Interview with Aljona | Golden Skate

Interview with Aljona

Arriba627

TWO-TIME WORLD CHAMPION 🔥
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Jun 2, 2014
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United-States
One of their best interviews ever. I wish she could have shared just a little bit more info about Alexa and Chris, although I realize they can't tell everything. Fascinating to hear her talk about the Olympics, working on choreo w/ Benoit Richaud, her training, her parents, etc.
 

s_parks

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 25, 2013
Like them or not, TSL does great interviews, tbh. Looking forward to seeing Aljona in the k&c this season!
 

ladyjane

Medalist
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Jun 26, 2012
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Netherlands
Like them or not, TSL does great interviews, tbh. Looking forward to seeing Aljona in the k&c this season!

Totally agree with you. I do like them in their interviews, and this is one of their best!
 

kimi492

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 11, 2015
Dave is braver than me lol
There's no way I would have been able to conduct an interview with Alijona without being completely sheepish if I had a public spat with her student on social media
You can tell she came in there ready to defend Alexa if Dave took a toe out of line lol
 

QuadThrow

Medalist
Joined
Oct 1, 2014
Loves that she allowed Bruno to coach her how to do the salchow.

Sometimes you need a different and new inspiration and influence which brings you out of your comfort zone to learn something new.
 

Sophie-Anna

Medalist
Joined
May 24, 2013
Great interview. I enjoyed her talking about that amazing Olympic performance, that she felt calm etc. Especially when she was talking about twist throw and jump: "my split, my arm and he pulled me down and I was like wow" :laugh: I was (and I think everybody was) like WOW, everytime they performed that twist :laugh:
 

SarahSynchro

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Mar 7, 2014
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Canada
I haven’t found the time yet to watch the the whole interview, but I just recalled how Bruno doubled the SBS 3S in their olympic short program, and Aljona looks at him straight faced at the end and asks “Did you double?” ... was there any mention of that moment? I was dying, poor Bruno was likely also dying inside, bless his heart. :rofl:
 

rikaquegira

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 30, 2017
What a great interview!! I haven’t watched everything yet because it’s kind of long(thankfully). But Aljona is sooooo amazing! She’s one of a kind, truly a legend of Figure Skating!
And yes, TSL kind of sucks but at the same time they give us amazing interviews like this one! So all it’s forgiven! [emoji23]
 

skylark

Gazing at a Glorious Great Lakes sunset
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Aug 12, 2014
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I've only watched the first half, but I absolutely love :love: how much credit she gives Bruno. Answering how she improved her 3Salchow (at such an advanced age is implied:laugh:) she said matter-of-factly, "Bruno coached me." She went on to tell how he did it ... it was like she was a beginning skater again, just learning jumps. (which btw, is Brian Orser's method). AND, then she said Bruno is and will be an amazing coach.

Refreshing, after how all anyone talked about for years was how Bruno would have to come up several notches to reach her level. It just goes to show ....

One of the interesting things Meagan Duhamel said in her last TSL interview (I highly recommend a listen) was that she'd never trained with Aljona, although Eric had. But Meagan said that since choosing Bruno as her partner and switching training environments, Aljona seems like a completely different person. I loved that, because it's exactly what I think. Just everything about her is different, emotionally, musically, and connection-wise. In a good, good way. Fascinating.



I haven’thad time to watch the the whole interview yet, but I just recalled how Bruno doubled the SBS 3S in their olympic short program, and Aljona looks at him straight faced at the end and asks “Did you double?” ... was any mention of that moment? I was dying, poor Bruno was likely also dying inside, bless his heart. :rofl:

She didn't mention that moment, at least in the parts I've heard. To me, she seemed like the perfectly focused athlete in that moment; it reminded me of Katia Gordeeva after 94 olympics being asked what she said to Sergei right after they finished the LP. The interviewer prompted her: "did you say I love you?" Katia laughed in that great, honest, in the moment way, and she said ... "how we did the jump."

Aljona said she felt sad at first that Bruno hadn't listened to her, because being at the Olympics, wanting to be perfect, made him try too hard and miss ... she thought she'd given him the benefit of her Olympic experience. But the coaches took them for a talk right away and got them both optimistic, looking forward to the long, knowing nothing is impossible. And Bruno has said Aljona's attitude was "we can still do this." She really knows how to believe. And he really knows how to feel, and make the audience feel their connection.
 

GrandmaCC

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 18, 2017
Aljona is perfect!! I love the part where she talks about her husband doing his Ninja training 😂
And how cute is the - (paraphrasing)-
- “Alexa is like you”
- “Yes and that’s a good thing!!!!!”
Part?? 😂 not to mention how quickly we got the - “Chris is nice”- “SO IS ALEXA!!”

I love how talks about the slachow & Bruno - she’s always credited Bruno even when the press did not, like at the post comp conferences when Bruno would say she had to bring him to her level and Aljona would just shake her head like crazy and look at him like, “Don’t say that!!”.

What a gorgeous person she is, and such an inspiration to always work hard (“if you’re happy where you are you won’t improve?” 😂 gonna get the exact quote and write it down lol).
 

solani

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 8, 2014
Country
Austria
Great interview. Love the part where Aljona says that she could skate all day, whereas Robin and Bruno couldn't. And that she has to be aware of that as a coach. I bet she's a tough coach because of her enthusiasm. She's certainly willing to give her students 100% of her energy. I'm very happy that we won't lose her perspective, her imagination of what pair skating should be.
 

Fluture

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 26, 2018
Aljona is a wonderful person and truly a great rolemodel. And her and Bruno‘s Olympic Experience (I intentionally write this with capital letters. It’s an Experience. The Experience of the Olympics!!!) is inspiring. I remember my mother and I started to cry when they finished their performance and the scores came up. It was one of the most emotional moments I have ever seen in figure skating. After 5 Olympics. After being 4th after the SP. I really felt sorry for Sui/Han because they‘ve gone through a lot, too but I just couldn‘t help but be immensely happy for Bruno and Aljona.

Her personality in this interview is really shining through. How she credits Bruno for everything he‘s done, how she praises Alexa and Chris. I think she‘s going to be a good coach. Demanding but enthusiastic and I think with her energy, that‘s just the right thing to do for her. I don‘t think she could ever stop skating. As a coach she doesn‘t have to. I really look forward to what she can achieve with the Knierims. Good luck to her and of course to Bruno to follow whatever his future path will look like! :)
 

skylark

Gazing at a Glorious Great Lakes sunset
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Aug 12, 2014
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Great interview. Love the part where Aljona says that she could skate all day, whereas Robin and Bruno couldn't. And that she has to be aware of that as a coach. I bet she's a tough coach because of her enthusiasm. She's certainly willing to give her students 100% of her energy. I'm very happy that we won't lose her perspective, her imagination of what pair skating should be.

:agree:

She could skate all day ... I believe that. She has such energy, you feel it.

To quote Katia again, years later someone asked her if Sergei had health problems. She nodded, and said, pains in the shoulders and back, like most pairs men. Then she said, "Well -- it's not easy, lifting a girl all the time."

She also wrote that after Sergei died, she had to learn to skate on her own two feet. She'd skate for a while, then think, "okay, it's time for a lift."
 

solani

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 8, 2014
Country
Austria
:agree:

She could skate all day ... I believe that. She has such energy, you feel it.

To quote Katia again, years later someone asked her if Sergei had health problems. She nodded, and said, pains in the shoulders and back, like most pairs men. Then she said, "Well -- it's not easy, lifting a girl all the time."

She also wrote that after Sergei died, she had to learn to skate on her own two feet. She'd skate for a while, then think, "okay, it's time for a lift."
I also read Katia's book a couple of years ago. She also wrote that skating alone was exhausting in comparison to pair skating, that the woman can "rest" doing those lifts and that the man has to really push through a whole program. It makes sense, the pairs men need stamina!
 

skylark

Gazing at a Glorious Great Lakes sunset
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Aug 12, 2014
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I also read Katia's book a couple of years ago. She also wrote that skating alone was exhausting in comparison to pair skating, that the woman can "rest" doing those lifts and that the man has to really push through a whole program. It makes sense, the pairs men need stamina!

Yes, exactly. That's why I wrote my post in response to your saying that Aljona could skate all day, whereas Robin and Bruno couldn't. There's a very good reason for that!

Another instance of the same thing. I remember when the Battle of the Blades was on TV, where a hockey player was paired with a pairs woman or female ice dancer, and the hockey guys were taught to pairs skate or ID. One hockey player I remember hearing interviewed said that the training was something like he'd never been through before.... He was lifting a 100-pound weight ... i.e. his partner, sometimes 40 times a day. That kind of brings it home!
 
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