From German Television, translated by Luise Wuetschner

Note from LW :  Ilia wore his free program costume and was sitting on a chair, grinning a bit,had his medal around his neck and didn´t exactly know how to hold the microphone. He looked very excited! I think it was one of his first REAL interviews!

S: And here he is, miracle of techniques; he was on the podium right before, Ilia Kulik. How was your feeling on the top of the podium?

Ilia: I didn´t feel something special, maybe because I hadn´t expected this; maybe it hadn´t completely reached me. I was only very satisfied.

S: It was a real surprise that you were very calm before your performance and after it, when you´ve seen the marks and you know that you're now European Champion and not just Ilia Kulik. You stayed so calm. Where do you take this coolness?

Ilia: It only looked like this--inside of me was a volcano. I felt very excited, too. Inside of myself was a hurricane.

S: Like a hurricane, that´s not bad. How did you feel during your program? When you did the flip I was a bit afraid about you, when you wobbled and got shaky. How did you feel inside?

Ilia: During my free program I only thought I have to do everything what I had practiced. I haven´t done any special things, I only did what I was able to do.

S: You´re 17. You became Junior World Champion in Budapest this year, now you´ve become European Champion in Dortmund. In the skating scene you´re known a little bit. Maybe you can tell a bit about your career as a figure skater?

Ilia: What should I say, how I came to the sport? I can´t really remember this--my parents told me that I have to skate. I can´t remember the beginning. I can only say that I had to skate, I skated from one coach to another, then there came success. That´s a long story, what should I tell? Working every day, exercises,
it was nothing special.

S: Well, you´re something special, we have seen it now. But you come from a country where figure skaters were exalted sports stars in the past, who got everything they wanted. Now we hear of the former USSR that the training conditions are going rapidly down and that you have to bring about your performances under impossible circumstances. Maybe you can tell us about the conditions in Moscow where you are training.

Ilia: That´s right, it became a bit harder but it´s OK for me. It was very bad that I hadn´t a choreographer, I only got one two weeks ago. But it´s OK for me, I´m very satisfied.

S: You can be satisfied Ilia, thank you. I wish you the best for your future; I think we´ll see you again in Birmingham.