Georgi Kunitsa: “This was our first season together and Alena’s first season in pair skating. It’d have been silly to think that everything would go smoothly and easily. We wanted more, but it’s okay.”
Translation of the interview with Georgi Kunitsa, Alena Kostornaia’s husband and skating partner.
original source: MatchTV dd. 23d April 2024 by Maksim Khorenkov
Georgi Kunitsa in the interview with MatchTV summed up the results of their first year in pair skating together with Alena Kostornaia, competition with leading Russian pairs, hate in media and their personal relationships with Alena. Here’s a translation of his comments.
Q: Let’s summarize your first season together.
Georgi Kunitsa: You won’t always be satisfied with everything, of course. We started performing together quite well. Unfortunately, we were not able to finish the season, as we did not compete at the Grand Prix Final due to Alena’s injury. Everything is fine now, we’re preparing for the next season. We had a good start, and the audience warmly welcomed us. We wanted more, but it’s okay.
Q: Unfortunately, injury did not allow you to fully show yourself this season.
Georgi Kunitsa: This was our first season together. For Alena, it was her first season in pair skating. It would have been silly to think that everything would go smoothly and easily. With the new heavy physical loads, no matter how well the joints and ligaments were recovering, they couldn’t stand all of it. There were injuries due to some of my mistakes, lack of concentration, or some discoordination in the pair due to the lack of experience.
Q: How actively do you participate in deciding the season’s programs? Probably, at least one program (the short one) surely emerged by your initiative.
Georgi Kunitsa: All programs were initiated by us. Thanks to the coaches for listened to our opinion. Mid-season we changed the short program and we will keep it for the next season. We’re still thinking about the free program, there’s one interesting option.
Q: The short program stands out a lot because Alena skated “Angel” in single skating. Now you’ve done something similar but as a pair. Are you happy with how you showed it?
Georgi Kunitsa: We wanted to showcase it brighter. It didn’t work out because there was not much time. The program turned out a little raw, in addition at the time of the Russian Nationals, I was slightly ill, the physical conditions were far from optimal. We’ll try to make it brighter next season.
Q: I read a colleagues’ review of this program. One citation from the text: “The remake is bad like all remakes. Like the ‘Sex and the City’ remake.
Georgi Kunitsa: Okay, let’s try to understand. This is not a remake. It’s a continuation of the story. I don’t agree that it turned out much worse than Alena’s program in single skating. You will see in the new season.
Q: The free program was to the ‘Hunger Games’ soundtrack. Did you choose the conception of the program entirely on your own?
Georgi Kunitsa: Yes, we watched all the parts on TV and decided to implement something on the ice. I really liked our free program.
We didn’t watch the films just for the sake of it, but to understand the concept, the essence of the characters, who they are. And trying to convey the images as much as possible. If you skate to a specific story – you are required to read/watch it.
Q: For me, the coolest thing about your pair in terms of elements is that you are doing a flip.
Georgi Kunitsa: Probably, yes. I want to point out that we have not had major failures on the jumps. Only small ones, just a mistake on the first stage of the Grand Prix. We knew how to do this in single skating, why should we lose the skills when we become a pair? We quickly mastered everything and plan to complicate the content.
Q: There have been unsuccessful throws.
Georgi Kunitsa: There have been, but that’s not the most problematic element for us. Everything was working out in training.
Q: The process of forming a duet can probably be endless. How much do you feel each other in the pair now?
Georgi Kunitsa: Obviously better than at the beginning of the season. Of course, there are no limits in this aspect.
Q: The fact that you are a couple not only on ice but also in life, does it help athletic progress? I have two opposing thoughts. First, this is an advantage – you understand each other better. Second, you can get tired of each other.
Georgi Kunitsa: Of course, we get tired, especially during high physical loads, both of us are on edge. On the ice, we know each other so well that it sometimes even interferes. Periodically, of course, we get tired of each other. I won’t lie.
Q: And how do you unwind emotionally?
Georgi Kunitsa: I do my own things, separately train athletes, then go home, and everything is fine.
Q: Who is taking on more responsibility in your pair?
Georgi Kunitsa: Due to the experience – Alena. She has a significant background, I listen to her. In terms of technical issues, she definitely accepts my position.
Q: It seems that you are calmer than Alena. How do you manage to ‘quench’ your partner’s ‘fire’?
Georgi Kunitsa: Alena is more emotional. Managing to ‘quench,’ as you said, is not always possible, but most of the time, it works. Thanks to what? Well, communication and understanding of a person’s philosophy. Sometimes it’s better not to react.
Q: Alena quickly adapted to the new discipline.
Georgi Kunitsa: Very quickly, even though at first she told me that she didn’t understand how to do some of the elements at all. After a couple of months, she mastered all of the elements. The only thing is, we’re finding the death spiral rather difficult. It seems like a simple element, but it’s tricky…
Q: During the season, you, for the first time, encountered not only popularity but also a lot of negativity in the media. Take the situation with costume designers (Alena Kuklycheva accused Kostornaia of non-payment; later, other fashion designers expressed their dissatisfaction with working with the figure skater – Match TV note). How did you handle it?
Georgi Kunitsa: Well, people only see the picture as it is presented to them. They don’t know what really happened. I am coping well with this; more attention is, of course, paid to Alena. It’s offensive.
Everything that was written and said is far from the truth. Probably all of the truth will never come out. I ask myself why such stories are being made public at all when you can discuss it and smooth it over? Maybe for the sake of some hype.
I take it all calmly. I know what we are doing, and I believe we are right. We’re not just sitting back, we’re trying and always striving for something. Those who write and discuss us find time for it. Fortunately, I don’t have the time for it.
Q: Have there been situations when you wake up, open your social networks, and encounter an all-round negativity towards you?
Georgi Kunitsa: Yes, and a question arises: what’s going on in people’s minds, for what reason did they decide to write it? It seems these are some unhappy people who don’t have their favorite thing to do. Generally, I take criticism well; I can even answer or laugh about it.
Q: Do your mom and grandmother read the comments?
Georgi Kunitsa: Yes, they are uncomfortable seeing it. I say, don’t pay any attention. They know the whole truth and therefore it’s even more annoying to read negative comments.
Q: There was another unpleasant situation – criticism of the judging at the Grand Prix of Russia stage in Omsk from Alena’s side. Later regretted about the words?
Georgi Kunitsa: Well, we said what we said. Yes, there were questions. Yes, it’s not customary to discuss judging. Maybe it wasn’t worth it, or maybe it was necessary to express our position. Who knows… Truth-tellers are not loved anywhere. But the situation was quite blown up, to be honest.
Q: Was there a call from the Russian Figure Skating Federation with subsequent sanctions?
Georgi Kunitsa: No, they didn’t call us.
Q: You have become much more popular this year. How did it show up?
Georgi Kunitsa: I don’t consider myself popular. I try to manage social networks, so no delusions of grandeur. Sometimes people shoot videos. You can tell they want a photo, but they hesitate, wondering whether to approach or not. I never refuse a joint photo or a conversation.
Q: Bypassing the leaders in pairs is very difficult. Do you believe that you will be competitive against Mishina/Galliamov and Boikova/Kozlovskii next season?
Georgi Kunitsa: Why compete at all if not aiming to contend? We will strive to skate clean and show our maximum, and the destiny will handle the rest. If everything works out, we will, of course, start putting up a fight. Nothing is unattainable.
Q: Now, the leaders are studying the quadruple throw. Do you think the risk of performing this element in the program is justified?
Georgi Kunitsa: It doesn’t score much, compared to how difficult it is to do it. But this isn’t a problem of the athletes; it’s a problem of the scoring system. I believe such elements should be valued higher. The guys are great, trying something new, it commands respect.
Q: Are you planning to complicate the content of your program next season?
Georgi Kunitsa: Probably not. Maybe we will add a more difficult throw and change the jump in the short, but it’s not a fact. The main task is clean performance and level-four elements.
Q: Alena had an injury. Will she recover by the start of the season?
Georgi Kunitsa: Yes, everything will be fine, everything is almost okay now.
Q: Let’s fantasize, could you have been among the winners at the European Championships and World Championships? The level is objectively lower than it is now in Russia.
Georgi Kunitsa: It’s not very correct to compare the domestic scoring system and the international one. We would probably have been competitive. We would’ve probably been fighting to get into the top six.
Q: For me, the main phenomenon at the World Championships in pairs was the Canadian pair of Diana Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps. She won the title at forty years old!
Georgi Kunitsa: I’ve heard of her, I can’t say I’m a fan of this pair. But they attract attention. It’s impressive that at forty years old, a person finds the strength to compete and become a world champion.
My sister is two years old now. One day we’ll stop skating, and then I’ll come back in about fifteen years and win the World Championships together with my sister. How do you like that for a scenario? (laughs)
Q: Concluding the discussion about the sports aspect: Many people think that Kostornaia/Kunitsa is a pair that will end in a season.
Georgi Kunitsa: Okay, let them write. We have the desire to prove otherwise.
Q: Did you have relationships before Alena came into your life?
Georgi Kunitsa: Three girlfriends. The first relationships were quite childish, I was 16 years old, the second ones were already in St. Petersburg, the third ones when I returned to Moscow. Everything was sort of short-term; we broke up relatively quickly.
Q: Did this distract you from sports?
Georgi Kunitsa: No, I attended all the trainings giving 100%. Everything else is a separate life outside the rink.
Q: The elder generation often says that girls have become more mercantile today. Do you agree?
Georgi Kunitsa: Of course, there are mercantile girls. Life’s values are their choice, but not everyone is like that.
Of course, there were cases when I was used: like going to a restaurant at my expense. But I don’t make a big deal out of it. Taking someone out somewhere, using your card – it’s the boy’s choice. Don’t dwell on it, you’ll always earn money; it’s more hurtful for the time wasted. Alena is not one of the mercantile people at all.
Q: What did you see in Alena that wasn’t there in others?
Georgi Kunitsa: All of my ex girlfriends didn’t have what Alena does. They didn’t have that incredible care that Alena shows me. They didn’t have the qualities and talents that my wife has.
Q: At the moment when your relationship started, Alena was way more famous and, probably, more financially confident. Did this put pressure on you?
Georgi Kunitsa: She is still more famous in the media aspect. No, it didn’t weigh on me. We try not to dwell on it much.
Q: The most expensive gift you gave her?
Georgi Kunitsa: A Dyson styler.
Q: Are you a romantic?
Georgi Kunitsa: Yes.
Q: How does it show? The most romantic act?
Georgi Kunitsa: I try to make gifts not banal — not just put money on the table, so to speak. I arrange mini-quests. I proposed on a hot air balloon. For Alena’s twentieth birthday, I gave her twenty gifts, quite small and inexpensive things, but there was also a main present. She would pull out a number and I would bring out gifts that were numbered.
Q: You made the decision to get married at a fairly young age. Didn’t your relatives try to dissuade you?
Georgi Kunitsa: No, my friends were a bit shocked, they said, “What are you talking about, it’s too early, we’ve lost the guy”. If people have been dating for a long time and don’t plan to get married — it’s strange, as far as I see it. Mostly, if a couple is together for a long time and doesn’t take their relationship to the next level, it doesn’t end well.
Q: How did your mother react?
Georgi Kunitsa: There was an interesting story. We came to my parents’ house, Alena already had a ring on her hand; she tried not to show it to anyone. My grandmother and I went out on the balcony (my grandmother smokes a pipe, like in the song). I told her, “I have some news”. She replied, “What, is she pregnant?” I told her that I had proposed and asked her to help explain it to my mother. We came into the room together, my grandmother asked my mother to sit down, put a bottle of champagne on the table and I said that I had proposed to Alena. She congratulated us, she wasn’t against it.
Q: What does your typical day look like?
Georgi Kunitsa: It’s always different. Right now it looks like this: we wake up, then work with amateurs skaters, go to our training. Then we might eat somewhere, walk the dog, at the end of the day we watch TV, have dinner. We try to spend more time together.
Q: All couples discuss who they want more – a boy or a girl. What did you decide on?
Georgi Kunitsa: We discussed it, but not for the near future. Alena wants a girl more, and I wouldn’t mind a little girl, but I want a boy.
Q: Many people write: “Kunitsa is a ‘whipped’ man”. What can you reply to that?
Georgi Kunitsa: Yes (laughs). I even joked about it. I try to do what Alena asks for, because I love her. If I need to help my wife with something — I do it. If men like that are considered whipped, then ok, I am “whipped”.
Q: You recently bought a car.
Georgi Kunitsa: About a year ago.
Q: Is this the biggest purchase in your life?
Georgi Kunitsa: Yes, but the car is on loan. My mom helps a little, but the down payment was mine, and I’m making the payments.
Q: Are you thrifty?
Georgi Kunitsa: More thrifty than Alena. This is not a reproach, just a fact. She’s a girl, she wants this and that… I only buy new things if something gets worn out or stained. I don’t just buy new, branded things for no reason. I’m not a shopaholic. I try to save. In the future, I might consider investments.
Q: For you now, professional figure skating is more of an expense than an income? I mean the sports career specifically.
Georgi Kunitsa: If you don’t get into the prize-winners – there’s no prize money, if you don’t make it into the national team – there’s no salary. Yes, for us now – these are expenses. But it’s our choice.
We had people withdrawing “for family reasons” from the Russian Nationals. We decided not to do that, even though we had the same “family reasons”. (probably Georgi is referring to the situations when athletes withdrew from Nationals to skate in shows at the same time – ed.)
Q: Nina Mozer recently stated that half of Russian figure skaters think about earnings. Do you agree?
Georgi Kunitsa: Partially. Figure skaters are just like other people, it would be weird if a person, who is already over twenty, didn’t think about earnings. And then how to live? When juniors do not think about money – okay, it’s clear, their parents help them. But adults need to provide for themselves. Not thinking about earnings would be silly.
Stemming back to the Russian Nationals — I don’t condemn those who withdrew from the tournament. But from the sports angle, it’s strange to withdraw from a tournament that you’ve already qualified for.
Related topics: Alena Kostornaia, Georgi Kunitsa
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