Video from Alina Zagitova an hour long – a real gift for the fans. The Olympic champion can be seen once a week as the host of the Ice Age, but there the main characters are the project participants. And during the joint live broadcast of Puma and OZON, the 18-year-old figure skater got all the attention – Alina showed exercises for training and answered various questions from the audience.
Sport24 has recorded the most important things.
– How did you come to figure skating?
– I’m from a sports family. Naturally, I was sent to sports. Dad is a hockey player, so my occupation had to be related to ice. I was sent to figure skating. I didn’t really like it at first. I cried because I didn’t want to go out on the ice. I was worried that my parents were leaving. I missed them. And then I got involved, the competition began. I like it.
– When is the best time to send a child to figure skating?
– I started at the age of five, but I studied unprofessionally, I became more profound from about seven. It’s too late by today’s standards, you don’t need to do that. (laughs)… At the age of seven, children do colossal things that I certainly did not do at this age. Now it is better to go to figure skating from about three years old. I am so sorry to say this …
– Because from a very young age the child works?
– But this is also very cool! You learn discipline from childhood.
– Have you tried yourself in other sports?
– Nobody knew that, but I was engaged in gymnastics for several months, because I did not succeed in figure skating. Mom said: “Let’s go to gymnastics, they will stretch you there especially for figure skating.” It was so that I would not cry.
I thought that we temporarily go there, and my mother had thoughts that I should leave figure skating and do gymnastics all the time. But we still came back.
– What is the difference between a skater at 14 and at 18?
– At the age! In our sport, it’s harder at 18. The older you get, the harder it is to endure all the stress you did at 14. But this is necessary if you want to be a champion.
– What qualities of character helped you to become an Olympic champion?
– Hard work. In general, you need a lot of qualities to be a high-level athlete. Naturally, you should have people with you who will help you do what you are doing now – coaches. And you have to be calm. Oh, it’s hard to talk about yourself.
– What is the lifestyle of a professional skater?
– This is a very interesting life and, on the other hand, very difficult. If you come to some result, then you understand that everything was not in vain. These are very healthy emotions.
– What are your favorite figure skating elements?
– Difficult … Probably jumping. In principle, all the elements are favorite, but there are more favorite ones – lutz, flip. I do not like a sheepskin coat.
– Isn’t it scary to jump?
– You have been teaching them since childhood. And it is difficult to go into them with your head. For a very long time I could not enter the triple. There was a moment that I fell from one jump on my head and lost consciousness. After this, it is difficult to enter the elements.
– So the jumps were not easy?
– This is definitely not love at first sight. There were so many tears! But then I worked them out so that now I like them.
– How are your studies going?
– I study producing and journalism a little.
– Do you want to become a journalist?
– No (laughs)… I don’t want to be a journalist. I’m more interested in producing. Maybe produce yourself. Perhaps who knows.
By the way, many people thought that I would enter some kind of sports department. But somehow my plans changed. I decided that I still have time to get a sports education. Therefore, I chose RANEPA.
– How about training?
– Right now there is no desire. I take care of myself more. In the future – why not, let’s not guess.
– Do you have weekends?
– It happens, and I am very happy about these days. As a rule, these days I just lie and do nothing – I sleep, I watch TV series.
– What is the first thing to learn from the one who gets on the ice for the first time?
– Fall. You must be able to fall correctly so as not to get a head injury. Landing on your side – there are many techniques and even special people who teach you to fall.
– How do you maintain your weight?
– In the morning I get on the scales. If there is a plus, I limit myself during the day. If normal weight – eat only lunch and a little bit for dinner. I hardly eat breakfast.
But now all phytoteachers, on the contrary, tell me that I need to have breakfast. And it is right. I don’t eat according to the rules (laughs).
– Is your head spinning?
– It happens when you do not study for a long time. And you have an uncoordinated whole body. You don’t understand what’s going on with you. The stars are flying. But then you get used to it and do not pay attention to the fact that you have something spinning somewhere.
– What is your drinking regime?
– During the Olympic season, I hardly drank water. This is wrong too (laughs)… To maintain weight, I even limited myself to drinking.
– What do you like to do in your free time?
– I love to go shopping if I have time. Watch TV shows, films, glue rhinestones, draw. I love to cook! I give it to parents and sister for tasting. But there is very little free time.
– How do you set yourself up in difficult moments?
– For this there are coaches who know me well. Sometimes even better than myself. If they see that I’m nervous, they immediately make the atmosphere more fun. And distract me. Although we have so developed training programs that you just go out and do it automatically.
– Is there a difference between food during the competition and in everyday life?
– Better not to make a sharp jump. You need to eat right, in small portions. But sometimes (out of competition) I allow myself some delicious treats.
– It happens that you come to a training session and the element does not work at all?
– It happens, of course. Without this, nowhere, it seems to me. But in this situation, coaches help.
– Do you have a favorite costume among those in which you performed?
– They are all very dear to me. Even the dress in which I performed as a child has survived. All the outfits remained. And all the roads. But, I think, most of all, everyone remembered the costumes from the Black Swan and Don Quixote programs, with which I performed at the Olympics.
– You were presented with many hearts at the demonstration during the Grand Prix stage in Moscow. Has your dog already taken a liking to them?
– The action with hearts was very cool, thank you. Masaru sleeps on them. She became friends with all the toys that are thrown to me on the ice. Some already have nowhere to put (laughs)… So these gifts are not only for me, but also for her.
– Many write that, despite all your regalia, you remained a simple person.
– It is very important to remain human. Whatever status you have, you should treat people like an ordinary person. For me, this quality is the most important in people – to be human.
– What are your plans for the upcoming holidays?
– We have a tradition – to get together with the whole family for the New Year and listen to Vladimir Vladimirovich. And already around January 2, we usually go out on the ice again.
– That is, the holiday for the champions does not last long?
– But it’s still a holiday. And we have been waiting for him for a very long time.
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