Hi, everyone! I have written another translation of Plushenko's open letter that was recently published. Since I've been living in USA for the last 20 years and am fully fluent in English, I decided to write another translation of Evgeni's letter that I felt would be more smooth in its wording and capturing the style and meaning of Evgeni's letter. Evgeni's letter is very nuanced, I think. In it he is very careful about how to certain things are said. I tried very hard to be careful in my translation to translate that very same meaning into English language. I put a lot of effort into choosing the right words. This is my best effort. I hope my work will be useful to some of you in understanding Evgeni's open letter.
Please feel free to quote, copy and paste this elsewhere as you wish and see fit.
Evgeni's open letter recent open letter published in Rossiskaya Gazeta on November 19, 2010:
http://www.rg.ru/2010/11/19/plyuschenko.htmlI know for what I dream of returningEvgeni Plushenko writes an open letter to “Russian Newspaper” (Rossiskaya Gazeta)Dear friends!
Why I am writing to you the “Russian Newspaper” (Rossiskaya Gazeta). Because I read [your paper], and regularly [I read] your sports page. Because you write a lot and you write professionally about figure skating. And also because, I will not hide, for many years, since the beginning of my sports career in childhood, I have known your [paper’s] sports reporters, who have supported us, the figure skaters, not only during moments of triumph, but also during moments of difficulty, sometimes exceptional difficulty.
Such a time has come into my life right now.
After injuries, surgeries, divorce and extreme disbelief in my return after almost four years of absence [from figure skating] I was able to come back. My coach Aleksei Nikolaevich Mishin, my wife Yana, my friends, the Federation were, just like you, my friends from “Russian Newspaper,” among those who knew that this would happen.
This is not just about figure skating. When coming back, you must know, for what you bear all the sweet and the not-so-sweet pain of training, all the [medical] injections and bandaging. I had no questions on this point. I was skating not only for myself. [I was skating] for my country, for my city, for my family, and for my coach too. I felt strength within me. I knew that I could overcome the pain. I was fighting the extra weight as my worst enemy. And together with Aleksei Nikolaevich [Mishin] and the entire team we won first place both in Russia and in Europe. Don’t think that I am overestimating myself, but I still believe that the Olympic s in Vancouver I also did not lose. No one can prove to me the contrary, and those who want to do so, let them remember my quadruple [jumps] and those other jumps that were enough to put [my] competitor higher on the podium. I don’t blame him for anything, but a sense of justice does prevail at the end of the day.
The complete lack of it among some of the judges unnerved me. I will not repent, but now when the Olympic storm in my soul has slightly, believe me, only slightly, quieted down, I see, I realize that I let the emotions that swept over me to get carried away. Possibly in some interviews and presentations they took hold of me. But I was experiencing such pain – the physical [pain] merged with the emotional. I felt slighted. Among those responsible for the disappointment I saw not only judges, but also people, who had helped me over the course of many years and at many stages of my career and even close to me. I have in mind the many-years President of our Federation Valentin Nikolaevich Piseev, the people from our Federation. If they were offended by some of my words, then I would like to tell them that I ask them to forget everything superficial that was said under the influence of the moment and restart our friendship. I am convinced that the new President of our federation, the Olympic champion Aleksandr Georgievich Gorshkov, understands me very well here. The International Skating Union had temporarily dismissed me from amateur [skating] competitions. But I know that [my] last word in figure skating has not yet been spoken. With Aleksei Nikolaevich [Mishin] I have gone through the full training cycle, [I am managing my] weight and schedule. I train at training camps. I am still a member of my Russian national team. But that is not what is most important. I really want to perform on behalf of my country. I am confident that I will be able to help the Russian Figure Skating Federation, with which I have always been able to find understanding in the past, to win medals and maybe even medals in Sochi. Because I will return not to just skate another season or two. I dream of skating at the Olympic Games in my home country. And contrary to [the quote of] Baron Pierre de Coubertin I have my own principle – participation is not enough, victory is the goal. At least I promise – don’t judge me for the lofty words – to give it all that I have and all that is possible.
Sincerely and with respect,
Evgeni Plushenko,
Olympic Champion.