The arrival of the world champion in the 200 meters race Ramil Guliyev to the competitions in Moscow became for the Russian track athletics, which has not seen such guests for almost a dozen years, is a real event. The Sport correspondent spoke with a Turkish sprinter of Azerbaijani origin about how he decided to visit Russia at the present time, the «cleanliness» of the great Usain Bolt, an apartment in Istanbul and his wife, Ekaterina Zavyalova, a silver medalist in the London 800 meters run.
«If Bolt cheated, it would be fair to tell about it»
— You are the second white sprinter after the Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre to run the hundred meters faster than ten seconds. Is this achievement important to you in the sense that you refute statistics?
— Of course, it's cool to be the second person who has done what many cannot do. This is a certain achievement in my activity, which means that I have achieved something good, which is talked about and appreciated. — When you are called White Bolt, how do you react?
Do you know Usain?
— Of course, we ran together many times, and I witnessed many of his records directly on the track. Bolt set all records in the 200m with my participation in these races./
— I remember my feelings when in 2011 for the first time I saw Bolt run live — as if a person flew from space …- It's actually very simple. You can easily communicate with him, even if you do not know him. From him does not come the aura of a certain personality that does something that others are not given. He's just a certain percentage more gifted, more talented. That's the whole difference. And so, Bolt, just like everyone else, worked hard to achieve these successes. There are many examples when talented people do not achieve anything because they do not like to work.
— I have heard such an opinion that if doping is ever found in Bolt's analyzes, let them keep quiet about it — those millions of people for whom Bolt was a role model and whom he made happy, it is better not to know about it.< br>
— It is difficult to agree with this. If Bolt broke the rules and used illegal drugs, then I think it would be fair to other athletes to talk about it. After all, it turns out that he deceived everyone.
— A hundred meters for 9.58 — do you think this is a clear record? Can I run like this?
— Well, he fled. And he also ran 200 meters in 19.19. I was there, I saw it. Don't argue. These results are shown in official competitions and have been verified. So I guess it's fair.
strong>— The Athletics Week, organized by the Moscow Department of Sports together with the All-Russian Athletics Federation as part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Moscow sports, began for you with a 60-meter race on Nikolskaya Street. How do you like this unusual experience?
— The first time I ran right on the street in the city center. Such a platform, when you run on it, vibrates. And if you get into this vibration, then you are thrown forward. And if you don’t hit, then the platform can scatter you from side to side. And I just had the second option: I was thrown anywhere, but not forward. The run did not turn out at all.
— When you realized that you run well, did you have a desire to realize yourself in football? After all, Baku is a football city.
—I would not say that football is the main sport in Baku. But I also played football. I would rather call wrestling, boxing, judo as national sports … And I also did them, as well as swimming and gymnastics. But at the age of 13 or 15 I took up athletics and decided that I would stay there.
— Remember how it was?
— I remember. I came, and they tell me — tomorrow the competition in the 60-meter run. Do you want to run? I was surprised, because before that I was engaged in gymnastics, and there you can’t just come and perform, you have to prepare for the competition for a long time. And here they said: well, you did sports, you just warm up and run from one mark to another. The next day he came, warmed up, ran and won. I thought — how easy it is! Of course, then it turned out to be not so easy, but in general everything went according to knurled — results, competitions, championships. Probably, after all, it didn’t happen by chance, after all, your parents are athletes …
— Yes, my mother was a long jumper, my father was a sprinter. The family always watched all the major athletics competitions, world championships, the Olympic Games. Never missed. Most of all they were waiting for the hundred-meter race.
«The idol did not give an autograph and I was offended»
— Did you have an idol in those years?
Yes, I really liked the American Michael Johnson. I really wanted to be like him, to run like him. Once, when I was playing at the World Youth Championships, Michael Johnson came there as a guest star. At that moment, when my race was taking place, he was signing autographs, and immediately after the finish I ran to him — but I was late, Johnson was already leaving. I asked him to sign on the go, but he refused and left! I was so offended that I said: «That's it, you are no longer my idol, I don't love you anymore.»
—When you watched the World Championships and the Olympic Games as a child, you probably already understood that it was extremely difficult to compete with black runners from the same America and Jamaica in the sprint. And yet they themselves went to the sprint.
— At the age of 15, I got into the national team, I already ran 100 meters in 10.90, at 16 — in 10.40. But everyone around me was telling me — why did you choose 100 and 200 meters, you will never achieve anything at these distances, sprint is the lot of Jamaicans, Americans, Canadians, runners from the Caribbean, it will be impossible for you to compete with them. And I decided: if they tell me that it is impossible, then it is actually possible! Because those who say so don't even try. Until you try, you won't know.
— That is, you decided that you won't give up in advance.
Yes. I decided that I need to train, and then it will be seen whether it will work out or not.
— What, in your opinion, then, is the reason why black runners from North America dominate the sprint?
— There is a very strong school, there are excellent specialists who are very well versed in this discipline. They are in a sprint from generation to generation, everything is passed down. In fact, there is no big secret, they just train differently. If you train in the same way, it is quite possible to run. In addition, in those parts more people are involved in athletics. This sport is loved, universities have a whole system of support — if you perform well, you get extra points, bonuses. University education is very expensive, starting from 30-40 thousand dollars a year, and if you have good results in sports, then you study for free. Therefore, everyone tries and builds their future life through sports. And, by the way, not only those who have a sports specialization run, but also programmers, and biologists, and anyone else. All universities of the country in this system.
— That is, talk about the superiority in the sprint of people of certain races with special muscle fibers — all this is nonsense? I think that in any case, gifted athletes have certain genetic abnormalities. Let's say an average person with normal genes runs a distance in a certain average time. If he runs faster, then he has deviations from the norm. Including more red muscle fibers. All athletes are gifted with something.
«I bought an apartment in Istanbul with the World Cup gold award»
Do you often remember winning the World Cup six years ago in London?
— Yes, of course, it was the most memorable moment in my sports career. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev congratulated you at the World Cup.
— It was cool. In addition to the President of Turkey, the Prime Minister also congratulated me. In Turkey, all athletes are generally supported in this way, it is very nice.
— And who called first — Erdogan or Aliyev?
— Aliyev congratulated the day after the run. And the President of Turkey — on the same day in the evening. And we had a very late finale, it was already after midnight, and even later at home. So the conversation was very short. But about a week later, the president called again, asking in detail about how everything happened. We talked more thoroughly.
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— In Russia, President Vladimir Putin receives athletes after great victories. Have you met with President Erdogan?
Yes, of course. Athletes are also accepted after the World Championships and after the Olympics.— No, in Turkey it is not customary to donate cars or apartments. The award is given in gold. More precisely, money, an amount equivalent to a certain number of gold coins. This is written in the law.
— Did the award for winning the World Cup make it possible to realize some old dream?
— Yes, I bought an apartment in Istanbul. Before that, he lived in a rented apartment, dreamed of buying his own. He also invested in his training. Additional funds appeared in order to do what could not be done before. And the next year, I managed to set a record for the European Championships and win gold. Baku had to get used to Istanbul, isn't it a huge city?
— Of course. About 24 million people now live in Istanbul. But I really like it there, warm, cool atmosphere. I love movement, I love it when there are a lot of people. I live almost in the center, on the Asian side.
— Now in Istanbul there are more Russian-speaking people. You and your wife, probably, have become more comfortable in this regard?
— I speak Turkish fluently. My wife can already communicate in Turkish, she is learning the language. And so, yes, we have a lot of Russian-speaking friends, both in Istanbul and Antalya, where we also train. Almost from all CIS countries.
— Did you have to learn the language for a long time when you moved to Turkey?
— No, the Azerbaijani and Turkish languages are very similar. The sentence structure is slightly different. Probably, he rebuilt in a month or two.
— And once you could start playing for Russia … I decided to leave Azerbaijan, I had an offer to play for Russia. We replied that we were ready to consider this option, but it all depends on the conditions — what can you give us, where are we going at all. Then the Russian side said — we'll see what we can offer. That was it.
— And then the option with Turkey arose?
— I played for the Fenerbahce club from 2008 to 2010. I had connections with the Turkish Athletics Federation. I told them that I want to continue to compete at a high level, to win medals if you help me. They replied — no problem, come. We arrived and all issues were resolved in two days. They sent a plane ticket, I flew to the club, its president, the head of the athletics department, was already sitting there. We announced to them the conditions that we would like to receive. Half an hour later they answered — OK, you can move tomorrow.
— Compared to conditions in Azerbaijan, was it much better?
— There were no conditions in Azerbaijan. Everything was really bad. In Turkey, they told me — we rent an apartment for you, we give you a salary, fees 365 days a year. When you win medals, you will get everything you deserve for them.
— Probably, it's for the best that in the end you ended up in Turkey, and not in Russia, given everything that happened to Russian athletics later?
— Of course, for the better. I became the world champion, after the victory I carried the flag of two countries — Turkey and Azerbaijan. It was my dream and I realized it.
— Nevertheless, you always had a connection with Russian athletics (Russian coach Oleg Mukhin led the athlete to victory at the World Championships — ed.). And just the other day Sergey Shubenkov said that you helped transport shoes for Russian athletes from Turkey…
Yes, they asked me to help the guys. They sent me things to Istanbul, I sent them. I communicate well with everyone, not only with Russians, but also with athletes from other CIS countries, with Europeans, with Asians. I have half the world I know.
—Aren't you afraid that they will look askance at you because you came to perform in Moscow?
— There will be some condemnations in any case, but I am apolitical. I do not adhere to any political views. I am an athlete, I popularize sports, I wish everyone good, health and happiness. Russian athletes sometimes go into politics after finishing their careers. It turns out that you exclude such an option for yourself in Turkey?
To be honest, politics is a complicated business. She needs to want to work. And while my tasks in sports remain — to win medals. Let's see what will happen after I finish my career, maybe the Turkish Ministry of Sports will offer me some position. But it still needs to be pulled. Being an athlete, running is one thing, working as a sports manager is completely different. Maybe I'll start moving in that direction. Of the plans that I already have, is to open a children's athletics school. And not only in Istanbul, but throughout the country. Athletics is the easiest sport to play, and we don't have a system of athletics schools. I want to close this gap, instill in children a love for athletics.
— Do you and your wife plan to open a school together?
— I think not . She studied professionally as a photographer, she really likes design, she also wants to unlearn to be a designer and work in this area. age. What else do you want to achieve in sports?
“Our main goal is the 2024 Olympics. We will use all our strength to prepare for it. This will probably be the last competitive season for me. But haven't decided yet. Suddenly I win a medal and decide that a second wind has come (smiles). For many athletes, it is generally a problem to leave the sport. To find yourself after the end of your career, you need to set yourself the same serious goals that you had in sports. Not everyone succeeds. But with my wife, I think this will not happen. We have big plans.
—I remember very well the London Olympics and the 800m race, where Ekaterina won a medal. How did she manage to get through the doping charges, the trial and stay in the sport?
— Of course, it was a very difficult path for her. But she is an athlete, a fighting person, she was able to overcome all this. Now she has new goals. She has not performed for a long time, we have a child, a daughter, who is now three and a half years old. The wife has an open gestalt, and therefore she is going to compete at the Olympics. Will prepare for it, let's see what happens.