Transcripts

1998 Winter Olympics - Trans World Sport feature

thank you to Steffi for the translation!

It's lunchtime in the Japanese Alps. The Olympics are over. Normality is slowly coming back to this part of the world, too. This is the time you are meeting old friends, chatting with them and forgetting about the pressure you have to deal with every four years. There, we are meeting a lady who is still looking for perfection - although she has already been responsible for three gold medals.

Tamara Moskvina [speaking directly into the camera; sitting on the floor of a Japanese restaurant]: "My dream, my motivation is the desire to create something. I would like to make world class skaters out of average skaters. I would like people to say: 'What a talent, how beautiful these skaters are acting.' Then, I'm happy about the fact that these skaters have once been average skaters and they had to deal with bad training conditions. The, we found an interesting program, special music and new elements and that's why people are guessing what their secret is."

Finally, peace has come back to one of the many skiers' paradises near Nagano. 'Finally the games are over', many people are thinking. The two skaters Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze are feeling the same way about it. They are also happy about being able to relax a bit.

Elena [standing next to Anton on a ski run while holding her skis in her hands]: "I never imagined that we would be able to come so far. And now, I can't believe that we are standing here and holding these medals in our hands...[turns to Anton] Can you believe it?"

Anton: "Magic."

It's unbelievable but Berezhnaya was in a coma in a Lithuanian hospital two years ago. A small part of her brain had to be removed during a emergency operation after her former partner had injured her with the blade of his skates without purpose. It's unbelievable how this pair from Moscow (!!!) could win the silver medal here. The pair from St.Petersburg was in the limelight, even more after their second place which hardly anyone had expected from them. Their coach had a lot to do with this.

Tamara Moskvina [speaking directly into the camera]: "It was very hard for me to keep the balance. On the one had, I was concerned about her health but, on the other hand, there was the desire to push them more and more. Always further and further. This was my big conflict.

Tamara Moskvina became the 'grande dame' of pairs skating during these Olympic Games. The ice lady made history despite of the non-existing support of sports and despite of the bad training conditions in St.Petersburg. Her 'pair No. 1', Oksana Kazakova and Artur Dmitriev won the gold medal. Now, Tamara Moskvina is the first coach who made Olympic champions out of three different pairs. However, her biggest success was probably the silver medal of Elena and Anton. She plans to coach this pair also during the next Olympics and to bring them to new heights.

Tamara Moskvina [speaking directly into the camera; coaching at the side of the rink]: "It's a pleasure to watch them. If I'm able to show the creative potential of our Russian ballet choreographers and dancers and artists to them, nobody knows what this will lead to and what will become out of them. How famous will they become, then?"

Anton [training at the rink; standing next to Elena and lifting Elena]: "Tamara is our hero. She helped us so very much. She is such a good person. She is an outstanding coach. She taught us a lot of things - not only how to move on the ice but also how we are ought to live our life in general."

As a coach, she certainly told them how good it is to take some time off.

At the end, everybody wanted to receive a photo with them. Even Trans World Sport.