Change of sport, three-year-old maximalist son, CSKA prospects, home games Gold medal, Olympic vow, Victor An and Dmitry Guberniev. Ruslan Zakharov came to ice skating two years ago and in the first season won the European Championship mass start. But last four international tournaments in a row in the final at this distance the athlete falls. However at the second stage of the World Cup in polish city Tomaszow, the skater had a positive moment - Ruslan won the first medal at the World Cup - bronze in the team race with Danila Semerikov and Alexander Rumyantsev. So we began our conversation like this.
Information from the Olympic Reserve: Ruslan Zakharov - Russian short-track player and skater, Olympic champion, European champion, Russian champion
- While watching the video of the race, I can find flaws, correcting which I can run even faster. Of course, I always want to perform better, but for the first team race of the season everything went fine.
- When in the mass start at international starts you fell for the fourth time in a row, you ironically wrote in social networks: “Poker”. Is it a typical bad luck or is there another reason?
- I don’t have a special answer to the question: “Why do I fall in the fourth final in a row?” But I am sure that there is a problem, and it lies on the surface. Last season in the mass start, I often ended up in the top 10, but not in the top three. This, of course, is not what I want. Apparently, my excessive desire to change this trend leads to mistakes which appear in the falls.
- I hope you unlucky line will finish. At the World Cups selection - the championship of Russia in individual distances in Kolomna in early November, you collected awards of all merits.
- It was the most intense championship for me in Russia, the first time I ran all four days in a row: team race, 5 km, mass start, and finished everything with 10 km, so after the competition I had to rest for several days.
- You have beaten long-distance partners in the team - the winners of the World Cup Danila Semerikova and Alexander Rumyantsev. It turns out that good shape came to you faster?
- It turns out so. It is nice to run and show good results. We conducted there small coaching experiments. They seem to be working out so far.
- What experiments, if it is not a secret?
- We are always in a search. Today it works out, but not tomorrow. I have tried everything!
- Two years ago you switched from a short track to ice skating. Why did you make such a decision?
- For the first time, conversation about this was at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver during dinner. Alexander Kibalko then gave me his skates and said: “Take it and go skate.” Nothing lasts forever, every athlete will have an end of his career, even Claudia Pechstein (laughs) will someday have an end of her career. Although it is hard to believe. I began to lose the competition in the short track to the younger guys, and at that time the head coach of the team Andrei Ivanovich Maximov, even before me and before the official starts, had decided that I lost the competition and had transferred me to the reserve team. And this magical push helped me realize an old dream. Thank you very much for that.
- How do you like the first training in speed skating, what was your attitude towards the team?
- The first training camp was in May 2017 in Anapa. Before that, I had never ridden a road bike. Viktor Sivkov asked me if I can ride in a group, and then I deceived him. In order not to let him down, I had not to drink the entire cycle train, because I could not take my hands off the steering wheel. The rest of the guys always helped, prompted me.
- So, was not there hazing?
- I am the oldest one, what hazing? When there are Rumyantsev, Semerikov in your sparring, and at that time there was still Sinitsin, then nothing needs to be done, just repeat - that's all.
- Were there moments when you thought about what might not work out in skates?
- I still think that maybe I chose the wrong way 25 years ago, maybe I had to play hockey (laughs). But I still go this way.
- There are many cases of transition from skates to a short track. But more often after changing the sport, athletes run short and medium distances. You decided to prepare for long ones.
- Actually, I didn’t choose. Where they identified me, there I went. I was told that "you will begin your training in the group of Viktor Alexandrovich Sivkov." And I never had speed qualities even in a short track.
- You said that with Viktor Sivkov you can not relax. Is it possible to say that in skates they train more intensive than in a short track?
- No, a short track is an energy-intensive sport, there is a lot of lactate work, it cannot be said that skates are heavier than a short track, it is another specificity. At first it was hard for me to rebuild. Spin the bike for 4 hours and dry workouts for 2.5 hours.
- Were not there thoughts, like Jorin Ter Morse, at the Olympics to represent two sports at once?
- There are such dreams, of course. Combining skates and a short track, and maybe also football, but I'm not as unique as Ter Morse. The competition is so high that internal selection is almost impossible. I would not want to spray.
- One of the stages of the World Cup last season you ran at the open ice rink in Tomakomai. In the short track, they always run under the roof. Was it unusual?
- Emotions, of course, a lot left. I still remember this rink. I hope that I will never have to perform on an outdoor ice rink again. This is a slightly different sport. Not a bad experience, but let it be the only one.
- Surely Alexander Rumyantsev told you how he had trained on the open air in cold Arkhangelsk.
- Yes, Sasha is training in open ice in Arkhangelsk today. He does not have to use to it. But I do not want, thanks.
- Short track is a sport of excitement, entertainment. Skates are more academic. At first were not you bored?
- Bored - no, I always watched speed skating. I agree with you. The short track is more pleasant to watch from the stadium, and the closer to the arena, the better, but watching the short track on TV now does not give me much pleasure. From the point of view of the broadcast format, it’s easier to show the skates, as short-circuit competitions are tidy, there are a lot of ice floes, and therefore it is difficult to attract sponsors to make the sport more popular. There are not so many sponsors in ice skating, but ISU (International Union of Skaters) has already done a lot for this. It would be good to remove a couple of classic distances.
- So remove the top ten?
- Why the top ten? I did not say the top ten.
- And then what?
- I will not say, otherwise tomatoes or cucumbers will fly into me. But I have my own ideas on this subject.
- You can write a letter to ISU.
- I think it’s easier to become the president of the organization, because letters can be written for 25 years, as in “The Shawshank Redemption”.
- Your younger brother Timur also went from the short track to ice skating. There is also a young sprinter Ruslan Zakharov. It turns out that surname Zakharov became skating?
- That's right (smiles).
- In the short track were not you offended that you went to ice skating?
- I think the guys exhaled and said: "Minus two." In the short track there is a quick change of generations. We always communicate with the guys, cheer them.
- You are already in the third season in skates. What kind of sport is closer to you?
“If you don’t like the business you are doing, it makes no sense to do it.” If I go in for skates, then of course I love skates the most.
- Year 2014. Home Olympics. Relay race finish. Do you remember your first emotions, did you immediately believe in such a success?
- During the race, when two teams fell at the start, I already believed that we were very close to the medal. The most important thing was not to make a mistake. Our team showed high results during the pre-Olympic and Olympic seasons, and therefore we knew that we could compete. Fans helped a lot - I did not see such an atmosphere at any stadium.
- At the opening ceremony of the Games, you pronounced the Olympic oath. Did you worry at that moment?
- Of course I was worried. When I entered the arena and looked at the stands, I thought: let me read a piece of paper, otherwise I will forget the text from fear.
-When did they tell you before the ceremony that you will read?
- In a day or two. We had one rehearsal. I learned it, there were only three lines, and there was a dubbing of the text ahead, but the regulations allowed me to read on a piece of paper, and I decided to use it.
- When were you more worried: before the race or before reading the oath?
- When you run, you understand that you have no right to make a mistake, but there it’s ok. Except for commentator Guberniev, nobody will tell you anything.
- The Olympic season for you ended unsuccessfully - the breakdown of Achilles. How did the rehabilitation process go?
- But for almost three months I was resting like a man (laughs). In fact, I was ready that something could go wrong, and I might not return to sports, but the successful season made it possible to relax. The surgeon who sewed the Achilles for me said that it would never break again.
- Due to the removal of the Russian team, you didn’t get to your third Olympics. Did you find the strength to watch skating competitions from Pyeongchang then?
- We enjoyed watching, sick, worried, noted. Especially pleased for the Italian Nicola Tumolero, who became the third in the top ten. We went with Sanya Rumyantsev to the bar that day, took vodka, the next day we had a day off. We drank it properly and thought if the little Tumolero can get to the bronze, then we can. We need four more years to train and wait for the next invitation.
- Did that situation make you a little angry?
- Not at all, the victories of other athletes say that nothing is impossible. Rumyantsev was then in perfect shape and understood that he need to be somewhere there.
- Alexander was also upset that he was not put on the top ten in Sochi.
- I agree, this is a coaching decision, I can’t say for sure. A person needs to go through some stages, run away as he wants, and win it.
- In 2016, your first son was born. Did his birth influence on motivation in sports?
- Children as a whole change our lifestyle and attitude, a new responsibility appears. My eldest son Arthur supported me in the stands at the championship of Russia, and I was very pleased.
- What did he say when he realized what his father was doing?
- He was at a distance of 5 km and said: Dad, why only the third place? I told him: Third is also a good place.
- Your most rigorous examiner.
- While he is a child, he thinks that only the first places can be taken. But he gives a good guide.
- Semyon Elistratov loves cars, but admits that he does not ride fast in the city. Do you like to drive fast?
- Yes, I really love. The main thing is that the car allows it. When you go to the mass start and feel that you are weak, it is better not to stand out - you ride somewhere behind. Now I have something like this (laughs). The car is good, but it has modest dynamic characteristics. I haven’t been driving fast lately, but when I had the Cooper S and I was alone at the wheel, I was allowed to drive fast enough within the rules of the road.
- What car do you have now?
- I drive the car that was presented for the Alternative Games - this is the BMW X4.
- In addition to the short track and skates, do you follow other sports?
“I follow many sports, and if I don’t follow ones so my wife tells me. She really likes gymnastics, figure skating. I prefer playing sports, I like skiing, I got into rugby.
- You play for CSKA. Do you support the football club?
- I'm not just such a fan. I just like when CSKA wins.
- But CSKA has been playing uneven lately.
- I am not as professional to have my own point of view. I know that in CSKA is a cool coach who previously worked in Ufa, I myself lived in this city. He was very loved by us, and now he is loved in CSKA. A lot depends on him, and I think everything will be fine.
- You said that you would like to run out of the marathon 3:30, but because of the tight training schedule, this has not yet been possible. Does the desire still exist?
“I will run hundred percent, my desire only intensified. Now it seems to me that I will run 3:30. But it is for the first marathon. The main thing is to enjoy everything. I can combine 3:30 and have fun.
- Will it be possible to do it this season, in May, for example?
- My next May is planned out, and there is no marathon there yet.
- What do you plan to do after your career?
- There is plan A, plan C, coaching is also one of them. True, I don’t know yet where. I don’t feel like spraying yet. I try to concentrate now on my work. Fortunately, I don’t have time to think about it now.
Profile of the Olympic Reserve:
Tea or coffee?
Coffee.
Holidays at sea or in the mountains?
(after a pause) In the mountains.
Fish or meat?
Meat.
Run or twist the bike?
Twist the bike, now.
Lead in the race or get out from behind at the finish?
Win.
Sven Kramer or Victor Ahn?
And who is Sven Kramer? (Laughs.) Of course, Victor An.
Still, a short track or skates?
Now, of course, skates.
Author: Dmitry Mirsky