- This summer’s weather and sports achievements provided few reasons for joy. What should we expect of the coming winter, which is almost round the corner? Will Russia go to the Winter Olympics in South Korea?
- Firstly, I would disagree with you that our athletes’ successes were few lately. Swimmers and synchronous divers made an excellent performance at the World Aquatics Championships. It was a long time ago that our team performed so well. The track-and-field athletes competed quite decently despite the well-known problems. The guys were under great psychological pressures. Yet they managed to cope with them to win six medals, including Mariya Lasitskene’s gold.
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Russia held the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup at a high level to have proved that preparations for the 2018 World Football Cup were going on as they should and would be completed on time. Next year we will be expecting guests from around the world in the eleven host cities and not only there.
As for the Pyeongchang Olympics, our athletes are well into the training season. Selection for the national team and the journey to the Olympics are head. There is no reason to think that Russian athletes may stay overboard. It never occurs to me they may be absent from this major sporting event.
- It is far more important to be sure thoughts like that never visit the minds of other key decision-makers. IOC President Thomas Bach, who is always reserved in his comments, all of a sudden said last June that the International Olympic Committee might take sanctions against our country for violations committed in Sochi. A final verdict is expected in October.
- The IOC president’s quote was taken from his interview to The New York Times. As for the attitude of the Western press to everything related with Russia, it is well-known to us. Apparently, certain forces are keen to keep the theme of sanctions in the mass media’s focus. And it does not matter whether the sanctions involve politics, the economy or sports.
The situation is not an easy one, I am not denying that, but I am unprepared to discuss something that still does not exist. If some restrictive measures against us follow, then we’ll talk. It is to be hoped that the people empowered to make this or that decision will manage to avoid getting partial, that they will be guided by common sense and rely on the hard facts, and not succumb to emotion. I reckon our athletes will have to meet some special selection requirements. Whatever the case, we will do our utmost to ensure the Russian team should go to South Korea in full.
The Olympic athletes are steadily pushing ahead with their preparations. Last season the team had an infusion of young blood. Some very strong and promising athletes joined in. The group of experienced veterans, too, is in good shape. The team has a great potential. It will be hard for us to contest first place in the overall team standing, but there are good chances of seeking a position in the top three.
We have our own estimates regarding all Olympic events and the reasons why we may count on this or that potential award, but I prefer not to discuss that in public, because I know for myself how unpredictable sports competitions can be.
As far as individual sports are concerned, we expect good results in short track and in speed skating. For Viktor Ahn it will be a dramatic psychological moment. Russia’s Korean will come back to his country of birth to try to win awards for his new home country. The term “naturalization” does not look very appropriate in relation to him.
We may count on taking high places in figure skating, freestyle, snowboarding, biathlon, and skiing. Traditionally we have faith in our ice hockey squad, although any of the six national teams of approximately equal strength may hope to win. Of course, a great deal will depend on whether professionals from the United States and Canada will participate, but in any case the ice hockey tournament will be a real jewel in the Olympic crown. Just as it has always been.
- Are we interested in having players from the NHL?
- Honestly? I’d say this is not a problem for us to worry about. It’s up to the IOC, the NHL bosses and the International Ice Hockey Federation to address this issue. The way I see it, only the strongest should go to South Korea.
- Alexander Ovechkin has promised that he will play for Russia at the Games regardless of the outcome of negotiations with the hockey bosses.
- I think we should wait. Alexander is a true patriot. He is always ready to stand by his country, but let us not forget that Ovechkin is a professional player who has a contract with his club. This implies certain obligations to his employers. Violations may entail a fine and disqualification. I don’t think that any side needs extra tensions. There still is enough time to settle disputes without aggravations or conflicts. It’s no use trying to anticipate events.
I’m acquainted with Ovechkin. I have deep respect for him as a personality. He has achieved a lot and will surely achieve a whole lot more. Above all, politics should not be mixed up with sports.
- Have any of Russia’s Sochi Olympics medalists been stripped of their awards?
- On what grounds, may I ask? For this there must be facts and documental proof, positive doping tests or trustworthy testimonies by witnesses. Media fakes and other speculations cannot be taken for solid arguments. Tongues may keep wagging nonstop. Prove what you say!
- Have you ever come across doping abuse incidents during your sports career?
- In fencing such incidents are rather an exception. On one occasion several foreign athletes were caught using outlawed weight loss drugs, but eventually it turned out that they’d got into hot water unintentionally, due to their own light-mindedness and lack of discipline and self-organization. In our sport anabolic drugs and other steroids give no advantage. There is not the slightest reason to put one’s health and career at risk using them. But doping is a real plague for cyclic sports. In track and field athletics, in cycling and in swimming endurance and physical strength are of the essence. In fencing quite different qualities are of the greatest value. So doping officers seldom tormented us.
Of course, doping abuse is to be fought against. The problem is great and serious. And it is not purely Russian, contrary to what some have been trying to prove, but a world one. You know, sometimes it seems to me we’ve developed a twisted mentality. We spend so much time and effort on endless debates over doping, or, say, on gossiping about some fans’ outrageous behavior at sports stadiums and outside them, that sports and athletes proper fade into the background. Scandals, investigations and prosecution draw far greater interest than sports records and achievements. But it should not be this way. This distortion must be corrected.
At the track-and-field athletics championships in London Mariya Lasitskene, Sergey Shubenkov, Darya Klishina and sixteen other athletes had to perform under a neutral flag. The IAAF Congress prolonged the temporary suspension of the Russian Federation once again. I hope that a decision to restore membership will follow when the IAAF Council meets in session in November. Our country has been doing a great deal to eliminate the exposed flaws. The Investigative Committee goes ahead with its inquiries. About 80 athletes have been suspended. Some coaches have been subjected to lifetime disqualification. The national anti-doping agency is being reformed fundamentally. We are not trying to play down or hush up the problem, but let us move on. It would be very wrong to expel Russian sports as such. To treat us as an outcast. Honestly, I sometimes find it hard to understand and accept the attitude of the very same IAAF and its president Sebastian Coe. A special road map for the All-Russia Athletic Federation was drafted. A great amount of work has been handled. All top ARAF officials have been replaced. Why don’t you make a step forward, too? Or are we doomed to bear an unwashable stain of disgrace forever? We strongly disagree with this type of treatment.
- Do you remain a critic of the neutral flag?
- I certainly do. Our guys were prohibited from wearing sports suits of Russia’s national colors and using Russia’s national anthem as a ringtone on their mobiles. Women athletes were not allowed to paint nails the colors of the national flag. There was something very humiliating and casuistic about all that, but we had no other option left. We had to obey to let the athletes compete and prevent the loss of another season. We will go on supporting our athletes. This goes without saying. The future of Russia’s track-and-field athletics will get clearer in September, after the WADA’s commission pays a monitoring visit to Moscow. The IAAF says the All-Russia Athletic Federation will be restored to its rights when the Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA resumes its activity. We are told the world does not trust the tests made at our laboratory.
Surprisingly, international law does not apply to the world of sports to the full extent. Each federation lives its own life. It is free to adopt its own laws and to be guided by them. The IAAF, the International Olympic Committee and the Paralympic Committee have their own codes. The latter’s stance looks inhuman to me. How can one punish people with limited physical abilities, who go to the gym day in day out to struggle with their handicaps and illnesses? Moreover, sport for them is the sole available means of displaying their potential and making money. I can find no plausible explanation for this decision by sports functionaries, who at the stroke of a pen stripped all Russian parathletes of the chance to compete in Rio de Janeiro and now, possibly, in Pyeongchang. We will not leave this as it is. We will go on fighting. For the 2018 Games as well. Most requirements that were mentioned as preconditions for restoring the Russian Paralympic Committee’s Membership have been met. Our Western counterparts recognize this.
It is pretty clear to me that the road of confrontation leads nowhere.
- They are waiting for us to officially recognize the McLaren Report.
- We’ve said more than once that we do not deny there were problems in the past. Let me say once again that all technical issues mentioned in the WADA road map have been eliminated or are being eliminated. For instance, there was a demand for letting doping control officers visit ‘closed cities.’ It is true that several years ago foreigners were not allowed to go there. Now this issue has been removed from the agenda. All controversial nuances have been settled.
Whether the RUSADA will be accredited again will be decided at the WADA Congress in November. I see no obstructions to restoring the Russian anti-doping agency’s license and its compliance status. As a matter of fact, a new structure has been established. The list of founders has changed, regulatory documents have been adopted and qualified and competent specialists employed.
For now the situation looks like this: formally the RUSADA does not comply with the WADA code, for which reason certain sanctions can be used against any competitions held in the territory of our country. This looks strange to me. If there are certain complaints about the RUSADA, what is the reason for harming all athletes and calling in question the reputation of the countries that finance various tournaments in Russia? We have 160 sports. Theoretically sanctions can be applied against any of them. Be it badminton or rhythmic gymnastics.
- Does that mean that the ‘Sword of McLaren’ is hanging over the 2018 World Football Cup?
Item two of Article 23 of the WADA Code contains a recommendation against letting a country whose anti-doping organization has been found to be in breach of the WADA Code host new sports competitions. It is for this reason that several international contests that were to be held Russia have been canceled over the past two years. But the question of the 2018 World Football Cup’s host country was decided many years ago. Law does not work backward, even if it is WADA law. Theoretically one can imagine anything. I do not rule out that more attacks against us as the hosts of the World Cup are due, but hardly anything will come of it. The country is getting ready. Stadiums, airports and hotels are being built, tickets are being sold and teams are making reservations for training camps… The level of proposed sanctions is to be scrutinized for the scale of problems they might entail. The more so, since there are no reasons for sanctions at all.
I would not overdramatize the situation.
- Do you already know what will happen to the stadiums after the World Cup?
- We are working on a special program called Heritage. In it we will describe in detail how each of the sports stadiums and facilities being built will be used. After all, all of them began to be constructed not just for the first three group round matches. We are keen to take into account all nuances, from the economic aspect to the social function. Stadiums should not be allowed to stay idle without spectators, with the operation and maintenance costs putting a heavy extra burden on the local or federal budgets. Tens of millions and even hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake. Building expensive modern sports complexes and then spending money on their maintenance without earning anything would be extreme wastefulness. The stadiums offer a colossal opportunity for the promotion of mass and professional sports in the regions, and it would be silly not to make use of it. This is the local authorities’ realm of responsibility.
We will lend a helping hand, of course, too.
- Next, from ministerial affairs to the sports minister’s career record. You are a real Colonel, aren’t you?
- Very true, though I am already a retiree after twenty years of service. My whole sports career was in the Central Sports Army Club – the CSKA. I’ve always performed for my club and even participated in international competitions held for teams delegated by the armed forces of the Warsaw Treaty member-countries. In the past there were rather impressive world championships for military personnel. It was a great time, indeed. Those days are still one of the most pleasant memories of mine!
I was drafted into the army in 1987. Two years later I decided to go ahead with my military service as a non-com officer. I was promoted to Colonel in 2005. After the world championship, where I won my fifth gold medal. I was the sole competing athlete having such a high military rank. Vladislav Tretyak is a Colonel, too, but he was promoted when his career of an ice hockey player was over already. As for me, I went on competing for three years more. I received my shoulder straps from the minister of defense personally.
The Armed Forces have always paid great attention to sports. Being a CSKA athlete was a matter of prestige and ‘real cool’.
- And beneficial from the material point of view. I guess the stars of a commissioned officer on your shoulder straps also meant you were entitled to a decent monetary allowance?
- It was up to you to choose where you would like your money to come from – the Soviet Union’s National Teams Training Center or your club. There was no way of getting double pay. None of us had thoughts like that, though.
I was brought to the CSKA when I was nine. Before I’d tried myself in many different sports. I started with figure skating, then there followed swimming and ski jumping. One day I saw some feature movie – not about ski jumpers, but about Alpine skiers. Lots of snow, sharp turns, breathtaking speed and nice sports gear… The sole place in Moscow for Alpine skiing in those days was the Vorobyovy Hills, in the city’s southwest.
It turned out that at the age of nine I was already too old for Alpine skiing. There remained the ski jumping group. I tried but did not stay long. Taking a jump was a scaring experience. Very scaring! You go up, then you look down from the top to see an abyss under your feet… In a word, I failed to take off.
- Where did you live in Moscow?
- In a little street in the city center near Patriarch Ponds. And I went to a very prestigious school in my neighborhood. I was admitted without any problems. No cronyism or nepotism, though my parents were ordinary engineers with no high-ranking connections. Our house was next door. That was enough. And my daughter went to the same school, too. And then my son… The school was excellent in all respects and requirements to be met there were very high. Not the slightest laxity was permitted. Poor academic performance was a disgrace.
- Do you keep in touch with your classmates?
- We’ve been friends for forty years now! We talk by telephone now and then. And each Friday we go to a steam bath. At a fixed time and to Moscow’s same best steam bath, Sandyny. We know everybody there and everybody there knows us… It’s a well-established custom! These days I am very busy at work, so occasions when I can stay there for two hours in a row are rare. Not the way it used to be. I usually come a little bit later. In our group I’m not the only one who is so busy. Life turned my pals different ways. One runs an industrial plant, another has a major advertising agency of his own, but by and large all are quite successful people. None of them has gone astray. Let me say once again – ours was a good school.
But let me finish the story about my first days in fencing. It was very good I was already nine years then. At this age you are no longer a little kid and you begin to understand what you really like and are fond of. Literally from the very first day I realized: that’s where I belong!
- Was it your dad who brought you there?
- I went there on my own. To keep a friend of mine company. I had a friend, Oleg Skorobogatov, whose dad was a member of the Soviet Union’s fencing team. He told us: come on, boys, join in instead of fooling around. We agreed. Oleg was rather successful, too. He won a youth world championship and was invited into the national adult team. For two years we went to different competitions together and performed on the same strip. It is good to have someone by your side to compete with. It’s an extra incentive and challenge. This is so not only in the world of sports.
For some time Oleg and I went neck in neck. At one tournament the victory was his, and at another, mine.
- But eventually you outperformed your friend.
- Motivation is essential. At a certain point Oleg decided he had some other goals and interests to dedicate himself to. As for me, I could not imagine myself outside sports. I could see no other future for myself. Although I must tell you quite honestly that I’d never dreamed of becoming a world champion, let alone winning an Olympic gold. I knew too well how tremendously hard it was.
In the gym where we, beginner fencers, had our classes, there was a large poster on the wall reading: “In individual events Soviet epee fencers have won no golds at Olympic Games for 21 years and at world championships, for 14 years.”
It is true that since the era of Grigory Kriss Soviet athletes had not risen to the top of the podium. Apparently our coaches decided to keep a reminder of this in front of us all the time in order to motivate us and to make us seek high goals.
Let me say once again, in those days it never occurred to me that I would grow up to put an end to this dark period and to win a gold for my country. I was making steady progress, step by step. I knew: the higher you fly, the harder you fall.
First, I won a youth tournament in Moscow. At sixteen I participated in the Soviet Union’s adult championships to place 27th among 94 participants and qualify for the national team. It was then that I received my first full set of the fencing gear. I was happy.
- Did you hear ill-wishers whisper enviously behind you back the Adidas gear was too good for an upstart like you?
- Nobody even dreamed of Adidas in those days! All fencers then wore sports clothes provided by a government-run agency responsible for manufacturing all sports gear in the country. Its woolen suit looked most exquisite to me. I wore it all the time. And the CSKA club’s uniform was great, too. It was dark blue, with wide white trouser stripes and the CSKA logo on the back… Incidentally, that font is now back use. A very correct decision it was. Why neglecting what is really good?
A major international tournament for adults was the next stage of my career. Then a fight in the final and victory…
- What country did you go to first?
- When I was in my eighth year in school I first went to Hungary, and then East Germany and Czechoslovakia. That was in 1984. For the trip I was required to get a written permission from the district office of the Young Communist League. I went there for what can be described as a political maturity and outlook interview. I had to spend some time reading up for the exam. I still remember that Hungary’s leader was Janos Kadar and East Germany’s number one was Erich Honecker. Utterly useless information. I still see no reason why I was obliged to memorize it.
In 1988 I went to my first Olympics in Seoul. I was just 18! At the beginning of that season it had been just inconceivable. True, in 1987 I managed to win the youth world title, but adult sport implies a quite different level, a different attitude and rivals. Besides, competition inside the Soviet team was incredible. Each Soviet republic presented its own group of candidates. So did Moscow and Leningrad. At the Soviet Union’s national championship rivalry was so strong that getting into the list of the best 32 was considered a great success. Competitions lasted for two days – a very strenuous tournament it was.
I’d won several important victories before the Olympics and I thought that I passed the test and was physically and psychologically ready for competition and strong pressures. But the Olympic Games were so different! I had to readjust myself on the fly. On the other hand, the tremendous surge of emotion was very helpful. Everything around looked wonderful! I remember the day when in the Olympic village I met the Soviet basketball team led by Arvidas Sabonis and Aleksandr Volkov. Before I’d seen them only on TV. Now they were in front of me in real life. I was looking up at them from a distance, too shy to come up. Even my fellow athletes in the fencing team made me feel shy. And I knew none of the guys in the sabre team. By that time they had already won the world title, while I was still a new-comer, a debutant. I felt awkward and not quite at home, but in the tournament I performed well enough. Although I could’ve done much better. In the semifinals against the French I won one fight and lost another. I also participated in the match for the bronze. I still remember every single hit I made. In the end I gained colossal experience. Our team won the bronze. It might seem it was an occasion to celebrate. At the age of 18 I became an Olympic medalist. But for the team it was a disaster. We were so upset that we did not even congratulate each other.
- You too?
- I was not alone there. I was a member of the team. The team had been determined to win. The bronze was regarded as a failure, although at that moment there were approximately four teams of equal strength – France, Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union.
-And in Barcelona you represented the CIS, didn’t you?
- As I look back on those days, I realize that the combined team might have been absent from the Olympics altogether. At that time, though, we felt no doubts we would be there. To an outsider it looked rather strange – a team without a flag and a country without an anthem.
- In some respects it looks like the status of Russian athletes in London.
- I wouldn’t say so. This time our guys knew that there was Russia behind their backs to support them. In Barcelona, everybody was in utter confusion. The Soviet Union was no more. The future looked obscure. It was the last time we all competed together – Ukrainians, Georgians, Armenians… Only the Baltic republics had broken away already.
In the individual tournament I placed second to have lost the final fight to Eric Srecki, of France, although I was doing very well. I seldom watch the videos of my old fights. Just recently I came across that video on the Internet and sat down to watch it again. Now, a quarter of a century later I cannot but feel amazed at how I managed to lose it!
Eric was an old-time rival of mine. We took turns winning major international contests. In Barcelona it was his turn to win… Srecki’s technique was always inconvenient to me. Each time I had problems with getting used to it. I lost the first fight by 5 points to 6, although at first I was in the lead and fencing was easy. Then I made a mistake. That miss made me nervous. I lost concentration. Without that it is hard to achieve the desirable result.
- Were you very upset?
- Why, naturally. And do you know what happened then? All the busses that took athletes to the competitions and then back to the Olympic Village were equipped with TV screens showing the highlights of the just-held contexts. The scene of my defeat was included in that video newsreel… Seeing a close-up of one’s own upset face on the screen was an experience too hard to bear… I managed to live through this, too.
The team won the bronze, and it was dramatically different from what happened in Seoul. One year earlier the team won the world championships, but the bonus was never paid to us. In defiance of the firmest promises made to us. The future of the bonus for the Olympics looked uncertain, too. For the gold we would have been paid $3,000. The bronze was worth $1,200 – a decent reward in those days. I remember we held a meeting and asked for a clear response from the chiefs of our delegation in Barcelona… Some of the team’s members were from Ukraine. They knew well enough: should they go to Kiev after the Games, they will never see their money. In a word, the situation was somewhat different from true sportsmanship, but eventually we managed to brush everything aside and make a decent performance on the strip. The bonuses were paid to all. Six months later.
- And how much were you paid for Seoul?
- About $350, as far as I can remember. In the current realities the reward looks laughable, doesn’t it? But we never placed money above everything else. You have my word for it. There was something else we were fighting for. A medal, a place on the podium, respect of our colleagues and fans and the prestige of the country meant a whole lot more. You come home and you are welcomed like a hero…That’s something no money can buy!
- And in Atlanta in 1996 you represented Russia, didn’t you?
- Yes, for the first time at the Olympic Games. By that time I had gained good shape. I’d won two world championships. And my age was optimal – 27. I felt time was ripe for grabbing the Olympic gold. Four months before the Games I went to Switzerland for training. I chose a highland area on purpose, hoping this would help me achieve the best form on the eve of the Olympics. It was a big mistake. I trained all day long. I made my body work at full capacity, but the condition was getting worse. Whatever I tried, nothing worked. I felt I was unable to make proper hits and my form was deteriorating with every passing day. I should’ve stopped and made a pause then and there, but I preferred to load myself more and more. I made myself work so hard that I even suffered an injury. My own experience was not enough and there was no by my side capable of giving me the correct advice.
In the end I arrived in the United States in an appalling condition and in the individual tournament I failed to enter the top eight. The team’s coach took a brief look at me and said: “Listen, Pavel. Don’t show up in the gym until the team events.” And he would bar me from all further training sessions. The next five days I spent listening to music, playing computer games, taking strolls about the city and having a good sleep at night. Then, when I resumed training I felt myself quite differently. The team was moving on quite well until the final round. We beat the French and the Hungarians, although we’d lost to them several times before. By all odds we were to outperform the Italians but eventually lost by a couple of hits to end up second.
- But in Sydney in 2000 you had a stroke of luck
- Our team failed to qualify. I was participating in the individual tournament on the opening day of the Games. I stayed away from the opening ceremony. I woke up and went to the competition. The first fight was right after lunchtime and at six in the evening it was all over. At once I had the feeling that everything would be OK. Besides, the closest rivals began to stumble and drop out one by one. In the semifinal I knocked out a Korean. They are very difficult opponents to compete with. Very disciplined and correct. They do everything they’d been taught and they almost never make mistakes. One just has to be patient and hold on. In the final I clashed with France’s Hugues Obry to whom I’ve never lost – before or since. On that occasion, too, I ceded nothing to him and calmly took the fight to a victorious outcome. I ruled out any unhappy coincidence and remained in the lead all the way with an advantage of several hits. The final score was 15 to 12.
Then there followed two weeks of true happiness. Those were my third Olympics, but for the first time ever I realized I was not only an athlete, but a spectator. I went to see other competitions and kept my fingers crossed for our guys. On the day of my victory my wife had flown in to Sydney, but she did not go to the stadium. She preferred to stay in the hotel room in front of a turned-off TV, beside herself with anxiety and wait for my phone call. Right after the victory I left the Olympic village and decided to take my time. Several of my friends from Russia joined us. We walked about the city, went on excursions and to restaurants… In a word, there had never been anything like those two weeks of joy in my life ever before. It was a true Australian Holiday.
You surely know what the life of an athlete is like. Occasions to feel the taste of victory are rare. As soon the competition is over, even if it was a success, preparations for the next one begin at once. All of a sudden a chance to prolong the period of happiness offered itself…
After my return to Russia I was unable to force myself to get back to training for another six months. I felt no motivation at all - only moral exhaustion. The peak I sought to climb has been conquered. What should I do next? Where should I move? I kept doing sports for exercise. I jogged and played football but stayed away from the gym and kept the sword sheathed.
At that time our second baby was born - we called the boy Alexander. Thoughts of looking for a permanent job became frequent. I realized that at an age of 31 it would hardly make sense to stubbornly push ahead with an athlete’s career. These days it’s different. Some people over forty go on competing at the highest level. At that time the younger generation was at the veterans’ heels.
To cut a long story short, after prolonged deliberations I made a decision to go the United States, hoping to make money there. The family budget was rather tight. To make it clear for you it will be enough to say that for ten years I had the same car – the cheapest rear-drive Lada model. At a certain point I even stopped locking it for the night. There was nothing inside to take away. Stealing the whole car made no sense at all. A couple of times somebody took my battery away, so I had to buy a new one. And I used the same set of tires all along. As a matter of principle because I hated the idea of seing my wheels gone one morning…
In a word, after Sydney I was invited to the Ohio State University. A work visa was arranged for me. By that time many of my former fellows in the Soviet team, those I used to compete with side by side had been working in the United States for some time. In the 1990s they moved overseas and opened private sports schools and clubs. Now they invited me to join them.
- Did you have any language problems?
- Mine was a great school, No. 20, don’t forget. I had no problems in communicating with the Americans. First I flew to the United States three or four times to get acquainted with teachers and students at the Columbus State University. Each time I enjoyed an excellent, hospitable reception, but honestly speaking I felt no inner drive and after long deliberations I decided to reject the contact. Ohio is a great place to go in old age: a quiet, calm and peaceful environment, life flows slowly. But the boredom is appalling. Had I been born there, possibly I would’ve felt differently. But I could not get rid of the impression I was sinking into the quick sand. One day I woke up fully aware that all this is not for me at all.
I like a different pace of life. I got back to Moscow and had a word with Olga Slutsker. We’d met when she was a professional fencer herself. Then we dropped out of each other’s sight for a long while. Olga cut short her sports career while I continued to compete. In the mid-1990s Olga launched a network of fitness clubs World Class. I thought that might be interesting for me and I told her I was ready to offer my services. After a two-month crash course I took a club manager’s job.
I liked everything I was doing, I liked relations with my colleagues and my salary. I was not making millions, but at least I could afford not to worry about how to make ends meet. Up to the 2000s salaries in professional sport were meager. Many gifted athletes decided to wind up their sports careers. They obtained trainers’ certificates and moved West. In 1992 we had many good athletes, enough for three national teams. Ten years later there was no one left on the bench. The reserve was exhausted. In the meantime, some wonderful athletes cropped up abroad. It was our athletes who coached them. In New York alone there are more than three dozen fencing clubs now. Naturally, commercial ones.
- You say working for Slutsker was fine with you. Why did you get back to professional sport then?
- You won’t believe me, but everything went the same way it had happened in the US before. The other way round, though. I woke up one morning and felt – something is missing. What if I start going to the gym again? I thought. I resumed training and you know, I liked it. Very much! My own wish and motivation has always been the key a question for me. As for physical condition, it was always good. Now I felt the urge to compete, to go to training sessions and to competitions. I fenced a lot again, I regained my form and results followed soon. For two times in a row I won the world title. I felt wonderful and in 2004 I went to Athens for my fifth Olympics.
My recollections of it are not very pleasant, though. The Greeks were hurrying to put the final touches at the very last moment. The heat was unbearable. Taking a step away from the air conditioner was a really daunting experience. Yet I was telling myself I must win the individual tournament. I selected the right tactic and I still believe that my plan was right. Yet I lost to a Chinese rival in the semi-final. That man had made thorough preparations for the fight and all the way he was doing things I hate in fencing. Each of us has certain strengths and weaknesses. That Chinese managed to hit my sore spots all the time. In the first few minutes I was demoralized. I got so nervous that I lost my breath and very soon the score was 0:4 in his favor. I had no idea what countermeasures to use in a situation like this. Step by step I managed to catch up somehow, but the shortage of time did not let me regain what I’d lost at the beginning. In the end I placed third.
- Had you ever thought about going to the Beijing Olympics?
- It is true that I was making such plans and in fact I was selected, although achieving that was a great problem for me. After all I was already 39 then and a father of three… Also, before the Athens Olympics I applied for and was admitted to the Moscow State Legal Academy, because I knew well enough that my sports career would come to an end sooner or later, while an alternative civil service profession would not be redundant at all. And I kept working all the time. When I left World Class, I took the position of deputy chairman of the Dynamo sports society. There was no chance for me to train and compete as intensively as I’d used to. My office work lasted from nine to six. Then I went to the gym for three hours. A schedule like that was rather hard to stick to, but the then President of the International Fencing Federation, Rene Roch, of France, promised me a wild card to the 2008 Games. As a matter of fact, that’s what made me soldier on. However, on the eve of the trip to Beijing it turned out that issuing personal invitations are not Roch’s competence and there was no way for him to keep his promise. Of course, I felt offended. I’d spent so much time training and exhausting myself to attain nothing.
I did go to the Beijing Games, though. As a tourist. Surely I went to see the fencing tournament. The final epee clash between Fabrice Jeannet, of France, and Matteo Tagliariol, of Italy, was marvelous. The Italian won. I was watching the fight calmly, without any envy or jealousy. I remembered very well that my own career in fencing was quite decent. Five Olympics and six medals (although only one of them was a gold one). Many others have nothing like that to their credit. People enter the world of professional sport for the sake of great victories. This goal alone can explain many years of strenuous training. After all, when you are young you cannot but have the strongest wish to entertain yourself and to enjoy life, but you have to stick to a tight schedule and abide by no end of restrictions. But any success was a great inspiration, a source of still more strength and an ocean of joy.
- Where there any injuries?
- God was merciful to me. Didn’t I tell you that I overstrained myself while training for the Atlanta Olympics and suffered a muscle injury? As for the decades I spent on the strip, I had suffered nothing serious. Few others were as fortunate.
- When did you use your epee last time?
- Less than a year ago. I’d just purchased new gear and even went to the club twice, but when I was about to go there for a third time, I had a phone call from Vitaly Mutko. He told me he had some serious business to discuss. Several days later I was appointed Sports Minister. Then I realized: it’s all over, the subject of fencing is closed forever.
- Have you had any thoughts of staging a come-back?
- How shall I put it? Competitions for veterans are very popular around the world these days. Champions of different years hold their own contests and demonstration fights and matches. Fencing is no exception. There are even European and world championships for sports stars of the past. And it is not titles or prize money that brings people together. It’s so good to meet gold old friends, and not in a restaurant over a cup of tea or a glass of something stronger, but to appear on the strip and to feel young again.
In a word, I did have an idea of showing up at some of such tournaments, but for that I must regain form and throw off weight. Ours is a very energy-consuming sport. Just try to put on our gear and move back and forth along the strip for about an hour. You’ll surely burn two or three kilos.
- Why did you go to purchase new gear? Where’s the old one that helped you become a champion?
- When I quit sports, I left the gear for the younger boys to use. Except for the epees. I gave them to my son, who does fencing, too.
- How many sets of weapons did you have?
- The handle that holds the blade is called pistol grip. I’ve always had three. The guard that protects the palm of your hand is replaced once a year, and the blade, once a month. No rarer than that. As for the pistol grip, it is in fact a lifetime item. It’s custom-made, cut and bent to fit your hand. The curve is individual. The way you sense it is of tremendous importance. Even the slightest nuances matter…
- If I got it right, the proposal to take over the Sports Ministry caught you off guard.
- Such appointments are seldom expected. On the other hand, it was not yesterday that I joined the civil service. I’ve been deputy minister since October 2010… I always try to avoid making long-term plans. Don’t you know, if you wish to make God laugh, brief him on your plans. I was just doing my job and had no other thoughts. Then there was that phone call from Vitaly Mutko and his invitation to talk business…
Naturally, a government minister’s level of responsibility is quite different. And the period we are living through is not quite simple and easy. We’ve discussed that. Nevertheless, I had no doubts. Problems have never stopped me. I’m in the habit of accepting challenges…
- But above you there is your boss, who may serve as a lightning rod. Quite often Mutko eagerly stands up and gets in the line of fire. He’s done that more than once.
- Surely, Mutko is very helpful. In his capacity of deputy prime minister he coordinates all work at the government level, but in any case it is the Sports Ministry that is responsible for all aspects of the sports policy. We are answerable for that. We run a vast and intricate infrastructure. There is the center for training national teams, a long list of sports bases and other facilities. We hold about five hundred various sports events in just one year.
The work pressure is great, but I am not complaining.
- Do you do anything for fitness?
- This morning I swam 1,200 meters.
- Is it your usual distance?
- I hope I’ll be making 1,500 meters soon. And attending the swimming pool at least three-four times a week. I leave home for work at half past six in the morning. Ten minutes to seven I’m in the gym already. I stay there till eight and then go to work. And on weekdays I play golf. And I also plan to start doing yoga again. I play football for the Russian government’s team. But only from time to time and only in the evenings. Nobody has more spare time, neither my colleagues, nor I. Arkady Dvorkovich plays regularly. Maksim Oreshkin, Aleksandr Novak and Maksim Sokolov try not to miss a chance to play, too…
- What’s your normal position on the pitch?
- Usually I start as a left back. And eventually join the attack. On the left flank, too. But I can also play on the right.
- You appear to be a universal player.
- I’m a team player rather. I go there where I should be for the sake of success.
- Do you think you will be able to pass the GTO (Ready for Labor and Defense) fitness tests we had in the Soviet Union?
- In my current condition I may well context the bronze badge. With more training I think I’d be able to qualify for the silver one…