“Sometimes I felt like Ilia could fly like a butterfly and do something extraordinary in mid-air at any moment.” Sofia Samodelkina on Ilia Malinin
Sofia Samodelkina on training with Ilia Malinin.
original source: RT dd. October 9th by Elena Vaitsekhovskaya
In an interview with RT, Sofia Samodelkina shared her experience on crossing paths with Ilia Malinin at trainings. Here’s a translation of her comments.
Q: Did you cross paths with Ilia Malinin during training?
Sofia Samodelkina: Just once, when he came to California for two weeks during the summer. We first met at the World Championships in Boston, but didn’t talk much there since we were busy competing.
This summer was different. I stepped off the ice after training and saw someone walking with a suitcase. Because of the bright sunlight, I couldn’t see who it was – just the outline of their figure. Then I thought, “I know that silhouette.”
We ended up talking a lot with Ilia during the summer. He wasn’t always skating with us since he worked on his programs at a different rink, but occasionally we practiced together.
Q: Was it interesting to watch Malinin train?
Sofia Samodelkina: Absolutely. When you see him doing his quads – including the quad axel – and all sorts of flips, it makes you shake your head and wonder, “Is this really happening right now?” Sometimes I felt like Ilia could fly like a butterfly and do something extraordinary in mid-air at any moment.
Rafael Vladimirovich often shows us videos of Malinin’s jumps on a big screen, breaking down his technique – the way he approaches complex elements, his takeoff, the position of his shoulders, his legs.
Related topics: Ilia Malinin, Sofia Samodelkina
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