Maxim Trankov: “Since it’s not beauty that gains popularity, but scandals, this speaks of our society”

Interview with Maxim Trankov. About being a judge, Tarasova – Morozov and ladies’ single skating.

by Dmitry Kuznetsov for sport-express.ru dd.28th October 2020

Maxim, you made your debut as a judge at the new Ice Age season. Is it hard?

Maxim Trankov: Honestly, I’m not used to judge someone. After ending my career, I was offered to become a judge or a technical specialist in real, sports figure skating. I refused. Now Ilia Averbukh asked, and I could not refuse, and at the same time it is interesting to look at the guys. But it is really difficult to give marks – to tell people the truth in the eyes, sometimes unpleasant one. But such a television project is partly sport, partly art, so you should take it calmly. I have no prejudice towards anyone, I think the guys will not be offended.

Are you a strict judge?

Maxim Trankov: Tatiana Anatolievna Tarasova and Elena Isinbaeva say yes. With Tanya Navka, we constantly argue about some moments, she has her own view of figure skating. In general, it’s nice to be here, to be at the same table with such people, between two Tatianas. Especially with Tatiana Anatolievna – you learn a lot, learn new things.

You ended your career and became a coach. Do you like how Alina Zagitova reveals herself as a host?

Maxim Trankov: I always said that there is nothing wrong with trying yourself in something new. It doesn’t matter if you ended your career early or late … Everything is said on this topic. It’s great that she did not dwell only on figure skating, she tries herself in a something new. The more such examples, the better.

How is your pair, Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, doing, how is thir preparation going?

Maxim Trankov: Vova had a coronavirus infection, as you know, and for three weeks we could not train. He was in quarantine for 14 days, then tests took a week. I know that in other cities this is easier, in St. Petersburg people go to the ice after 10 days. Unfortunately, in Moscow, they monitor very closely, constantly called, came, he had to install an application and do check ins. Everything was more serious, three weeks without ice. Of course, because of this, they had to reschedule their calendar, the guys could not return to the United States. There are difficulties, but we are preparing for the competitions in Kazan, everything is still according to plan. They work very well, purposefully, you can see the sparkle in their eyes, things go well in training. Vova has a small hand injury, but I hope the bad streak is behind us, and we can finally start this season.

If I understand correctly, you should performed at the fourth and fifth stages of the Russian Cup, but according to the rules, you should not cross with Boikova and Kozlovski. Or has it already been decided that you can compete there?

Maxim Trankov: Sure, we talked about this with the federation. Force majeure has occurred because of the coronavirus pandemic. It will be taken into account for the first numbers of the national team. If the European champion Kozlovski fell ill with coronavirus and cannot perform at one of the stages, why should he miss the Russian Nationals because of this?

That is, the federation is not against changing the rules?

Maxim Trankov: Yes, the federation has made some adjustments. Probably, initially it was not thought out correctly. They should have considered various options. It hit us the hardest, Tarasova and Morozov in pair skating. Because we had to force things, return to Russia, get sick with the coronavirus … All this could have been avoided if there were other options.

Do you follow what is happening in Russian figure skating? Stage of the Russian Cup in Sochi, for example?

Maxim Trankov: I don’t watch anything, I don’t comment, now I am engaged only in work with my pair. So I don’t know at all what was happening in Sochi.

You don’t watch your competitors, right?

Maxim Trankov: There were, so to speak, our direct competitors.

Are Pavliuchenko and Khodykin not your direct competitors?

Maxim Trankov: Pavliuchenko and Khodykin, who lost the free program to juniors Artemieva and Nazarychev, can hardly be called such.

But you can probably see what’s going on in the Instagram feed. The coaching staffs get nuts like in MMA.

Maxim Trankov: For me, what is happening is very far from figure skating. In general, I stopped following ladies’ single skating – they call me constantly, I say that I don’t follow. Yes, I look at the results, heard the conversations about the results of short programs … It’s hard to be in figure skating and not hear that. But that doesn’t concern me. And by the way, I am absolutely not interested in single combats.

Evgeni Plushenko believes that such scandals move the sport forward.

Maxim Trankov: Any coin has two sides. Yes, bad PR is also PR. Let’s take a philosophical look: since it is not beauty that gains popularity, but scandals, this speaks of our society. Of course if you eat shit with a spoon on Instagram, you will get 2 million followers, and if you feed stray dogs, you will get only 200. If so, then it is a mirror of our society.

Related topics: Evgenia Tarasova Vladimir Morozov, Tatiana Volosozhar Maxim Trankov