Dmitry Klokov Interviews Khadzhimurat Akkaev – April 2015

Meanwhile in Russia …

Dmitry Klokov has really set a pace with his “On Par/On Equal Terms” interview series. This time we get to see him interview his rival and team mate Khadzhimurat Akkaev. Dmitry already has the video with English subtitles for everyone to watch!

Make sure to check out the past interviews of his series.

Transcript

0:13 Today’s hero is the man who i consider to be the most talented weightlifter in Russia presesntly

0:27 He is the reason i lifted my max results in world competitions

0:39 He is a world champion

0:47 He is a europe champion

0:59 He is two time Olympic medalist

1:13 And he is the best weightlifter of the year 2011

1:24 Khadzhimurat Akkaev

1:27 Here is that handsome man on your screen

1:32 As i promised you it’s Khadzhimurat Akkaev

1:35 When was the last time you were sitting before camera? “It was probably on your show”

1:41 The show with Khadzhimurat Akkaev was 1 year and 9 months ago

1:49 It looks like he’s in shape, i did not ask him yet

1:53 He eats some honey cake and i eat some salad

2:00 Which car did you roll up on to “Astor Plaza” today? “Mercedes”

2:10 I remember you having a lot of different cars

2:17 I’ve seen you on LADA Priora before Gelandewagen.Which car did you remember most?

2:30 “Well, i akways kept in mind Mercedes, so i chose this car”

2:40 We’re often saying that God does everything for better

2:46 When i met with David Rigert, we both agreed that our failure before Olympics in London opened new ways for us

3:08 I do not regret what’s happened to me, david Rigert neither

3:16 And what about you? Which ways has opened to you?

3:26 “I’d disagree with you, because it was my life goal and where you’re so close and could not achieve it”

3:40 “You see, when you fail to achieve something it will chase you your entire life”

3:55 “So if you’ll imagine i could achieve my goals in sports and make profit out of it”

4:08 “Personally for me, as you said before, it’s a tragedy”

4:13 “Because we were so close, but failed”

4:18 “It’s still difficult to take it”

4:23 Are you still upset? “Of course i am”

4:25 What do you think why it’s happened?

4:30 It’s whether you were punished or you were helped to achieve something new?

4:41 “Well, since i’m religious i think it was written and it helps me to relax”

4:50 “It’s still bothers me even after so many years”

4:56 “But i take it as a my destiny, not punishment”

5:01 “As i think it was destiny for you too, because we’re similar”

5:08 “And now we’re going different directions”

5:16 “But i did not benefit from that loss”

5:22 When was the last time you thought about Olympics?

5:25 “I think about it everyday, i even have dreams about it”

5:30 “The last time i touched a bar was when we saw two years ago” You mean you have not done snatch and C & J “Yes”

5:42 “So i have dreams about Olympics, competition and battle”

5:50 “I wake up in cold sweat and realize that it’s a dream”

5:56 “Sometimes i have thoughts about coming back, but i understand that i lost lots of things already”

6:04 What did you lose? “Time”

6:11 “I remember you once said that sport might end in one day”

6:21 “You might start, but you can give it up the same day”

6:28 “I started once, but i think it was for awhile”

6:37 “It’s not enough time to prepare for Olympics, but who knows”

6:48 So there is a chance, right? “Yes, but i have no desire and that’s the main problem”

7:00 But it looks like the president of Russian Weightlifting Federation is full of desire

7:08 “I deleted my social networks accounts after that article”

7:16 I’ll tell why we laughed

7:25 About 15 days ago the president of the RWF announced that Klokov and Akkaev are preparing for Russian championship

7:36 And now we’re receiving a lot of questions

7:43 I’m not announcing anything for now, because i’m deciding yet, but Khadzimurat

7:52 “I’m not competing in Russian championship for sure”

7:55 “I might be there as spectator”

8:00 “Where the championship will be held” In Kaspiysk

8:05 You see i know, my subscribers told me

8:10 So it’s not true “It’s not”

8:17 “Maybe he believes that we’ll return”

8:29 Well, he could believe in me since you can see on my videos that i lift weights

8:34 “Well, maybe i’m lifting weights behind the scenes”

8:45 When you was a competetive weightlifter what was motivating you to work?

9:02 “Well, I was not a workaholic”

9:06 “But Olympic games was my motivation and as i said i was dreaming about it”

9:18 “And when you see that you’re doing well it makes you wake up every morning and workout no matter what”

9:33 Well, when we were starting WL we wanted medals and then more significant medals and then making money, right?

9:52 So can you wish something to those who are in the beginning, those who want to win their first medals?

10:01 “Be patient, because you need some time to achieve results”

10:13 “I was not thinking about medals at first, i just wanted to look good”

10:20 “But with the time i got the taste of victory and understood what i can get from it”

10:31 “In the beginning money was the last thing i was worried about”

10:39 What can you wish to those who are preparing for Russian championship? “Believe in yourself”

10:47 “You just need to work and wait and you’ll achieve your goals”

10:54 “While you was talking i was thinking about the fact that i never concerned sport to business”

11:00 Never? “Never”

11:04 When we was doing this show 2 years ago you said that even if you’ll get finished with sport you’ll never give up weightlifting.What can you say about it now?

11:19 “Well, i confirm my words, because i dedicated my life to WL”

11:30 “It’s very difficult to get through psychological injury me and you had”

11:40 “So after some time i’ll do some activity related to weightlifting”

11:51 “It will not be my main occupation, but i’ll play my role in WL”

12:01 can you say that this recovery is forming your independence platform?

12:10 “Well, now i’m developing my business that i invested in”

12:18 You have 2 degrees, right? “Yes, i’m lawyer and economist”

12:22 Are they helping you? “Not really, because my work is not related to them”

12:35 “But i do not want to work in civil service”

12:41 “Because i’m used to free lifestyle”

12:55 “I do not see myself waking up at 6 am to go for a job”

13:01 Is not it difficult to star business as an amateur after being a professional in sport?

13:15 “Well, to be the best in WL i worked a lot, the same should be in business”

13:25 “If i want to be the best in business i need to work”

13:32 You said that you’re doing other sport, which one?

13:37 “I’m wrestling, sometimes i liked wrestling more than WL, because it was my job”

13:50 “I’m doing boxing, too, but for myself, not to compete as rumors say”

14:02 “It affects adrenaline and emotioanl release, which i did not get in WL”

14:11 “So i’m doing it for myself”

14:16 Do you have enough of emotions? “Not really”

14:22 I think you’re very emotional? “I am”

14:28 “Because as a competetive athlete i always had emotions, but now there is no reason for them to come out”

14:39 I told you that i’m preparing for BB comp

14:44 So why do not you set a goal to prepare for boxing comp

14:52 “I started doing wrestling”

14:57 “So i set a goal to compete in Russian wrestling championship”

15:08 So will you do it? “Of course”

15:14 “I want to try to compete the next year”

15:22 Who’s your coach? “My coaches are Rafik Samurgashev who trains Olympic champions and my older brother”

15:29 You really have not done any snatch or C & J the last 1,5 years at all? “I have not”

15:38 “By the way, recently i tried to do back squat”

15:45 I saw your 200 kg push press in jeans “It was a long time ago”

15:51 I can not push press 200 kg even now

15:56 “I though that it’d be great to squat 200 kg at 100 kg BW after missing two years of training”

16:08 “So i squatted 100 kg right away, then 150,180,200 and i made 210 with help”

16:23 I can see that you can feel the weight, because you did not put 230 after 200

16:31 “Professionalism sets us apart from amateurs”

16:42 Do your significant medals help you in life? “Yes, they do”

16:50 “Of course, generation are changing and people forget”

17:00 The melody is nice “This melody has something meaningful”

17:10 “But people treat you differently when you have some significant awards, so it helps”

17:22 “Significant awards will help any athlete in his life”

17:29 It was sad that you said about people forgetting “This is life”

17:38 So what can we do to avoid it? Maybe we should do something ourselves? “I wanted to say the same thing”

17:47 “We need to do publicservice work or do something that you do, teaching people your craft”

18:00 “A lot of people learnt Wl from you, so it might help them to achieve their goals and be thankful”

18:13 “You just need to decide what do you want, whether being public and vocal or be off the light”

18:32 We always hear people saying that younger generation has no role models to look up to

18:43 It’s a fault of Ministry of Sport that people are lacking information about athletes like you

18:54 Because people always ask me about you, Aukhadov and Ilyin

19:03 When i was preparing for this interview i decided to search the web for videos with you

19:11 You’re world champion, europe champion, two time olympic medalist and i found only 3 videos

19:20 “And two of them were with you”

19:24 That’s what i meant by fault of Ministry of Sport and WL Federation

19:33 “I think it’s WL Federation fault, because we have a lot of other atheltes from other sports”

19:45 “But, on the other hand, what will you show if people are not public enough?”

19:58 I think that athletes have a lot to share

20:05 Because people are intersted not just in your workouts, but your personal life, too

20:15 People want to know how your character was build or how did you overcome obstacles

20:30 It should be shown that athletes are not just machines and they have good traits of character

20:52 And, of course, it should be shown that you need to work to achieve your goals

20:59 Do you have times when you want to go to team base?

21:03 “I’m not really thinking about that, but i’m missing those times”

21:08 But would you be able to spend time on camp? “I would”

21:15 “My main problem is that i do not have desire to lift, but if’d have it i’d go on camp”

21:31 “2 years ago when i arrived at camp i understood that i’m not used to it already, you need to stay on track to do it”

21:55 You say that you’re lacking desire, do not you have desire to return and defeat Ilyin?

22:10 Because you were the boss in 105 and now he can stimulate you to lift even more than you did before

22:23 Your best was 198 + 232, right? “Yes”

22:30 “Well, people come and go, but the thing is that he was training all this time”

22:45 “If i’d be younger, i could start preparation 6 months before Olympics”

22:58 “They will not be able to lift our results on training for a long time”

23:10 “I read articles saying that we should return”

23:15 “But where were you when we were competing?”

23:21 “People were always talking about us” Well, it was our time

23:30 “Now that someone would lift some result, they tell us to return”

23:48 “Bedzhanyan jerked 239 right on front of us.I did not even know some Uzbek there”

23:58 Nurudinov “I’m not talking trash, but you can not challenge us now that we’re finished”

23:08 I wanted to ask you this question later, but since you touched this name i wanted to ask you about Bedzhanyan

23:21 2 years ago you called him untalented, but in interviews he mentions that me and you called him so

24:31 But actually you called him untalented and i said that i just do not know him

24:38 Now that David has matured and put on a how on 2014 World Championship, do you have something to say?

24:50 “Well, you have to consider lots of factors”

24:55 But he lifted those results, though “He did, but i still think he’s untalented”

25:04 Even after he jerked 240 kg “It does not change anything, what was his total, by the way?”

25:11 He snatched 187 and C & J 240

25:18 “It’s a good result, but he’s still untalented”

25:26 “Albegov was talking trash too, he should call me”

25:31 I did not like it too, if Ruslan would hear me

25:41 “If he wants some type of duel, he should call me, but not talk trash through media”

25:55 “I understand that he became a better athlete”

26:05 “And if i’m not talking trash to him, i’d like him not to do it to me”

26:18 “But if i’m saying something to Bedzhanyan then let him talk to me personally”

26:28 Do you need any help?

26:32 “Do not worry about me, i’m able to deal with them by myself”

26:42 2 years ago Russian WL federation structure was changed

26:51 And you were not pleased with the changes

27:02 Back then you were guessing what would happen with the Federation, but you were right. So what do you think about it now?

27:20 “Well, a lot of people, including staff and athletes were not pleased with the Federation”

27:34 “I’m not judging anybody, i’m just saying what i heard”

27:45 “So they built their own team which is closed to everybody around”

28:00 “They promote certain athletes and suppress the other ones”

28:10 “They achieved some results, medals and awards”

28:21 “They do not let the competition come into play, it always the same names”

28:30 The European Championship starts very soon and the team is already there

28:36 So they sent all of the Russia’s champions

28:41 In all categories and it’s never been done before

28:51 But they want to check out new athletes, is not that what you wanted to do? “Not really”

29:01 “You should check out athletes on Russian championships or other national comps”

29:11 “Where an athlete could show himself”

29:21 “It does not make sense to send 56 or 62 athletes to World championship”

29:32 “Maybe they need some time to achieve results”

29:40 “They need to recruit a lot of perspective athletes, but not the ones they want to see”

29:55 They sent a lot of perspectiveless athletes in 56 and 62, but they did not send Vasya Polovnikov, who was in good shape

30:05 He was very angry when he called me

30:08 I think it does not make any sense to send 16 years old boy who has a lot of time in front of him

30:15 But do not send Vasya, so he could achieve his goals

30:22 “The worst thing is that they do not tell that you’re not going to compete right away”

30:29 They told that they’re saving him for biggest comps

30:34 “They’re saving him for Olympics?”

30:42 You were sent a question after i told that i’m going to see you and David Rigert:

30:50 “Why Akkev were sent to Olympics instead of Polovnikov?”

30:55 “Instead of Polovnikov?”

30:58 My subscribers sent me this question

31:01 “Let’s clarify to which Olympic games?”

31:09 “Vasya was not in a team when i went to Athens”

31:15 “And we had a lot of guys who should go to Beijing before of Vasya”

31:19 “Konstantinov, Demanov and others”

31:23 It’s probably was a mistake

31:25 “Let me explain anyways”

31:30 “If we talking about Athens, Vasya was not even in a national team”

31:38 “For Beijing Vasya was qualifying for 85 kg and i was in 94 kg”

31:50 “So the only time i competed in the same category with vasya was in 2009”

32:00 We have to give him credit “Of course, i was not ready for the result he’s shown”

32:11 Let me remind viewers that Vasya beat Khadzimurat in 2009

32:23 I remember that photo when Khadzimurat was sad “I did not want to stand on pedestal”

32:26 Moreover, it was your hometown

32:32 “They wanted to present car for the 1st place, so Vasya won”

32:45 Which car was it? “I do not remember, probably Priora”

32:54 “And in 58 category the 1st palce was taken by other one too, so we did not win cars”

33:09 “I had this unpleasant episode in my life” Was it unpleasant? “Of course, it was”

33:22 Are you abiding rules? “Of course, i’m law abiding citizen”

33:38 What was your car choice?

33:44 “Well, the one i wanted to buy was over 10 millions, so it was very expensive” Yes, it’s a little bit expensive

33:52 “So i decides to take the one between E and s class”

34:02 How much does it cost? “About 6 mills”

34:06 “It’s max option car with alcantara material and wooden steering wheel, so i decided to take this one”

34:23 Since the last time we talked did anything change about your home or some people still waiting for you near your door?

34:32 “Well, recently i’m travelling a lot, not for work, but to hangout with friends”

34:42 “The last month i visited my brother in US”

34:46 Which state you were in? “California” Did you like it there?

34:51 “I like LA a lot” Me too

34:56 “I did not like it in San Francisco, even though it was warm in winter” Well, it’s still pretty cold there and windy

35:04 “It was 15 degrees for sure and the max was 26”

35:14 My favorite city in US is Orange Country

35:20 “Is it in california?” Yes, it’s not far off LA, i like that city very much

35:35 If i’d need to leave Russia, i’d like to go there

35:40 I’m a patriot and i want to live and work in Russia, but i guess that something might happen

35:59 Would you be able to live in other country?

36:11 “Well, there are some countries that you’re internally connected with”

36:16 “I’d like to live in South france in Cote d’Azur, because i have a lot of friends living there”

36:25 And what about US? “Us is somewhat unusual for me”

36:37 “I like Cannes, Nice, Monaco, but i did not like san Tropez even though a lot of people are praising it”

36:53 I recently was in Nice on seminar and people told me that you’re chilling somwhere near

37:07 I wanted to call you, but thought that you would not make in time

37:12 “No, i have a car and i can make it quick”

37:19 “You know that there’s no serious traffic in Europe”

37:24 How’s your English?

37:28 “Well, i can express my self.Did you notice that It’s different in US?”

37:38 Well, it’s informal

37:41 “WHen i speak in US people understand me, but i do not understand them, but after a month it was easier”

37:53 Can you speak french? “No”

37:57 “I have russian speaking friends, so i do not need to speak french”

38:04 “But i had some curious situations”

38:08 “Like when i was told to take food, but i went to cashier”

38:20 I see that your knuckles are busted, can you do it in gloves?

38:28 “Well, once a week i hit without gloves”

38:33 “When i sparr i wear gloves and mouthpiece”

38:42 “But i do boxing for real life situatuions”

38:49 “So when you hit with bare fist, it’s completely different”

38:55 When was the last time you fought?

38:58 “It was a long time ago, i have conversations”

39:06 “There are some situations when you have to do something and i might slap”

39:22 You’re not going to solve the problem by fighting “Of course and you might get into some trouble”

39:28 “Fighting becomes a business nowadays”

39:35 I’m very careful in US, because they can make profit out of everything

39:55 “My brother warned me about it when i came there for the first time for vacation”

40:05 “I was there with you in 2002. i Have a photo which you sent me” I have it too

40:16 We looked so ridiculous

40:18 Do you remember when we went to stripclub?

40:25 I’m on cut, so i have cramps all over the body

40:30 I’ll tell you the story guys, you gonna laugh your pants off

40:38 We were young and heard that they have beautiful latin chicks

40:44 But we went there after competition, because we took it serious already then

40:52 It was 5 of us and i told Khadzi to take one chick for private dance

41:01 We thought it’s going to be a spacious room

41:09 But it was a small room, narrower than this car

41:16 So we sat on chairs they brought us

41:24 So i hugged Khadzi on shoulder, because we could not fit

41:30 So as the girl started to dance we were becoming aroused

41:35 And i already started to stroke girl’s butt

41:39 And simultaneously i started to do the same with Khadzi’s shoulder

41:48 If only you could look on his face

41:55 “It was crazy for me then, i just got into team”

42:04 I laugh everytime i reminisce this story

42:15 “They told me to come and show how to really lift weights”

42:23 “And in 3 minutes i was surrounded by crowd”

42:30 Did you like to tech people “I did”

42:35 “And if i see that someone is doing well i love it”

42:40 When i was starting to teach people it was difficult at first, but now i can see some things that i was not even thinking about

42:55 “Locker room”

43:13 Khadzi chose glamorous gym, you can even smell glamor

43:31 You’re ready to compete

43:39 “We’ll do some boxing after press”

44:02 How often do you benchpress? “Very often.That’s probably the only thing i do”

44:06 Were you doing it when you was a weightlifter? “No”

44:11 “You know that i’m lazy”

44:20 “Now i need to get busy, so i do this bullshit”

46:07 “When i finished i tried to cut, because i weighted 116 kg”

46:20 “I had photo from birthday party, but it’s good that it was the only one”

46:29 Why it’s happened? “I think my metabolism was down, becasue i did not have balance in nutrition”

46:40 “So besides my technique, i decided to do boxing, because it burns fat very fast”

46:53 “I was going to gym, but did not notice any change in physique”

47:10 “But boxing helped me a lot, i can lose 1,5 kg after one boxing session”

47:18 You mean working on heavy bag? “Yes”

47:24 “Also i burn 1,5 kg on wrestling and i watch my nutrition”

47:34 “I wanted to cut more, but you said i’m alright”

47:40 You do not need to cut more, so people could be afraid when looking at you

48:11 Khadzi said that he’s working on street fight skills, so it’s ok!

48:31 You boxed only 3 minutes and you already sweating

48:38 “I like that it helps my stamina and breathing”

48:43 And where are you wrestling? “I’m wrestling here in ‘Olymp'”

48:50 “It’s a legit wrestling gym”

48:54 “Olympic champion and Russia’s champions are training there”

49:10 When was the last time you talk to Soltan Karakotov?

49:16 “I talk to him about half a year ago”

49:25 “Well, i thanked him a lot, becasue you can not forget what he’s done for us”

49:40 How are you doing with Makhty?

49:44 “We’re good.We’re very close, he called me on my birthday and wished me the best”

50:01 “We’re already 20 years together, he is my first and the only coach”

50:15 Is he telling you to return to weightlifting? “Yes, he does”

50:25 “He told me that he wants me to win Olympic gold more than i want to”

50:34 “He believes in me, otherwise we would not have any results”

50:40 How do your parents react to you finishing with sport?

50:47 “Well, my father insist on my return”

50:51 “But my mother and brother want me to live a normal life”

51:05 “My father wants me to win Olympic gold and acvhieve my goals in sport”

51:26 “Recently he told me that he’s proud of me, but he wants me to win Olympic gold”

51:32 Did his words touch you? “They did”

52:35 “I’m not saying that i’m back or i’m done, but, honestly, i’m thinking about return”

51:45 “I’ll take some time off and then will make final decision”

51:52 Are you happy? “Yes, i am”

52:03 “I often watch TV and see that a lot of people have serious problems with health, law and so on”

52:16 “I have my friends who help me and i do not have any significant problems”

52:30 “I have nothing to complain about and my life was decent”

52:42 “I keep my head up all the time”

52:51 “Of course, I have goals to achieve and i need to work to for them, but i consider my self to be happy”

53:01 What about your personal life with women?

53:04 “It’s good as always”

53:09 You was always good in taht field “Well, you can not complain about it.Let’s not make God angry”

53:25 As we could see you’re funny, ambitious and sometimes hard

53:34 But i’m wondering have you ever cried?

53:41 “I think that with age i become more sensitive”

53:49 “I can easily begin to cry watching a movie”

53:53 “Did you watch ‘the passion of the christ’?” A long time ago

54:01 “I broke out in tears in theatr when i saw christ’s mom running to him after he fell down”

54:13 “And i’m not ashamed of it”

54:48 Are you still going to banya (sauna) after sport?

54:53 “When i was lifting i hated banya most than anything else”

54:58 “And now it’s a habit”

55:05 I’m promoting banya as the best way to recover. And you being 2 time olympic medalist consider it to be true or not?

55:22 “I think it is true, because it opens up pores and has other benefits, but, of course, you should not abuse it”

55:33 “I agree with Klokov and recommend it to everybody”

55:41 “Klokov never gives bad advice”

55:45 I wish you’d say it 5 years ago

55:56 “Thank you Dima for coming!”

56:01 “Stick to us and do sports.Goodluck!”

57:57 “Proud father is more significant to me than worldwide recognition”