Dmitri Aliev: ‘I’m upset that we can’t compete in the international arena. But people have such a valuable quality – they can adapt to everything.’
Interview with European champion Dmitri Aliev. About past season, not getting to the Olympics, preparation for the new one and new programs.
source: fsrussia.ru dd 1st June 2022 by Tatjana Flade
Dima, let’s start with a pleasant one – memories of your vacation. How and where did you spend vacation?
Dmitri Aliev: I went to Egypt with friends. Finally, we were all able to get together. There was me, Makar (Ignatov) and Alexander (Samarin) with his girlfriend. Rested very well. This is one of my best vacations ever. I have never swum in a sea that much. I had the opportunity to swim and “treat” with salt water. I returned with very cool emotions, positive impressions and good mood.
How important was it for you to get back a little from the difficult season?
Dmitri Aliev: It was very necessary and very important. In fact, if I had taken the opportunity to go on vacation a little earlier, it would have been much better, because a week was not enough. After such a season, I really wanted to exhale, reboot, get rid of negative thoughts, recover and return in a good mood, rethinking some moments that arose during the season.
Tell us about the season, how did it turn out for you?
Dmitri Aliev: There were quite different emotions, very contrasting. It’s bad, it’s good. The biggest disappointment is that I didn’t make it to the Olympics.
But I’ll say: for myself, I learned a lot from what I experienced during this time. And in the future, all these experiences, thoughts will help not only in sports, but also in life. This season something “magical” happened to me – I didn’t go to the main competitions, but I rethought a lot and decided a lot for myself.
For example?
Dmitri Aliev: I gained experience that will help me in solving many problems. I realized that now I can handle some things on my own.
In your opinion, what was your main problem this season?
Dmitri Aliev: At the beginning of the season, I was kind of lost. Something was wrong with me. Coaches feel me well, everyone knows this, but there are times when they cannot fully understand some of the nuances. In the end, it all depends on the athlete himself. I don’t want to go into details, it’s already over, but the conclusion was made like this: you need to continue skating and moving on. I am not the first and not the last who got into situations when I was not selected for important competitions, although I had a chance.
Have you thought about leaving the sport?
Dmitri Aliev: When there is a long series of failures, it seems that you are working in vain. You don’t understand: you seem to be doing everything, but it doesn’t work out. Why? You analyze, draw conclusions, correct mistakes, but then you go to competitions and it’s like an emptiness inside. And competition are not like a holiday, but it’s a moment when you have to collect everything and show what you can do. Right here and now. But for me it wasn’t even close. There was no fire inside. Since the beginning of the season – one competitions, second competitions, failures, and that’s it, everything rolled like a snowball. And only after the Russian Caup Final I I gradually began to come to my senses, something changed inside. I started training, I tried the quad salchow… And now I enjoy everything I do.
How long was the pause after the Russian Cup Final?
Dmitri Aliev: A week. After that, I went to training, more to keep in shape, as they say in our group, so that “the pants do not fall off”. Tried not to “fizzle”.
But the love for figure skating has not disappeared?
Dmitri Aliev: I will always have a love for figure skating. I understood it clearly.
Now I have shows going on, and I am very grateful to the people who invite me. I am very pleased to perform. On the show, I get a certain charge of emotions, just like in competitions.
At first I just skated programs, then I began to make other tasks for myself – to jump a quadruple or complicate something else. And each performance in the show gave me a different experience.
A positive experience when I skated without mistakes. Competitive, when it was possible to skate the whole program in public, even with mistakes. But it is still very important for an athlete. It is important to start and perform.
I just wanted to ask, how do the shows help you?
Dmitri Aliev: The show is communication with the audience, because in the season we do not have much contact. For example, I had 6-7 events during the season, and I participated in the show 12 times, maybe 15 times. Thanks to such shows, I realized that I was still supported, fans, fans were waiting for me. And it gives pleasant emotions. A lot of people write, they are interested: “Where will you perform? We will come”. And they come and bring gifts. It is very supportive, gives me confidence that I am not alone.
What are your plans for the season, will you change both programs?
Dmitri Aliev: Yes. We have almost chosen the music, decided on the thems. Now all these points must finally be decided.
I had a conversation with the coaches about new programs. Of course, we always make decisions together, but in any case, it’s for me to skat this programs. So one of my wishes was to keep the “style”. I often skated lyrical programs to calm compositions. And it seems to me that this has become, in a certain sense, my calling card, and I would like to keep my style. Perhaps with some other artistic images, music, but stay with it.
Of course, everything new is interesting, cool, and needs to be improved. However, at the same time, I want to enjoy my skating, and think only about what and how to do.
Who works on your new programs?
Dmitri Aliev: Now it’s being decided. Now everything is complicated, there are a lot of incomprehensible things around.
Yes, we still do not know exactly what will happen in the new season, what kind of events. Does it affect your preparation, motivation?
Dmitri Aliev: You know, of course, I’m upset that we can’t compete in the international arena. But people have such a valuable quality – they can adapt to everything. I’m sure our figure skating federation will organize and hold very cool alternative competitions. And at the same time, I hope and really want us to start participating in international competitions as soon as possible.
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