In our men’s singles, there is now a real boom in quadruple axes: Vladislav Dikidzhi did a clean quadruple axle in training, Gleb Lutfullin regularly posts videos of attempts, and Evgeniy Semenenko sprained his leg, suffered an ankle injury and due to this was lost. his participation in the show “Champions on Ice” “In Petersburg.
Piotr Gumennik also announced that work will be done on the most difficult jump. We recorded the interview at the skating rink after another training session, and the first question that came out was the phrase: “I hope there are no quadruple axels today?” This is how the skater responded to the comment:
“Now I didn’t twist the quad axle. “I’m preparing in a different way: I’m not going to fall too much, I’m going to prepare in such a way that I can do it right away in one or two attempts.”
In a long conversation with the “Championship”, Peter summarized the results of the turbulent season, talked about the preparation of his exhibition performances (not only for the “Russian Challenge”), discussed why athletes rush to compete with fever and then illness, and also shared his opinion: could our single skaters fight for a place on the podium at the last world championship or not?
“The idea of painting the face at the end of the program is from Daniil Markovich”
– For the “Champions on Ice” tour, a tournament theme was chosen from the show program, based on Russian avant-garde art. What motivated you to put on a program about such an unusual topic?– I wanted something extraordinary, something different from everyone else. It is difficult to set the goal of winning, because this is a rather unpredictable tournament, although there is a certain pattern (smiles).
– Weren’t you afraid that the public and the judges would not understand your idea?– There is always the possibility that someone does not understand something. Therefore, it is good to be able to explain and tell your program during an interview during the season. I tried to clear things up a bit on the “Russian Call” after the show. I also thought that if someone doesn’t understand, at least pretend they understand.
Piotr Gumennik in the “Russian Challenge”
Photo: RIA Novosti
– The performance provoked a rather polar reaction: the panel of judges did not seem to notice the performance, but many fans and professionals in the artistic sector highlighted the production. Was there any negative aftertaste from the tournament or did it come to light that there was a response from the public?– In general, I was prepared for the fact that the judges would not appreciate me. I was a little surprised that I passed all the awards. But I’m glad that fans, people involved in figure skating and other participants liked it; The kids told me it’s a good program.
– How did abstract art appear in your life?“It took up a small part of my life.” It just so happened that this year I visited several contemporary art exhibitions. I was in China to see Henri Matisse, another contemporary artist, and in St. Petersburg I saw Chagall. I entered the “Russian Call” program through the composition “4′33″”, but the only thing that remained from this idea was the desire to do something avant-garde.
– You worked on this production together with choreographer Ksenia Mikheeva. What did you want to include in the program in terms of movement?– I wanted to embody the idea of clear geometric lines that go to infinity and express this through choreography.
– The second issue of the round is an adaptation of the free program “The Picture of Dorian Gray”. In St. Petersburg, the production was supplemented by video footage and an easel in the center of the skating rink. How was the game show transformed into a show number?– We used the portrait that was commissioned for this program. The idea to paint the face at the end of the program was Daniil Markovich’s. [Глейхенгауза], but it’s not new. Came up with this a year ago, but we decided it shouldn’t be used in a competitive program.
– Veronika Anatolyevna Daineko, in an interview about this program, noted that if it were not for a good education, he could have become a prominent criminal. What do you think of this statement?– I think this can be taken as a compliment (laughs).
“I haven’t bought anything from Rammstein for myself, but my entire house is in this group”
– Are you planning to return the second competitive program, the sensational Rammstein short program, as a demonstration program?– Can. I used many of my programs as demo numbers, for example “Moonlight Sonata”. Perhaps the production will be reworked in some way.
– You often appear in public wearing Rammstein products. Did the same effect happen as with the geese and the fans started giving gifts?– I haven’t bought anything from Rammstein for myself, but my entire house is in this group. There is a glass, a Christmas tree ornament, molds with the Rammstein logo for baking cookies and Rammstein gummies. I have absolutely all the merchandising. But I’m not complaining at all, I like it.
They also gave us piano sheet music for their songs. It turns out that when I have time I don’t play, and when I don’t have time, psychologically it works so I study between activities. I don’t want to be completely inactive, so during the session I play the piano. I have put this matter aside for a moment, but I will return soon.
– Spartak’s number was also modified from the competition program. How long did it take to remember and rework this number for Ilya Averbukh’s gala show?– The preparation took me longer than usual because I had never ridden with chains. It took me a while to get used to it. At first I was very clumsy.
Choreographer Nikolai Moroshkin spoke in more detail about the new version of Spartak:
Exclusive
“I got a little choked a couple of times.” How Gumennik created Spartak in chains
– Nikolai Yurievich Moroshkin noted that there was a request from fans who wanted to watch this show again. Do you follow what fans write?– Yes, I read something, something comes to me through my coaches, sometimes I see comments on my channel.
– Sometimes difficulties arise when choosing the theme of the program: Veronika Anatolyevna noted in an interview that you once wanted to take music from the opera “Jesus Christ Superstar”, but the idea was not censored by your parents. Can you remember what it was like?– I remember something like that, but in general we have a lot of ideas before finally deciding on the programs for the season. This idea was not very dominant. It seems that yes, dad didn’t like him.
– That is, we can’t expect a conventional Woland in the future?– No, I think it’s possible. Wait, I give permission (laughs).
“When I got pneumonia and they did a chest CT scan, they found a rib fracture.”
– Can you combine active touring performances and studies now?– Even though the tour has already started, I haven’t fallen behind yet.
– Did your studies become more difficult in your second year? In a conversation with Oleg Vasiliev at the Friendship Cup, you joked about the fact that “you didn’t get eliminated, and that’s fine.”– It is okay to pass with an A, but it is better to try to study more the subject you like, and if you don’t like it, you can pass with a C, so as not to fail. I lost my scholarship right in the first semester due to competitions, I couldn’t come to class and I didn’t have time to pass the fourth programming lab.
– Before the skating tests you had an injury, so the preparation for the season was a bit confusing. What was it and did it in any way influence future performances?“Then I didn’t understand what it was.” I just rested, stopped doing difficult jumps and everything went little by little, I was ready for the season normally. And then when I got pneumonia and they did a CT scan of my chest, they found a rib fracture. It was overgrown, doctors wrote that a false joint formed as a result of a fracture. But I didn’t know when the injury occurred, I only found out in February. I felt it in August and then it went away.
– Due to pneumonia, I was unable to perform in the Spartakiad of the Strongest. How did those days pass and the decision was made that it was not necessary to go to Magnitogorsk after all? They said you were going to get tested for coronavirus almost every day.– At some point on Tuesday I passed a positive test and realized that I was sick, and on Friday I suddenly woke up, I felt that I was healthy and full of strength, energy, I wanted to perform. On Saturday I took a test and it came back negative. And from that moment on I went out to train and I really wanted to compete. Everyone tried to stop me and dissuade me. In principle they were right. Only the first few days were easy for me, apparently this was compensation for the fact that I simply rested a little. Jumping was normal, but skating the program was quite difficult, and even for the Channel One Cup I still hadn’t managed to fully skate.
Pyotr Gumennik performs at the Channel One Cup
Photo: RIA Novosti
– Athletes are often eager to compete in competitions with a fever and not fully recovered. What motivates you all?– There is usually no feeling of weakness at the moment. When there is a temperature, it seems to me that, on the contrary, it starts to jump a little more easily, I don’t know why. I don’t remember if I acted with a fever, but I definitely trained. During the lesson I didn’t know it was there, I felt something was wrong, after training I went out and tried it on, it turned out to be big.
Perhaps this is myopia, because with temperature, heavy loads are harmful. Athletes tend to be special people. Somewhere I found information, I don’t know how reliable it is: there was a study where they interviewed athletes, and 50% agreed to take some kind of pill that would help them win the Olympic Games, but after five years Kill them.
– Which half would you be in?“I probably would have tried to win the Olympics without him.”
“Like Anna Shcherbakova as captain? The result, I think, speaks for itself.”
– You reached the Channel One Cup thanks to your victory in the amateur team. Did you follow the voting and discuss it with Makar Ignatov, who became your main competitor?– Yes, I watched closely, but nothing was discussed with Makar.
– How did your team choose who would skate what?– We discussed this for a long time during dinner; our team, until the deadline at 11 pm, was calculating who would skate what, who would skate from other teams to cover their map. But this does not apply to single skaters, because in our species everything is confusing and unpredictable. Some people just didn’t prepare for the free program, others had an injury, so they don’t want to skate in the free program, but it turned out that during the season I skated better in the free program than in the short program. We decided it would be tactically more advantageous for me to set it up.
– What is it like to compete with the young geniuses Arseny Fedotov and Lev Lazarev?– Not bad, I think we will compete more than once in the future.
– Now these guys are our main youth stars, but they still have a difficult period of growth ahead of them.– Everyone needs to experience this. If you look at the adult level, it happens that the winners are not those who shot the youth. But someone manages to stay on top. You need to believe in yourself.
Pyotr Gumennik and Anna Shcherbakova at the Channel One Cup
Photo: From the personal archive of Peter Gumennik.
– What do you think of Anna Shcherbakova as captain?– The result, I think, speaks for itself (smiles). All the captains I have had are very good. Those who weren’t too.
– Did you like the new competition formats: relay races with jumps, with lanterns and a Christmas tree?– I didn’t see what happened the second day, but I liked the first one. This is a bit of variety, the jumping relay is good, it’s a shame we lost a bit, a tenth of a second.
“What impressed everyone the most at the World Championships was Adam Xiao Him Fa and his jump.”
– “Next season I will try to progress more” – What did you mean with this phrase? What exactly are you going to progress?– In all possible and accessible directions. There are some things that are higher priority: more often in the program to jump Lutz or add a flip, there are insufficient rotations and I try to eliminate them as the season progresses.
– Are crazy waterfalls like the quadruple lutz – triple loop no longer expected in competitions?– I think we should not wait for it somewhere at the Russian Championship, because that risk is not justified, the waterfall is not easy. But in competitions like the Friendship Cup you can wait.
– Roman Savosin recently talked about his training process on the “Skate Move” podcast, noting that he performs quadruple jumps in small amounts, just a few times per session. What’s closer to you: multiple reps or an approach like Roman’s?– It depends on what moment. If everything goes well before the competition, then you shouldn’t do quadruple jumps just like that. Between competitions you can do a lot of jumps. The day before yesterday I did a 3-4 cascade about 30 times, there were few successful attempts, but in general there were many attempts. Now I decided to upgrade my quadruple sheepskin coat and separately it works well.
– Are 4-4 cascades possible in the future?– I haven’t tried it yet, I think if I’m in such a happy state, if I have a lot of energy, then I can try it and find out.
– Did you watch the World Championship and what did you think of Ilya Malinin’s performance? Are we reaching his level?– It is still difficult to think that it is possible to surpass his level. You have to strive for it, work hard for it. But this is still a sport, anything can happen in it.
– Do you think our individual skaters could fight to get on the podium with so much competition? The level has increased, but many experts are still skeptical about it.– I think we definitely could have fought. What impressed me the most was Adam Xiao Him Fa and the jump from him. Considering how the shortest skated, you can definitely put up a fight.
– Have you ever tried the somersault that Adam actively promoted this season?– No, it seems to me that you cannot try to do a somersault, you have to do it immediately (smiles).
The end of the World Cup was hot!
Video
Malinin is the new world champion. After her illness, Ilya collected six quadruples, including a quaxel.
