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The famous Soviet figure skater Oleg Makarov has been living in the USA for more than 20 years. In an interview with Sport, he told how you have to work hard to make money in America, what helps you recognize a sincere smile overseas, and why few people there are interested in Kamila Valieva’s doping case.
“Americans are not interested in what's going on in the world»
— When you agreed on the interview, you asked if there were any difficulties on the way to Bangkok, where you came to the Junior Grand Prix with student Jacob Sanchez. A counter question: don’t Russian specialists in America have any difficulties now?
— No, this did not happen at our skating rink. We constantly travel to competitions, to other states too. And other Russian-speaking specialists with whom I spoke had no problems. Americans — they are, I would say…
Apolitical?
< br>—Not really. They just worry more about home, about family. About the lawn so that it is green. So that gasoline prices do not rise. It doesn’t matter what’s going on in the rest of the world.
— You and Larisa Yuryevna (Selezneva) left for the States in the early 2000s?
— Yes, around 2002. The last of the Mohicans were.
—Why did you decide to leave?
— Well, echoes of the 90s, difficult times… And then Tamara Nikolaevna and Igor Borisovich (Moskvins) began to prepare Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze here for the Olympic Games. She invited us: “There is a skating rink here, if you want, come. We are close, if anything happens, you can help us.” We came, looked and stayed.
— Didn’t you want to go back?
— But we constantly go back and forth. Here (in America) my son was born, my daughter finished her studies. But we have everything there — Russian passports, apartments. We used to return very often, but then because of the coronavirus we began to visit home less often.
— But in terms of work, is it more convenient in the USA?
— At the time when they arrived, of course. Now we have a base here with two skating rinks, we are the bosses and directors there. There is enough work.
— Where is all this located?
— State of New York, city of Newberg. Essentially a suburb, 80-85 kilometers from New York. About an hour's drive there by car. The normal situation is that all figure skating is located outside of big cities. There are only a couple of skating rinks in New York itself. There are no athletes there, it’s purely business.
— Are there a lot of guys involved?
< br>“The situation is a little difficult now.” Figure skating is a very expensive sport after all. When we first arrived, there were a lot of people interested, but recently there have been fewer. Americans now prefer not to take risks with money. There are a lot of expenses — the same gas, to provide for a house, to save for college for the children. Education in the USA is very expensive, just crazy money. There are many talented children here, but the vast majority of parents do not have money to pay for classes. It’s simply impossible not to reach a high level in 2-3 workouts a week. And to pay for more — you have to work ten jobs. Plus, Americans prioritize school; it’s important for them to get an education. And the rest is a hobby. In general, it is difficult to live in the USA with one job. A lot of people work on two or three.
— Straight on two or three?
— Yes. For some reason, everyone seems to think that in America dollars grow on trees.
— They themselves created the image of a country of opportunity.
— We have to plow there. Well, that’s if you do everything honestly and pay taxes. Although the tax office may catch dishonest people, it’s better to pay. Everything is strict. But I like it.
— When you came to the States, did anything surprise you in everyday life or in the mentality?
— I wouldn’t say . We've traveled a lot, we've seen the world. And in principle, the USA is a multinational country, the USSR was like that too. Americans are similar to Russians in some things. They help very willingly, there is no anger. Smiling.
— About smiles, by the way. For some reason, it’s always like this in Russia — if you want to convict the Americans of something, say that their smiles are fake. You have lived in the USA for 20 years. Really fake?
— It seems to me that it’s all because they just have fun and show it with their smiles. Maybe a little less negative. Somewhere, of course, they can smile through their teeth, but I have not yet seen them somehow, you know, hiding behind this, or something.
I don't think their smiles are hypocrisy. On the contrary, it’s nice when you come to the store and they smile at you. This is much better than when you walk in and at the door say, “Well, why have you come?” Although, I think it all depends on the situation. If you look at the calmer American states, people there, of course, are much simpler. But in New York, everyone works very hard, the city is brutally expensive. In general, I like it when people smile. It’s better this way than when they send for trifles.
“Children in the USA are not accustomed to hard work”
— Is it possible to yell at a student in the States?
— This is no longer very welcome in Russia. In the USA, SafeSport monitors everything, and we also started talking about similar things. Here we need to understand what we mean by the concept of “shouting”. Forcing – yes, that’s another matter. Sport is a very difficult thing, sometimes you need to force a person to step over himself in order to achieve great heights, but screaming in itself… You see, you can’t achieve anything by screaming alone.
There must be an individual approach. If we are talking about children, then they themselves do not yet know what they want. But an adult athlete is already a conscious person; you need to deal with him differently. We need to find options and negotiate with the guys. In the United States, the general trend is towards caring for children. By default, they are not accustomed to hard work; they chew everything and put it in their mouth. But you need to find the keys to them too. Their goal in sports is to get a “fan”.
— In the context of «fan». I remember your daughter, 2010 Russian champion Ksenia Makarova, said that she took from you just such a role model in sports — to have fun. Now you are talking about the same thing in relation to the Americans. At the same time, in our figure skating, it seems to me, at one time there was such a problem that athletes in the same men’s singles went to competitions as if they were going to war and there was no pleasure at all. Do you think it is possible for “fun” to coexist with getting results at any cost?
—I think no, this is wrong. In figure skating, everything changes. Remember, at one time we had no girls at all, but now they are destroying everyone. And what, they also go to war?
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— It seems they have more or less learned to have fun.
— Here! We dominated pair skating for a long time, then the Chinese came. Everyone was smashed in the dances, but now the Americans and Canadians are on top. The guys had the time of Plushenko and Yagudin, now others are in first place.
— At what level is professional American figure skating now?
— From an economic point of view, there is no recovery. More like a slight decline. But their team is strong, that’s true. And even if they weren’t strong, look at how many immigrants from Russia are training them. The same parents of Ilya Malinin.
— Malinin, by the way, what is this, in your opinion?
— This is God’s gift. Such people are born very rarely. He was also immediately in good hands. His parents taught him very competently, and all this yielded such fruits. To be honest, I don’t know who else in the world will ever jump a quadruple axel.
— And it’s visually so easy.
— Oh, it only seems so. The physical load is enormous. And he already had a lot of injuries. If you look at those who started doing quadruple jumps, many of them developed a lot of sores. Fadeev, Urmanov — they jumped for a year or two at most, and then their muscles tore. Knees are flying, menisci, backs… Only Plushenko with screws lasted a long time. This, of course, is a unique athlete.
— Quadruples – still an unhealthy story?
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— Definitely. Now the trend is such that you can live at the level of quadruple jumps in men's single skating for 5-7 years. The body can no longer stand it any longer. There are, of course, unique ones, but for the most part the timing is approximately the same.
— And in the women’s singles?
— One or two years. They start jumping, then they grow, turn from girls to girls, and the decline begins. Around the age of 17-19 it inevitably comes, we have not yet figured out what to do about it. Girls in any sport require a special approach. Guys are more predictable. Although the very fact that girls started doing quadruple jumps is fantastic. Tutberidze, of course, is great, she made a real breakthrough.
“Valiyeva is capable of winning the Olympics in Milan”
— Many parallels were drawn between Malinin and Alexandra Trusova. They say that the girl also jumped a lot and jumped well, but in the end another girl won the Olympics.
— Because balancing is important. Sasha Trusova jumped great. No one has jumped like Trusova, and it is unlikely that anyone will. But the rest of the program is also important. Although in the end she also had very interesting performances. Nowadays you won’t be surprised by quadruples alone.
—Especially considering what you said about the “service life” in women’s singles. It turns out that it is impossible to complete more than one Olympic cycle with ultra-c. And Trusova and Anna Shcherbakova, by the way, confirm this.
— Yes. But at the same time, Kamila Valieva will come out, jump one quadruple and win. I sincerely believe, by the way, that she is capable of winning the Olympics in Milan. If she stays healthy and motivated, few will be able to stop her.
— How was the situation with Camila perceived at the Olympics?
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— It’s hard for me to judge doping. Okay, more steroids. Look at the same runners in athletics — mountains of muscles! I, a pair skater, constantly carry my partner around and I’m not like that. And here the guys are running the 100-meter dash. How did they get so pumped up? Interest Ask. And in figure skating… It still seems to me that doping is irrelevant here. Yes, it may become easier to train, but you won’t be able to do the same quads in sheer quantity. Although the situation is absolutely terrible. It’s a pity for the girl — she spends her whole life preparing, but at the most crucial moment this…
Are the Americans following the progress of the proceedings at CAS? Are they waiting for “teamman” medals?
— It seems to me that in the USA there is no excitement around this topic. They live their lives, prepare for competitions and don’t really return to the past. I have never come across any talk about “commander” medals.