Pavel Kovalev: “I’ve always said that I will skate as long as I have the strength and health. Of course, the home Olympics are a motivation.”
Interview with French pair skater Pavel Kovalev.
original source: MatchTV dd.4th November by Veronika Gibadieva
French pair skaters Camille Kovalev and Pavel Kovalev placed seventh at their home Grand Prix event in Angers. In the interview with Russian media, Pavel Kovalev talks about Olympic motivation, learning French, and moving to Angers. Here’s a translation of his comments.
“Pavel Kovalev: I think, overall, things have gone well considering I had an ankle fracture, which obviously required a long recovery. So, everything is going as it probably should, given all these circumstances, I think we can consider this competition a positive one.
Q: Did you got injured during training?
Pavel Kovalev: Yes, a silly, unfortunate one, on the floor. But it’s okay, I recovered gradually, now I hope to keep improving, we will progress in general.
Q: What’s the next Grand Prix stage?
Pavel Kovalev: In China.
Q: How do you handle long flights?
Pavel Kovalev: We’ll see how the body reacts, I’m already thinking about how it’ll be with the food there, they say there were some issues with that for the guys.
Q: The classic move — taking your own buckwheat to China. Right?
Pavel Kovalev: Yes, but the thing is, you can’t really find buckwheat in France.
Q: France got the rights to host the 2030 Olympics. Does that motivate you?
Pavel Kovalev: I’ve always said that I will skate as long as I have the strength and health. There’s still a lot of time until 2030. I’d like to think about family, about children, maybe we’ll take a break — it’s clear, not in this Olympic cycle, but in the next. But, of course, the Olympics — that’s cool. That’s motivation.
Q: How’s your French? To what level have you progressed?
Pavel Kovalev: It’s enough for everyday communication. I can’t say that I’ve reached a high level of fluency, but I can communicate comfortably at a conversational level.
Q: Was it hard to learn?
Pavel Kovalev: Hard, but also because I didn’t speak any language other than Russian before. In school, I studied approximately like most Russian athletes, so there was really no English at all. When I came to France, they had to explain everything to me almost with gestures. I decided to learn the language starting with English.
Q: Interesting.
Pavel Kovalev: Yes, that’s what I decided. But then I switched to studying French. I didn’t really have much experience interacting outside of the rink because I’m generally not the most social person.
Q: Where did you practice then? Like many in a bakery?
Pavel Kovalev: Yes, I can get bread in a bakery. At the rink, of course, most communication is in French, as at home with my wife. So, I gradually acquired this level.
Q: Where are you training now?
Pavel Kovalev: Right now in Angers. It’s our home rink, you could say.
Q: Very nice city. And the rink is also modern.
Pavel Kovalev: Yes, I like it too. Actually, before this, when we lived and trained not in Angers, the conditions were worse. Some places weren’t Olympic standard; there were problems with the ice. But here the conditions are really good.
Q: In Angers, have you had the chance to see the “Apocalypse” tapestry yet?
Pavel Kovalev: No. As I said, I’m not a very social person and basically a homebody. My wife is more active, so I haven’t really gone anywhere much yet, haven’t seen the tapestry.
Q: Not up to seeing the “Apocalypse” yet?
Pavel Kovalev: Exactly!
Related topics: Camille Kovalev, Pavel Kovalev
Leave a Reply