In the beginning Stéphane is asked how he felt after all the emotions connected with Deniss' 4th place the day before.
Stéphane: "I'm feeling pretty well. It has been a glorious competition for Deniss. We didn't expect the 3rd place after SP at all. And, of course, going into the FS having to defend a medal always means much tension and pressure. Deniss had a bit a lighter program then the two Russians. So, as consequence he had almost no chance to keep his 3rd place if the Russians skated well.
But, and that's what I told him, it's not for the medal he needed to go, but simply for his performance; maintain the good image, the image of an exceptional skater with lots, lots of energy, with a complex choreography. And, a fourth place was awesome. It's really an important moment in his career."
Moderator: It's a huge progression he made, compared to the results in the last years.
Stéphane: "It's a huge progress. And we are in an olympic year. Quite some skaters might retire after the games. This opens doors for next year. With good work and a good planning, I don't see how he could fail to get better results in the coming years."
Moderator: So, long term planning with Deniss. Means you will inevitably have to work on the quad?
Stéphane: "Actually, we have been concentrating on the quad since the beginning of our collaboration. There's a big evolution despite the unsuccessful attempt during the FS. There are clearly very, very good attempts during practices. And this is positive. One or two quads are needed if he wants to get on the European podium. And it's even another story for the World championships".
Stéphane when asked about his emotions, coming back to Moscow as coach, 12 years after having won his 1st world title here: "The work of a skater is completely different from the one of a coach. As coach, standing at the boards, you absorb much of the pression, and you try to create a positive environment for the skater, so he can express himself the utmost. That was actually my task. I do remember very well what it feels like to feel this pressure and to want to give it all. To want to show everything to the crowd here in Moscow. What I want to say is: he really did a very good job as a skater.
So, i hope to be able to come back to Moscow with him and then... yes... to live moments like I had back in 2005, on the other ice rink. It was not the one here, but in the 'Luzhniki', which I saw today from the metro 'Sportivnaya' (?), and what brought me back good memories". (laughs ...)
...
The rest we know, more or less. He talks about his three participations at olympic games.
Deniss who asked about how to handle doubts (Stéphane also talks about this in his Moscow fan-meeting).
When asked if he was ready for the performance at the coming olympic games: "I have my small performance at the boards. But I try to hold back because I don't really want the attention to be on me. " (
)
He says the work as a coach is wonderful. That figure skating was a exceptional sport. The complexity including the technical side, expressivity, interpretation and feel for the music makes that figure skating is one of the most difficult sports, in his opinion.
He talks about AOI (like also during the fan-meeting), adding that he still puts the same passion and time into his career as skater for galas.
At the end (at about the time the last ladies group was about to skate) he was asked if he'd rather go for Evgenia Medvedeva or Alina Zagitova.
He answered (as we know) he'd go for Carolina. A lot of nice words for her and "she does not only sparkle because of the suit, but she sparkles from inside".
To add that he thought Medvedeva would win, if she skated cleanly, with the advantage of having to skate last.
...
(Just as reminder: whether French nor English are my first languages (as you certainly realised by now
). So there might be some translation 'imprecisenesses' now and then. Nothing perfect, just a bit of a help for followers/fans here on the board who do not understand French
)