Tomas Verner - On the way to Torino
by Daphne Heij, Pavla Stejskalova, Jana Vanova
Photos © tomasverner.com, Jana
Vanova
There's also a Czech Version!
read it here!
Tomas Verner, 19, from the Czech Republic, appeared on the senior scene when he was just 15 years old. His best result so far is a 10th place finish at the European Championships in 2004. After being out for most of the 2004/2005 season, Tomas Verner started out his new season very well! Winning bronze medals at the Ondrej Nepala Memorial and Nebelhorn Trophy, and a gold medal at the Karl Schaefer Memorial, the beginning of his season was very successful, dazzling everyone with his wonderful programs. The winning of the Karl Schaefer Memorial also succesfully secured a spot for the Czech Republic at the Olympic Games in Torino, Italy. After this competition we travelled to Prague to have a little chat with Tomas. |
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How did you get into figure skating?
I was
about 6 years old and there was this girl I liked and she was
a skater, so I wanted to take up skating too! Though she
herself quit after 2 or 3 years, I am still a skater, so guess
I fell in love with the sport somewhere too.
What was your first competition like, do you remember?
*smile* Yeah I
still have it on tape and when I feel miserable or in a
bad mood, I play it and then I feel better. The
competition took place about
2 years
after I started
skating. It was a small competition in Czech Republic. I skated to "Cirkus Humberto"
which is a very famous piece of music here in the Czech
Republic. I think I came in last or second last. During the first years of my
career, I always came in last or second last.
What has been the most important moment in your career
so far?
When I
had to choose between skating or
football. At first I was doing 3 sports; athletics, football
and figure skating, but it was too much for me. I
stopped athletics first and then I had to choose
between football and figure skating, so I chose skating!
Are you happy with that decision now?
Yeah! I could have made more money playing soccer, but
money is not so important, it's not the main thing.
So who do you root for in soccer?
My favorite player is Pavel Nedvěd and I like his club
Juventus Turin and I also support Chelsea.
What is your hobby?
I don't have enough time for hobbies after skating. I sometimes
play football or basketball, and I just got a
new bicycle, so I try to ride it as often as
I can.
What keeps you motivated?
It's a
secret! If I told you that then everyone would be as
motivated as I am!
What
do you think about the COP?
I think the first mark,
the technical mark is good, very good. You get points for all
the elements: spins, steps, jumps etc. But the 2nd mark,
the component scores, are still too
subjective. For example, one judge gave me a 4 for something and another a 7 for the
same thing! That's a huge difference! How is that possible? And if
you are from a 'big' country or in the last warm-up group you
get more by default. Overall, I think that the first mark
is three times better than in the old system and the second mark is twice as
worse. But I wouldn't want to go back to the old system.
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How does a typical day in your life look
like? |
Do you ever sleep?
Not much. In
the previous years I got maybe 6 hours of
sleep each night. Sometimes I had to wake up at 6 to do more
homework because I couldn't finish it the previous night.
How long have you been living and training here in
Prague?
When I was 11 I came to train here only once
in a while, but when I was 14 I moved to Prague for good with
my older brother. It was a really hard time for me, I also
had to change schools. It was one of the hardest moments in my
life.
How much does figure skating cost you and
how do you fund it?
How much? A lot! I don't think ordinary people can
even imagine how much figure skating costs! For example in the USA, only children
of doctors, lawyers etc. can do figure skating.
My parents work really really hard so that I
am able to continue my sport. My dad is a doctor and he often
works from 8 AM to 8 PM and a lot of the money goes to mÿ
skating.
Who are your friends in the figure skating world?
Hmm..
I have so many friends in this world. The skatingworld is
like one big family: some people you like more than others, some
you don't like at all.
It's nice to have someone from your
own team at the competition. Twice I qualified for the JGPF and I
was there all alone, there was no other skater from my team.
And at the banquet there were several tables: one for
team Russia, one for team USA, one for team Canada etc. and just
one chair for Czech Republic! Luckily I was "adopted" by the American
team the first year and next year by the Canadian team.
But it feels better to have people of your own team there,
you can hang out together and support each other.
Do you like music? Do you play any instruments?
*laughs* No, I don't play any instruments.
My sister got a piano for her birthday and I tried playing it, but I
was terrible! My sister is 7 and she plays very well though, and
my father plays about 12 instruments. I guess I didn't inherit that talent
from him.
Would you rather have one Olympic title or 4 world
titles?
Hmmm...tough choice! Four world titles - that means
that nobody could beat you for 4 years, but an Olympic title
is of course something really special. I guess I would go
for the 4 world titles though.
or perhaps both?
*laughs* Yeah, that would be great! Like Irina Rodnina, do
you know her? Nobody beat her for 10 years! She was never
second, even when she changed partners, it's amazing!
What would you like
to achieve in your career?
Some day I would like to be among the
top skaters. I would like to know what it feels like to be among
the best.
How do you
want people to remember you when you quit
skating? How does the
audience affect you when you are
skating? |
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How would you describe yourself?
I
don't know, I really cannot answer that. You should ask
my friends to describe me.
What is it you don't like about yourself?
*laughs* Do you want just one thing or more!?
I don't know, just tell me something...
Well, I'm a lazy person and I would like
to change that. For example - Staurday is the only
day I am at home. I would like to
help around the house, but all I do is sit and watch. I
would like to help out my mom and dad because
they work so hard for me, maybe do some cleaning or something, but in
the end I usually don´t bring myself to
it.
A second thing
I don't like about myself
is that I like chocolate so much. I used to like dark chocolate
the best, but now I'm starting to like milk chocolate more,
but please no white chocolate!
Do you know the chocolate sprinkles they have in
my country? (Netherlands)
Oh yeah! I was
in the Hague a few times and they had these tiny boxes with
pieces of chocolate in them. They are excellent. But they only
have them in your
country.
What was
the worst moment in your career so far?
I don't know, maybe injuring my ankle last year and being
out for most of the season...
Stupid doctors for not noticing earlier it was actually
broken...
No, definitely
not, I
don't want to blame the doctors because they were the ones
who helped me in the end. I was stupid though skating
on with the pain.
Well, athletes are often stupid like that...
Yeah... you know once
I had
this problem with my foot. It hurt so much that I went
to a doctor and he said, "Maybe you should quit your sport!" and
I said: "What!? Yeah sure...goodbye!" and I left in
a hurry. It wasn't a sportsdoctor, it was a normal
doctor. The foot now doesn't bother me anymore at all.
What sites do you visit on the internet?
*laughs* I just check my email and
sometimes my own site to see if there is something new, but
that's it. I don't have internet here in Prague, only at home
so I don't get to check it that often.
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Do you have a
message for your fans? |
Like at junior worlds in 2004, I was there and you fell all
over the place, but people still liked your performances, including
me.
Really?
Junior
worlds is a nice competition. You are there for 2 weeks and
there are many friends with you But
unfortunately I didn't skate as well as I had wanted
to there. I'm surprised to hear people were still talking
about me and my programs...
As a last thing, we asked Tomas
to tell us about his favourite things...
Color? Singer/song? Food/drink? Movie? |
 The singing flower |
Book?
Catch 22
Tv show?
WATTS on Eurosport
Cartoon?
Tom and Jerry
Present you received?
SINGING FLOWER! WOW!
Present you would like to receive?
Chocolate
Competitions you have been to so far?
- Washington DC, USA
- Pjong Jan - North Korea
- Beijing - China
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Skating
program (yours)? Skating Program (of somebody else)? Skating element? |
|
Skater (s)?
Plushenko
Jump?
Flip
Least favorite jump:
Salchow
Country/City?
- 3x Beijing
- Colorado springs
Place you would like to visit in the
future?
- Bankog
- Dubai
- Johannesburg
- New york
- Calgary
- etc.
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Don't forget to visit Tomas website: www.tomasverner.com!
Thank you Tomas for the interview! Good luck for the
rest of the Olympic season!
