Q: How did you experience the long Olympic season?
Robin: Well, it was a beginning as usual, with new programs, Nebelhorn Trophy, a normal summer preparation, we didn’t have any injuries or something like that.
Aljona: No, there was nothing. Everything was business as usual. Oberstdorf was as usual as well, I’d say. The first competition. Then my illness started. I got sick when we came back from Oberstdorf, but we continued to train. We prepared for the competition as usual. Then came Paris. It was incredible. There is no explanation. It was like a black out. You don’t understand what you are doing. It’s just happening and you cannot find yourself. It was like a nightmare. Everything went wrong that could go wrong. Then I was sick again.
Robin: We did the new program, which was the first time for us (to change the program during the season).
Aljona: Skate Canada went really well. After that we thought, we’ve found ourselves. But the (Grand Prix) Final didn’t go well again. Why? I have no clue. What did we do before? Everything was fine. We cancelled some shows, we did less. Maybe we need to do more so that we don’t have time to think. Right after the Final I was sick and in bed again. We tried to prepare for Europeans as well as possible. We went from the very bottom to the top, from zero to one hundred (in the season), to sum it up.
Q: Why was this season so difficult? Did the fact that it was an Olympic season make it so hard or are there other reasons as well?
Aljona: It is everything. The body doesn’t know that there are Olympic Games. It gave a signal, it wasn’t meant to be. It was too much. It said „stop“. There is nothing you can do about it.
Q: The Olympic Games still hold some positive memories for you, I hope.
Robin: Yes, one day I can look at my medal and be happy.
Aljona: Before the Olymipcs we thought it’s maybe a good sign that everything went wrong before.
Robin: Exactly. We thought everything will be fine.
Aljona: But it didn’t go the way we would have liked and the way we have worked for it. But even if we had skated clean, who knows what would have happened. But it’s over. You only can analyze it.
Robin: It fit somehow. It would have been worse if we had won Europeans, had won Worlds, maybe had won the Final, I would have been really disappointed. Now I’m saying, it just wasn’t the best.
Aljona: That’s sport, it happens. It is a shame but you have to go through it.
Q: How happy are you with the World Championships and your silver medal?
Aljona: We are quite satisfied, because it was our best free program, no matter what happened in the short. The free was such a program that you are wishing for, also emotion-wise. We felt the support of the audience and we gave something back. You cannot skate like this each time. Things fell into place.
Robin: It was fun.
Q: You could see that. You were radiating with joy during the performance.
Robin: It was real. That’s nothing you can imitate. I think it was good for the end of the season and that we moved up one spot. It went up at the end (laughs).
Q: How are you getting motivated for the next season?
Aljona: For me, it’s like – everything was so hard, so now you just enjoy. It was very difficult, but you went through it and now you can skate with more emotions. Obviously, we have a lot of work ahead of us. We need to find something new and to work on new elements and new difficulties. We want to win, we want to be the best, and that’s motivating us.
Robin: I agree about enjoying. For the first time this season I experienced that I was at a competition and I was relaxed (at Worlds). I just sat down in the dressing room and watched the so called little ones and I watched how they meticulously arranged their stuff. I know, everything can happen and nobody will bite off your head. People are still greeting you, you still can ride the bus. There are these things – you think the whole world is angry with you. It’s is like that in that moment. They send you, you go out and you want to show your best and then something goes wrong and you think – damn. But then you realize that the same thing happens to others, or it happens to everyone or everyone else is doing well and only you didn’t, but everyone is still talking to you. This is something you have to realize and then you can enjoy it (competing). I think this is very important for the next years – to be able to go out there and enjoy it. I’m enjoying it, even though it’s difficult, of course. Like in the free skating.
Q: How did you take the decision to continue until Sotchi?
Aljona: Why did everyone think that we won’t compete anymore?
Robin: It would have made sense. If I was someone else, I’d probably think the same – well, the Germans, he is 30 years old, she is 26, they won Worlds twice, Euros three times, they competed twice at the Olympics, they got a medal, now they’ll retire. It was clear to me right away (to continue), because I always said that the decision doesn’t depend on a placement, but on a performance and the emotion, which in the end leads to a certain placement obviously. Now you can convert it – I’m not satisfied with the bronze medal. It wasn’t the best performance either. If I’ll survive these for years… it is possible that I’ll say in two or three years ‘that’s it’, or maybe there is the time will come when I’ll be at peace with myself. You’ll never know. But it was obvious to me as soon as I returned to our flat share in Vancouver (in the Olympic village), that wasn’t it and since everyone will ask you anyway you can deal with it now.
Aljona: It was obvious for me as well, but I didn’t know what Robin was thinking. I thought it would be a shame to finish with a bad result. I know that we can do more that everything is still possible for us. We still have power. Of course we are tired now, but we have potential for more.
Q: You mentioned that you want to learn new elements. Do you think of something specific?
Aljona: We’ll see. We have to find something new, because the competition gets tougher and tougher. Almost everyone was at the same level. They are doing the same lifts and so on. We
have to find something of our own, something interesting and we have to develop further. Let’s see what our coach will say.
Q: Do you think about a throw triple Axel or a quad throw?
Aljona: We have to up the difficulty. We have to try all this.
Q: Please be careful!
Aljona: Life is like that. If something is supposed to happen, it will happen. Who doesn’t take risks, doesn’t win.
Q: Will you make changes to your preparations?
Robin: Actually we never changed much, we always had the same rhythm of a break in spring and a short break in summer while continuing to prepare. It was always like this, also when I was still training with Mrs. Scheibe and then Ingo adopted it basically unchanged. We always had the same rhythm and we were in good shape almost all the time before a competition.
Aljona: We were in very good shape at the beginning of the season. It was too early. We were ready too early.
Robin: We want to let the past years settle a bit, we want to catch a deep breath and clear our head for the next four years.
Q: What about new programs?
Aljona: Obviously we’ll change the programs.
Q: What ideas do you have for the music?
Aljona: Nothing yet. We are too tired now. We’ve always done something new in the past years. Now we need some rest. We don’t know yet what kind of music will be suitable.
Q: In the Olympic season there was a problem with the first free skating music that didn’t work out. If your coach Ingo Steuer suggests a music that you don’t like, will you oppose it more firmly?
Aljona: Well, if I’m thinking about it now, it maybe was a mistake to change the program.
Robin: At the beginning we said also no to „Out of Africa“, and quite strongly.
Aljona: Most people said that the music is slow and not emotional. It is difficult to please everyone.
Q: What is your biggest wish for the next season?
Aljona: Health, health and health! Health is the most important thing in sports, like bread and water. If you are healthy, you can do everything. Plus I wish for some good luck. The will we have. Everything else is there!
Additional interview at the show „World’s best on ice“ in Krefeld, Germany, on April 29
Q: You were touring in Europe in April. How was it?
Aljona: We did 15 shows, we were travelling for about a month, practically ever since Worlds.
Robin: We had everything! It was interesting. We had a cool group and everything went well basically.
Aljona: We travelled a lot by bus, from the Slovak Republic to the Ukraine. We experienced the Ukrainian roads…
Robin: and the toilets that weren’t any (laughs). There was just a hole in the ground as if someone had stolen the toilet!
Q: Which show was the best one?
Aljona: The show in Kiev. The audience was amazing.
Robin: The German audience is sometimes a little inert, but here (in Krefeld) it was a great atmosphere although it wasn’t sold out.
Q: What are your plans for the next months?
Robin: We’ll have two weeks of vacation after the shows. There is no ice in Chemnitz from early April to the middle of May. In the middle of May we’ll be back on the ice in Chemnitz.
Aljona: Ingo (Steuer) talked to the mayor and we’ll have ice in Chemnitz most time of the summer and we’ll go to Dresden in between.
Q: Is it an advantage or a disadvantage to train in the same place for a long time? Doesn’t it get boring?
Aljona: If you are travelling as much as we do, it’s nice to be at home for a while.
Robin: Exactly. I cannot think of something better right now!
Q: Are there any news about your ideas for the music?
Aljona (laughs and looks at Robin): It will be a surprise! But we’ll do something new.
Q: Thank you very much and good luck for the next season!
