In the new edition of "Football Skating" Evgenia Medvedeva moved to the guest chair and answered numerous questions from Igor Leshchuk about filming, life after sports and the choice between Messi and Ronaldo.
– How do you feel out of your usual place?
– This place is mine, because all my life I have been asked, and I answered. Quite recently, in comparison with my sports career, I sat in the chair opposite and began to ask questions, and this is a little more difficult than answering.
– Have you ever had any trash situations on the set?
– Yeah. I once came to television, where the presenters were serious, then we were divided into two teams: men and women. I don't remember what this program was called, I don't even remember which channel. I sat there for 15 minutes till the hosts asked if I had sex on the plane. I got up and said, "Guys, goodbye."
– We will not have such questions, so we will sit to the end. After your debut on Dynamo-TV, you launched your show. Did we train you good?
– My experience at Dynamo-TV helped me a lot to get started in my business. I at least somehow probed the ground, and I already had at least some flimsy, but the ground under my feet, otherwise I wouldn't have known what to do at all. Even so, my first few interviews were very tight, I was incredibly nervous, I was shaking like an aspen leaf. But, in general, I coped.
– There were a lot of comedians on your show. Tell me, who is your favorite, whose jokes do you like best?
– First, I will name the guests with whom it was most interesting to communicate. These are two people – Andrei Beburishvili and Ivan Abramov. I was once again convinced that people who go into humor are people who are trying to work out their injuries with this humor. Therefore, after I talked to several comedians, I began to look at their humor in a completely different way. I am very interested in female humor, I love female stand-up. I probably like Vika Skladchikova's jokes more, because they are kind of light, like Vika herself. She talks about herself so calmly, and her humor is somehow closer to me.
– The guests of your show are mostly comedians, figure skaters and various celebrities. But one guest stands out...
– Father Pavel Ostrovsky.
– Yeah. Tell me, how did he get to you?
– As a media character, he causes resonance. It's interesting to people, it's what people are watching. In fact, it was very interesting to talk to him, and the time flew by completely unnoticed. We usually have motors for two hours, and with him we wrote four and a half.
– Tell me what your attitude to religion is. Are athletes more superstitious?
– Actually, this is a rather personal topic for me, but if we talk about superstitions, then before 2019 I was super superstitious, because athletes have a lot of it. The only thing that remains of these superstitions is to wear skates with the left foot, and then it's not because of a superstition, but because it's just convenient. The right leg in my skates gets tired and stiffens faster than the left.
At some point I was so overloaded with this: "Here, I need to go out on the ice, I need to turn three times in one direction, take a toy, talismans, write some notes." If I don't do something from this, then everything will be bad for me, and God forbid I forget something – I immediately started to wind myself up. I thought it was a way to nowhere.
As for religion, I'll keep it to myself for now. For me it's personal. When I am ready to share some details with the audience and the world, I will definitely tell you.
– You said about toys. A lot of them are thrown to you on the ice. Where do you put them?
– When we were little, we kept it for ourselves. When we got older, there was nowhere to put them, even though they were big and expensive, some exclusive or hand-sewn. It's just that these are the kind of items that can please someone else. How did this tradition of throwing toys on ice come about? At one competition they announced: "Throw toys, they will go to charity." And when I found out this story, I realized: this is where I want to send all my toys. I want to send my toys to where they were originally sent.
– As far as I know, there hasn't been a single football player on your show yet. Who could it be?
– Probably, many people will agree with me that football fans are divided into "Ronaldo's team" and "Messi's team". I would have called Messi. I think it would be very interesting to talk to him about his career – how he combined all this with his life, because he is a man with such popularity, with such money. Just to find out how such a person lives.
– It seems to me that Cristiano Ronaldo is more interesting to ask around, because I associate him more with the regime, constant training. For some reason, I have a feeling that Messi is more "on the light". Of course, he also pays attention to training, but less.
– That's why I want to talk to him more, because, as it seems to me, Messi is more human in conversation and can tell more. Ronaldo is about discipline, we've all seen how he trains and prepares for tournaments and important matches, then it's like they won't tell us any interesting background. Ronaldo, on the other hand, should have everything licked clean, as it seems to me – he looks like Apollo. And Messi is more human, and he has all sorts of interesting stories.
– Are you Messi or Ronaldo?
– In sports I was like Ronaldo, and when I finished my career I am more like Messi. I give myself indulgences, relax a little and get out of the regime, because for twenty years I was working as a soldier and it was hard.
– You have already taken about ten interviews with Dynamo. Who did you find the most interesting speaker?
– Your coach Marcel Licka. I didn't expect it, but he answered everything so willingly, gave a detailed answer to every question.
– We tried not to upset him before the interview with you.
– Thanks, guys (laughs).
– Who could you call from Dynamo in the "Ice Age" show?
– It's better to run around the field, so I'll tell you. Absolutely in no way belittling any talents or athletic abilities, you just don't need it now absolutely. Believe me, this is three months when you just completely drop out of life and do only figure skating. Your knees hurt, your hips hurt, your back hurts, because you need to lift your partner. And so, for 8-9 hours a day you stand on skates, these skates rub your feet in blood. In fact, it's all very hard. Therefore, realistically, you don't need it.
– It would still be an interesting experience.
– It would be an interesting experience, but let's finish your career first, and then come to the "Ice Age", because it's really hellish work.
– Do you think it's easier to teach a football player to skate or to teach a figure skater to play football?
– In order to at least just not fall, it's probably easier to teach a football player to skate. Let's not forget that figure skating is a highly coordinated sport. If you aim at something really worthwhile, then it will be much more difficult.
– I don't understand at all how you can spin so much in the air.
– We just do it from a very young age, so if you came to the sport, for example, at the age of ten, then there is no chance. Our vestibular apparatus should get used to doing all these elements from childhood. Therefore, figure skating is really difficult for adults.
– You have already entered the football field in the match against Amkal. Were you scared or, on the contrary, were you waiting for them to give you a pass?
– No, I was scared. I was embarrassed that I was leaving the team without a player. But at the same time they said to me: "Go!", "Come on!", "It's cool!" At the same time I didn't understand what to do. I went to Marcel scared, with round eyes and said: "Marcel, what should I do?" He's like, "Score!" In general, I was wildly embarrassed. I wanted to escape from there. But the pictures turned out to be beautiful.
– Are you ready to do that again?"
– No, I said. Everyone should do their own thing.
– If not football, what other sport would you like to try?
– Probably curling and synchronized swimming. And what, ice is not water or something? I am often asked: "Are figure skating and rhythmic gymnastics two similar sports?" Are football and hockey similar sports?
– These are team sports. In general, there is something similar. But if, of course, you dig a little deeper, then everything is completely different. Even muscles work differently.
– But at the same time Ovechkin went on the field and played for Dynamo.
– Yes, but only he almost died in the warm-up. And he came to the locker room after the warm-up and said, "How do you play at all?"
– Do you understand that football and rhythmic gymnastics have much more in common than figure skating and rhythmic gymnastics? Is there a ball? There is. Is there a field under your feet? There is.
– There is a markup.
– Yes, there is a markup. That's it! Rhythmic gymnastics is practically football (laughs).
– All athletes limit themselves in some way. How did you control yourself? What did you want to try the most or how you wanted to break the regime during your career?
– Try to eat at least something.
– When we came with the national team to Novogorsk, all the gymnasts and figure skaters looked with envy at the fact that we could eat everything. They have a weigh-in there every day. One extra kilogram, and they will be shot.
– Yes, it's the same with us. But this is the specifics of the sport, so we don't complain much.
– Have you ever had to struggle with excess weight?
– I am lucky, I have an asthenic build, that is, a person who is predisposed to being thin. I have such genetics.
– Could you eat burgers and not gain weight?
– Well, not to that extent, of course. It seems to me that if you eat only burgers, then everyone will gain. It depends on how much, of course.
– If you consume fewer calories than you spend them, then you can eat burgers and still not gain.
– No, there was no talk about any burgers at all. Chocolates and marmalades were present in small quantities because they are small, light. Sugar gives quick energy before a performance. Before training, you eat a chocolate bar and go for a ride. Thus you deceive your brain.
– We also justify ourselves when we eat something sweet. And then say to the coach: "This is all in order to get fast energy."
– It's just that you go to lunch and dinner afterwards, and we don't do it, we have dinner with water. That's all the difference!
– It's kind of sad.
– Well, listen, was there a result? There was. That's it!
– How do you like the atmosphere of the training camp? Don't you miss skating?
– I don't miss it at all. Because the atmosphere of training camps for me is somewhere from 2010 to 2018, when every summer you spend two months in Novogorsk. And Novogorsk for all skaters is just a prison, a real hell! When I wanted to hang my skates on a nail and did it, I never regretted it.
– How do you stay in shape now? Do you go out on the ice often?
– Now, of course, not every day, sometimes not every week. When I know that I have an ice show ahead of me, I do a few workouts to recover. Usually two or three are enough. Now I'm already such a light skater. I don't jump because old injuries are making themselves felt. I'm already physically taking care of myself so that at least these injuries don't bother me in my life. That's why two or three days are enough for me to prepare for the show.
– There is an opinion that in figure skating, especially in women's, there is a lot of intrigue, some kind of malice. Is there any friendship there?
– There is a friendship, one hundred percent. I have a lot of good friends from figure skating. It is important to remember that athletes are people! People are different. Not all people are suitable for each other in communication, and some incidents happen. Therefore, if there are any internal conflicts, then basically they have nothing to do with sports. These are purely personal, human squabbles.
– You have traveled a lot of countries, name your favorite country and favorite city.
– I always say that I can travel to different parts of our planet as much as I like, but really the most convenient, most comfortable city to live in is Moscow.
– I completely agree with you. My last interviews are just about that.
– So I am a supporter of what Muslim Magomayev sang about. The best city on Earth is Moscow. And, of course, Japan. I have a lot of impressions, a lot of memories are connected with it. I've traveled all over it. In addition to Japan, I will also mention France.
– Are there many more countries that you haven't visited?
– I haven't been to the UK, I haven't been to Italy yet. It's kind of an omission.
– There are a lot of sports films being shot in Russia now. Do you have any favorites?
– A film about Lev Yashin. I really liked the way it was shot. I watched it with incredible pleasure. This is probably one of my favorite sports movies. You might get the impression that I'm sucking up, but in fact I'm not at all. A film about Rodnina will be released very soon. It should also be interesting.