“Over the summer, I realized my love for figure skating so much that I went out and jumped on a quad on the third day of training camp. » Interview with Andrei Kutov

Andrey Kutovoy is a member of the St. Petersburg national team and trains at Tamara Moskvina’s club under Dmitry Khromin.

On the eve of the new season, Kutovoy spoke with and talked about the production of programs, relations with Veronika Daineko and the goal of becoming a universal athlete.

– Andrey, there are very few left before the start of the season. Tell us what you did this summer, how training camp went.

– Traditionally, we organized training camps in Sirius. We came there to restore everything we had lost on vacation. At the training camp, they offered me a short program and started doing a free program, having already finished the work in St. Petersburg. I was able to quickly recover the triple axel. I actually jumped quads on the third day of training. I went out on the ice with enthusiasm and performed all the elements with adrenaline.

– What is it about ?

– Figure skating is something I love. It was on vacation, alone with myself, that I rethought certain things and realized how much I love this sport.

– I guess at the end of last season I wanted to stop skating, because there was a redesign?

– No. I understood that I like to ride, but I reconsidered how important it is to me. I realized how I can fulfill myself in figure skating and what I can bring to this sport.

So what are your goals for next season?

– First, to present all the possibilities of my program as much as possible in artistic terms. Secondly, I want to improve my jump plan, achieve clean quads in competition. And of course, joining the team.

– In which images will you appear in the new season?

– The short program gave me a whole new image. I will skate to the music “Personal Jesus” by Depeche Mode.

In fact, an interesting story happened with this production. I rode in training and realized that now the time had to come when I would be presented with the music of a new program, and for me that is always exciting.

Usually I listen to music, share ideas with Nikolai Yuryevich Moroshkin. And this time, he told me that he had found a whole new style of music. I asked for a hint, but he only said it would be difficult.

– Are you scared yet?

– Yes. I thought he would bring “metal” now. Additionally, Petya Gumennik was given a demonstration under Rammstein. Nikolai Yurievich put on the music and I was a little surprised. I never thought I would ride to such music, I thought it wouldn’t suit me. But then I trusted Nikolai Yuryevich and Valeria Chistyakova and I’m sure it turned out to be a great program.

– And what about the free program?

– But the arbitrary is a familiar subject for me. They took the works of Mozart, which – I will not say yet. But I will say that in the first half the music is soft, and in the second the tempo increases, and I start to explode.

– I think you will agree with me that the spectator joins in the beauty of skating. What are the 3 main qualities that you can identify in yourself?

– First, the feeling of the music. Secondly, I think I have good jumps. Previously, stability in multi-turn jumps suffered, but now everything should improve. Third, the component and beauty of skating.

– You just described Jason Brown. Have you ever compared yourself to him?

– No. It seems to me that we have a different style of skating and presentation of the program.

– Brown does not have stable quads, but at the same time he often gets on the podium.

– It doesn’t work that way in Russia. We all understand that without quads you won’t be a leader. One of my career goals is to combine the beauty of skating with the complexity of the jumping elements. I want to become an athlete as versatile as Yuzuru Hanyu.

– Which of the Russian single skaters combines these two components?

Evgeni Plushenko came to mind first. I love his inner strength and his artistic talent. You look at it and you really feel this powerful energy. It is impossible not to talk about Alexei Yagudin and, of course, Misha Kolyada. Maybe his stability suffers, but this beauty of lines and glide… Kolyada has now taken a break, but recently posted a spin on a social network – so even I won’t lift my leg, but he can at his age – very handsome.

Tell us about your coaching group. Which specialists do you work with?

“At the start, we had a large group. Veronika Anatolyevna Daineko was the head, the second show jumping coach was Dmitry Vladimirovich Khromin, the choreographer was Nikolai Yuryevich Moroshkin. At some point the group split into two parts and I moved to Dmitry Vladimirovich, we have been working together for a year and a half.

– Does Tamara Moskvina participate in the training process?

– Tamara Nikolaevna attends every training session, goes to the ice, controls the process, periodically gives advice.

How can you characterize it?

– She’s a professional. She never shouts, explains everything in a soft voice, that sets her apart from other coaches. And the most interesting thing is that you start to listen more to his tone. She can say it so you can hear her calm voice better than any scream.

Tamara Nikolaevna is an intelligent and educated person, it all shows in the results of her students.

– How did you break up with Veronika Daineko?

– Veronika Anatolyevna understood everything, there were no quarrels and abuse, they parted on a high note. Now we train with her on the same ice. She looks at me periodically, is interested in the results, we are on good terms.

– Were you jealous of Petya Gumennik in the Daineko group?

– Veronika Anatolyevna has always treated me well. We had a closer relationship between coach and student. She treated me like a mother, only in sports. Yet I still spend more time on the ice than at home. There was no jealousy, she paid attention to everyone.

You’re going to grade 11 now, aren’t you?

– Yes, in 11th grade, I am in family education. I went to school several times a month until 10th grade. I go through the program on the online platform, pass the control, the exams.

– Where are you going?

Everything will depend on the results of the exam. I plan to take courses in Russian, specialized mathematics, biology, social studies and possibly literature.

– With such a set of subjects, the analysis by faculties is immense: from theater to physical education.

— I’m taking a few exams as a fallback. I don’t want to train yet, but maybe I will. In any case, I can still be a coach.

– In St. Petersburg, there are such smart single skaters: Gumennik at ITMO, Semenenko at MED…

Rather, they are an exception. Most often, athletes choose the Institute. Lesgaft, because they want to link their future life to sport. But I want to try something else. I like to try new things.

What new things have you tried this summer?

“I had a busy summer. I learned to play the piano, read lots of new books, met new people.

– You are active on social networks. Why are you socially active?

“I’ve always wanted to shoot long conversational videos, get closer to the audience. My head generates ideas, I have a lot of ideas, I like to realize myself creatively. I plan interesting content that will inspire people. On social media, I’m not trying to play cool, to be what I’m not, not to put on masks. I try to be myself.

— I watched your video on books. What else is in your area of ​​interest?

— I read a lot, I love philosophical books. I try to combine study literature with the one I like. Now, for example, I finished Anna Karenina and started Crime and Punishment. I also want to start making music professionally. I intend to buy a piano.

– What are you looking at?

— I like to watch book reviews, listen to lectures by Tatyana Chernigovskaya and Alexander Kaplan, various psychologists and philosophers. Sometimes I watch movies. My favorite is Interstellar.

What philosophical question are you thinking about right now?

– I have a lot of questions. Now I work at the level of consciousness, it’s quite difficult.

– Are you a conscious athlete?

– It seems to me that sports consciousness interferes. The more you think, the worse the situation gets, especially in competition. On the contrary, we must try to come out with a cool head.

– You have a cousin Liza Nugumanova, what kind of relationship do you have?

– We have normal relations, we keep in touch. To some extent, I started skating because she was already a figure skater. My parents saw what figure skating was, they also wanted to try to betray me.

– After all, you skated with Alexei Mishin for a while.

– I started skating in Yubileiny with Irma Georgievna Bukhartseva, then I switched to Svetlana Frantsuzova. When I learned about all the doubles, Liza told Alexei Nikolaevich about me, and Tatyana Nikolaevna Mishina came to the competition to watch.

At that time, Oleg Stanislavovich Tataurov and Veronika Anatolyevna were training Mishin in the group. I worked with Tataurov and Daineko, but under Mishin’s supervision. Then Alexei Nikolaevich still skated Plushenko. When Daineko left for school in Moskvina, I first rode on two rinks – with Alexei Nikolayevich and Veronika Anatolyevna, but then finally switched to Veronika Anatolyevna. In 2018 I moved to Moscow in a group with Elena Buyanova.

Why didn’t it work in Moscow?

– It was difficult for us financially – they did not succeed, there were also family reasons. We decided to return to Veronika Anatolyevna, to our home, so to speak.

Did Daineko accept you without offense?

– Yes. Maybe she had grievances, but she didn’t show it in any way. I am grateful to him for accepting me. It was precisely that season that I took part in the first stage of the Junior Grand Prix.

Do you have friends in figure skating?

– Yes but not much. Literally a few people in the group. There is definitely male friendship in sports. In general chats, they share news, call each other in the evening.

– You talked about non-childish interests, and I heard the reasoning of a formed personality. Have you noticed that thanks to sport you have matured earlier?

“I don’t know what it would be like without sports. But it seems that I grew up at the age of 14. Even though I was 8 years old. They constantly asked me questions about my age. I remember two years ago we went to Sirius, where the hockey players were training. I was 16 and probably looked like I was 12. And at 14, they were 20-year-old men. But I think looking young is good.