Alexander Ovechkin: “Nastya gave me two wonderful sons, and I hope that we will have more children”

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Alexander and Nastasia do not like the hype around their family and, being in the status of one of the most famous sports couples in Russia, they prefer a quiet, calm lifestyle. At the same time, there are plenty of bright reasons. But all this is not for the sake of the number of subscribers in social networks or press attention. Everything for the family. For the family. So, recently Alexander arranged a surprise and came to a hockey training session with his wife’s nephew. And what was Nastya’s surprise when he entered the Luzhniki stage and confessed his love to her at the 75,000-seat stadium during the Hands Up concert. Nastya, in turn, also does everything to make the striker of the Washington Capitals NHL club happy. Obviously, the interests of the family come first for them. That is why they celebrate their son’s birthday among trampolines, slides and attractions. “Usually we celebrated in a restaurant, but this year Seryozha himself asked to celebrate the holiday in a children’s center. The wish of a birthday boy is the law,” explains Nastasia.

Nastya, Sasha, tell us what Seryozha is like at 4 years old?

Nastasia: As for any mother – the best! But our friends and relatives always say that he is well-mannered, friendly and developed beyond his years. He is a little shy, but if he understands that a person can be trusted, then he immediately liberates himself. That is why he loves it very much when our friends come to us. With their godfather, they do not spill water at all.

Alexander: Yes, and he is also a mountain for his brother. We recently vacationed in Turkey, and the sons were with my mom in the kids club. A boy came up and wanted to take a toy from Ilya. At that moment, Serezha stood in front of him and began to shout: “Don’t you dare touch my brother!” Although the boy was older than him. So Seryozha can stand up not only for himself, but also for Ilya.

And how do they get along with each other?

Nastasia: Seryozha is very affectionate towards Ilyusha, he often comes up to hug him, kiss him, all the time he says: “You are my beloved brother”, and Ilyusha, one might say, pushes him away. He does not like these tendernesses very much. (smiling)

Seryozha, who entered the room at that moment, corrects his mother: “Sometimes he still wants to hug!”

Alexander: Of course they fight sometimes. Ilya always needs exactly the toy that Serezha has, although we try to buy them everything the same. I think as soon as Ilya begins to speak better, it will be easier for them to negotiate, and there will be fewer quarrels.

When do you see yourself in them?

Nastasia: In America, we tried to take Seryozha to kindergarten. The attempt was unsuccessful. (Laughs) Many warned me that at first, children can cry when their mother leaves, but then they are distracted, and everything is fine. I brought Seryozha, left, but after 40 minutes they called me and said: he is hysterical, come back. When I told my mother-in-law about this, she laughed and replied: “Sasha was exactly the same!”

Tell me, have you thought about professional sports?

Nastasia: Serezha likes hockey very much, but we never forced him to play.

Alexander: Yes, we are not tied to any kind of sport. Whatever he chooses, he chooses. As soon as he began to walk well, he almost immediately picked up a stick. We even have a video of him tossing the puck on the hook at two years old, it flips in the air, and he catches it. Even adults do not always succeed in this trick.

Nastasia: Of course, dad played a big role here. Serezha has been going to matches since he was a baby, he is very interested in it. He is a sports boy with us: he loves football, tennis is easy for him, and, of course, his grandmother plays basketball with him (Alexander Ovechkin’s mother Tatyana Nikolaevna is a two-time Olympic basketball champion – Note ed.).

Nastya, children of the weather are very difficult, and not only physically, but also mentally. How do you relieve stress?

Nastasia: The stress was strong. The fact is that Ilya was born in the midst of a pandemic. It was very scary, because at that time no one really knew what kind of disease it was and how to treat it. Therefore, the last months of pregnancy were very nervous. When Ilyusha was born, we tried to isolate ourselves as much as possible so as not to catch the infection. Mentally, it was hard. Soon Sasha’s season was postponed, and we decided to go to Moscow. Here I already exhaled: the support of the family was very important for me at that moment.

Alexander: You have no idea how stressful it was for me. Fortunately, now the pandemic is moving away and there is already an idea how to be treated.

The boys have already grown up, there is more time for themselves. Nastya, you said before that you want to do fashion design, haven’t you burned out yet?

Nastasia: Boys still need to pay a lot of attention: classes, training, sections – they need to be taken there, then picked up. So for now, my plans are to take care of children, home and support my husband. I have two projects: one in the field of beauty, the other in the restaurant. But they are in Moscow, and most of the time we spend in Washington. They have already been implemented, but require development. An additional difficulty is now in flights: if earlier it was possible to sit down and fly to Russia in 10 hours, now the journey takes almost a day. But I will try to do everything from a distance.

You have been living in the USA for many years, but where is your home?

Nastasia: Home is Moscow. We grew up here, our parents and friends are here. Of course, in America during this time we managed to have close people, but we still consider Russia our home.

Sasha, what are your goals for this season?

Alexander: The most important thing is that we get into the playoffs. When you go further, a completely different season turns out. There are 83 games ahead – it’s quite hard, there are a lot of injuries and other nuances. So the main task is to reach the playoffs, and then we’ll see.

Only 115 goals separate you from Gretzky’s world record, which has been held in the NHL for 25 years. Do you think about this number often?

Alexander: 115 goals – it seems to be not so much, but also a lot. So I will do my best. If you can get close and beat Wayne Gretzky’s record, it will be a colossal achievement. On the other hand, even if I remain second, it will also be very honorable for me.

In 2018, you invested in Papa Johns pizzeria. What other areas are you interested in? Cryptocurrency, IT, real estate?

Alexander: There is one project that I am currently actively involved in. Together with partners in September we will lay the first stone for the school named after Alexander Ovechkin. It will open in two or three years in Moscow, in the Khoroshevo-Mnevniki district. In addition to training professional hockey players, we will train esports players as well. I want to develop this theme in Russia. Not so long ago, we held the Ovi CyberCup, an eSports tournament. Every year more and more young people are interested in gaming and play at a professional level.

Nastya, in July, during the concert of the “Hands Up” group, Sasha went on stage and confessed his love to you. What was your reaction?

Nastasia: It was unplanned. Serezha Zhukov did not expect this either. (Laughs) Right before the song “My Baby”. It was very touching, I even shed a tear. It was also unexpected because you are one of those couples who do not like to flaunt their feelings.

Alexander: Yes, life for show is not about me. If we post something personal on social media, it’s usually something spontaneous and unstaged.

Nastasia: At the same time, Sasha very often surprises me. For example, in the summer he gathered all our parents, relatives, friends – it turned out just a huge company – and brought them to Turkey. It was a surprise for all of us, even I found out about the trip in just a few days.

Sasha, does Nastya often arrange surprises?

Alexander: Every day! (smiling)

Nastasia: In fact, we have such a small tradition: Sasha and I go to a restaurant for a romantic dinner and stay at the hotel together for the night.

This year is your 5th wedding anniversary. Tell me, what is love after this time?

Alexander: When I met Nastya, I immediately fell in love! And now I understand that I am next to a person whom I can’t find better. She gave me two wonderful sons, and I hope that we will have more children. When I wake up, I understand that I am the happiest person, next to me is a charming, intelligent and understanding woman. I thank God that I have such a wife. She will always prompt, if necessary, make a remark, show kindness and tenderness. It may not be entirely correct to say this, but I am in the state in which any man would like to be: I have a friend, lover and wife all rolled into one.

When we met three years ago, I asked Nastya: how do you see our meeting next time? She replied that she would like to have four of you already in the pictures. Following a good tradition: how do you see your family on the next cover of HELLO!?

Alexander: To have at least five of us, and preferably six. This is my dream.