Anna Shcherbakova: “The label ‘perfect’ has followed me all my life. And I’ve often heard the phrase ‘we didn’t expect this from you’ which really started to trigger me, because what, am I not human?”
Anna Shcherbakova about her image of a perfect athlete.
original source: Maxim Trankov’s podcast “Free Program” / Channel One
During Maxim Trankov’s podcast “Free Program” Anna Shcherbakova skoke about the decline in women’s figure skating and also shared how she feels about being called a perfect athlete.
“Q: How did you feel at 13 years old? Did you realize that you were doing something that no one else in the world was doing?
Anna Shcherbakova: Well, at that moment, it was, of course, an incredible emotion because a little bit later quadruple jumps were being consistently performed, and moreover, just six months later, Sasha Trusova was doing them regularly at all competitions, and it had become the norm.
At the moment when I started doing them in competitions, it no longer surprised anyone. But when I did it at practice, and the video was posted, I felt like I had done something incredible.
Q: But now, it’s not the norm, and we wait for some ultra-c element at every competition. What do you think this is related to?
Anna Shcherbakova: Yes, yes, now everyone… Yes, the answer is trivial, but I think that our generation has really accustomed everyone to the most difficult quadruple jumps, the ultra-c elements. Now, without them, it’s boring and uninteresting.
Q: Where have they gone? No one seems to be able to replicate the success of your trio.
Anna Shcherbakova: There is indeed a decline now, I think, in women’s single skating it is quite objective. Specifically, due to the number of ultra-c elements that are performed in competitions.
Yet, there are very young girls, the juniors, like Margarita Bazyluk, who jumps beautifully, and in her age group, I think, at the competition there will be several dozen quadruple jumps that they perform.
So, the quadruple jumps are still there, but right now there is some sort of decline, I don’t know what it’s related to.”
Olympic champion Anna Shcherbakova discussed how being idealized by others “triggers” her.
“Q: For me, you were such a perfect example. Do you think this played a decisive role, for example, in the Olympic Games, where a person who did more of what they were told ended up winning?”
Anna Shcherbakova: The label ‘perfect’ has, of course, followed me all my life. And I’ve often heard the phrase ‘we didn’t expect this from you’ throughout my life because I always had this image. But this is how I am with people that I either don’t know very well or if they are adults with whom there is a hierarchy. Then I’m quiet, calm, and I find it very difficult to express my opinion. Even if I have one, I just don’t voice it.
And the same in school. If I received a bad grade – ‘we didn’t expect this from you.’ If something doesn’t work out for everyone on the ice, but ‘from them it’s understandable, but we didn’t expect this from you.’ So, at some point, this phrase ‘we didn’t expect this from you’ really started to trigger me, because what, am I not human? We shouldn’t idealize, I’m saying this.
Because, really, I was so calm, I never argued, it was always a monologue with the coaches, they just told me something, and I always nodded. But I can say that until a certain time, perhaps, it really was like that. I just silently, without any deep analysis, did everything I was told.
Well, of course, when I got older, probably from around 15, that was the pivotal moment when I learned to present myself at competitions.
In connection with this, I started to dig a lot in my head, I started to analyze how many attempts I made, what I did to succeed, what my thoughts should be, what my attitude should be, how much strength I should have, where I should get tired, where not. And I dug into all this and found, perhaps, some understanding of what would be better for me.
And, of course, periodically my feeling did not coincide with what the coaches said. And I also can’t call myself a perfect athlete because often when I was told something, I could say ‘okay’ and do it my way. They tell me again, I say ‘okay’ and do it my way. That’s why I also wasn’t a perfect performing athlete who did everything they were told.”
Related topics: Anna Shcherbakova
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