cekoni wrote:http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=367157
09 июня 2010 г. 12:40
Максим Шабалин: итоги выборов меня удивили
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http://en.domnina-shabalin.ru/publ/2009 ... e/7-1-0-37
Maxim Shabalin: the results of the elections were a surprise to me
"Our figure skating is now at a low level if we compare it to the tradition we used to have.” This is the opinion stated by 2010 Olympic bronze-medalist, ice dancer Maxim Shabalin, when he commented on the results of the election of the conference of the Russian Figure Skating Federation. The athlete stresses that the current situation of domestic figure skating has an explanation: "It’s because of the general condition our country was in during the 1990’s, and this is the result, it is all absolutely logical".
"The conference made many optimistic statements, which is good, but I do not see any dramatic break-troughs happening in the next three or four years" - he said, adding that the election of Alexander Gorshkov as president of the Federation came as a surprise to him. "For me it was unexpected, as I did not know about Alexandr Georgievicìs nomination. I had heard that Anton Siharulidze and Oksana Grishchuk were the candidates. To be honest, I did not make any predictions at all, since it is pointless before the elections, as it turned out. I agree that some changes are needed in the Federation, but it should be an evolution and not a revolution. Now we have a very strong Federation" - ITAR-TASS quoted Shabalin.
Maxim also noted that recently there have been many changes in figure skating. "For example, in financial terms, over the last four years there were many improvements made, and those were considerable ones. In recent years, and during the preparation for the 2010 Olympic Games we did not have any financial problems, all our needs concerning costumes, training expenses and so on were taken care of, so this is definitely not the main issue now. After all, in general things have gotten better in our country; the authorities are paying more attention to the sport – For the last four years the government has carried on politics for its development. It became clear how important it is to educate youth, it is necessary to teach them values. Sport in this sense is number one" - he explained.
According to the skater, now figure skating development is taking place in regions where many new rinks are being opened, although "they open in cities with no skating tradition".
"They don’t build ice rinks in places with figure skating traditions, where there’s already a working contingent, where there are coaches who have already raised champions - Shabalin observes. – "For example, in Samara, which has a population of 2,000,000, there is only one ice rink, and its roof was already leaking back when I was leaving, I cannot imagine the state it must be now. As it turns out, the regions do have the coaches, but they don’t have places where to work. From centres like Samara, Kirov, Perm, Ekaterinburg young athletes have always moved to Moscow and St.Petersburg. It seems to me, that to achieve some results as quickly as possible, it is necessary to build schools and ice rinks in those cities. In general the ideal would be to create boarding schools so that children can live there, and their work can be organized in order to obtain the maximum concentration on the sport, because when you live in a city you have more temptations, more distracting factors"- Shabalin said.
"To become a successful athlete - he continues – there are many factors to be taken into consideration. First of all, it is necessary to have a person that has some purposefulness, some inner desire of succeeding - if there is no will to achieve something, there’s no great coach or good working conditions that can help. Second, resources are needed: ice rinks where to skate, competent coaches willing to follow the student. Many factors must come together so that a champion can be raised. And, of course, luck is needed – you cannot go anywhere without it. Of course professional sport has nothing to do with recreational sport. It’s your whole life devoted only to the sport, you must give up all other chances, isolate from so many fields of activity. Out of your 24 hours ,16 should be devoted to the sport, and I don’t mean only training. Ultimately, you must give up everything else to focus on the result" - concluded the figure skater.
Let's remember that due to a recurring knee injury, at the end of the season Shabalin announced he would be taking one year break from the sport with - as he said himself - 98% chance of having to retire after that. "Should a miracle happen, I will return. Everything was clear even before consulting with the experts: I shouldn’t have skated in the conditions I was all this season. Anyway, I talked to the leaders of our federation before the elections, and told them that if they are interested I would like to work for the federation. I am open to offers, but so far there hasn’t been any concrete discussion " - the figure skater said. He also added that he does not see himself working as a coach yet.
"I am not ready to take children and train them as long as there is a consulting position open for me. Also, I do not have any plans of taking part in politics, though I am now finishing my degree in State and Municipal Management ". The athlete also remarked that in any case he will remain in Russia: "I would like to live in Russia and nowhere else. I do not associate my life with living abroad at all because I already had that experience. I lived in Bulgaria for one year and a half, and two years in the USA. I think that to arouse patriotic feelings in someone you must send them somewhere very far away, and you can be sure that those feelings will be awaken soon, literally after two or three months" - he said.
