Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii: “In the last year with Tamara Moskvina, I honestly couldn’t handle it psychologically anymore. It was hard. Now we work with the best coaching staff in the world — that’s the main thing.”
Interview with Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii.
original source: TASS dd 27th December 2024 by Veronika Sovetova
Silver medalists of the Russian Nationals Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii discuss their careers, the goal to perform a quad throw, and working in Eteri Tutberidze’s team. Here’s a translation.
“Q: The Russian Nationals has ended, you’ve had some time to catch your breath and recover. What’s on your mind after everything that happened?
Aleksandra Boikova: Thank God it’s over.
Dmitrii Kozlovskii: I wouldn’t say there are any specific thoughts. Overall, there’s definitely a sense of relief that another Russian Nationals has come to an end. This competition is always challenging, always difficult to prepare for, and hard to perform in. It’s not easy to recover psychologically after it. There’s a feeling of emptiness. So, what I really want now is rest, a break. And psychologically, that’s what I’m setting myself up for. We need to rest and digest all this. It doesn’t make sense to dive into any analysis right now, I believe. It’s better to rest.
A.B.: I’ve always loved the Russian Nationals; it’s my favorite start of the season, actually. But this time, things did not work out at all. I always get tremendous pleasure from competing at this event — there are more viewers and plenty of attention. But this time it unfolded like this for us. Well, that means, that’s how it had to be.
Q: When the competitions ended, did you feel that it was as tough as it had never been before?
A.B.: A tremendous amount of work was done; we gave a lot of ourselves, our energy. We didn’t miss a single practice or skate-through—there were so many. You give 200 percent, and you get back about 10. That’s frustrating. We just wanted to skate our programs cleanly because we truly were well-prepared. The short program, I was sure we would skate clean without any problems. For the free skate, I understood that yes, it would be a struggle, a challenge, you have to endure it, anyways, it’s a free skate program. But for it to turn out this way… Honestly, it’s incomprehensible. It’s unfair.
D.K.: Overall, I would say that Sasha and I have had a lot of bad luck in our joint career due to circumstances beyond our control. What do I mean? When we started transitioning to seniors, we had a sharp, significant rise. In our second senior season, we won the first Grand Prix event, then another. We won at the Russian Nationals and the European Championships. We were well-prepared for the World Championships and then… COVID. The COVID year starts — we get sick, and it’s tough. Alright, we gradually get into the season, come to the World Championships — it did not work out. It didn’t work out at the Olympics either. But it’s not uncommon for an athlete’s first Olympics to not go well, plus we were very young, full of energy to compete on the international arena.
You would think, all right, our four-year period is starting — our own, Sasha’s and mine, because our capabilities were reaching a peak, our positions allowed us to compete for the places we wanted. In our minds, it was a period of four years when Sasha and I had the opportunity to win our titles, earn our medals. And then… suspension. Missed again. Now, the story with one spot, which is also quite a specific moment.
Many of our colleagues who performed before us — Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, Maxim Trankov and Tatiana Volosozhar, Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov — they had opportunities, they had many chances to take their own, they had long, I emphasize, international careers, but so many chances were stolen from us, and it wasn’t our fault. How many World Championships, European Championships, Grand Prix Finals, Grand Prix events have we missed? And all of this adds up to what we have now. It’s very upsetting because a tremendous amount of effort was spent. It’s very hard, not easy, we have denied ourselves in many ways.
And I want to be honest with myself. I can’t blame myself, I can’t blame Sasha for anything we did wrong. We did our maximum on our part. Yes, it didn’t work out at this Russian Nationals. But again, if you look at the usual structure of competitions, what was the Russian Nationals? The Russian Nationals has always been a competition where you primarily need to make it into the top three to go to the European and World Championships. It was not the pinnacle of everything — either you’re first, or you’re out of the ranks, out of the system, and that’s it. It was just a competition where people came, set themselves a goal — we need to make it into the top three. We make it into the top three, and we continue the season.
Q: And now, right at the start, you’re told there’s only one spot.
D.K.: I wouldn’t say that created any special pressure because we didn’t know the details.
A.B.: We were just glad that we were allowed to compete, we didn’t even have time to delve into the nuances. We saw the news, thought – “well, great, good”. We just saw the line that Russians were allowed.
Q: What do you think about the opinion that intellectual athletes particularly struggle in sports?
A.B.: You should tell that to Nathan Chen, Anna Shcherbakova. Their careers are very successful.
Q: That doesn’t negate the fact that it was difficult for them.
D.K.: When an athlete has their own head on their shoulders, they are independent. And independence in life is a very big privilege.
Q: Being independent in this regard, an intellectual athlete thinks a lot, analyzes, and at some point may drive themselves into a psychological pit. Isn’t that so? The athlete keeps hitting the same spot, and it doesn’t yield the desired result.
D.K.: I disagree with the lack of results. I wouldn’t be so categorical. Being second is also not easy. In any case, we’re fortunate to be skating for Russia — our federation, our system is very cohesive and independent, self-sufficient, unlike many other federations.
I think no other country would have withstood such a suspension in the format that Russia has endured and continues to endure. Even if we compare our figure skating with others on the international stage, I believe we are better in many aspects. In terms of presentation, production, interest from fans, I believe we are currently better represented than our international friends.
And I can definitely say that the lag in international figure skating in terms of showcasing athletes is very significant. And in this system, we train, we compete. We’ve been very well-supported, including financially. So, to go around complaining about how bad everything is, I wouldn’t want to do that.
A.B.: After all, we still skate, we earn good money, we are shown on Channel One. Most others don’t have such a privilege, such an honor.
D.K.: We’ve done a lot and sacrificed a lot to be in our positions here and now, so to talk about a complete lack of results isn’t right. Let’s put it this way: our results and our career don’t fully match our expectations and desires. We expected something different, we wanted something different, but didn’t get the chance to achieve it. With the opportunities that we had, we failed to take advantage. No one prevented us from becoming world champions in 2021. There were other missed titles and medals. And we simply weren’t given new opportunities in the new four-year cycle.
Q: Do you give yourself a chance for the next four years?
D.K.: We’ll see.
A.B.: We just need to make it there.
D.K.: If we continue, then we need to skate up to the Olympic Games. Otherwise, there’s little point, but who guarantees that a similar situation to today’s won’t occur in 2030? That we’ll be allowed to compete? Or maybe, again, we’ll only get one spot? There’s so much to consider, and if you start thinking about it now, it becomes very difficult. So, I think we need to operate with the format we have: from four years to the next four years. Right now, there’s certain work, a certain process going on. Until the fight is over, you haven’t lost. So, we will continue doing what we do. And then we’ll see.
Q: Once you made a very decisive, even radical step in your career, moving to Moscow to be with Eteri Tutberidze, ending internal competition within Tamara Moskvina’s group. Fundamentally, little has changed — you continue to compete with your main rivals Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov.
A.B.: We work with the best coaching staff in the world — that’s the main thing.
Q: Promotion pits you nose to nose for the fourth start of the season. It seems psychologically quite difficult.
A.B.: Since there are no international competitions right now, why not allow the strongest to compete against each other here in Russia? Why lower our own level? Better, perhaps, to gain bumps but accrue experience. And it’s not about rivalry, but about us needing to go out and do our job. And this involves skating our programs cleanly, executing our content.
This means there are some problems. We’ll make conclusions about why it’s this way. Personally, I miss the international arena, the shared experiences. When we traveled to different cities, performed in different arenas, competed with different people, there was, broadly speaking, more air. Now, we have the same people in the same places. But this is our reality, and we must accept it.
Q: And yet, relocating to Moscow, you changed your perspective in some way.
A.B.: In the last year with Tamara Nikolaevna, I honestly couldn’t handle it psychologically anymore. It was hard. I don’t want to go into details, it would be unethical.
D.K.: This is our personal decision, our private matter, in which we consider ourselves justified.
Q: Let’s return to the topic of jumps and progress. It fits well with your pursuit of the quad throw. Are you afraid you won’t make it? Why do you need it?
A.B.: I just really want to do it. I’ve been doing it in practice. And I want to reach a point where I can do it in front of an audience.
D.K.: Sasha really does it, and does it very well. The fact that she succeeds is not accidental. It’s truly an element that Sasha currently masters well.
A.B.: It’s more like a personal desire of mine. And I understand that I can do it. I want to do it.
Q: Simply put, will landing this throw successfully in official competitions make you happy?
A.B.: Partially – yes. It’s one of those checkboxes I want to tick in my sports life.
Q: Dmitrii, where do you get so much patience to support Sasha in this?
D.K.: I’m not stressed about it. (Laughs.)
Q: What’s the success rate of this throw to date?
A.B.: Currently, we do it less often — there have been many competitions.
Q: Looking forward to the Russian Jumping Championship, will you try it?
A.B.: We’ll see. I can’t predict it. I hope it works out.
Q: Besides family and friends, do you have mentors with a wealth of experience in sports with whom you can sit down and have a thorough discussion, maybe get some advice?
A.B.: In this regard, I really respect Liza Tuktamysheva, because she has been through a lot, especially psychologically. I’ve always respected her, looked up to her. We sometimes discuss things, but it often turns into laughter.
D.K.: We have very good coaches who, besides being excellent specialists, are also kind people. You can always approach Eteri Georgievna, Daniil Gleikhengauz, or Alexei Tikhonov and just have a genuine human conversation. So we don’t have an issue with this.
A.B.: We do have a very attentive and responsive team.
Q: Who among them works with you the most?
D.K.: Eteri Georgievna and Alexei Tikhonov. Daniil also works with us a lot.
Q: It seems that your main social circle is just figure skating?
A.B.: No, that’s not true. Most of my friends live in St. Petersburg. I also have a few friends not involved in figure skating. I even have a friend whom I met online: I had followed her for a while, she suggested meeting, and now we’re friends and talk. And that’s cool.
Q: New Year’s is around the corner. Any plans?
A.B.: St. Petersburg, family. After all, New Year’s is a family holiday, and I always spend it with my family. This year we also have a sudden addition – two new family members, two girls. They were born in March.
Q: Dmitrii, what about your pre-New Year mood? What can make you smile or even laugh?
A.B.: Actually, Dima is a very kind, responsive, smiling person. Just that when we do our job, we need to stay focused.
D.K.: It’s simple – when there’s a reason, I smile. Sometimes it’s just not funny.
Q: Dmitrii, what gives you sincere joy apart from figure skating?
D.K.: Currently, it is mainly figure skating, especially when something goes well. A lot of effort has been spent, both physical and psychological. And this relates not only to competitions but to the training process in general. A lot is tied up in this for me right now.
But there is also something else like education. Education is very important and meaningful to me, and I am truly proud of it. But there’s a nuance. Education is a progressive process, which you approach step by step, slowly. It’s not like one day you’re educated and the next day you wake up without an education. You retain your knowledge. Whereas sports consist of very bright short moments that give an extremely strong, sharp emotional response, making the emotions brighter and more intense. The impact is more powerful.
Q: And this excludes elements of randomness, like in figure skating, for instance?
D.K.: Absolutely correct. And this applies whether you are taking exams or preparing a thesis or dissertation – you either know it or you don’t. Either you’ve written it well, and on your own, or you haven’t. The emotional output in education is, of course, much less than in sports.
Sports are about huge emotions, fans, spectators, drive, adrenaline. And after you get a taste of this, everything else seems significantly less exciting. That’s why in terms of sincere joy, I can’t compare anything with figure skating. At least not for now.
Q: Is that why skaters go to sky parks in the off-season?
A.B.: It’s actually my dream to make a bungee-jumping leap. Everyone is trying to talk me out of it, saying, “wait until you’re done, then go”. I sit, endure, wait.
Q: Then a question – when was that sincerest joy from figure skating for you? The very sincerest.
A.B.: Probably the European Championships in Graz.
D.K.: For me, it was my first Russian Nationals. Graz doesn’t come close – there we had a good lead after the short program, plus in the free program, the pairs that performed before us didn’t show their best skating. When in the free program Sasha did the first throw, in my head I said: “That’s it, we’re the champions of Europe”. But the first championship in Krasnoyarsk was very vivid due to the minimal point difference.
Q: And what about participating in shows? Does that bring you joy? Honestly, I find it hard to imagine you, Dmitrii, in the role of, say, Ivan Tsarevich.
D.K.: Shows vary. Those we mostly participate in, I mean the shows by Eteri Tutberidze, noticeably differ from other similar productions – it’s purely a sports show, which appeals to us. Yes, each show is interesting, each has its audience, but it is still not quite about sports. However, of course, it’s all very complex – changing costumes, different arenas, various circumstances, long routines that need to be learned. Eteri Georgievna’s concept in sports – packing as many complex elements as possible – carries over into her shows, where you can’t relax either. In the last tour, for example, everyone who could perform quadruple elements, and we did the quad throw. Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov also performed highly complex elements. Hence, this show is about sports, and I am primarily an athlete, not a performer.”
Related topics: Alexandra Boikova Dmitri Kozlovski
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