Former figure skater Kawaguchi was named the happiest moment of her career and her favorite program

Double European Champion Figure Skater Yuko Kawaguchi who played for Russia in the national team with Alexander Smirnov described the happiest moment of her career as the day she and her partner performed a quadruple Salchow throw at a competition.

Kawaguchi and Smirnov are two-time European champions (2010, 2015), two-time silver (2009, 2011), bronze (2008) at the European Championships, two-time bronze medalists at the World Championships (2009, 2010). They retired in 2017.

— You have had a long and eventful career. What is your happiest moment?

— When we did a quadruple salchow throw at the competition. That’s the main reason why I’m pairing up. Even the support wasn’t very attractive – I wanted to master quadruple throws.

— You and Smirnov are one of the few couples who have opted for such a complex and dangerous element. Wasn’t it scary?

“I didn’t think about the risks.” I really wanted it and I felt that I liked it. This feeling of flying in the air, an insane height … I tried to achieve it, no more, no less. Now there is no way to throw, so when I miss the feeling of being in the air, I do jumps. It also turns out that it is triple.

I like beauty that is interesting to look at. So I wanted to not only let everything go with the flow, but tell a story with my body and technique. Then it becomes art. That’s exactly how I perceive the process; I followed this approach in sports. I thought about the danger, but the desire won out.

Sasha and Tamara Nikolaevna did not always agree with my “I want”. But my coach is great because she allows the student to realize his desire if he completes all the other tasks. I listened to the coach, took into account her requirements, and in return she allowed me to add a quadruple throw, which I really wanted.

— What is your favorite program from your repertoire?

— “Capriccioso” by Saint-Saëns is our very first joint program with Sasha.

“I also really liked the free program to Tchaikovsky’s symphony “Manfred.” It was a unique choice, because no one had skated to such music before or since. We performed this program for two seasons,” Kawaguchi told .

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