Interview with Stéphane Lambiel

“I’m trying a lot of different things right now”

Stéphane Lambiel (24) is the 2005 and 2006 World Champion and won the silver medal at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino. He retired from competition in October 2008 due to injury problems (adductor muscles). This interview was taken in April 2009. In July, Stéphane announced his return to competition.

Q: Let’s take a look back. What happened since you retirement last fall?

A: The summer last year was very long for me as I had to travel a lot between Munich and Geneva because of my injury, but I was actually training in New Jersey. I spent a lot of time travelling and healing my injury. After Worlds in Gothenburg (in 2008), I was training for one week, then I had therapy for one week, then I was training again. It was a very long and difficult time. When I decided in October that I won’t skate competitively anymore, I told myself that I need to take a complete rest for six weeks so that my body can recover. I wanted to see if I’m able to get back onto the ice after these six weeks. It was hard to come back after such a long break and the injury wasn’t even gone. The doctor told me that this kind of injury needs a long time to heal and maybe it will never go away, because it is a functional problem. After all the strain that my body went trough in my life because of figure skating, it won’t be the same as before. I started training again in December and I tried to be on the ice every day for one hour to prepare for the shows that started end of December. I went to Stars on Ice in Japan and to Art on Ice in Switzerland, then I had the opportunity to travel to Los Angeles for the Worlds Championships in March and to watch the competitions. I had some more shows in spring. I was very happy that I could do these shows because they gave me a lot of energy. I got the feeling the more (shows) I do, the more energy I can draw from them and the more I’m enjoying to skate. I did two extraordinary programs in Kosice (in the Slovak Republic). I think this was the very first time that I skated so well, I felt totally free and it was great to feel the energy of the crowd, it was incredible. This is different from competitions where you are focused on your elements, but here you are creating a connection and this is what I love.

Q: You can see that! This program that you did in the shows is a Tango that you originally wanted to do as your new free program, isn’t it?

A: Yes. We prepared this Tango, the whole basis, the elements and the steps while I was in New Jersey. I’ve worked with Antonio (Najarro) on the upper body and the moves. I also worked on a program for Art on Ice that I did exclusively for them, this was to „Freak like me“ by the Sugarbabes. This kind of program goes over very well when the group is playing live at the rink. It’s a little difficult without live music as this music isn’t very harmonious and you still need harmonious music for pure skating. Then I also did the program “Tainted Love” that I skated in shows in Davos, St. Moritz, Turin and other places. When I skated somewhere for the first time I also did “Romeo and Juliet”, because it is my favorite program! This program is completely me and I enjoy skating it. This is the program I love to do most of all.

Q: From all programs you ever did?

A: I think so, yes. As soon as the music is starting, I’m enjoying it. And in places where I never was before I want to show my favorite program. In Turin I did “Tainted Love” which I also like a lot, but it’s something more simple where you don’t have to be so focused. It’s just relaxing and a show program.

Q: How is your injury now?

A: I’m still skating with pain every day, and I think it will always be like this and I have to get used to it. I’m starting to get used to the pain, but it’s not pleasant. You don’t know if it’s going to be worse or not. Every day I want to do some exercises to strengthen my body and maybe this will stabilize me and put less pressure on the muscles. But this means a lot of work, you have to do these exercises on a daily basis, together with someone who is monitoring you and can judge your progress.

Q: Where are you training now, in Geneva?

A: I’m also training in Geneva, but actually I don’t have a training base. The best place for me to train is where the shows are. There are people around you and you feel that you have a performance coming up and you want to give your best. The exhibition practice before (at competitions) wasn’t a real practice, you were tired after the competition and you did as less as possible, but now I’m using this practice to really prepare for the galas. Other than that I’m training in Switzerland in Geneva but also in Villard and I went a few times to Lausanne, so I don’t have a permanent training place. I like to go to different places. Right now this is a time where I’m trying a lot of different things and I’m not saying ‘this is going to happen in my life’. I want to see a lot of different things and all the travelling right now is helping me in this moment. I think if I would sit at home and think all the time about what to do with my life, this really would be a hard time. But so – travelling, the shows, moving from one place to the next, meeting new people is helping me not to get lost. I know that the time when an athlete decides to retire from competition is very, very, very hard.

Q: Yes. You need to find a new goal.

A: Exactly, no matter if this is skating, tennis, football or skiing. As soon as you stop, you daily rhythm changes completely. Before you had a goal and you were working towards it, you sacrified your life for it. Right now I’m in a phase – but everything is still new for me – where I don’t know if every anything else will fascinate me as skating did. This is scary. I think that a lot of athletes have to go through this after their career, but thanks to the shows, thanks to all the travelling I have the opportunity to realize myself in a different way.

Q: Didn’t you also want to start studying?

A: Yes, but right now with all the shows it is difficult to study and I don’t want to be in the situation that I’m studying and can’t do any shows because I have to go to school and can’t miss my classes. Right now I’m enjoying the shows and I don’t want to put obstacles in my way. At 24 years of age, I still have time and you can study all your life. If at one point I find the strength to say that studying is more important than skating, then I’ll do it that way, but now I think I don’t have done enough new things. I’m planning to do new programs and I have still a future in this direction.

Q: Are you training with Mr. Grütter?

A: When I’m training in Geneva, Mr. Grütter is on the ice and he obviously is keeping an eye on what I’m doing. I’m mostly training on my own, but I do need other people on the ice. It is hard when I’m all by myself. There is a good atmosphere in Geneva, there is Noemi Silberer who went to Europeans and a few good juniors. It is a good environment, there aren’t any top skaters, but it is enough if there is someone else, this already gives you some energy. Mr. Grütter’s glance is helping me as well, it gives me confidence. Other than that, when I’m in Villard or Lausanne, I’m training alone, and this is ok. It’s extraordinary in Villard as the rink only has a roof but is open at the sides and it is surrounded by mountains. It is really inspiring when the weather is nice.

Q: What are you training? All your jumps?

A: I’m practising everything when I’m feeling that I can put physical pressure on myself. If not, I just try to play it by ear.

Q: You were a guest at Worlds in Los Angeles. What was your impression?

A: I didn’t have the feeling anymore that I should be out there on the ice and I didn’t think, my God, why I’m sitting here in the stands. It was a new experience for me to watch from outside, but it was also great to meet all the people that I have known for many years and to watch the competition. Technically I saw a few nice things. As for the men, I was missing the energy of the last warm up group. I think that in the past years you felt the heat in the rink, the stress as soon as the last group went out to skate. The atmosphere was electric. Now I was sitting in the stands and I was waiting for it. The competition was at a high level, but something athletic was missing.

Q: Did you miss the quads?

A: I’m not quite sure what was missing, but if you are looking back at the past years, then you really needed one or two quads to win Worlds and you really had to do them, plus the rest, no matter if that was (Evgeni) Plushenko, Brian (Joubert) or myself. When we were World Champions, we had to do that. I have a lot of respect for all the skaters and best man wins, and Evan (Lysacek) was the best. I think it is hard to have a complete program and all the technical difficulty and you need to develop the difficult positions of the spins and all that. You have to work on a lot of things, and this is hard. But this doesn’t mean that figure skating is not developping. It is developping further and it is going into a good direction, I’m sure of that. If you are working on something, you’ll see the result later on. Other than that – the girls were incredible, very impressive. I liked the ice dance a lot, I think this is the discipline I liked best. I believe there were six or seven couples whose performances really impressed me, there were for example the second French dancers, Pernelle (Carron) and Matthieu (Jost), who I liked very much. I also enjoyed the Kerrs, Tessa (Virtue) and Scott (Moir), and I liked Khokhlova/Novitski a lot. (Jana) Khokhlova is incredible.

Q: You did some shows together with Evgeni Plushenko, who announced his comeback several times. Did you talk to him about that?

A: Not directly, but it’s true that many people are saying that he is coming back. I wish for him that he can come back, and that he will be in good shape. He seemed to be in a much better shape than last year. I think if he is continuing to train and sticks with it, this could be great for figure skating and for him as well – to win a third medal at the Olympic Games. He is very, very strong, he has a lot of energy and charisma, nobody can deny this.

Q: And what about you? You didn’t exclude a comeback.

A: It is not a 100 percent excluded, but it is not my plan right now. I don’t want to raise vain hopes. For me it is important that I finished my career and that I’m happy with what I’ve achieved. I couldn’t have asked for more. This is clear. If there is a change physically, if I’m getting better and I can train more, it will be a different story and I will think about it. This is a difficult situation, but this is the way it is. We will see. I really don’t want to raise any hopes, but what I’m going to do now is to enforce my physical training to make up for my weaknesses and to find out if I’m ready to practice more on ice. If I can do that, I’d like to compete again.

Q: You can take your time for your decision.

A: I just have to skate at Nebelhorn Trophy. This is end of September. I think I can say more in July. Then I’ll know if I can do it or not.

Q: You are very popular with the fans. What was the most extraordinary present that you’ve gotten so far?

A: I’ve gotten so many incredible presents. One thing that was very surprising was the “Little Prince”. Korean fans reprinted the book with the original text and each person in Saint-Exupery’s story matched a person out of my life. There were Salome (Brunner), Mr. Grütter, my sister, Plushenko, a lot of other people around me. They put the faces of the people around me on the faces of the characters in the book. It was really well done. To have this idea, to think of who is resembling whom. This was one of the most touching presents.

Q: The Korean fans are really creative in that respect. They made a book for Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin in which they put their faces on the faces of movie stars.

A: I got also one like this! There was Johnny Depp with my face. That was great, a great photo shooting, and with my face. These fans are incredible. Now, when there are no judges for me anymore, I’m really skating for the audience alone. It is one of the strong points of figure skating that we have an audience that is with us. I hope that all the skaters realize that we are skating for the crowd, that we want to share a moment with them. To give out joy is the basis of figure skating. It is a show. We want to make the people happy, the people that would like to be out there on the ice with us and we can realize ourselves through them.

Q: What is your impression – where is figure skating still very popular in spite of the economical crisis?

A: I think that figure skating will find its audience in spite of the economical problems. I’ve seen that the World Team Trophy was packed and they are talking about the crisis in Japan as well. Figure skating is interesting for a lot of people. I was fascinated myself with this sport as a seven-year-old, not in vain, as the fact that this is an artistic sport attracts many people. The audience is very diverse, there can be grandmothers or little girls, but it’s also interesting for men. I think in the USA they are just lacking a female star such as one of the great skaters of the 90s, like Nancy Kerrigan, Kristi Yamaguchi, Michelle Kwan, Tara Lipinski, Sarah Hughes. These girls made history in American figure skating. I hope that they will find another Evan among the girls soon.

Q: Yes, their men are strong and their ice dancers as well.

A: I hope that they get used to the fact that figure skating is not only a sport for girls, but it is a very hard sport that requires a lot of work, coordination, athletic qualities and the je ne sais quoi that makes the difference.

Q: Thanks a lot for the interview