“We are already adults, we want to try something new” – figure skater Ivan Bukin

Figure skater Ivan Boukine do ice dancing with Alexandra Stepanova told how the couple reacted to being excluded from international competitions and said it was time to “try something new”.

Stepanova and Bukin won gold this season at the Russian Championship, Spartakiad and two stages of the Russian Grand Prix.

— Our entire previous career took place at a slightly different pace, there were international debuts. Today the situation is completely different. Of course, when we return to international competitions, there will be a whole new level of responsibility. Now we have changed, probably in a somewhat calmer direction, because we are closed under certain conditions, and they are very clear to us,” Bukin told the “Championship”.

“But it is not only in this area that changes have occurred. We joined another team, other coaches. It’s also some experience for us, because we have worked with our former coaches throughout our careers, since we became a couple, between 16 and 17 years old. Of course, when you change the situation so much and miss the season… A lot of things happened that contributed to a different understanding of the principle of life, not just figure skating. Of course, when you don’t follow the established pattern, but change something in your life, you grow. I think that in this sense, growth has occurred in a positive direction,” Stepanova noted.

– 100% in a positive sense. We are already adults and we want to try something new. Figure skating is a short period of life, although for us, thank God, it is relatively long, but sooner or later it will end, and why not try something new now,” added Bukin.

Championship