Katsalapov/Sinitsina interview translation 23.04.15

http://fsrussia.ru/intervyu/1023-viktoriya-sinitsina-nikita-katsalapov-pervyj-sezon-motiviroval-nas-eshche-bolshe.html

Translation by vk.com/vasiliymelnik

Russian dancers Nikita Katsalapov and Victoria Sinitsina spent two weeks in Moscow. During this time they had to settle many organizational questions, make new costumes and undergo medical examination. The questions about health began our talk.

Nikita, tell what happened and what is your current condition?

Nikita: Injuries are common in figure skating and sport in general. Athletes get used to pain and percept it as something normal. The same happened to me. During the last month when we were staging programs my foot was hurting. I was enduring it. But the pain was growing with time, and at some point it became unbearable. I decided to do MRI. On the next day, when I came to train and took skates, our coach Marina Zueva stopped me. She said that the doctor just called and told diagnosis – fracture of foot due to stress.

There’s nothing scary about this. Gracie Gold had the same thing before the national championship. She skipped two weeks, but then she managed to train and perform at the event.

How long did you skip?

Nikita: Three weeks. But we didn’t waste any time even in this period. Vica and choreographer were coming to my home and we were exercising on the floor, trying to do what we can. For some time I was wearing a special “boot” and doing special procedures. Doctor gave me an apparatus to stimulate blood circulation in my foot. Now I feel normal. As you can see, I can walk easily. Underwent a medical examination recently. It turns out I’m in good shape overall, so now I can begin to train.

This season has ended earlier than usual, after the Russian championship. How do you evaluate it?

Victoria: The best start of the season was Russian championship. The most confident and calm. After the Gran-Prix events, after the difficulties, we began to prepare differently for the competitions. More consciously. That’s why our skating looked differently. It was also more comfortably to skate for us.

What do you think, Nikita?

Nikita: The season turned out difficult, and since it ended early for us, we weren’t satisfied. I really wanted to perform, really wanted to show all that we worked on with Vica. But, seems to be, this excessive desire let us down. We made mistakes that we could’ve avoided. But the main thing, we went through it. Overcome difficulties together. And even when after the Russian championship we didn’t go to the EC and WC, first time in our adult carriers, it became serious motivation for us. We felt athletic drive, and this crazy motivation transformed into work.

Was it hard to watch European and World championships?

Nikita: Personally, the thoughts of us on the training ice while others compete bothered me. It was really hard going through it. Because of this, probably, I managed to make myself watch only the French couple.
After the Russian championship we were in such state that we could do anything. And this energy couldn’t go anywhere. I remember, how we were gathering to talk and analyze. Now I understand that there’s a purpose to everything. This time benefited me. I even learned how to arrange music myself. The staging of programs began to be faster. Our free program is ready, there are tens of music choices for each element. All unspent energy we directed to training.

Victoria: Just like Nikita, I really wanted to perform after Sochi, but I decided that it’s better to use this time to stage programs and learn to skate better as a couple.

Why did you decide to not participate in other events?

Nikita: Right after the Russian championship we returned to Detroit and went on the ice on the next day. Since we were in reserve for the EC we continued to train, but we were already thinking about the new material.

Victoria: After discussing things, we decided that if we didn’t have enough time to skate become better as a couple, it’s better to begin preparing for the next season earlier. By the way, the same decision took Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov, who decided to sacrifice the end of season to learn new elements to impress in the new season. As a new couple, we need twice as a much time.

Did you expect that the changes will be so difficult?

Nikita: It’s always hard for new couples to skate together. You have to get used to new work, new partner. You have to learn every movement, catch every gesture, know and even feel what your partner is thinking, what his eyes are saying.
The most interesting part is that during training the things were better. Apparently, the nervousness and excessive desire affected us during the events. This passes with experience from competitions, but that’s exactly what we were lacking.

How do you plan to fill this space?

Nikita: I think we will try to perform somewhere even before the start of the season, even at exhibitions, open training sessions. The main thing is the public, so that we could feel this spirit, confidence. In the next season we want to participate in maximum amount of competitions. We simply need it.