Mikhail Shaidorov after Grand Prix de France: "Maybe it’s time to get back into Lego"

Spoke to Mikhail Shaidorov after a tough skate at Grand Prix de France.

The Lego bit is a callback to our interview this summer (will publish it here soon): Misha said building Lego helps him focus, and he often does it before competitions.

The last time? At the Olympics, and we all know how that ended.

Photo credits: Nikolaj Majorov

"Honestly, that’s not the skate I was expecting from myself. Not what I’d been preparing for. I was in really good shape, and practice was going fine. Training here in Angers was good, pretty normal for me when I’m in form. Physically, everything was fine.

But something definitely went wrong mentally. Maybe this’ll be the thing I push off from to get stronger. I need to reset something inside, and maybe it’s time to get back into Lego :)

I know what the problem is. There’s plenty to work on, obviously. But right now the main thing is sorting out my mental side.

And a huge thank you to everyone for the support. You guys worry about me more than I worry about myself, seriously. The crowd was amazing today, even though there wasn’t really much of a skate to cheer for. And still everyone was cheering so hard, it really touched me. And then all the messages on social media…! I never expected to feel so much warmth, kindness and support after a skate like that.

See you soon in China, and it’s all going to be fine. I just know it 🙂"