Moris Kvitelashvili: You will not feel the Olympic atmosphere until you come to the Olympic village
Georgian figure skater Moris Kvitelashvili told how he was preparing to represent his country at the Olympics in Pyeongchang.
You was the first athlete who was lucky to represent Georgia at the Olympic Games. Great Sergei Bubka gave you the “ticket”. How did the ceremony go?
– It was in Georgia at the official meeting, where I was the only athlete. I think I happened to be there at random. There Sergei Bubka gave me a card – a license to participate in the Olympics.
At that moment, have you already felt that the Olympics are coming soon?
– Honestly, no. My friends-sportsmen told me that until you come to the Olympic village, you will not feel the Olympic atmosphere.
Participation in the Olympic Games is already a kind of victory. You are the main hope of Georgia. What is it like to be an example in figure skating for the whole country?
– This is very exciting. It feels like they are worried about me and cheer for me.
How do you think, why this season the interest to figure skating appeared in Georgia?
– Previously, there was a great interest too, just there were no facilities to bring up good world-class athletes. The country was not focusing on figure skating.
How did you come to figure skating?
– I’m from a sporting family. My father was engaged in cycling, my brother – swimming, and my mother – figure skating. My father absolutely did not want me to do cycling, that’s probably why they decided to engage me in figure skating. In childhood, the life of the child is controlled by parents, they direct it. I started doing figure skating when I was 4 year old.
When did you realize that this is love for the whole life?
– Probably from the age of 13. It was a period when I was deciding whether I finish, or start doing it seriously. It wasn’t possible to find a common language with the previous coach, it was necessary to leave. We had a serious family council, where in tears I finally agreed to continue. And I have never regretted it.
There is an opinion that figure skating turns into an acrobatic show – there are more and more quadruple jumps in the program. Do you agree?
– I have a twofold attitude to this issue – yes and no. Figure skating is developing, there are a lot of interesting programs. The level of figure skating has grown, skaters perform 5-6 quads in programs. Now the skater needs to be able to jump and to dance. This requires a lot of work.
What is the time-schedule of the athlete before the Olympics?
– We train all day – we come to the ice in the morning and leave in the evening, spend the whole day at the rink. Programs and music I chose together with the coaches. Coaches offered and I liked it. I brought some music and offered it. The choice of music was long. At the beginning of the season, we did the program, but then changed it, because I could not skate it, it was very fast and I couldn’t to my jumps normally. It was Mozart. In the end, we changed the program.
Sooner or later the career of an athlete ends. What do you see for yourself?
– I think I will be doing shows, I will be engaged in coaching activities and I will sing songs. I would like to have a good skating rink built in Georgia and good facilities for new athletes so that they can represent their country at the world level.
Related topics: interview, Moris Kvitelashvili
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