Tatiana and Maxim.

That's the article I promised to translate - the first part of it. Three more to come. I liked this article very much - it's extremely sincere.

And, I think, it would be nice to have a topic devoted to these skaters as there are some girls here who love them.

Tatiana Totmianina: I dared to blackmail.
The Olympic champion managed to pay her debts only after Torino.
It was only once that she showed her emotions in public - after they had won the WCh in Moscow:
"How long are they going to treat us as if we had just got out of a gutter?"
Before and after these words there were only victories and the hardest work. And the injury.
The pictures of that awful fall of Tanja from the lift were seen by the whole planet. And the glorious Torino, where the fearless Chinese fell, was after that.

The Olympic Champions Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin are ready to come back next season. The only thing they need is some rest and sponsors - their families shouldn't suffer from the lack of money if they go for medals to their third Olympics.

- So, Tania, 9 months ago you said to him: "Look, that's the end!"
- The training before the Free Programme in Torino was at 6:30 a.m, and we went to the ice only at 10 p.m. It's like you are walking about fearing lest you should make a wrong step, waste your energy: what if you sprain your ankle, eat something wrong, see or hear something wrong?
So, you switch off your mind not to spill yourself - unreal sensations.
When that second of silence after the FP came, I turned to Max and said: "Look, that's the end! We have won!"
And Max's eyes - they were like... taken aback.
"What is it? We have done everything?"
We bowed, and I said, my voice stiffled: "Maxim, turn back, it may be the last time..."
Even now I'm about to cry. Should we decide to do it again...
- Will you?
- We have been thinking about it since the OG. We watched the WCh - why not? Yes, sport has its own rules for everybody. But in this life you also have some regulations. One can't do everything he/she wants, however mighty and rich one might be.
Don't know, if it's good or bad. You should just accept the life as it is. You see, this summer I began to realize that I understand nothing about this life.
I quitted sport - so what am I to do?
I have to begin from the very beginning.
I have my job, my mom and my flat. That's it. Nothing else.
- Large flat?
- It's in Peter. A tiny flat, but it's my own.
- What would you like to have if you could afford it?
- My dream is to have a family and kids. When I see a baby, I am eager to have my own...
I even said to my mom once: "Mom, maybe I shall adopt a child?"
- How come you said it? You are very young!
I just saw an underprivilleged woman with a pretty baby in the street. She can't give anything to it. Neither physically, nor materially. No way...
- You are said to have a friend. Are you ready..
- You mean - a boyfriend? No.
-No what? You are not ready to speak about it or you don't have a close friend?
- No, I don't have any. I'm single. I'm free.
- BTW, about freedom - when did you and Max understand that you are the chosen ones? You have more spare time now, you can think about it.
- First of all, we still are very short of time: shows, contracts, meetings... It goes without saying, we have got moral satisfaction and keep on getting it, but we have no free second.
Second, we have never had the impudent assurance that we are the chosen ones. The best?
Yes, one day you are the leader, but you let everybody down, fell down, psychologically as well, and it's extremely difficult to get out of this hole.
That's why I never thought: Oh, I'm the leader. And it may be good ' cause I've always tried to jump iver myself.
- An over the audience. It was very hard to charm us after the brilliant pair Bereznaja- Sikharulidze.
- Hard is a wrong word. Everybody was shouting around us: they are not artistic, they are not worth, they are not what we want, it's not prestigeous... And we changed our styles, programmes, I changed myself - blond to red, red to blond - it was awfully difficult to find my own style, to be liked by everybody.
Well, at least 51 per cent of the audience. It hurt me so much: Lena and Anton began to skate together when we did. But they conquered everybody's heart the first time they appeared in public. No per cents.
And they also had that tragical story of Lena's injury.

The 2nd part of the interview:

-The accident when you fell from the lift highly raized the percentage of aaudience's love. It's wafully unfair but it's the truth.
- that's in man's nature. Why do people all over the world like hockey-football?
There is fight, injuries, which can hardly be seen in everyday life. And here two come to the ice - and everything is beautiful and effortless,
are they worth watching? I fell down and remained on the ice, and people, who still have a gift of sympathy - which I'm deprived of, sport made me forget about it - the people understood that we are human beings, who want something earthly.
An Olympic medal, for example. And they may make mistakes. The people must have believed we are just like them. People want medals, so do we. And we are ready to overcome everything to reach our goal. This may have worked. I don't know. But it did work!
- So you can't feel pity for yourself in sport only or in general?
- Yes, first of all I stopped to pity myself. I don't cry of physical pain any more. Only offence makes me cry. And as I don't pity myself I never express my sympathy to anybody. Even to my loved ones, which is extremely difficult. I see everything, I sympathize with a person deep in my heart, but I never show it. And a lot of people consider me a cruel person. I am not! But I'd been fighting for years, trying to be strong, now I have to fight for making myself less tough.
- They say, if a person doesn't express his/her feelings it may lead to a stroke...
- There's nothing to be done about it. I never worked with a psychologist - I don't trust people at all.
Every word - well, it's sport again - you have to control every word. You lose not only sympathy with people, but trust as well. I don't trust people, and I can't share my feelings and problems with anybody.
- But it's impossible to live like that!
- Even if something bad happens, I try to forget about it quickly. My mom would tell me: "Tanja, do you remember what hardships we had?" - and I don't remember, I really try to forget, to delete it frommy memory.
- Tanja, do you remember the moment you lost your selfcontrol and asked: when will they stop treating us as rubbish? What else shall we do to win hearts?
- You know, why it happened? I suddenly remembered everything - it's the second time I went to ice with an awful injury - and I won, why, why am I still humiliated? Why did we after our first WCh victory heard no congrats but the words: "Don't you think you were marked too high?"How come?! You have become a world champion - you are a king till the next year competition! You are very happy - and here you come! And the next year we were treated that very way... Then this fall - and it arose interest.
Then again - the first Russian Nationals after the injury - we are the first, so are we at the Europeans, and it still feels as if somebody were about to say: "we've been telling you this victory is just a coincidence". And I thought all of a sudden: "My partner and I, we can overcome everything, why should I keep silence?"
- Listen, Max, after he had dropped you, had a lot of psychological problems. And you seemed to be o'k...
- As I have already said - and everybody was shocked - luckily I lost consciousness. I didn't see anything. And never watched the comp. I remember, I asked Oleg in hospital: "Oleg, we are having a competition in 2 weeks, we will manage to prepeare for it, will we?" So optimistically... He says:"Tanja, let's wait for the time you can leave hospital - and then we'll make a decision". And when I got up and went to the bathroom, I had a look at the mirror... How am I to skate if I can't even show up in public? After that, of course, my head hurt me after the concussion, I felt giddy, but I knew I culd do it: go-go, I don't care what lift to do - that one - o'k! As many lifts as I were to!
- But two make a pair...
- Yes, Maxim had more difficulties: at the trainings I said: "Maxim, let's practice lifts". And I saw that he bedan to tremble, he's afraid of lifting me even off the ice. It happened once, then again - and I realized it's not me who had the problem. In 6 weeks we came to Moscow for some minor competition, we were to do that lift, Max lifted me and put back on ice. Before that it had been only once that Max did it, not very good, but still. What were we to do? And then Oleg and I did not a very good thing, but it was the right one: "So, Max, if you are not sure in yourself, it's time to quit!"
- that was blackmailing!
- right. But what else could we have done? Oleg gave his arguments: "I'll go to the US, begin earning money. Tanja is only 23, we'll find a partner for her. You are free, we won't make you skate. Everybody should decide himself what to do".
Max listen to him and left. In two hours he was back: "Let's go, we'll skate tomorrow".
- Well, we understand what he was thinking about, but what were you doing those two hours?
- Nothing - I knew. Though I even began to think - who, with whom? - I still knew Max wouldn't leave me. We had been working for ages - why quit just 'cause he couldn't lift me once? Just turn round and go away? - I don't believe: Max can't do it!
The next day we went to ice. Those very orange costumes, that very programme, that very lift. And - he lifted me, and we understood: "That's it. We are through. It won't happen again". Max said: "If I have done it in such a situation, don't worry, I won't let you down any more!"

Wow, Valechka, you did great job! This article seems to be verrrrry long thanks for translating it for us .
And thanks for opening this topic. It's strange we didn't have a "corner" for Tania and Max

Kisses!

Tatiana and Malinin, IceAge, 22.09.2007:
[url] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOKgJcuGfro [/url]

Maxim and Kabo, Ice Age, 22.09.2007, in two parts:
[url] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOuQyNSYpLg [/url]
[url] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO8hr9Cm8fc [/url]
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Albie and Max!! You will always be in a corner of my heart!!