Shaolin Sándor Liu: My brother also plays a role in my dreams about Beijing

– The qualifying period ended on Sunday. Did the four events get you what you had expected?
– This qualifying period was much easier than the previous two, as I had to fight hard for individual entry before Sochi, and four years later, we earned the relay quota with difficulties, said Shaolin Sándor Liu.

– Was it perhaps easier because you've become a good short tracker and one of the best short track speed skaters in the world?
– I'm sure that contributed to that, but I wasn't too afraid of the qualifiers. It was mandatory for me to earn the right to compete in all three distances, which is what almost everyone expected of me, myself included.

– Which competition would you highlight out of the four?
– The first one, in Beijing. It was great to skate at the Olympic venue, it had a very different atmosphere than the other three events. But the last one, in Dordrecht, was also interesting because it was in the air that this was the last chance to get a quota spot, and I felt everyone really wanted it, and they just did everything they could.

– Head coach and manager, Ákos Bánhidi, said the competition in Beijing is the most relevant to him. According to him, the teams' strength was shown there because it was preceded by preparation and then getting in shape. After that, competitions came after another, and shape is difficult to perpetuate.
– I have to agree with Ákos. It has been exponentially difficult for us to go through this month. It was not easy to compete in all three distances in every location and also skate well in the relays. The great powers of the sport were able to prepare their skaters for specific distances, so they didn't have to work too hard – unlike us.

– Let's say you can choose a distance: which one do you like the most?
– The coaches can make me compete in any of them, and they won't back the wrong horse.

– Oh, you must have a favorite distance!
– I particularly like the 500 and 1000 meters.

– But in these distances, especially in 500, your starting position determines a lot of things.
– A good starting position is now vital in all three distances. Of course, it is extremely important in 500, but if you start from the outside at 1500, it's extremely difficult to get ahead.

– Has the change been made in recent years only?
– There is a totally different way to compete today than even just two years ago. Short trackers are now skating such arcs that it's impossible to pass – it used to be much easier to get ahead.

– And you have to be very mindful of every moment on the ice. Did you do stupid things, by your own standards, in the four World Cup competitions?
– Stupid things? Do I do them!?

– It's certainly good that you haven't lost your sense of humor despite such a heavy training load. I ask you a little differently: do you still feel on the ice that the opponents are afraid of the Liu brothers?
– When Ronaldinho was one of the best in the world, everyone on the football pitch was holding him back. My brother and I are just like that now. When the two of us are on the ice together, of course, it's an extra force for both of us, but it's getting harder and harder: everyone's focusing on us only.

– Are they picking on you?
– Sometimes I feel they are. The Dutch, for example, certainly are. There were a few rounds in this World Cup series where I felt they were just trying to block me on the ice.

– Luckily, they were unsuccessful. Do you discuss these with each other outside the rink?
– I didn't say a word to them, I solved the situations on the ice, and by the time the race was over, I forgot what had happened. It's going to take a little more for a 60-kilogram Dutch to screw me up...

– I saw some disappointment on your face at the last World Cup tournament in Dordrecht, and that was at the very end of the men's relay final.
– Our coach Lina didn't compliment me either, I felt that she was a little disappointed. We should've won. I also knew we had to win because it would have made it a little easier in the Olympic semifinals. Now, it's going to be a tougher task for us.

– Why is that?
– Instead of the Chinese, Italian and Japanese relay teams, we are competing against South Korea, the Netherlands, and Russia for the final.

– Lina looked at me badly for a reason after the relay final. We started analyzing the World Cup races, and it's clear that the three of us, my brother Shaoang, John-Henry Krueger, and my pace are faster than the skaters in similar positions of the other relay teams, but our fourth man always has a bigger handicap.

– There are two months until the start of the Olympics. Can you improve more until then, or are there no miracles?
– No, there are: look at me!

– You are humorous even when I bring up the subject that has been talked about in almost all of our conversations for years: what happens in the Olympic final when the Liu brothers race together towards the finish line?
– No matter which one of us wins, we have a joint bank account.

– It is unbelievable, do you know that?
– We grew up being good brothers and it will stay that way until the end of the world. It won't change because of an Olympic final. I think about Beijing every now and then because that's the only competition ahead of us. We don't know whether or not the European Championships in January will be held and we participate in it, but there are still two months to go. I'm not daydreaming too much, but I've had the Beijing track appear in my mind's eyes. I'll tell you without asking me: yes, my brother Ádó also plays a role in my dreams about Beijing.

Translated by: Vanda Orosz