner Harley Windsor back into the ice, when he was already taking his boots off.
ET: No, it doesn't happen to us. Vladimir is very responsible.
AS: Those who have seen you at the practices a week before the Europeans said you left no chance to the others.
VM: We were so ready, loaded. During the GP we were a bit down, but now we are moving towards the peak. Mentally and physically. We are very confident.
AS: But how do you survive the failures, which happen sometimes all f the sudden, take the GPF or the SP in the Europeans in Moscow?
VM: We have to take it calmly and learn from those mistakes.
ET: And overcome them.
VM: Sometimes when you don't give up and overcome things fast it is a positive thing.
AS: Still, you are somehow look too confident for an Olympic season.
VM: Well, if we can provide at the Europeans and the Worlds, why wouldn't we be confident for the Olympics?
AS: The twice Olympic champion and your ex-group partner Maksim Trankov told you what the Olympics are like?
VM: Not recently, but we spoke a lot to him and the other Olympics: how did they live the Olympics, what happened there. We were curious to learn how things were in Sochi 4 years ago. But we have different interests now - there isn't much time left and we don't really want to stuff our heads with an additional information. There is no need. The time of the training camps is over.
AS: Do you ever recall those times when people did not believe in you, the way Trankov recalled?
VM: No, there were always enough teams on our ice.
AS: Did you ever feel alien?
ET: No. We were part of the process. When we would go to the competitions a lot of new pairs would join. Sometimes you come to the rink, someone greets you from the right, someone from the left and you have no idea who these people are. Even though we are in the same group.
VM: We were always following our goals, our dreams, never felt sorry for ourselves, never made things easier or missed the practices, hence the results. As for the looking back - yes, I miss those times when it all began. Even the times when things were bad and the thoughts to retire crossed my mind. But we overcame and the result was twice better.
AS: How many times did you give up?
ET: I recall once clearly. The first season in the seniors. The end of the season. Nothing works, we are fighting, blaming each other.. it was a defining moment. If we didn't overcome that we wouldn't be where we are now.
AS: Not matching personalities?
ET: No. We wanted it too much and it didn't work. So we were under a pressure. But then things started working.
AS: The junior teams win everything they can as the juniors and then break up.
ET: We were able to live through that period.
VM: The juniors might win the GP, some other competitions and then find themselves out of top 10 in the Nationals.
AS: Vladimir once said being bitchy is not about Evgenia.
ET: Right.
AS: Did you ever want to?
VM: You have to be sport motivated, not bitchy.
ET: We complete each other. Am softer, Vladimir is more serious. On the ice - we are one whole.
