Evgenia Medvedeva: “At the 2017 Worlds I went to the 6-minute warm-up before the free skate and I was absolutely glassy, switched off. At that moment, I skated so well that I had neither nerves nor any desire to do anything.”
Evgenia Medvedeva about quads, 2017 Worlds and working with a phycologist.
original source: Ivan Abramov’s podcast
Evgenia Medvedeva talks about her victory at the 2017 World Championships, quadruple jumps and working with a phycologist. Here’s a translation of her comments.
“Evgenia Medvedeva: I’m not one of those people who are constantly in therapy. If I have a problem, I go to a psychologist, sort it out, and so on until the next issue, haha. A lot happens in my life – sports, media, and my personal life, which I keep private, and a lot happens there too. When so many areas start to intertwine, and if there are some issues that need resolving, a progressive solution always helps me.
However, sometimes this progressive solution gets obstructed, creating a tangle. When I manage to untangle it myself, I feel okay. But sometimes, this tangle not only gets complicated but tightens up.
And when it tightens, and I start thinking ‘I don’t know what to do next’… That’s when, if I hear myself saying ‘I don’t know what to do next,’ I have my psychologist’s number, and I write to them.
Usually, two or three sessions are enough. The tangle completely unravels. And I go on to get tangled again. Something like this happens about twice a year.”
Evgenia Medvedeva recalled her victory at the 2017 World Championship: “2017, Helsinki, the World Championship. I was first after the short program. And I ended up winning that championship. I went out for the six-minute warm-up before the free skate and I was absolutely glassy. Not that I was nervous, I was just switched off.
At that moment, I skated so well that I had neither nerves nor any desire to do anything. I went out indifferentially ‘Well, I’ll just skate’. But that’s not how it works in sports.
In sports, you need adrenaline to perform well. Well, how well: at that time, I needed to set a world record. To set a world record, there must be a beast inside you.
But in such a state, it’s impossible to set a world record. During the six-minute warm-up, I was indifferentially. But the coach sees. ‘Come to your senses!’ and just like that, you snap into it and go set a world record.
I needed this: ‘Zhenya, come to your senses, why are you having a glassy look?'”
Evgenia Medvedeva explained why she stopped competing
“Q: How long can you skate competitively if there are no problems?
Evgenia Medvedeva: Skate as long as you are competitive. Every year we lose one percent of flexibility – that’s a scientific fact. And the body isn’t as agile. But at the Sochi Olympics, for example, Carolina Kostner was there; she was 27 or 28 in 2014. As long as you’re competitive, as long as you can perform the elements that can get you on the podium – why not? Go skate; it’s fantastic.
Q: Why did you stop?
Evgenia Medvedeva: I stopped because by then girls who could do quads had come up. I won everything I won with triple jumps.
Q: What additionally does a quad require?
Evgenia Medvedeva: Additional strength, coordination, flexibility of the joints, ligaments. Additional training. I was doing triples for so many years, and to start learning quads at a more mature age – 19-20 years – it’s already difficult for coordination. Your brain and your body don’t quite understand what needs to be done to land a quad. And you start to realize with your head that it’s not really laid out in our biomechanics from the start.
Q: Did you try?
Evgenia Medvedeva: Of course. I tried it pretty hard. And when you try to learn it not as a youngster, but at a mature age, you start to understand that it’s not naturally laid out. It’s mentally tough to just jump up and perform four rotations in the air. That was my experience. And then there was an injury. At some point, I realized that I was no longer competitive. Secondly, I was in a lot of pain, and then COVID started… During COVID, I said – that’s it, goodbye.”
Related topics: Evgenia Medvedeva
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