Translation of an interview by Vladimir Kozin and Jaroslav Korbatov printed in a Russian language publication Komsomolskaya Pravda (KP) on March 28, 2008.
KP - Anton, your sports career was full of bright events. Be honest, are you working on a book?
AS - Elena Bereznaja and I received such a proposal after the Salt Lake City Olympics. We developed an outline, even selected a publishing house, but then we left for a month-long tour and our enthusiasm came way down. However, we can always come back to that subject. We do have a lot to tell.
KP - What about the story of your miraculous rescue of Elena?
AS - Yes, after her trauma and brain surgery we could not even think about Olympic gold. She had to learn to talk and to walk again. We had to do a lot to bring her back to her current condition of being a nice, smiling and successful girl. I do not like to lecture on morals, but one could learn a lot from her about courage and strength.
KP - When did you see Elena last?
AS - To be honest, we see each other very rarely. She is busy rearing her newborn child. My schedule is also very tight. I rarely come to St. Petersburg where she lives now, but we talk on the phone regularly.
KP - Were you disappointed by the performance of our figure skaters at the Worlds?
AS - I think that it was a very successful performance. The guys were performing at the maximum of their abilities. It is another story that, as of now, they are not ready to successfully compete, but it is not their fault. When Elena and I were competing, our team consisted of 5 or 6 people who just by themselves were representing an epoch in figure skating. It was unreal that so many talented people got together at the same time. The leadership of figure skating was euphoric about that situation and missed the time to prepare the next generation of figure skaters. We are paying for that mistake now.
KP - Do you have the feeling that the TV shows overshadow the competitions?
AS - It is a world trend. Figure skating is losing its popularity. There are no real bright stars. The new system of judging also played a role in the degradation of the sport. I would call this system anti-spectators, and even anti-Russian. Even I, an Olympic champion, sometimes do not understand why the judges give their particular marks. It seems that the new rules were designed to fit the Asian type of figure skating. They force the skater to concentrate only on the elements - such as what side of the skate is used for a rotation, what is the position of the hands during the lifts? Is it really that important for the spectator? The spectator wants an image, an emotional performance that a couple could create on ice. That was the trademark of the Russian school of figure skating.
KP - When will we see you in an ice show?
AS - I am afraid that I will not have time for it. I know that "Ice Age" will come back in the new TV season, but I won t be there and it is not a problem.
KP- - When did you skate last?
AS - Not long ago. I was skating with my friend s kids at an open-air skating rink. Incidentally, I like to frolic at the open rinks - the snow is falling, the kids are skating, the music is playing - it is wonderful and very romantic. It was nice that these kinds of rinks were opened in the main squares of Moscow and St. Petersburg.
KP - Did the story with the second set of gold medals for the Canadians in Salt Lake City influence your decision to become a politician? It was a clear example of how politics interferes with sports.
AS - No, that six years old story did not influence my decision about my future life direction. I think that sport is for young people. One has to know when to quit without being pushed out. One day, I felt that I was sick and tired of being Chaplin (The program called "Chaplin" was a trademark of Anton and Elena). I felt that I grew up. I was always interested in social activities and I was preparing myself to get involved in sports politics. I am comfortable with my work at Duma (The Russian parliament) and I feel that I can be useful there.
KP - It seems that figure skaters contributed to the prestige of Russia more than soccer, but skaters are making much less that the soccer players. Could you correct this unfairness?
AS - I am glad that soccer and hokey players are making serious money and I would not want to take it away from them. But I agree that it is not fair that an Olympic champion in gymnastics, a world legend, earns in a year as much as a medium level hokey player makes in a week.
KP - You are 32 years old and already Chairman of the Duma s Committee of physical education and sports. But what about your personal life? Is it true that you are getting married in July and could we congratulate you in advance?
"Fred Williams" <unclefred@webruler.com> wrote in message
news:5aadnbdYRZT8Z2LanZ2dnUVZ_oaonZ2d@vianet...
On Friday 11 April 2008 18:13, Vick444~No Spam~@aei.ca wrote:
What was never investigated, and should have been is what was
the
other
half of the deal? We found out that M. Gailhuget, (however you
spell it), had made the judge mark the Russians up, but there was no
investigation of what the other side of the deal was. What were the
French supposed to get out of it? Also there was no investigation of
the other 4 judges who also marked the Russians higher. There was
just so much that got swept under the carpet.
The French team of Anissina/Peizerat were to get the gold medal in Ice
Dance, and they did.
Shelagh
That's the part that was never investigated, was it. I mean we saw it happen, but the official investigations never asked the question. Am i wrong on this?
On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 19:55:12 -0400, Fred Williams <unclefred@webruler.com> wrote:
I think it's very possible that neither he nor Elena knew anything
about what was going on behind the scenes. These are governement level
arrangements and the governments are the ones who claim the prestige in
the medal counts. Governments are the ones who will do anything to
achieve their goals, and it's not just the Russia block countries who
do it. They just seem to be doing it best in Figure Skating right now.
They have the ISU in their pocket for sure.
What was never investigated, and should have been is what was the other
half of the deal? We found out that M. Gailhuget, (however you spell
it), had made the judge mark the Russians up, but there was no
investigation of what the other side of the deal was. What were the
French supposed to get out of it? Also there was no investigation of
the other 4 judges who also marked the Russians higher. There was just
so much that got swept under the carpet.
CBS's 60 Minutes did a feature on Skategate, about strong physical evidence of tampering. The case was made that 4 judges had placed the skaters all over place, while other 5 judges voted as a entire block, from 1st place to 20th place. The entire event was fixed from top to bottom...
I can't seem to remember for what event it was ? ...
On Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:25:22 -0400, Fred Williams <unclefred@webruler.com> wrote:
On Sunday 13 April 2008 16:09, Shillelagh wrote:
"Fred Williams" <unclefred@webruler.com> wrote in message
news:5aadnbdYRZT8Z2LanZ2dnUVZ_oaonZ2d@vianet...
On Friday 11 April 2008 18:13, Vick444~No Spam~@aei.ca wrote:
What was never investigated, and should have been is what was
the
other
half of the deal? We found out that M. Gailhuget, (however you
spell it), had made the judge mark the Russians up, but there was no
investigation of what the other side of the deal was. What were the
French supposed to get out of it? Also there was no investigation of
the other 4 judges who also marked the Russians higher. There was
just so much that got swept under the carpet.
The French team of Anissina/Peizerat were to get the gold medal in Ice
Dance, and they did.
Shelagh
That's the part that was never investigated, was it. I mean we saw it
happen, but the official investigations never asked the question. Am i
wrong on this?
It was believed to be a pack deal of several countries from the Eastern Block to fix the Ice dancing & Pairs event, at the expense of Canadian & American skaters. France-Russia-Italy was head of the Eastern Block, that featured an alliances with Israel, Red China, Ukraine, Poland, Blyrussia, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary. Judging was replaced by *voting*. Didier Gailhaguet was the play maker for the Eastern Block countries for 1998 & 2002 Olympics.
Many years ago, there were several articles posted on RSSIF, about Didier Gailhaguet and his comments, about "France had the power"... "Canada had no power"... "We have the power"...
It was believed some of figure skaters knew about the fix from various sources other than Didier Gailhaguet. Marina Anissina knew about the fix and even participated to fix the 2002 Olympics with help of her ?mother? & connections with Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov , who was accused in bribery of ice skating judges in the 2002 Olympics.
V.
Here is some info on Marina Anissina's mother & father from wikipedia:
Marina Anissina's mother, Irina Cherniaeva, is a former pair skater who participated in the 1972 Winter Olympics and finished in sixth place with her partner Vasili Blagov. She is now a pairs figure skating coach. She followed her daughter to France and worked as a coach in Paris but moved later with her daughter to Lyon.
Marina Anissina's father is Wiatscheslaw Michailowitsch Anissin (born July 11 1951). He was World and European champion in ice hockey and works as an ice hockey coach in Moscow in Russia. He was also a member of the Soviet team that participated in the 1972 Summit Series against Canada.
A Russian mob figure was arrested today (7/31) and charged with fixing two ice skating competitions at the 2002 Olympics. As alleged in this amazing federal criminal complaint, mafiya boss Alimzan Tokhtakhounov used his influence with members of the Russian and French skating federations in order to rig the outcome of the pairs figure skating and ice dancing events. Tokhtakhounov, arrested today in northern Italy, has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit bribery related to sporting contests. The federal case, filed in U.S. District Court in New York, is based chiefly on telephone conversations bugged earlier this year by Italian authorities. Those wiretaps caught Tokhtakhounov speaking with a member of the Russian figure skating federation about the scheme to rig the Olympic events. And while she is not identified by name, it is clear that skater Marina Anissina (and the athlete's mother) also spoke with Tokhtakhounov about the plot. The 26-year-old Anissina, who was born in Russia but emigrated to France in 1993, copped the ice dancing gold medal with partner Gwendal Peizerat. In one wiretapped conversation with the Russian skating official, Tokhtakhounov refers to Anissina as "one of ours." The skating official replied, "Thank you, she will be grateful to you for the rest of her life." Tokhtakhounov's resume includes drug distribution, trafficking in stolen vehicles, illegal gun sales, and the fixing of Moscow beauty pageants, according to FBI and Interpol agents.
Here is an 8 paged transcript between Marina Anissina, her mother and Tokhtakhounov, quite sad...
