Blog - Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin

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Dear supporters and figure skating fans! We now have our own blog on Sports.ru. Here we will share our thoughts and impressions on past experiences and everyday life, and tell you all about training and competitions. We hope you will be interested in learning more about us. You can view the blog's entries in this section of the website. You may leave your comments and questions on the guestbook of this website or directly at the blog on Sports.ru.

02 Nov 2009

сборная России, травмы, танцы на льду, Ванкувер-2010, Оксана Домнина, Максим Шабалин

Оksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin will be the main contenders at Vancouver Olympic Games. Phото:AFP/Getty Images/Harry How

Aboriginal Dance

Hello to everyone at Sports.ru and at our оfficial site! Maxim and I were recently in Moscow to compete in the Grand Prix event. Unfortunately, due to health reasons we were forced to skip the competition. I am already back in America. I'm training and thinking about home, and ready tell you about our Olympic programs.

We arrived in Moscow one week before the event. Since we were home, we thought it would be a good idea for Max to go for a check-up. The doctors' advise was that we should be cautious now, if we want to compete at the Olympics later. So we decided to take a break now, rather than being sorry when the big moment comes. Of course Maxim was really disappointed, but he took it well. The coaches and I thought he would say " No, I want to compete", like he did last year, but he's being careful this time. We decided to skip both Grand Prix events: since Maxim is currently not training it would have been impossible for us to compete after a two weeks break.

The coaches and I thought he would say " No, I want to compete", like he did last year, but he's being careful this time.

Of course there's nothing good about the fact good that we are skipping the Grand Prix. First of all, the judges need to see us and get used to our new programs and I think this will happen at the Europeans. Second, we ourselves need to compete! We hope we can make up for these aspects in which we are lacking, and be fully ready to compete for the Olympics.

I'm always so busy in Moscow. I trained in Odintsovo. Of course not on the ice with Gorshkov/Petukhov's group. I've been given individual ice time. We are now in good terms with Gorshkov. Time passed by, things calmed down and everything is ok now. Unfortunately, I am sad to say the same cannot be said about our relationship with Sergei Petukhov.

I know so many people in Moscow and I must find the time to see them all. I didn't want to go back to the US, but there's nothing I can do about it. We need to hang in there a little longer and then we'll be back home and everything will be alright.

After the Olympics we would really like to keep performing, compete, fight...but I think health will not allow it. Of course we could hope that after a year's break and treatment Maxim's knee will be healed, but I doubt it. I don't want to think about it now, me must first wait until after the Olympics.

During my stay in Russia I attended the ice dance competition at the "Rostelecom Cup"
Everyone skated well, but I didn't see anything really original. I liked Rubleva/Shefer, they definitely improved. I root for Riazanova/Tkachenko, I really wish everything worked out for them.

I know so many people in Moscow and I must find the time to see them all. I didn't want to go back to the US, but there's nothing I can do about it.

Now I'm going to tell you about our Olympic programs. Our original dance this year is...well, really original! It's a dance of the Aboriginal: there are drums, mysterious voices. The music, the choreography, the costumes, even ourselves: everything is new. Maxim and I like it a lot. It was Natalia Vladimirovna Linichuck who introduced us to the music. We refused it for quite a long time because we couldn't even start to imagine the result. Then we decided to go for it and we started to work. We found a couple of interesting solutions here and there....We decided that it will be something very unusual. We are not afraid to experiment with the original dance in the Olympic year. The free dance though, is all another story.

As the main part of our free dance we chose the soundtrack from a pretty obscure movie. I won't reveal the title because we don't want people to go watch the movie and then compare it to what we are doing. We also use the theme from "Requiem for a dream", but our dance has nothing to do with the movie. The story we want to tell on the ice is about love between a man and a woman.

Talking about our upcoming plans, we will definitely compete in the Russian Nationals. We are also considering to take part in the fourth event of the Russian Cup in Moscow in late November, but this is not sure yet.

21 Oct 2009

Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin will not be performing at the Grand Prix competitions.
Phоtо: REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
East-West

Hello everyone. We are Oksana and Maxim. In this first post on Sports.ru, also published on out official website domnina-shabalin.ru, we will tell you about life in America. Everything is different over here, and we are still not used to life in this country.
Оksana: «Maxim and I live and train in America. We moved here about a year ago. In the beginning it was very hard for us to get used to the new way of life: we didn't have an apartment, or a car. During the first two months we only took care of everyday life matters. Things are getting better now. We train in Aston, Pennsylvania, and we live in a small village not far from there. It takes about 15-20 minutes to drive to the rink, it's very convenient.

Shabalin: «The people we have a decent relationship with you can count on the finger of one hand. Of course I communicate with Oksana»

Although we have been living overseas for over one year now, to me America is still just the place where we work and train, nothing more than that. Home to me is Moscow, Kirov, definitely not over here. Life in the US is a bit different…».

Мaxim: «Life over here is not a bit different, it's completely different! First of all an American city is not even close to a city as we know it. It's not a village, but it's not really a city. It looks more like a town made of cottages. No sidewalks, no people, only cars driving by. It's confusing. Thirty miles outside the city starts the true countryside. Everything is clear over there. But over here...it's hard to tell what it is. So that's where we live, in the middle of this "hard to tell what it is" place. We don't communicate with many people. The people we have a decent releationship with you can count on the fingers of one hand. Of course I communicate with Oksana...».
Оksana: «Yes, but only at the ice rink ».
Мaxim: «Well, that's where we spend all our time after all. Wake-up call is at 6 AM. Oksana does choreography. I hate choreography. I get up in the morning, go to the gas station and get my coffee there. Honestly though, the coffee tastes horrible. You can't really call it coffee. Let's say it's a drink that remotely tastes like coffee. Anyway...I get up and stop at the gas station for coffee. Then on to the ice-rink. That's pretty much our life over here».
Оksana: «We skate 4 hours a day, we do choreography, we work on the lifts at the gym and on our general physical form».

Shabalin: «Every morning I go to the gas station to get my coffee. Honestly though, the coffee tastes horrible…»

Мaxim: «We stay at the rink till 4 PM, then we take a break for dinner. At 6 or 7 PM we are back at the rink to keep on working. Off to bed at 10 PM!».
Оksana: «I also try to sleep during the day, in between breaks. I usually manage to get an hour sleep. I generally like to sleep.
It must be said that American coaches have a different approach than what we are used to in Russia. Over here they work just for the money. Parents pay, and their kids train exactly for as long as it's been paid for. Even in Russia we are slowly getting there, but there are still skating schools and groups where the parents can take their children for a monthly fee, which is very small by American standards, or they might not pay at all. In America everything is based on individual work».
Мaxim: «Our situation is different. Of course our coaches don't work for free, but we don't pay by the hour».
Оksana: «Now we train in a completely different way than we did in Russia. Over there we would get on the ice and the coaches would work with all the couples at the same time, although concentrating on the strongest couples: us and the Bulgarians, when they still trained in Odintsovo..
In the USA the situation is completely different. For example, we train two hours with Natalia Vladimirovna Linichuk and during that time she works exclusively with us. She might occasionally exchange a couple of words with Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, but other than that, she devotes that time to us, while the guys are working with Gennadi Mikhailovich Karponossov. Then we switch, and we go to Gennadi while Tanith and Ben go to Natalia. Everything is based on individual work».
Domnina: «We understand that this is the Olympic season and we've tried to put the best of what we've achieved in the past years
into our new programs»
Мaxim: «We are working hard. I was in Germany for three months to get treatment on my knees. I cannot say I've healed completely, but I feel much better than last year».
Оksana: «We understand that this is the Olympic season, and we've tried to put the best of what we've achieved in the past years into our new programs. But we don't want to reveal anything: it doesn't make sense to talk, you will see».