Stéphane Lambiel: "I cannot hide my feelings"
By Reut Golinsky
Stéphane Lambiel is always very busy and in great demand by journalists. “This year it’s been really crazy,” – he admits. “Why is it always Stéphane? Why only Stéphane? There are so many other skaters!” – exclaims his agent. And he is right. Since our talk at Art On Ice more than a year ago, Absolute Skating has published interviews with Stéphane about every two months. But to Stéphane’s fans… it’s never enough, is it?
I appreciate enormously that in his very tight schedule, being tired and a bit affected by a cold, Stéphane still finds time to talk to me before the first show in his home town, Lausanne. We start with the "special form" Stéphane filled out, and which by now you have already read. He mentioned "expression" among his other strong qualities and we continue from there...
You wrote "expression" and I agree; you have this very special talent to make people feel what you feel.
I like to share my passion for figure skating with people. I know that I can spread my feelings. Maybe there are people who never express the things they want to express but then feel them through me. What amazes me the most is that this connection has no boarders, it works all over the world; it’s a language everybody can speak.
Understand maybe, but I don’t think everybody can speak that language. But you certainly can and it’s a rare quality, though sometimes the words you speak in this language are not happy, but sad.
Well, I think it’s impossible to always be happy.
Of course it's impossible. But when you were sad after you’d finished your free skate in Vancouver, it was the worst moment in many people lives. Not so much because of your skate but because of your face.
But is that good or not? I don’t know. It happens because I just cannot hide my feelings. For me it’s impossible; you can watch my face and tell if I’m OK or not.
But you know how to act too, don't you? Like when you’re skating your “Ne me quitte pas” program...
That’s me! I’m not acting.
But a second after you finish you’re already smiling.
Yes, because it’s the next minute. It’s different. For me the story is finished when the music is over. It’s like with a book, when you close it the story is finished.
I always wondered how you enter the mood when you start “Ne me quitte pas”?
I think I mentioned it somewhere that I hate to wait for the music to start. But as soon as the music starts I feel that there is only the music and me. Maybe I don't feel sad at that moment and would prefer to skate to something funny. But I go on the ice to skate "Ne me quitte pas", and as soon as I hear that music I feel what I need to do. So it’s not like I have to concentrate on the moves, it’s not like I need to tell my arm to go up. It’s the music which makes me move.
I noticed that music always makes you move; when you hear the music you start dancing. How does it work to drive your car and listen to music?
Oh my God, very badly! (laughs) Maybe it’s because there are too many emotions altogether; to drive the car also brings out emotions. But then life is very interesting like that…
You said you got over Vancouver. Did you check the protocols, try to re-skate your program in your mind and find what went wrong and what could have been corrected?
No. I cannot change anything. Maybe later I will watch this program and enjoy it. But right now there is no point for me to check the program or the protocols. Why would I do that anyway? I did everything possible then, but cannot change the past. Right now I can focus on doing my job as well as I can. I’m busy with my shows and it’s great.
So we won’t be seeing you in Bern next year? (at the European Championships 2011)
No. For me Vancouver was the main goal. I’m happy I took this road but I know I’m done with it now. My goal was to get the gold medal in Vancouver, but I don’t have it. I have to accept it and move on with my life.
That road was great, with or without a medal…
Exactly! For me it would have been nicer with a medal. Maybe not even nicer but it would have been a concrete satisfaction and I could have said: "My road to Vancouver resulted in this!". But I got the satisfaction within me: I worked, my body feels healthy and that’s already the best satisfaction I can get.
What's next on your agenda; shows?
Yes.
Without you, advice me on who I should cheer for next season. Do you see some young skaters now who follow in your footsteps and have your vision of figure skating?
I wish I would be able to work with skaters. I don’t know if I should ask someone who I think has potential to work with me. Or if I need to wait until someone comes to me and asks for my help and then decide if I should accept or not. I really wish that someone would ask me and then I’d be able to decide. Because when you're competing you cannot really concentrate on what's happening on the ice. But I didn't watch anyone skating in Vancouver, so I didn't see who has potential or not. I know there are good skaters, Michal [Brezina] for example is very good. And Javier [Fernandez] is very good too, with a lot of passion. I would love to work for skaters; I would love to help them.
But when you're touring with shows you can't come and help someone, because you're always busy.
I don't think it would be impossible. You cannot be with the skater 100% of the time and work with him every day. But for the choreography you’d need to "put the blood into the body", to "inject" something into the skater and then he’d have to react to the program in his own way. That would not mean doing exactly what I say and what I want to see, but for him to work it his way and then maybe add new things. I cannot tell someone who doesn't have my body and can't do my things: "Now do it like this!" I've never worked with Salomé like that. Choreography is about freedom, about what you have inside and what you wish to express. It should come from the skater; it's not a cheap copy. We've never watched a video of a dancer and then said: “Oh, that's a move we want to use in the program”. It's more spontaneous and it has to come from you. But if I work with a skater, of course I will add my touch. Of course I would love him to be as passionate as I am, but in his or her own way.
I'm looking forward to seeing the competition programs with your “touch” in them, Stéphane. And good luck on the road you've chosen!
During "Art on Ice" I also had the opportunity to chat with a couple of very important people from Stéphane's entourage.
Marla Pichler, physiotherapist
Marla Pichler, the physiotherapist he met during the Canadian "Stars on Ice" tour last May, performed nothing short of a miracle. Thanks to her, Stéphane was able to overcome the injury that forced him to retire from competitive skating in October 2008.
First of all Stéphane’s supporters would like to thank you for the miracle you performed. What was so different about your approach?
I think the key is to look at an injury the way you look at an onion; what you see on the surface is not necessarily what the actual problem is. So you peel off one layer, and then another. I was fortunate to have the time and the intensity with this athlete to go through the many layers of the "onion" to the core of the problem. Once you find it the problem is easier to fix. But when working with an athlete you rarely have that luxury; you need to keep them going so you’re only scratching the surface of the problem. That wasn't what Stéphane was looking for. We had the time together which was fortunate, and we had a good relationship so we could work on this together. But in the end it was up to him to heal himself, really. He got on his way, it was his doing.
So a miracle equals lots of work?
It's the amount of time you need to spend together to sort out the many different layers of the injury, since they compound each other. So you have to work through them all before you reach the core. Normally you see an athlete for two or three days and then they take off to a competition. But because we were travelling together [during the “Stars on Ice” tour], we could see each other every single day and note the progress: “OK, this is a little bit better today. OK, now we can go a little bit deeper.” When you’re able to do that it's easier to figure out what the centre of the problem is.
So you found the centre of the problem and the set of exercises he needs every day to keep his good state. But can we say that he's healed?
In Stéph's case the centre of the problem was something that could be healed, and yes, we can say he's healed.
During the Olympics many commentators blamed Stéphane's skate on his injury.
I believe he was physically fit. And I think he would say he was physically fit and ready for the competition. But he has to answer that himself.
Do you think your job with Stéphane is finished now?
We are great friends and we keep in touch. And when I can work with him again, I will. But he doesn't need me. He is well. He is free as a bird. He can fly.
Salomé Brunner, choreographer
Salomé Brunner has been Stéphane’s choreographer, friend and mentor since he was a child. Like a protective screen she’s always there to support him.
You were with Stéphane during the Olympic opening ceremony as he carried the flag. There is a superstition known as "the flag-bearer's jinx" meaning that athlete will fail in the competition...
Yes, I know. But I believe each athlete can create his own situation and this alleged curse is not important. It has happened many times, I know, that a flag bearer didn’t perform his best. But I think when you get this honor from the organizers to carry the flag; it's up to each individual to create his competition. And I saw how happy and excited Stéphane was, and he did a really good job carrying the flag. This was his story and not the story of other people who were flag bearers before him.
What happened during the long program? Did he have a bad day?
Yes, maybe it was a bad day. If he could only have skated the program more freely. During the warm-up and also backstage I didn't really see the light in him. I asked him if he could find a little more light for this event and he said he would try. It was such an important moment for him and if you tell someone to “take it easy”; it would be a lie, because this was not easy!
This was like the end of the line of what you’d been working so hard towards, the dream of Olympic gold.
It wasn't even so much for the gold. I mean, that would have been a nice prize at the end of this journey, sure. But just to be able to show everything he was capable of doing… It was not the day when he could do that.
He usually knows how to stand up to pressure. There were skaters who fell apart completely. He didn't, but he seemed very, very tense.
Exactly. I think he should have believed more in himself. He did execute very strong technical things so it was not bad. But he didn't fly.
The serpentine step sequence received level 4, which was the first time.
Finally, yes! All his steps are level 4, and I think it's a mistake that he didn't get it for the other steps. We designed everything according to the rules in all the steps. It was hard work because the music sometimes says different things and we had to adapt the system to the music. It has to be musical, that's of course the first rule. So all his steps are level 4 but we haven’t received the credit for it until now.
There was only a half point difference between Stéphane and the podium. Would the situation be happier and better with a bronze medal?
It's hard to say. I think the most important thing is to be able to deal with any situation as it happens and to make the most out of it. Things happened like this and we cannot change it. And when I watch him skating now I think having that medal or not doesn't change anything. Of course everybody would have been so excited, especially Stéphane himself. But he didn't have that good moment in this competition, it didn't work. But it doesn't really change his skating; he is still a wonderful skater!
The anniversary book about “Art on Ice” was written before the Vancouver Winter Games. It ends with the paragraph titled: "Stéphane Lambiel: Gold, silver or bronze?". "Of course, many of the world's best figure skaters will be joining Art on Ice 2010," – it says. "Those who have already committed to appearing include Stéphane Lambiel, who may be coming to Zurich with another Olympic medal." There is nothing pretentious in those words; he was indeed one of the realistic candidates for a medal. He came home without one, missing the podium by half a point and not reaching the goal he made his comeback for. But you should hear how his home audience greets him every time he is on the ice, you should count the number of presents he gets during every show, you should see the faces of his close friends and colleagues when they talk about him. And while reading about him, talking to him and trying to understand him better I still can't find an answer to one simple question: why he is so beloved? I still don't know. But one thing I know for sure: the love he creates around him is much more important than any medal.
Published on AbsoluteSkating.com:
http://www.absoluteskating.com/interviews/2010lambielaoi1.html