I began with track and field because this is what I know.

Often you need to take some risk, but it must be a realistic risk, you can't take a crazy risk.

I love the pole vault because it is a professor's sport. One must not only run and jump, but one must think. Which pole to use, which height to jump, which strategy to use. I love it because the results are immediate and the strongest is the winner. Everyone knows it. In everyday life that is difficult to prove.

People come from around the world and can understand each other without even speaking the same languages!

I began with track and field because this is what I know.

I decided to create a sports club during the Soviet times. It was my dream.

Even now, I want to keep my amateur spirit, to spend my time, to be in the sport with all my heart.