Evgenia Medvedeva: In Japan, I’m recognized wherever I go
Small interview with Evgenia Medvedeva. About her vacations and participation in Japanese TV-show.
Your appearance on television in Japan has created a stir in Russia. Tell us more, what kind of show was it?
– I took part as a guest star. Honestly, I really liked it. It turned out interesting and fun, although I haven’t taken part in such events before. As for the Sailor Moon costume, I came up with it spontaneously. Many people know that I’m fond of Japanese anime and I really love this character. So we decided, why not to go on the ice as Sailor Moon. Of course, the audience was over the moon (laughs).
Did you just have to dance there or were there other tasks?
– Oh, no I didn’t only dance…..There were three rounds. In addition to dancing, I had to play in the air hockey and keep my balance, standing on one leg. Fortunately, my team eventually won.
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In Japan, your popularity after the show certainly began to go off the scale?
– The number of subscribers on Instagram encreased for sure (laughs)
Did you talk with the TV-host or did you have an interpreter?
– Of course, I had an interpreter. I wouldn’t be able to communicate myself. I can not say that I soak myself in learning the language. I’m just very interested in Japanese, and now in communication with local fans I can even insert some phrases, surprise people. Although they do not try to talk to me in Japanese. It is clear that this language is very difficult to learn. And the hardest part is memorizing Japanese alphabet.
In winter you admitted that in Japan people recognize you at the streets. Does it become harder to walk with each new visit?
– In Japan, I’m really recognized wherever I go. But I can not say that they bother me. On the contrary, local people understand everything and respect your personal space. But in their country figure skating is indeed much more popular than in Russia. There literally everyone watches it. They don’t miss large competitions, know all skaters. In Russia, there is no such thing, but I can say that in our country in recent years also has been serious progress in this regard. More and more people are interested in figure skating, parents began to bring their children to skating more often.
You’ve been resting for three weeks. Did you allow yourself not to train or you constantly go to the gym to keep the shape?
– Willing or not but I have to work. Important season is ahead and it’s simply necessary to keep in shape. Every day I went to the gym and spent there about two hours. However, I cannot say that it was so hard. It’s ok for me to have such loads during vacation.
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Where have you been and what have you seen during your vacations?
– I spent my holiday in China and Japan. In the Land of the Rising Sun, I visited Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. Saw the local ancient temples. Most of all I liked, of course, in the capital. Tokyo – it’s like a huge metropolis, but people are very calm and courteous there. For example, in Moscow, if you ask a passerby how you get somewhere, he will answer you at best on the run, and in Japan they will explaine thoroughly and almost take you where you need. Such attitude is enticing.
Even on vacation you’re still a figure skating prima. Didn’t you get a request to hold one or two master classes?
– To be honest, there were several such requests, but with all the respect we responded with a refusal.
When do you start preparing for the Olympic season?
– Since June 5 I’ll be preparing in Novogorsk, I will train there for a month.
Do you already know about your programs?
– Of course, but we will not disclose our secrets till the beginning of the season.
by Borislav Golovin for russian.rt.com
Related topics: Evgenia Medvedeva, ladies
True. Japan does have relatively more figure skating fans. I’m originally from an Asian country and even though we’ve had FS champions it’s just not something a lot of people talk about. It’s basically only popular every 4 years when the Winter Olympics are on. The only FS atheletes (besides our own) that occasionally get on the sports news page are Yuzuru Hanyu, Mao Asada and Yuna Kim, and many years ago, Plushenko.
To be fair, my country is not really good at Winter sports. The Summer Olympics are always a much much much bigger deal.
Where are you from? If it’s not a secret?
In my country I think only one sport is important – football((Well maybe also boxing
CHN, it’s not a secret :D We’ve only been really good at Pairs though, so maybe that’s also a contributing factor? Two-time world champion Javier Fernandez? Nobody’s heard of him ever. Same goes for Russian/American/Canadian skaters. But I think Medvedeva is slightly more known because of her Sailor Moon costume (we share the Anime culture with JPN).
In CHN, to be a famous athelete (as in known by people who don’t actually watch a lot of sports) you need to be in Swimming/Diving/Gymnastics/Tennis/Table Tennis/Badminton/some track sports, and you need to be an Olympic/World Champion, or an olympic medalist in the very least. Unless you’re from a field that we are not traditionally good at.
The only team sport I can think of that are popular is (European) football, or soccer depends on what you call it. And we are very bad at it, it’s been a national joke for years.
In my country (France) , the only really popular sports are football (soccer) and tennis as well. Sometimes also basket-ball skiing and cycling, but the others only appear in the Olympics. People don’t even know if we are good in skating (although we’ve got recent two-times world champions in ice dance) The only thing they know about is Candeloro, Bonaly and judges’s cheating reputation !
It amazes me how Japanese people is found in fig skating. Btw, learning that it is not a lot popular in Russia is surprising, I thought it was their national sport.
Football (soccer) is also the most popular sport in my country. Honestly, don’t know why) Our national team hasn’t shown good results since….eh since long ago)
Figure skating in Russian is way more popular then in other European countries. But still, general audience watch it once in four year – at Olympics. But they know Plushenko, Navka and Lipnitskaya.
I asked my friends from China once, whether they’ve heard about Olympic champions Xue Shen – Hongbo Zhao and they said no((
Ahh that’s unusual, Shen&Zhao are without question the most famous figure skaters from China. I knew about them even when I knew absolutely nothing about FS. They were on the news a lot in those years. My best friend doesn’t watch FS at all but she followed this year’s Worlds with me, and she recognized Zhao (as coach) on TV before I did lol. “That’s Zhao Hongbo right?” I was like “What?! Holy crap it is! He looks old now!”
I guess my friends are not really into sports) Or maybe I bored them asking whether this or other skater is considered beautiful/handsome)
Ah, la courtoisie et les bonnes manières. J’envie cela des japonais.
En Occident, de Moscou à Paris, on a perdu ces notions, malheureusement…
Thx for the interview.