Interview with Albena to Bulgarian Press, 18.01.2009

This interview with Albena some hours ago was published in Bulgarian Press.

Please, can a kind Bulgarian translate this into proper English
The online translator is giving odd translations at some parts . Because of this I do not want to try to translate myself . But the interview is really worth being translated !
Many thanks in advance !

http://paper.standartnews.com/bg/article.php?article=263220 (in Bulgarian)

Translated title:
Albena Denkova: Maxim is my only true friend

The interview is taken from here:

Thank you Petra.I am doing the translation .

The first part :
Albena Denkova:
Maxim is my only true friend
We weren’t even concerned to live in Russia


Two times Figure Skating World Champion Albena Denkova rarely gives interviews after the road accident with her on and off the ice partner Maxim Staviski . The crash marked the life and the career of Albena, who was elected ,just few months before the accident , as a head of the Bulgarian Skating Federation After many reassurances we convinced our great champion to tell us about her present live and problems.


Q -What is left of the Bulgarian figure skating after you and Maxim ?

AD- I coud see a great participation and very good qualities among the youngest skaters. All coaches and children are working with great desire. The parents are very active - they don’t save neither time nor energy and finances for their children’s development . With the older figure skaters the situation is not pleasant. Only few people are kind of good skater and can worthily present Bulgaria .

Q- What was the main problem, that you encountered after your election as a President of BSF?

AD- Two things were problematic. First, there was no consideration about the next generation of skaters. The training system was falling apart . Everything depended only on the personal qualities of the competitors ,as it happened with Zheni Radanova ,myself, Maxim and Ivan Dinev.
The second problem was financial, since the federation had owned very little funds.
The third problem was not the previous administration , but the lack of proper material base in the Bulgarian sport .In general ,without a base , how can you develop any sports ? We don't have a government policy in this matter. Facilities are expensive and there is noone who can invest in them. In the big cities we don’t even have certain land to built sports facilities.
For a year and a half in BSF came near one million Euro as a profit , mainly from the organization of JWC last season. It's a pity that when we had very good achievements ,no one made an effort to find sponsors, and wasn’t attempting to seek financial help . Now we don’t have so many elite competitors, except Zheni Radanova and our shorttrek team and is terribly difficult to bring sponsors. Since the current administration took control over the Federation, we made all efforts to organize some prestigious competitions. I could say that we are doing very good work , because none of the previous managements was able to bring such an income into the Federation account .

Q- Why, after all those good results, you submitted your resignation as President of BSF before Christmas ?

AD- One has nothing to do with the other. I signed my resignation for personal reasons. They are obvious for evryone. The beginning of my active work as president of BSF coincided with Maxim’s accident .It divided my attention. The responsibility and the pressure were to much for me .
My whole family was involved but the problem did not stay inside the family. I was constantly being asked to comment and explain painful for us things . Besides we have to survive ,to help each other. I also have to travel a lot because of my participation in "Ice Age". So I couldn't put the same amount of energy I used to bring in everything i do. Before all I am very demanding to myself and then to other people. I notified the Governing Council about my intention long time ago, but they didn’t accept my resignation. Anyway , I will walk away without worry or crouching heart because I am leaving behind a lot of money that will go to the development of sport.

Q- So it looks like that you are also punished - not only Maxim?
AD- I consider my problem much unimportant . We are talking about many obscure lives and the tragedy of several families. The fact that I am unable to do my job is not the most important. I don’t make plans for the future.
Q- How do you help each other? Did your relationship change after the incident?
AD- No. I am there for him and he is there for me. When he is having hard time , for me is also hard . I always need Maxim’s understanding . And he’s been always next to me .
Q- Who are your best friends now?
AD- Because of my constant traveling I didn't have many friends. Acquaintances, yes. Maxim is my only true friend and he is always with me . For the last few years, however, I found handfuls of people who demonstrated , in serious moments, that are my friends and I can count on them for everything.
Q- How did you feel when you heard the decision about the effective sentence?
AD- I was very upset. I don’t wish to anybody to fall into our situation , or God forbid , in the situation of the victim‘s families. To lose a relative is very hard.
Q- You sympathized them. But victims do not want justice for Maxim, they seek retribution. They want to see him in jail, to redeem the sins of all.
AD- I have no right to comment on this topic. Everyone is aware of the situation, that was brought in the media and was discussed in details for more than one and a half year. It is true that there were speculations, and lies. Everyone in the country has an opinion on this topic.
Q- Have you thought to get out of Bulgaria, and live in Russia or elsewhere?
AD- In Russia I can really relax because there I don’t have this media attention and the sense of permanent stare following me everywhere. We haven’t even discussed the opportunity to live in Russia. The simple reason : the case is not closed yet. We had to work for a long time in Russia, America and other countries, but nowhere I have felt as good as I feel at home.
Q- Are there any particular respect towards you from the fellow figure skaters in the show "Ice Age"?
AD - We had a special respect right after the accident when all were aware of the crash. Nobody justifies Maxim, or says "You are not guilty“, but approaches with understanding. Most of them believe that this could happen to anyone . Moscow is a huge city, and such things could occur momentarily with many casualties in accidents.
Q- Are you getting more invitations for shows now or vice versa?
AD- While we competed , literally months before the incident, we refused to participate in any kind of events. For us was more important to train in order to present better results at competitions. Later, when we supposed to get calls for participation, the accident happened and we had to decline again. Maxim had to forced me to join the first season of "Ice Age". The invitation was open for both of us despite the accident. We are very grateful to Ilya Averbuh, who didn’t turn his back in such a hard time and gave us work.

Q- Isn’t it kind of paradoxical that Maxim is assistant coach in the team of Alexander Zhulin? He was the coach of the biggest rivals in your career - Navka and Kostomarov.
AD-Last year Zhulin invited Maxim to join his group as a specialist and second coach. Zhulin appraises Maxim’s qualities . I admire professionals as Zhulin who do not transform sports rivalry into personal conflict. There are no bad feelings between us. On the ice we were competitors, but off the ice we were friends and colleagues. The friendship between Maxim and Roma Kostomarov is the most significant example .
Q- Can "Ice Age" compensate the lack of competition?
AD- No. I can’t describe in words, the feelings we had on the ice in Japan, Russia, Canada, France, when we knew that there wasn’t a single Bulgarian among the viewers yet the auditorium was full of Bulgarian flags, and people supported us . The competition can’t be compared with any show. At least for me.
Other figure skaters prefer participation in shows, because it is easier and you don’t need to work so hard .But I miss the thrill and the emotions of the competition . I miss even the trainings. I miss our coaches Linichuk and Karponosov, whom we owe enormously . Frankly speaking, I lack the carefree time .While we were competing, we were responsible only for ourselves. We had full confidence in the people we worked with .There was no hypocrisy and betrayal. But when we stepped into the life, things were different.
Q- What will remain with you after communicating with your two partners in the "Ice Age" - Igor Vernik and Timur Rodriguez?
AD- They both were very radiant ,always in a cheerful mood and I will always enjoy seeing them. While they were not the most prominent figure skaters in the show, we had wonderful moments. They gave me positive emotions. With Timur we trained for 6 hours a day. He had a burning desire to make s progress and was extremely ambitious .For him this was like a participation in the Olympics. While I looked at the things more calmly .
Q- Maxim had great appearance in the show this year ?
AD- I always thought that Maxim has the qualities to be a winner in such projects as "Ice Age” and in the sport ,in general. But I was surprised how much the audience liked him. Because they did not consider him a Russian, but Bulgarian or foreigner. However, Maxim with Tanya Arntgolts are among the favorites and won many prizes in this TV project.
Q- By the way ,Albena ,you were the audience’s favorite woman in the past edition. Now is Maxim . How can you explain this? I doubt that only Bulgarians voted in the Internet?
AD- Many Russians who were watching the project rediscovered our couple and were searching the Internet for our performances from previous years. As patriots they were paying attention only to the Russian pairs. Maxim won them with his attitude, with his charisma and with his skills on the ice.
Q- Your fantastic dance with the white costumes "Seven Deadly Sins,was it a curse ? Don‘t you believe that you are paying for someone else’s sins? After all ,during your whole career you went through so many ordeals.
AD- I believe that we all have a destiny and no matter what we do, can’t escape our fate. I and Maxim are among those athletes, that can’t achieve anything by chance and easily. . We always worked very hard ,made many sacrifices and put a lot of effort in everything. It was hard not only for us but also for our families. I don’t know why always happened this way.
Q- What kind of pleasure you were able to afford after the end of your career?
AD- Nothing. But I and Maxim find a pleasure in figure skating itself. It is nice to be on the ice whether we are training at 5 am in the morning, or at 1 o clock at night, which happens very often.

ISU asked me for ideas

Q -You and Maxim raise the bar high in Ice Dance. What are the trends in this sport after you?
AD- The Olympic Champion Alexei Gorshkov, who is the head of the International Dance Skating Federation (ISU), turned to me for help with ideas for the development of dance skating. I was very proud of this proposal, but this also speaks of some problems. I watched several competitions and had the feeling that we are losing the character of the dance. It looks like we are emphasizing on the technical level but forgetting about the idea and artistry. Maybe this is why ,many people now prefer to watch projects as "Ice Age", that are based on the artistry and the performance is created as a mini spectacle. Throughout our career I and Maxim have always tried to do this, whether we were fighting for first, second or tenth place. We were perfectly aware ,that we have to be different in order to achieve any result, We represented Bulgaria, not such big forces in figure skating as Canada, the U.S. or Russia.
I would be pleased to help any skater and I would teach them my knowledge and skills. I don’t have to keep them for myself and to fear that some Bulgarian will improve my results. But to succeed, you must put a lot of effort , you must like and be extremely devoted to your work, you have to give up even the smallest pleasures in order to become the best.

Mara Kalcheva

Viktoria

Tank you SO much for this wonderful translation!

Thank you very much dear Viktoria, you made a great job!!

And this is a great interview....

Albie and Max prove their sincerity, intelligence and sensibility every time!!

I am proud to support them!!

Viki !! Thank you soooooo much for translating this interview with Albena into proper English for us!

Piemontesina wrote:

I am proud to support them!!

Girls ,thank you. It is a wodreful interview indeed.

Thank you, Viktoria, for translating the interview with our wise, beautiful, and learned Albena. She knows Maxim's heart so well. Both are very, very good human beings. I hope that soon God will send extraordinarily good blessings their way.

Thank you, Viki!

Swetis,Sue

OK; thank you, Swetis.

Thanks, girls, for keeping me straight on the credits.