icenetwork.com: You have always put forward your passion for skating as your main motivation. How is your passion back, after last season?
Brian Joubert: The pleasure I get from skating is back for good now! I realize that it was not so much the case in the last years, really. And it is really important for me. You know, I am coming back to my first coach, Véronique Guyon, who coached me since I was four here, in my hometown of Poitiers. She knows me, she listens to me and she can reassure me. She calms me down. So things are going well, I am finding my technical bases again. I even need less energy for my jumps, since I get better technique, and I get less tired.

My body is in good shape, although it does not feel the same now, as I am aging [Joubert turned 26 last September 20th]. I do not recover from efforts as fast as when I was 17, although this does not disturb me. I have decided to lower my nominal weight from 77 to 75 kilograms in order to compensate. I still have one and a half kilo to go. This should help me feel better. Even this early in the season, I can skate my two programs completely. This was not the case last year.

Now when I get on the ice I want only one thing: push myself. To be honest, I enjoy suffering again. I feel a lot freer in my mind.

icenetwork.com: How did you come back from that Olympic season?
Brian Joubert: Indeed, last season was exhausting and the Olympics were a very difficult time for me. At the same time, you know, some things are far worse than losing the Olympics! As skaters, we have the chance to live extraordinary things and we should always remember this. Going to worlds three weeks after the Olympics was quite a challenge. We took the risk, because I could not end my career on the Vancouver note. It was impossible. Then saturation came upon my shoulders later, after we had created my new programs, in the middle of the summer.

It happened when I went to train in Courchevel, the famous resort in the Alps, in July. I had just come back from a 10-day vacation, but I did not feel like skating. Believe it or not, my new programs were all set, but I could not even remember their choreography! I then realized that I had had too much. Tension came off all at once at that period. So, I decided that I had only one thing to do: give myself a real break from skating. Which I did for three weeks.

icenetwork.com: What made you rebound then?
Brian Joubert: Skating exhibitions last summer in Korea was a great boost for me, something completely unique. You have to live it by yourself. I do not think there is one other place on earth where you can live the same thing. Even when I skate at home in France, it is not the same. The show Yu-Na Kim produced was just unique, one dimension higher than everywhere else. The audience was special. The atmosphere was special, we even had fireworks. Even the way I was taken in charge was special: I was offered to travel first class!

Once I was there, I got the feeling that I was like a pop star. I must admit that I felt really good. I really wanted to skate well throughout. It boosted me tremendously and helped me come back this season. Such events give you the will to keep going and get results. If you do not have results, you are not invited there anymore!

icenetwork.com: Can you talk about your new programs?
Brian Joubert: I really love them both. My free program was created by David Wilson to Beethoven's 9th Symphony. My short program is set to Flamenco. It was devised by Antonio Najarro, who choreographed Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat's Olympic original dance in 2002. There I portray three different characters: the bull, the dancer, and the torero.

icenetwork.com: This is interesting. Two years ago you had mentioned that you could not skate in someone else's role, and that you could only skate your own. Now you interpret three at the same time, what happened?
Brian Joubert: You are right. At the time I was skating to the Last Mohican, and I changed my program just between the Grand Prix Series and the European championships. Well, this means that there is a big change inside of me. This is really important for me, and it pleases me a lot. It shows I feel good within myself -- otherwise I would not be able to feel good in playing others.

icenetwork.com: How do you see the years to come?
Brian Joubert: I do not feel ready to start a family yet (he laughs). I still have a lot to accomplish in skating. I will keep doing sacrifices -- even though I do not take them as constraints. I feel even more motivated now, knowing that I have no problems at the moment. My body is in shape, my technique is back.

Also, it is much easier skating in Poitiers now. For years, I did not train with Véronique, yet she was there all the time, as she was teaching at the rink. We did not exchange a word for several years, and it was so tense. Now I do not need to put any energy there, and I can devote it completely to skating instead.

I also thank all the young skaters who are pushing me. Their only wish is to beat me, and they are right, it is good this way. Yet I am not ready to surrender and let them win yet!

I plan on skating competitively at least until 2012 Worlds [which will be organized in Nice, France], if all goes well. After that, we will see. It is certainly quite premature to think of 2014 and the Sochi Olympics.