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Victoria Morozova sensationally won the Junior Grand Prix in figure skating in Omsk, ahead of Alisa Dvoeglazova and Sofia Titova, who were considered the main contenders. In an interview with Sport correspondents, the rising star spoke about the feeling of winning over such strong rivals, shared her motivation to learn quadruple jumps in a situation where the Olympic dream is far away, and also remembered her famous uncle — a two-time winner of the Gagarin Cup and the current president of the KHL, who starred in the cult film 90 -x.
“In a day or two you can feel like a star”
— Victoria, in percentage terms, how did you estimate the probability that you could win in Omsk?
— I thought that with two clean skates there would be chances, but in the free program I had a triple Salchow in a cascade with an underrotation and a Lutz-toe loop cascade that was not very positive. Therefore, I thought that the points for the free program would not be enough for me to win. But, it seems, everything was enough (laughs). I was a little shocked, I didn’t believe it at first.
— It’s probably especially unexpected to win when Alisa is in the application Dvoeglazova, Sofia Titova…
— Oh, it’s a very cool feeling — that you won the competition, where you come to compete with such strong girls. They all have ultra-si elements… Before the start there was a little excitement, but when you see your name in first place, you feel like a star (laughs).
— Eteri Georgievna Tutberidze likes to say: “You come off the pedestal and you are nobody.” The coach didn’t tell you anything like that?
— No. But I think the coach will say this when we get home (laughs). For another day or two you can feel like a star and rejoice. And then — work, roll out programs, insert ultra-si. This time everything worked out great with triples.
— In general, yes, they are necessary even purely for their development. I’ve been skating with “3-3” for the fifth season now, and I’m starting to get bored, it’s not the same adrenaline. And with a quad – adrenaline! br>
— Why did you choose a quadruple loop? They say that it is almost the most difficult of the quadruples.
“He’s really the most difficult because he jumps with one right foot.” And it’s also rib-shaped; the jagged ones still jump easier, because there’s a push. But for me it’s somehow easier to do a loop than a (quadruple) lutz or triple axel.
—Have you tried a lutz and axel too?
— Yes. I even competed in the axel once — like at the summer training camp last year. Then I lost it because I jumped in a quadruple sheepskin coat. After that we thought — oh, we need to learn the second quad! We learned the second one — we forget how to jump a sheepskin coat (laughs). Then came the quadruple loop. But before him, we also taught quadruple lutz. In general, everything is very confusing.
In the end, I tried all the quads, but the loop was the one that worked best. Now I’m focusing on him, because after all, few girls jump with him. Therefore, for me this is already a kind of trick.
— How many quadruples, in your opinion, are needed? So that there is an optimal level.
— Probably, in order to score good points, these are two quadruples in the free program, and with clean skating the results will be good. It’s better than going with three, and then falling in the second half from something.
“It turns out that “Tim Highpozhor” predicted victory.”
— Well, now the most important thing. Still, we understand that your victory is the result of working with the great team “Team Highpozhor” at the show program tournament last year (Morozova was involved in the “Russian Challenge” tournament in the issue of “Sport Express” journalist Dmitry Kuznetsov with the participation of Vlad Zhukov and Konstantin Lesik from «Sport 24» — editor's note).
— Of course! (laughs). The sensations are really very unusual right now. Remember, by the way, that I had tango there? And then I stood on the pedestal, you rewarded me. It turns out that we predicted everything back then! (laughs). I have such good memories from this tournament. I really enjoyed skating and watching the participants.
— Do you have the feeling that there are not enough such unusual tournaments for juniors?
— Yes. Because juniors only have competitions, while adults have show programs, a jumping tournament, and other events. I would like ours to be somehow more colorful, with more show elements.
— Does your work routine bother you?
— By the way, no. We have a lot of our own tricks in training, we can go wild and do something. And then – work and work again.
— By the way, this is a very valuable quality — the ability to cope with monotonous work. At one time they said about Sharapova that she became great because she could deliver thousands of blows to the same point during training for hours.
— Well, I haven’t done anything like that before! (laughs). We must try.
“I dream about the Olympics — suddenly a miracle will happen!”
— Let’s tell a little about you to the people who after your victory, they will run to the Internet to look for information
— My brother plays hockey. As a child I went to look at it and thought — how cool! He performs, wins, his cups and medals are at home. And in the end, in the winter I went with my brother to a “box” in the yard for company. My brother trained there, and I rode hand in hand with my dad.
Then, at two and a half to three years old, I was already sent to professionally train in the figure skating section in Odintsovo. There I ended up with Rosa Andreevna (Scheveleva), my first coach, and at the age of 9 I moved to Irina Aleksandrovna (Smirnova).
— Why didn’t you go to women’s hockey if you liked it so much? watch your brother play?
— It seems to me that dad decided that we’ve had enough hockey players in the family (laughs). I have an uncle who is a hockey player, a grandfather, a dad, a brother, and two cousins. We have a full-fledged hockey family.
— In childhood, who was your idol — Ovechkin or, say, Adelina Sotnikova?— As a child, it seems to me that I didn’t have any idols in figure skating. I just watched which of the girls performed and followed them, but somehow nothing more. And in hockey, of course, I always rooted for my brother.
— A brother hockey player with the surname “Morozov” is a fairly popular phenomenon. Let's list. There is Ivan Morozov in Spartak…
— Yes, I know. But this is not my brother.
— Alexander Morozov, the best sniper of the MHL last season?
— No, not him either.
— There is also Alexey Morozov, president of the KHL.
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— And this is my uncle, my dad’s brother!
— Oops. It turns out that you also like the film “Brother-2”, where your uncle was filmed?
— Of course! I watched it and really liked it. We even watch it with dad sometimes.
— Uncle is an important person now. Do you communicate with him?
— Yes, but rarely. On birthdays, when we come to our brothers and sisters or something like that, we communicate. We communicate through my grandmother. He's watching me, of course. His wife follows me on social networks, always writes me something nice, supports me, congratulates me.
— Now, perhaps, we should expect a message from Alexey Alekseevich on the phone?
—I think yes, it’s time! (laughs).
— Well, in conclusion, what do you dream about?
— Now my dream is to jump a quadruple loop on competitions. Then, qualify for better competitions and take first place there. For now, such dreams are more mundane. Well, and to perform at a show program tournament with a solo number, of course (laughs).
In general, probably, like any athlete, I dream of the Olympic Games. But with our situation this is not yet possible. But the impossible is possible… Suddenly a miracle happens!