You need to work very hard, you have to spend a lot of time practicing your sport – six to seven hours daily.
I think that, generally, you need to live with your sport 24 hours a day.
First do it, then say it.
The strategy of my coach and me was that we looked at pictures of all the best pole vaulters from around the world, and we took the best parts from them, and we created a person that had never existed. We then started to work toward being such a person.
The Olympics are always a special competition. It is very difficult to predict what will happen.
Often you need to take some risk, but it must be a realistic risk, you can’t take a crazy risk.
I decided to create a sports club during the Soviet times. It was my dream.
I began with track and field because this is what I know.
I have spoken with many former athletes, and they tell me the best time they had was in sports. I listen to them and use their experience in my career.
The pole vault is a very complicated event, there are many things involved.
My policy was just to give good things for sports in my region.
Even now, I want to keep my amateur spirit, to spend my time, to be in the sport with all my heart.
I think that focusing on the money, on the business, is not enough.
I am alone, some people help me, but, basically, I can do what I want.
People come from around the world and can understand each other without even speaking the same languages!
I have bought pole vault equipment, the landing areas, posts, which costs a lot of money. We pay for coaches.