Georgi Kunitsa: “I tried to encourage Alena to return to sports in every way possible but understood that the ultimate decision was hers.”
Translation of Elena Vaitsekhovskaya’s interview with Georgi Kunitsa, husband and skating partner of Alena Kostornaia.
original sources: RT dd. by Elena Vaitsekhovskaya
It’s not easy to skate with Alena Kostornaia, primarily because she wants everything all at once and of perfect quality, as shared by figure skater Georgi Kunitsa in an interview made by Elena Vaisekhovskaya and posted on RT. Here’s a translation of the interview.
According to Kunitsa, adjusting to his partner’s choreography is particularly challenging because she has a natural sense of precise movement. The 20-year-old athlete also admitted that he doesn’t understand people who don’t hold back their criticisms of his wife’s performances and explained why she had to change her costume after the test skates.
The initial period of your performances with Alena was marked by shows where both of you were well-received, and it must have been difficult not to think that life on the ice was going well: you had a permanent partner, a busy schedule of performances that also paid well, and you didn’t have to work too hard during training. Was it like that?
Georgi Kunitsa: It was. The shows really helped us a lot in the early stages, especially financially. But something was still missing. I hadn’t really shown anything in competitions. Maybe only in junior singles skating.
But you probably didn’t consider your athletic prospects seriously when you teamed up with Kostornaia? And you must have weighed what was preferable: to continue making real money in shows or to return to where you were losing all of this. With an unclear outlook, to top it off.
Georgi Kunitsa: Well, we always choose the more challenging path, don’t we? Moreover, we continue to perform in shows from time to time, for which we are very grateful to Yana Rudkovskaya and Evgeni Plushenko. It’s really a significant support. It’s just become more challenging to fit it into the training schedule now.
Who was the first to suggest, “Let’s give it a try”?
Georgi Kunitsa: I proposed this to Alena right from the start. I tried to encourage her to return to sports in every way possible but understood that the ultimate decision was hers. Our coach, Sergei Roslyakov, also played a significant role. While we were getting started, he sort of postponed the start of serious work, allowing Alena to thoroughly think everything through. I understood that there shouldn’t be any hasty decisions in this situation.
Throughout this time, did you keep pushing Kostornaia to return, or did you wait for her to bring it up?
Georgi Kunitsa: I didn’t persuade her directly. I knew that nothing could be achieved by force if a person doesn’t genuinely want to come back.
Were you not afraid that returning to sports could disrupt your personal relationship or even break it? After all, serious training means chronic fatigue, constant stress, and the higher you climb, the more vulnerable the nervous system becomes. There are plenty of examples where people with much more experience couldn’t handle it.
Georgi Kunitsa: I won’t say that I didn’t have such thoughts. I did, and I understood perfectly well that both of us were taking a certain risk by embarking on serious work. During training, of course, we sometimes argue, like any pair. But it’s important to quickly resolve all work-related disagreements.
And has it worked?
Georgi Kunitsa: So far, yes.
Is having a partner in shows and in sports a similar experience?
Georgi Kunitsa: They are entirely different. When Alena and I performed in shows, no one assessed the level of difficulty or quality of individual elements. After we started focusing on sports, we quickly realized that all our previous skating together was nothing more than a child’s play. A partner in sports has a completely different level of responsibility. Additionally, Alena has specific ambitions. As the European champion, she would never agree to skate just for the sake of it, without aiming for maximum results. She naturally wants to achieve it as quickly as possible.
Did you realize that being constantly compared to such a bright and charismatic partner would be an ongoing issue? And that this comparison would likely not be in your favor?
Georgi Kunitsa: Of course, I understood that. Moreover, I think that we have even more comparisons and discussions ahead of us.
Doesn’t your male ego suffer from this?
Georgi Kunitsa: No, not at all. On the contrary, it motivates me. When you are constantly with someone who is undoubtedly better in certain aspects, you immediately begin to understand where and what you yourself need to work on. So, this situation is only beneficial for me.
Which of Alena’s qualities is the most challenging to match?
Georgi Kunitsa: In general, it’s not easy with her because she wants everything all at once and of perfect quality. Regarding a direct match, it’s most challenging to adapt to her choreography. Alena has a highly developed natural sense of correct movement. Whatever she does, it looks beautiful and organic. So, the choreographer working with her doesn’t need to say where a specific hand should be at a particular moment. As her partner, I must constantly adjust to ensure that all movements and gestures on the ice are parallel. This is difficult, partly because I have a male physique and a different kind of grace.
I remember how Julia Lipnitskaya once described her work with Stephane Lambiel. She said it was impossible to replicate his steps because he did them differently each time, guided by intuition.
Georgi Kunitsa: In pair skating, it’s even more challenging due to the requirements for parallel and synchronized movements. From the very moment Alena and I formed our partnership, we have consistently practiced synchrony in front of a mirror. We work on specific sections of our program, gestures, and lines.
I was actually surprised by a statement from one of the dance specialists who once worked with Kostornaia at the “Khrystalny”, regarding Alena’s ability to work as a choreographer. He said that this profession requires not only significant education but also considerable experience. Although in figure skating, you can recall many examples where the most interesting programs were set by former skaters rather than those who came to the sport from the theater or ballet.
Georgi Kunitsa: Alena used to create her own exhibition programs and programs for young children, and she still sometimes actively participates in choreography. I can see that she enjoys it.
Does online criticism affect you in any way?
Georgi Kunitsa: Personally, it doesn’t affect me. What I don’t like is when people, without choosing their words carefully, start discussing Alena, like what happened after the test skates when she made minor mistakes in lifts and jumps. I want to ask those who criticize: do you understand that she just has learned many of the pair elements not so long ago, and she is competing alongside pairs who have been performing together for many years? I don’t understand this, honestly.
Your recent practice where you performed segments of the free program left a strange impression on me. You skated well, but you seemed dissatisfied. What specifically bothered you?
Georgi Kunitsa: I was not satisfied with the fact that some elements could have been performed better, and we’ve already achieved that in practice. Some other pairs we will compete against have higher quality elements, and we want to approach or even surpass that level as quickly as possible.
In other words, you’re constantly comparing yourselves to others?
Georgi Kunitsa: More like carefully observing what’s happening in our discipline. At the practices, I watched all the programs, at least. I won’t say who I liked more or less, but I’ve gained an understanding of with whom and how we can compete.
If we talk about your internal feelings, what has changed in your skating with Alena in the last month?
Georgi Kunitsa: Confidence has appeared that everything we’ve set our minds to is quite achievable. We know that we appeal to the audience, and the judges seem to assess our work quite highly.
I apologize for the question, but in figure skating, athletes always take into account the weight and authority of their coach when choosing one. So, when you set a serious sports goal, why did you choose to remain with Sergei Roslyakov?
Georgi Kunitsa: I skated with my previous partner in Tamara Nikolayevna Moskvina’s group, but after our partnership ended, I moved to Moscow. The change of coach was primarily due to that. I developed a very good relationship with Roslyakov right from the start, and he is an excellent specialist. Both Alena and I could sense and understand this. We knew that if we followed everything our coaches told us clearly, the judges would assess it properly.
I was more referring to the fact that both you and Alena skated with Eteri Tutberidze in the past, and you could have considered resuming that collaboration. Especially considering that your former coach now seems to have a preference for pair skating, has her own ice rink, and, as far as I know, is scouting new students.
Georgi Kunitsa: We joked about this a lot, yes. But we never seriously considered such a prospect.
How was it, by the way, to be in Tutberidze’s group as a male skater, with little girls constantly landing quadruple jumps around you?
Georgi Kunitsa: Being a boy and witnessing that every day is tough, sometimes even humiliating. You’re always thinking that you’re supposedly physically stronger, but you can’t replicate what the girls are doing. On one hand, such a situation should be motivating, and it definitely is, but overall, it’s really not easy.
In one of your old interviews, you admitted that you had certain competition problems: because of stress, you couldn’t always show what you successfully did in practice.
Georgi Kunitsa: Yes, that happened.
Does this problem persist in pair skating?
Georgi Kunitsa: You know, no. Psychologically, pair skating is completely different. I would say it’s more interesting. It’s easier to focus, prepare for performances. When you have a partner by your side, you start thinking more about them, and your own nervousness just fades away.
How significant, in your perception, is the gap separating you and Alena from the leaders?
Georgi Kunitsa: I shouldn’t be the one to judge that. Once we step onto the ice in competitions, everything will become clear.
But do you set any specific goals in terms of results?
Georgi Kunitsa: As for specific ranking goals, we don’t have them and can’t have them because all our competitors are strong.
Alena has already made a splash with her corset dress for the short program. Were you reluctant to change it?
Georgi Kunitsa: It was a bit of a shame, but what can you do? The judges said that, in their opinion, the dress was too “revealing.” In the end, the dress’s color remained the same, but the concept changed slightly. A green mesh was added.
Is it a big problem to alter an already prepared costume?
Georgi Kunitsa: Not too much. Technically, it’s not difficult, but sometimes, designers are quite busy right.
What is important for you in your partner’s costume?
Georgi Kunitsa: The dress should be comfortable to work in.
In what sense?
Georgi Kunitsa: In terms of seams, fabric, and finishing. That’s why during fittings, I occasionally spin Alena around, lift her, catch her. It’s crucial that the fabric doesn’t slip through your hands. Small rhinestones can provide additional comfort in this regard, but you need to have a very clear sense of the permissible limit to avoid ending up with a scratched face after twist or a lift. You can’t use flat rhinestones that look like shards of a mirror; that could be dangerous.
Related topics: Alena Kostornaia, Georgi Kunitsa
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