br>
Promising Russian figure skater Sofia Shevchenko announced her retirement in May 2022, giving a scandalous interview, in which she spoke, among other things, about manipulations with ratings at Russian competitions. But less than a year later she returned and formed a couple with Andrei Yezhlov. The athletes told Sport about phantom pain, training according to the Bob Marley principle, and finally answered the question of why dance duets break up in Russia.
“Are you a football player or a ballet dancer?”
— Sofia, you went through a difficult period, which included a rather emotional decision to leave professional sports. How do you get back?
Sofia Shevchenko: Sometimes it seems to me that life is testing me: do you really want to return to sports? Are you ready to overcome everything and not give up on this idea? When I left then, I didn’t understand why I needed it. I wondered where I was, how I was, why I was going out for a ride. I didn’t want to see the skates or the people around. Tests, overcomings – it’s all there. Internal and external, moral and physical. There were moments of crisis that I cannot erase from my life. There is experience from the past that leaves its imprint on the present. I’m working on triggers because they prevent me from moving forward.
—Phantom pain?
< br>
SS:Now what happened to me in the previous coaching staff is no longer there, but certain episodes can sometimes pop up in my memory. I’m learning to adjust myself to the fact that everything is different now, I’ve become more mature and experienced. In general, I now try to act from a state of love and positivity for sports. I don't want to be filled with pain, suffering, tears, screams, hysterics. It doesn't work that way. I regained my understanding of why I started figure skating. And it returned through the transfer of experience to children, through their emotions at competitions, through their love for this sport (Shevchenko worked as a coach in the team of Ilya Averbukh and Elena Maslennikova — ed.). There were the right people nearby at that moment who supported me.
I was looking for a person who loves figure skating, the public, and is ready to try something new. Physically strong, ambitious, charismatic, and Andrey has it all. The most popular question at the box office: “Where did you even find him, such a promising partner?”
— And where did they find you, Andrey?
< br>
Andrey Yezhlov:If from the very beginning, then I started figure skating at 3.5 years old. For ten years I skated with one coach — Tatyana Naumovna Kapitanova. At the age of 5, I had a desire to play football, combining it with figure skating at a professional level.
— In football — at what level?
AE: Lokomotiv Moscow. For seven years he played as a left midfielder. At 12 I had to choose: figure skating or football, because physically I just couldn’t keep up.
It was also difficult mentally. Imagine, a football coach knows that you also do figure skating. It happened, of course, that they said something like: “Are you even a football player or some kind of ballet dancer?!” Well, somehow it turned out that I still chose figure skating with my heart. But thanks to football, I improved physically quite well. In general, wait for me in the media league.
— It must be difficult for a skater to survive in a football environment.
AE: The guys did not respect figure skating as a sport. So there were all sorts of cases, of course.
— What is your goal?
SS:Unleash your talent and potential to the fullest. I had quite a lot of conversations on this topic with Elena Anatolyevna Tchaikovskaya, from whom I study. She constantly said that I did wrong when I left, that I had talent and a predisposition for this sport. At first I nodded and nodded, and then, once again showing the children something on the ice, I thought — maybe it’s true? Then I began to develop this idea — and everything became obvious. I am very grateful to Elena Anatolyevna for her instructions, faith and support. There is also a desire to bring something of our own to figure skating, which no one has done before. Russian ice dancing has its own style, its own inspiration, fresh breath.
—What new can be brought to ice dancing?
SS:My mother and I recently had a conversation about this. She says the first thing you see in an athlete when he steps on the ice is his energy and the way he carries himself. It seems to me that our dances lack precisely this — the imagery of the programs, the connection with cultural, classical things.
We must be not only athletes, but also creative individuals, with our own values and stories that we want to convey to the audience. Inner harmony and integrity are exactly what real athletes feel. Due to this, an energy is created that you want to immerse yourself in, unraveling what people live during their dances. I would like the viewer to understand that what we have here is not a massacre, but a love of creativity, of figure skating. There are no concessions here, there are very difficult moments. But there is no need to make a tragedy out of this.
“Averbukh has no coercion”
— It feels like the group of Elena Maslennikova and Ilya Averbukh has a very healthy attitude. Perhaps even too healthy for professional sports.
AE:It's like that. In this group, the athlete has the right to choose and vote. Nobody will force you. The coaches guide you, but there is no cruel coercion.
— But when you enter the Russian Championship, you will have to fight for medals. Not to have fun, but to fight. What to do?
SS:Of course, we are ready and will fight for good results. But you see, those who come to competitions, significantly shifting the focus of attention to their opponents, miss a lot about themselves. Bob Marley quote: “You win the race the day you stop racing.” And it is true. That is why turbulence has now begun — people have lost concentration on the main thing, on themselves. Everyone is looking around to see where the best conditions are, which coach to go to, change partners. That's why everything is falling apart.
— And for this reason the dance is now shaking from side to side?
< br>
SS: This is quite possible. This is the time now. Many people may be scared. Someone is not sure about something and wants to find himself. I admit that the things that I talked about in the interview with Sport may also be the reason.
— Sophia, weren’t you afraid that they would later take revenge on you for what you said at competitions?
SS: Why should I be afraid? It seems to me that I am no longer afraid of anything. I didn’t get personal, I didn’t slander. She expressed her sincere feelings. This is my story, my experience, which I honestly lived, and I have the right to share it.