“I thought no one believed in me”: interview with prima Plushenko

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Best figure skater of the Evgeni Plushenko Academy Sofya Muravyova beat Olympic champion Kamila Valieva at the Russian Championship and won silver . In an interview with Sport, she told what stupid thing she did before the main tournament of the year, how she gave up and why she loves the cold.

Click of stupidity
— Describe your season in three words.

— Two, probably. Complex and joyful.

— Why complex?

— And they are never easy. Somehow it turns out that this difficult one, and the last one, and the one before last…

— Were there moments this season when you gave up?
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— There were. I couldn't do anything. It seemed to me that no one believed in me at all…

— Did the victory at the Grand Prix stage in Kazan change everything?

— Yes.

— That’s why, on a wave of adrenaline, we went for triple axels at the Moscow stage?

— In fact, I wanted to go back to Kazan , but the coaches dissuaded me. In Moscow, a few days before the start, everyone was also against it, but that was my decision. There was no need to go for the second axel in the free program at the Moscow Championships, that’s for sure. This is where my stupidity clicked.

— The triple axel is an element with which you need to achieve results. What did you expect from yourself in this regard at the Russian Championship? In addition to pure box office, of course.

— And this season I’m not thinking only about net box office. I think about places.

— Feel free.

— This is only from this season — in the past I really didn’t think about anything else except pure performances. At the press conference, someone said that my fourth place at the last Russian Championship was offensive, but for me at that moment it was not so. Because then I was very happy with my performances — so much so that sometimes I even forgot that I was fourth.

“I don’t stand like a wooden board”
— Appeared feeling that you should already show results?

— I shouldn’t, but I want to. And I want…

— To win?

— Yes. I want to win. And I will work very hard for this.

— Chelyabinsk has become victorious for you in this regard?

— Victorious. I'm very pleased with it. This Russian Championship is different. Not at all like last year. I'm very glad that I could. At some point I was really very happy when I was sitting in KK (the area of ​​tears and kisses where skaters wait for their marks — approx.). Afterwards, double sensations appeared and I was a little upset. I think many will understand what I mean. Every athlete wants more.

— Many people probably just don’t dare admit it.

— Of course.

< br>— From the outside, you seem to be a very subtle person who has a hard time experiencing any, even not very significant, failures. Is that so?

— Yes. I don’t know, maybe it’s just my age now… But I believe that every person has the right to emotion — to cry somewhere, to rejoice somewhere. We are all human beings, we have equal rights. And I don’t think that this needs to be changed.

I'm proud that I'm an emotional person, that I don't stand, you know, like a wooden board. I can show my emotions on the ice. And I am grateful to everyone that I have such an opportunity.

— Plushenko called you an adult, conscious figure skater. What changed in you over time, when experience came?

— It seems to me that I don’t have any experience yet, it’s just getting better. If I had experience, in the short program at the Russian Championships I would not have made such a mistake on the step sequence. I hope that over time, experience will come to me, and I will be able to use it.

— Such judgments directly affect plans for a long career.

— Well, in any case, that’s what I’m counting on for a long career. Still. And it will always be like this.

“I don’t like warmth”
— So, we understand what can upset you. What can make you happy?

— Family, good training and starts, loved ones, gifts, figure skating. That I'm healthy. That everything is fine.

— What is your favorite day of the year?

— Day… Probably , birthday. The most beloved.

— Do you love your birthday more than New Year?

— Yes. But I really love winter, I just adore it. When the first snow fell this year, I got up in such a wonderful mood in the morning. She ran out into the street, smiling so much. I’m going to training – the snow is white and beautiful! I trained well, and the axel finally started to work out. Everything was so good.

I love snow, everything worked out so well with it. And I love the cold. I don't like it when it's warm.

— Curious. Very often, skaters and coaches, on the contrary, say that they don’t like ice.

— It’s not like that for me. My mother is constantly surprised: “How do you sleep with the window open, with the air conditioner.”

— Your career began, essentially, in the cold — when you are on open ice in — 16 trained.

— After all, I’m all white, I blend in with the snow.

— Finally, about the prospects. You said earlier that modern figure skating is impossible without quads. Has your opinion changed now?

— I am changing, so yes, I think it has changed. Without a triple axel, I'm not me. I need it, I really love this jump. And the quads… I don’t know. I'm not a quad professional. I'm somewhat of a pro in the axel. So let's wait and see.