– How is your ice training structured?

– Our morning workout always starts with rolling, sliding, where we practice different steps and bundles for about half an hour. Then we jump out and work on jumps, on a short program. We usually finish everything by working on rotations. We conduct evening training in the format of a competition. As in tournaments, there is a six-minute warm-up, during which time we run our program. Then the draw, also like at competitions, we pull numbers, worry, worry and roll an arbitrary program, again like at tournaments: one by one we go out on the ice and roll an arbitrary program. The coach writes everyone a printout of the elements, gives an assessment for each element in turn, we sort everything out and continue to work on the errors. And so every day, one day off a week.

– How do you choose an image? How do you understand that it is with this program that you will be rolling the season?

– The team of our coaches plays a very important role here – these are Eteri Georgievna Tutberidze, Daniil Markovich Gleikhengauz and Sergey Viktorovich Dudakov. They are mainly engaged in the selection of images and music: they know each athlete so well, which image he best conveys on the ice, which choreography suits him best, what temperament and character in life. I think it helps the coaches to choose the perfect images for us. They offer us options for a short and arbitrary program, give us a listen so that we feel this music and image. Because throughout the year you will be skating this program and it is very important to feel with every cell what you are skating in order to reach out to the audience who are watching, to the judges who evaluate, so that it touches them and causes a response.

– Novice skaters often choose fast music. Does it really catch the judges or not?

– It is very important to choose an athlete here. Do not take a fast or slow one and think that the judges will like it. They like it when the music perfectly matches the athlete, and he conveys it well. In childhood, you can experiment, try something different, take both fast and slow music, look for what you like more. As a child, I always had more theatrical productions, I skated to bright images from The Pink Panther, from the Addams Family, in which I portrayed specific characters. But in general, I try to combine different compositions, especially in the free program: there is both a fast part and a slow one, so that there is no monotony in the program, so that the rhythm of your skating changes, so that you don't get bored and it's more interesting to watch.

– What is your favorite jump?

– Jagged jumps have always been my favorite. As a child, it was a toeloop – the first triple jump that I jumped. Then I performed flip and lutz, which are considered the most difficult, at once in one training session. So the first three jumps were jagged, and so far they are easier for me.

– How does an athlete control the speed: when to make a triple jump, and when a quadruple?

– We don't count revolutions in the air, because everything happens very quickly. First, we study double jumps and remember the feelings during their execution. Then we study triple jumps. Initially, you screw in with all your might, and you get a triple jump. Then you gradually get used to it, and the same movements become easier. Here everything is based on feelings. It happens that after you get used to triple jumps, double jumps cease to turn out, you twist them, because out of habit you twist more into the jump and get a little lost in feelings, but this is usually the first time. For example, even now I won't jump all the doubles, because we don't train them: I forgot those very feelings, I twist jumps, I jump triple and quadruple. So, probably, it is primarily from feelings and from the fact that we are constantly training them, there is a constant experience of performing these elements.

– Do you have any tradition or ritual that you always use before going on the ice?

– I always believe in my strength, not counting on signs. If we talk about rituals, I would rather call it preparation. Everyone prepares for competitions in about the same way, but over the years, with experience, their habits are developed. And you already know every minute on the shelves how to properly warm up, prepare, tune in to the competition. Over the past few years, I have already had my own tactics, which I adhered to. I came to the tournament, we have about three days before the start, and I knew my tasks for every day. Outside of what we have at the rink, I studied at the hotel, went to the gym, knew at what point I needed to work out, at what time to relax. It just develops its own rhythm, you know how to adjust both the body and the head separately. It's just training and proper mental readiness.

– What would you wish to young athletes?

– Patience, hard work, self-belief and love what you do.

PS: all is gogletranslated with minimum editing