Karel: First of all I want to thank all my fans for the nice scrapbook that I received at the World Championships. I was very happy about it.

Q: You're welcome! I'd like to congratulate for your excellent placement and achieving a personal best at the Europeans! How do you feel about this competition?
Karel: It’s a big result for me and I skated very well and it was so very important to me. So it was maybe the best competition this season.

Q: What were you thinking when you moved up more and more with each skater following you?
Karel: It was a big satisfaction for me and nice to see myself in such a high position. Now I want to do better each time in the future.

Q: I think you can be pleased with your placement at Worlds as well.
Karel: Yes, at Worlds I was satisfied as well, because Worlds are a very hard competition and I achieved my best result at Worlds. I skated well in the short program, and although I didn’t skate as well as at Europeans and Nationals in the free program, I’m still happy with what I did. I think, I was a little bit tired because it was the end of season.

Q: Maybe you were also affected by the jetlag?
Karel: Yes, I tried to push but it was a little bit hard. But I think the result is very good and it was a very, very good season for me.

Q: Do you watch the skaters before you?
Karel: Just a little bit, but not so much because before I skate I think about my program and I prefer not to see the other skaters. Sometimes I watch just a little bit of some programs.

Q: Even on TV I noticed that the audience in Warsaw was great and loved you. How did the support of the crowd help you?
Karel: There was good support and especially in Warsaw there were good feelings and sensations and people were great. It was very good for me.

Q: Are you trying a quad? What is your progress on the tripe Axel? Your other triples looked very solid.
Karel: Sometimes when I’m very tired, I can’t do the Axel because it’s not so solid, but when I am in good shape I can do the Axel, but the landing isn’t perfect - for now.  But for the next season I’ll land it in a competition. A quad is better than the triple Axel for me. I just don’t have so much time to try them because I’m focused on the Axel. I think the only problem was the Axel. Now it is almost okay. The other jumps are no problem for me.

Q: Who chooses your beautiful and elegant costumes?
Karel: The costumes for the short program and the new one for the free program at Europeans did a stylist. She helped with the design.

Q: Do you have input, too?
Karel: Yes, there are also my ideas but not only mine. It is a bigger work from everyone like in a team.

Q: Why did you change the free program costume?
Karel: The problem was that the new costume, the black and red one, was too heavy. It was not so comfortable in competition because it was very hot. So it was too warm for me and I preferred to use the red costume because it was more comfortable to compete in.

Q: What is your goal for the coming season?
Karel: My goal is to do better than this year because I want to do improve every time and I think many things can be improved. I would like to skate well at Europeans and especially at Worlds next year.

Q: What does figure skating mean for you?
Karel: It means everything for me - it’s my life! Skating is very, very important for me because I’m sportive and I like sports. When I was a little boy I was always running and doing sports.

Q: Your father was skater, as well?!
Karel: Yes, so I decided to skate as well. I enjoyed skating when I saw my father and other skaters and now it’s a part of my life.

Q: How many hours a week do you train?
Karel: A lot (laughs) - a lot! I don’t know how many hours, but it takes almost all day, every day.

Q: Can you say how many hours you train per day approximately?
Karel: It depends on the training period. I think it’s circa five hours. Sometimes it is maybe more, sometimes less, it depends.

Q: Do you plan to continue coming to Oberstdorf for training? Maybe you’re planning to take part in the Ice Dome this year?
Karel: I don’t know yet. I like Oberstdorf, but I want to try something else. I have some other places in mind, it depends. I would like to look for an opportunity maybe in America because I went there only once for training so far. I will see, I’m not sure yet.

Q: Do you have any role model?
Karel: Yes, I have of course. Especially (Alexei) Yagudin, Viktor Petrenko and Brian Boitano. I think I prefer the Russian style. I really like the style of Yagudin and Alexander Abt.

Q: Alexander Abt?!!! (laughing)
Karel: Yes (laughing), he is a good model!

Q: If you were sent to an isolated island and could take three things with you - what would you take?
Karel: My girlfriend. Maybe my collection of movies.

Q: What kind of movies do you like to watch?
Karel: I have some action movies, some comedy. And thirdly I’d take probably some good food and drink (laughing).

Q: Please - can you promise your fans that you never will cut your hair?
Karel is laughing.

Q: You have to! Please! (laughing)
Karel: Okay, I will try to keep the long hair as long as possible. For now I like to keep my hair long, but I don’t know what will be in the future, but yes for now (laughing) I can promise you.

Q: Can you tell us anything about your plans for the next weeks?
Karel: I’ll have a little bit of vacation. I need it because it was a long season. After this I will practise and maybe I’ll do some shows in Italy during the summer.

Q: What would you like to tell your fans?
 I would like to thank my fans their support. I’m so happy to see that someone is enjoying my skating and this is the most important for me. This is my motivation for continuing in figure skating. It’s a big support for the future because they give me energy and happiness. I wish them all the best.

Q: Many thanks for the interview and all the best for you.

Karel regretted the closure of his former AS website.