He would like to be remembered as a complete and chameleon skater.
Javier Fernández came into Marca’s editorial place after receiving a heartfelt homage in el Palacio de Hielo of Madrid. The tiredness was evident on his face. He barely slept after landing, coming from Minsk, at 1a.m in the morning from Sunday to Monday. Not like the night before after claiming the title of European champion for seventh time in a row. A chapter of Frank de la Jungla allowed him to avoid it and sleep. The next day he gave a grand finale to a career full of successes. Without losing his usual smile for even an instant, he went over the emotions he felt in these twenty one years since he tried his first skates when he was six years old. How did you prepare in such a fast way for this Europeans?
It’s not the same to start [training] from zero as from 20%. Before the pre-European training sessions, I had been skating in the shows. I hadn’t lost so much depth and it helped me when I flew to Toronto and started training one hundred percent for the European championships.
Your rivals were in top shape and even so you, with so little time to prepare, still got to win…
My coaches told me to not to look at others skaters that had been training every day during the last four or five months. We have to be patient, even more when it comes to jumps, to quadruples. Since Japan Open, I basically haven’t done any. I have been prepared for everything that my coaches said, they have calmed me down when and in other moments they have to push me when they had to.
After the short program, you complained about the judges’ scores.
I might have said something or even complained about the ice [condition] before, but it was the first time that I've been complaining directly about a score. When I see something unfair and it wasn’t a judge but three… it didn’t sit right with me because I’m very objective about my mistakes. I know when I commit them, but when you see that there wasn’t a mistake you don’t digest it well. And it annoyed me because the first thing I said was: “I don’t know what happened in these ten months but there’s something I don’t understand.”
Why do you think it happened?
There might be 300.000 reasons why it happened, but I saw the landing on the ice. I might think it was a mistake or that they saw it from another perspective. I don’t think so. If I think the other way around, I think they might want to push the others skaters so the European Champion has more momentum going into the Worlds Championships. You might think of 300.000 ways possible. That we were in Belarus and the technical panel, that wasn’t all Russian, but it was from the area… One way or another, in the end I won.
Your rivals used to get lower scores in the components (the artistic part) and now [they] were basically the same as yours.
A lot lower. Kolyada’s short program, with steps level 3 because it had ‘body movement’ and they told me I didn’t have ‘body movement’ in the short program. Brian, my own coach, looked at his short program’s steps and mine and said it was a lie. Plus, judges said to be careful with steps in the long program because the same thing might happen when I’ve never gotten level 3. They can get stricter but not only with me. It happened in my components, in my jumps, in the short program’s levels… from getting 90 and something points you’re left with 91 and the other with 100. It is 9 points you have to overcome.
Did you check your short program?
No. Only the jump I was told it was lacking [the quadruple salchow]. I saw it on YouTube in slower motion and with the replay in even slower speed. The jump wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t lacking less than a quarter to finish it. If it’s more than a quarter, you’re lacking of rotation and that wasn’t my case. I saw exactly how I landed on the ice. It wasn’t perfect but it was lacking less than a quarter.
How did you manage that frustration until the long program?
I was annoyed the first day but more than one person in this little world send me a message and told me to not worry and to do what I have to do. I am skater that has been one hundred percent loyal to the sport. I have never done something to cheat and I don’t want it to happen to me.
What did you think before going out for your long program being your last competition?
I had it in mind but in the moment of competing those things just go out of your head. I was more nervous during the short program than during the long because I had more time without competing [with it].
How did you follow Kolyada’s performance?
I wasn’t nervous before it started because there was nothing I could do. When I saw he fell I knew he was going down the ranking. And when he fell for the third time, even more. I would have gotten angrier if it wasn’t like that. He was fighting to survive during the whole program.
You already saw yourself as champion?
Yes and no, because until I see the scores I don’t want to take it for given, but I knew it was more likely.
How would you like people to remember you for?
As a complete skater. That people say: ‘I want to be like Javier Fernandez’ but not because they want to be the same as me, but because they want to have the same personality on the ice or for being a chameleon with every music and for bringing a good program every year with different styles.
Is it impossible to have another Javier Fernandez?
It's not impossible. Difficult? Yes. But we have to try to up that percentage. How? More ice rinks, more help… There has to be a good project for figure skating of high performance level where skaters aren’t lacking anything. The difference between being in the top skaters is on the details. Instead of training at 7 of the morning you could train at 12. Or instead of training at five degrees, you could do it at 10 or 15. Having the ice in good condition… are minimum details but they are essential.
You placed Spanish skating on the map but investments in this sport are lacking.
Who should fight for the help of athletes? That’s the big question. I am one hundred percent willing to give everything to get whatever it is for those athletes. Now our athletes are living outside of Spain. In the future we want them to be at home. They are living badly and at the same time they train they have to work. The family of the couple of one of the skaters is having to pay their expenses. If you are an athlete, you should not be thinking about having to work to pay for the championships. There should be more help and money.
Where is Javier Fernandez’s future going?
I want to be a coach, but not right now, I prefer to keep going with the seminars and the summer camps, that are less often because I have a lot of shows around the world. If you want to be a coach and have a school, you have to be every day with your students. We really want to domore Revolution on Ice, taking the show to China or Japan in 2020 with a fusion with flamenco.
What was your best moment in skating?
Everything. I can’t choose a medal, nor a championship nor an experience. Everything is part of me, from beginning to end.
