Anjelika Krylova: “Everyone is worried before this World Championships”

Interview with Anjelika Krylova. Where she talks why athletes and coaches are especially worried before the World Championships this year, and how her coaching team is different from others.

source: Tatjana Flade for olympicchannel.com dd.- 17th February 2021

In this difficult season for the whole sport, figure skaters in Russia have the opportunity to both train and compete. But most of the international competitions were canceled, including the European Championships. For figure skating, how important is to have the World Championships?

Anjelika Krylova: I think this is very important and I would like it to take place. Firstly, the selection for the Olympic Games-2022 should take place there. Although athletes in different countries have trained and prepared for it in different conditions, the IOC and ISU must decide whether there will be a selection for the Games or not.

Secondly, we need to give athletes motivation to train, give them opportunity to compete. This season there were no international competitions, there was no real Grand Prix series, no one saw competitors from the other countries live, no one knows the shape of the others and how they skate. We only saw each other on video. I would like to gather everyone together. I think that it is also important for ISU to start the process, because there have been no competitions for a very long time. There were some small international competitions, but that’s not it. All those who are healthy and who can prepare will come to the World Championships. And it will be an interesting and joyful event. For all. And, of course, everyone is worried about the World Championships.

Why?

Anjelika Krylova: Because the season is very extraordinary. We did not have such before that athletes haven’t trained on ice for 3 months or more. This season we were not abroad, did not fly much. In the usual season we are always on the road. We compete, gain rating, see each other: have healthy and real competition. This season in America they held online competitions, it was interesting, but, of course, I’m for the real competitions. They have a different atmosphere and energy.

Is it a big advantage for figure skating in Russia that there is a strong competition inside the country?

Anjelika Krylova: Yes, the level of figure skating in Russia is high. In addition, the Federation held stages of the Russian Cup with the participation of the strongest figure skaters among seniors and juniors. It was a very interesting competition. Now we are preparing for the Russian Cup Final, where the selection for the upcoming World Championships will continue.

Channel One Cup is a separate topic. Team competitions, which were watched not only in our country, but all over the world. I know that many TV channels bought rights and showed it in many countries. Cool idea and super organization. It turned out very cool!

Since there were opportunities to train and compete in Russia, is it possible to assume that Russian figure skating will get from this period of the pandemic even stronger?

Anjelika Krylova: In each country, the government chooses its own path during a pandemic: what to open, what to close in connection with the statistics of cases. In some countries, ice rinks are still closed and skaters have no opportunity to skate. It may be that’s why the foreigners criticize Russia because there are many opportunities for training and competing. But this is the path that Russia has chosen. It was necessary to find an opportunity, even in this difficult time, not to ruin all the huge work of athletes and coaches that had been done before the quarantine.

Yes, I believe that in Russia figure skating is at a high level now. During all this difficult time, the athletes worked actively. Now at the World Championships, all this work will be visible. It is important that other countries can come to the World Championships and compete with Russia. The Americans and the Japanese, I think, will be the main competitors for our national team.

So you do not regret that you returned to Russia after living and working in America for over 20 years?

Anjelika Krylova: No, I don’t regret it at all. Rather, I regret leaving it for so long. Here I feel at home, here are my family and friends. Mommy missed me very much while I lived in America. Life there is completely different, and the work is different, and the system is different. In Russia, the system is complex, it is not like the system in which I worked. But, nevertheless, I like it. And I really love Moscow.

You have created your own team of coaches, which included Albena Denkova, Maxim Staviski and your partner in sports Oleg Ovsyannikov.

Anjelika Krylova: Yes, we are working with Albena, Maxim, Oleg. This is great and I am very happy about it.

I am happy that we have created such a team with good mutual understanding. We complement and understand each other. Still, we communicated when we were in sports, skated at the same level. We are one of the few teams that has reached a high level in sports and continues to work in coaching. I think this is great, and the guys, our athletes, respect us very much. We show them many things. I understand that compared to the time when we skated, everything has changed, and we need to follow the rules, follow what is happening. I think that everything is in our hands. We feel like a strong, very friendly, creative team. The atmosphere in the team is incredibly positive and it helps the work.

Oleg is a partner with whom you skated for a very long time. Together you have achieved tremendous success – you became world champions and medalists of the Olympic Games. How do you work together now?

Anjelika Krylova: Our relationship in sports was friendly, we supported each other. And now we have switched to coaching. Oleg and I feel comfortable, we complement each other very well.

When did he start working in a team?

Anjelika Krylova: In the summer. After the pandemic, when we returned to the rink, I asked him and Maxim to work with my pairs. We worked sometimes before, but it was only individual training a couple of times a week. Now we work as a team every day. And this makes me very happy. Maxim and Albena skate in the show with Ilia Averbukh, but since there are very few performances now, they are mainly engaged in coaching with me. They also help as choreographers, because alone it is difficult to cope with creating programs for all pairs of the group.

How many pairs do you have in the group now?

Anjelika Krylova: I mostly have juniors. Vasilisa Kaganovskaya – Valeri Angelopol is a young promising pair, the guys got into the Russian junior national team. Senior pair Katharina Müller Tim Dieck came from Germany only at the end of January. The French Adelina Galyavieva – Louis Thauron have remained in Europe due to the pandemic and now train in Milan with Barbara Fusar-Poli.

In my group, there are four junior duos and four pairs who perform in novices. I would like to have a little more ice to be able to pay attention not only to seniors, but also to a younger ones.

Did the younger ones have the opportunity to skate in the summer right after the quarantine?

Anjelika Krylova: The younger group (those who are not in the national team) went on the ice only at the beginning of July. Then the skating rink was closed again, and I had to rent the ice for them in Sokolniki. We trained with the juniors at the Megasport arena, and with the rest we went to Sokolniki. We worked like this for a month and a half. It was hard, but we were glad to have every opportunity to skate.

So some of the athletes could skate in Megasport, but some could not?

Anjelika Krylova: Those were the rules. Commercial ice rinks were opened, and state ones were closed. We had to adjust to these rules. It’s good that now everything seems to be working out, and we finally skate as usual. So I wish good health to everyone and success in the upcoming competitions!

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