Fyodor Klimov: “Mom said: “Above.” Olympic figure skating champion recalls his main Games

Among the winners of two Olympic medals at once is figure skater Fedor Klimov, who became the champion in the team tournament and won second place in the individual tournament. Fedor celebrates the tenth anniversary of the Olympics on skates. The Olympic champion held a master class for young athletes at the ice skating rink of the Rosa Khutor mountain resort.

— Fedor, first of all, let me congratulate you on the tenth anniversary of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. Admit it, were you going for medals back then?

— My partner Ksenia Stolbova and I fought for a “ticket” to the Olympic Games in Sochi until the last moment. The entire pre-Olympic season was on pins and needles. First they fought to get into the individual tournament, then for the right to be on the team. Therefore, when I finally arrived at the Olympics in Sochi, on the one hand, I felt great joy, and on the other, excitement. How not to let yourself or your team down? Team figure skating competitions were new to the Sochi Olympics. The rules and regulations were not fully understood. Therefore, there were no expectations that they came for medals. In the individual tournament, although such competitions were familiar to us, it was even a surprise that we entered the top three after the short program. We were not at the very top in the ranking table. I didn’t think about silver. So both Olympic medals are equally valuable to me.

— What was the first thing you did when you realized that you had won Olympic gold?

“I realized that I had become an Olympic champion only when the whole team went to the medal ceremony for the medal ceremony. When there is a sea of ​​spectators around, and the Olympic flame is burning in front of you. The first thing I did was call my mother and tell her: “Thank you.” The fact is that it was she who brought me to the skating rink. I worked as a coach, and there was no one to leave the child with, so at the age of four I was put on the ice. I don’t remember whether I liked it or not; at that age, what matters more is the desire of the parents, not the child. I only remember myself in a huge fur coat, holding someone’s hand and walking along the side. And then there’s training. When you start studying seriously, you either go to the skating rink or study at school. If you’re not at the skating rink or at school, you do your homework at home. Of course, like any child, you want to go for a walk and have fun, but there is no free time. It can be a shame, but I have always set goals for myself: to complete a category, do some element, go to competitions. So figure skating from a hobby at some point turned into a job, and the Olympic Games became not a dream, but another goal. I think that the main secret of victories, if we ignore physical preparation, is patience.

– Are there any signs? For example, going onto the ice with your right foot…

– Everyone has their own. For example, I never watch the performances of my competitors before I go out. I try to concentrate so that nothing distracts me. You could say this is my sign that everything will work out. During the Olympics in Sochi, the support was, of course, enormous. Even while we were conducting pre-Olympic training and camps in the new Iceberg Palace, the specialists who “make” the ice constantly came up to us, asked for an opinion on the quality, and experimented with water and temperature. I have never seen such care at any other start. Before we went on the ice, the coach advised us to watch our Yulia Lipnitskaya perform. The fact is that the audience applauded and shouted so loudly that sometimes it even became scary. At other competitions, even when there are a lot of people in the stadium, this does not happen. In general, when we entered the arena, we were already prepared for what awaited us. Here’s a little secret.

— How did your mother, Elena Klimova, give advice during the Olympic performance? Did you listen?

— She didn’t give advice: she understands that there are coaches, what happens on the ice. When we performed in the individual tournament, my mother was here, but then she admitted: the tension was so strong when we were skating that she left the hall. After the competition, I could always call her to discuss something. I remember that before the Olympics in Sochi the Russian Championship was also held here. Ksenia and I took first place, but I fell on one of the jumps. When I called my mom, she congratulated me, but added that I needed to practice the jump.

— After finishing your sports career, you became a coach. Figure skating has always been a popular sport in the country, and even more so today. More and more parents want to send their children to practice this sport. What do you advise? How do you know if you have a future champion?

— In this matter, I recommend trusting the experts. Just bring your child to figure skating, and after some time the coach will tell you whether he has the ability or not. There are certain parameters that become clear in the process: whether the child is afraid or not, whether he went straight away or not. In my case, it was the coach with whom I trained in single skating who noticed that I was quite tall—it is more difficult for such athletes to perform, for example, four-revolution jumps—and advised me to switch to pairs.

— What is more difficult – singles or pairs skating? It must be a shame if your partner made a mistake…

— In pair skating there cannot be “one made a mistake,” there is only “we made a mistake.” You need to support your partner, otherwise there will be no result. If we talk about technique, then yes, in single skating now it is necessary to do jumps in four turns. They don’t jump in pairs, but they need complex elements, including power ones: lifting, throwing, catching. And also be able to establish contact with a partner, find a common language. So pair skating, even without quadruple jumps, is very difficult.

— Many people regret that today figure drawing is growing in technique, but at the same time losing its artistic component…

— For me, figure skating is first and foremost a sport. And sport is faster, higher, stronger. Therefore, I am for figure skating to develop technically. For me, it’s beautiful when they do complex elements and perform quarter jumps. It is important that figure skating moves forward, so that it becomes more physically demanding, forcing athletes to develop themselves, their bodies.

— Women’s figure skating is rapidly getting younger, but how are things going in pairs?

— In pair skating it’s the other way around. The European Championship was recently held, and a couple in which the partner was thirty-five years old won. There weren’t many young Olympic champions in our sport. This is precisely due to the fact that the experience of interaction with a partner comes. And if injuries do not bother you, then with such experience you can perform the required elements for a long time. The set that we did before has not become much more complicated, so in pair skating there is an opportunity for a long career for athletes.

— Today, Russian figure skaters cannot compete on the international stage. How do you assess the level of pairs figure skating?

— Specifically, in pairs without our guys, the level became lower. It was a bit boring for a couple of seasons when there were no Russian athletes at international competitions – now the situation is improving. This is largely due to the cyclical nature of the Olympics. After the Olympics, many couples break up, new ones are created – they need time to gain experience. The closer to the Olympics, the more good couples appear, but without the Russians he, of course, sank. I think that the strength of Russian figure skating lies in good specialists and traditions. For example, now one of the leaders is a German couple. It includes a partner from Russia. They’ve only been skating for a year, but the level is already visible.

— When you watch figure skating, do you enjoy it or do you evaluate the technique?

“The eye, of course, picks out flaws. If you watch and just enjoy it, it means you skated really well.

— Today, as a coach, you are training with the guys in the Iceberg Palace, which has become happy for you. Tell us a little about your students. Is the shift growing?

— Despite the fact that I graduated from the Lesgaft Institute, I never planned to engage in coaching. I looked at my mother and saw what hard work it is, especially when students leave. But when they offered to try it, I liked it. Today I am conducting pair skating training for the guys who represent the Krasnodar Territory team. We have five couples. Some are already included in the national teams of the country.

— Until recently, such a sport as figure skating was only heard of in the Krasnodar Territory. What is the current level?

— The Krasnodar region, it seems to me, is one of the five or six strongest regions in figure skating. Considering that our sport began to develop here relatively recently, this is a good result.