Translated material
Andrey Moiseev: Success is a drug
— For almost half a century, no one in your sport has won two Olympics in a row. How did you achieve this result?
-- Hard training, proper preparation for the start. Psychology also plays a huge role in our sport. The one who is psychologically stable wins.
- What did you think about this morning when you saw that it was raining outside the window?
- And this is normal weather for pentathletes. We even have a saying: “What a horse without rain.” This happens quite often.
—Which of the five types was the most difficult for you?
- Everything was hard. Throughout the season, my shooting could not be called good. It was always difficult for me, especially since it was the first type. It was difficult to force myself to work and tune in to the competition. At first it didn’t work out well in fencing either. In the middle of the tournament I seemed to be at peace and felt confident. I thought: it seems like nothing. In swimming, it was not possible to show the result with which I swam in Athens due to the cold water. Then show jumping. You saw that the composition of horses was not very even. The horses were unprepared.
- So they were worse than you expected in Moscow?
— Last time we were in China, I concluded that it was with the horses at the Olympics that serious problems would arise. Some horses were imported from Australia, but most were local, Chinese. Almost all the horses were not ready for the route. And the weather conditions were not very good, it was raining, it was uncomfortable for the horses to jump. Therefore, if it seemed to someone that I “easily won these difficult competitions,” this is not so. It was psychologically difficult for me from the very beginning to the end.
- How long does it take for an athlete to understand the disposition of a horse that was given to him by lot?
- I don’t know, but according to the rules, 20 minutes are given. During this time, you may not even have time to understand what kind of horse it is. Today you saw the results of those people who did not figure it out. Their horses fell, threw themselves, knocked down the bars.
—Have you watched how your opponents perform?
- No, I didn’t look at the protocols at all. I looked into them only before the cross-country race to find out what handicap I was running with. In principle, knowing my physical condition and my opponents, I understood that the gap was 13 seconds. with the Chinese, who was listed second in the protocol, will be unattainable. I didn’t consider him my main rival; I knew that he wasn’t a good cross-country runner. And he understood that he would not make it into the top three. The only opponent who would seriously compete with me is the Czech David Svoboda. A very stable guy, performed well throughout the season. But I couldn’t cope with the horse, I didn’t understand it.
- So you didn’t know that you were going first before the last species?
- I assumed, but I didn’t know how far ahead I was. I didn't know who was behind me. I guessed that the ride was unsuccessful for many. I heard the noise of the stands, saw the broken faces of the participants who entered the locker room, their dirty backs, black breeches.
— At this Olympics, for the first time, pentathletes ran cross-country not over rough terrain, but across a stadium. After the competition, your coach said that the run turned out to be difficult and choppy due to the fact that there was a tape stretched on the treadmill, indicating 24 turns of 180 degrees. It was a real labyrinth, from which it was difficult for tall athletes to get out.
- It didn’t seem so to me. Normal smooth cross. There wasn't much difference. I tried the distance during the warm-up. Nothing complicated. No grass, no sand, no soil. And the turns were not difficult.
- This is your second Olympics. Where did you find motivation to continue training?
- What kind of motivation can an athlete have? Success is a drug. Stand on the podium and listen to the Russian anthem. I want to achieve results, to prove to myself that victory at the last Olympics was not an accident. I walked to this medal long and hard and I wouldn’t say that it came easy to me. Now it was much harder for me to compete than in Athens, because I realized that I came here as an Olympic champion, and the burden of responsibility was very pressing. Four years ago I was young. I came to my first Olympics to look at the people, I didn’t think about anything. And psychologically, that victory was much easier for me than this one.
— After the Olympics in Athens, was there any feeling of devastation?
- It seems to me that this can happen to many athletes who climb to the Olympic peak. But I didn’t have that. I planned to continue my sports career, so there was no talk of any devastation.
— After such success, will you continue performing?
- Why not? I already said that motivation can always be found.