“I would love to connect with Adam Xiao Him Fa.” Interview with the only Russian figure skater who can do somersaults

Figure skater Andrei Yezhlov, who dances on ice in a duet with Sofia Shevchenko, is the only one in Russia to perform a somersault. Worldwide, his main competitor is French singles skater Adam Xiao Him Fa.

For a long time, somersault was banned due to the high risk of injury, but recently discussions have begun about possible legalization of the element. At the ISU convention tonight they decided to allow skaters to perform this element.

After the decision of the International Skating Union, journalist Maxim Khorenkov spoke with Andrei Yezhlov.

— Did you follow the International Skating Union congress?

— I didn’t really follow the whole congress, but I was waiting for a decision on the somersault. I thought about it, analyzed it and hoped they would allow it. And last night they approved and legalized the jump. I was delighted, we immediately discussed it with Sonya [Шевченко]. We already wanted to insert a somersault into one of the programs of the upcoming season, until the moment of acceptance we did not understand how best to do it. We tried to somehow implement it through interaction between partners so as not to lose points.

Once the decision to legalize was made, the questions became much less important. All that remains is to spread it nicely and jump. I think next season we will show somersaults in one of the programs.

— What do the coaches think of your initiative?

– Positive. Elena Stanislavovna [Масленникова] always for new and cool things, she doesn’t mind.

— You had a video in which you do a somersault on Elena Stanislavovna. Was she very scared?

– Yes, but she said that she completely trusts her students, that’s why she decided to lie down under the somersault. I wasn’t afraid, I jumped clearly, I knew where I was going to land.

— Does your body hurt a lot after jumping?

— If you do it according to the technique, the landing turns out to be very soft. But without the skills and technique, I’m sure I can hurt my knees, back, ankle, anywhere.

—Have you thought about teaching Sonya the somersault?

— Yes, I wanted them to do it in parallel. But these are certainly not plans for the coming season. She says it’s scary, but overall it seems like she can do it. A somersault isn’t the easiest thing to get your head around, it’s really scary. And depending on her physical characteristics, Sonya can perform a somersault.

Among the girls, to my knowledge, only Frenchwoman Suriya Bonaly jumped, but that was a long time ago. And there have certainly never been duo parallel somersaults before.

— Are you motivated by the fact that you are the first in the world to perform a parallel somersault as a duo?

— All achievements are an added incentive and motivation. I want to stand out with something good.

— The somersault has been legalized, but it will not be evaluated. Do you want points for doing somersaults?

– I don’t know, if they evaluate it, everyone will start jumping – figure skating will turn into acrobatics. It’s cool when 2-3 people do this element for the entire duration of the competition, but if everyone starts doing it, the “wow” effect and originality will be lost a little. It’s probably true that it won’t be rated.

— Do you see the influence of Adam Xiao Him Fa on the decision of the ISU Congress?

“I think he influenced their decision.” He himself stated that he wanted to achieve the legalization of the element through his actions and the execution of the jump, despite the didactics.

— Would you be interested in getting in touch with him? It is possible to do a joint challenge.

– Yes, I would like to understand how to do that. That would be cool, I would love to communicate with him. It would be possible to perform a somersault at the same time.

— Do you think that after legalization, men in Russia will begin to actively learn this jump? Or again: it is not appreciated – and is not necessary.

— I think it’s more the second option: it is not evaluated – and it is not necessary. Maybe ten percent will master it. First of all, this jump pleases the public. We must not forget them, because they come to see, buy tickets and love figure skating. When I performed a somersault after the program, the audience reacted violently every time.

– Let’s imagine: could someone come up with the idea of ​​jumping two somersaults in a program? This probably doesn’t make much sense.

“I don’t think anyone will do that.” Two somersaults per program is too many. When you do, some excitement disappears. However, figure skating is not acrobatics.

— To conclude the conversation, let’s remember the first time you did a somersault.

— I worked at the Aquamarine circus in 2020, I had a goal: to do somersaults by the end of the year, and on December 31 I did it.

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