Catching up with Andrei Kan

Andrei Kan, a member of the 1996 Belorussian MAG team, now lives in the US and works as a coach. Among his gymnasts is Marvin Kimble, a current national team member. His oldest son, Vitaly Kan, is currently a senior at the University of Minnesota. Intex-Press, a news website of Baranovichi, Kan’s native city, caught up with him and talked about his current life in the US and whether he misses Belarus.

On moving to America

“I moved to the US in 1998, when I retired. You could say I got lucky: with help from Vitaly Scherbo – huge thanks to him – I was invited to a gymnastics club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Since then, I’ve been living and working in this city on Lake Michigan. All the guys from that [1996] team are in America. We keep in touch with each other. I talk with Vitaly Scherbo on the phone. He’s in Las Vegas, he has his own gym. When we go to the Winter Cup in Las Vegas every year, we always meet. Vanya Ivankov works in Texas, there will be a competition there in January and we’ll go there. Sasha Belanovskiy and Vitalya Rudnitskiy are my business partners and closest friends. We all live in Milwaukee, we have a gym together, we coach kids between 5 and 18 years. I work as a manager and a coach”.

On family

“I have two sons, both are gymnasts. The oldest – Vitaly – is 21 years old, he competes for the University of Minnesota. He went to the Universiade in 2017 as a member of the US team. He won medals at college competitions. My youngest – Maksim – is ten years old. He’s on the national team and I see even more potential in him than in my oldest. My wife Lena works as a physical therapy assistant, she helps older people rehabilitate after surgeries and injuries. She took a special course to get this job”.

About his love for Belarus

“Despite the fact that I’ve been living in America for more than 20 years, in my heart, I’m still Belorussian. Russian Korean who was born in the USSR – it’s forever. In truth, I’m not a star, I’m just a regular Belorussian gymnast who got to represent Belarus at the Olympics. I always cheer on the Belorussian gymnasts, even though I worry for the Americans, too. When I meet Belorussian gymnasts and coaches at competitions, I always try to help them”.

“I can’t say that integrating into the new life was easy. First, I didn’t have enough language knowledge. I knew English just a bit. I had to take classes: I really wanted to be able to speak and to express myself correctly. Second, I really missed the Belorussian or Russian atmosphere. So, when I visit Minsk or Baranovichi, I enjoy talking to my closed ones. Third, I really missed some of my close friends, my mom, my brother. My older brother Sergei lives in Krasnodar. I visited him but it’s not enough, I really miss everyone. Last year, on January 6th, my father died – an irreparable loss. Now I’m mourning on Christmas”.*

On coaching

“When I started coaching in the US, I had no idea how to do it. But I said to myself that I wanted to be a better coach than I was a gymnast. I could achieve more as a gymnast if not for my own mistakes. Now I’m happy with my results. In 1998-2003, I was lucky to coach Paul and Morgan Hamm who competed at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. Paul became the all-around Olympic champion in 2004 and the all-around World champion in 2003. Many of my other gymnasts competed for prestigious universities: Stanford, Michigan, Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Air Force, and Navy Academy. Right now I’m coaching Marvin Kimble, he’s a member of the national team, the champion of the Panamerican Games in 2015, silver medalist at World Cups in 2017 and 2018. I’m happy with what I’m doing as a coach. Gymnastics here is good in terms of earning. You won’t become a millionaire but you can earn a decent living. I can say that I’m middle class. My main goal is to raise my kids and give them a decent education. Overall, the coaches earn about only 10% more than the average US salary. The most important thing is that I’m happy and I love what I do. Gymnastics is my life and my livelihood, I feel like I found my place!”

On gymnastics in the US

“Even though men’s gymnastics is not a domineering sport in the US, it has a strong position. There was a rise in the last 20 years and nowadays the American gymnasts are in the top 5 or 6 in the world. I think it’s a direct consequence of many good specialists moving there from different countries, including the USSR. But I need to give credit to Americans as well, they learn fast and there are many good coaches among them. In order for Belarus to achieve this level, the government should build more gyms and, the most important, to stop the emigration of the coaches since there are already not enough of them. It’s necessary to create decent conditions for people to do what they love”.

On hobbies

“I spend my free time fishing and bowling. I like to bowl, it really helps to release the stress. Fishing is my big and old hobby. I have two spots – the Mississippi river where I go with my friends to fish for sander and sterlet and the local rivers where we “hunt” trout. On New Year’s Eve, we gather together with Belanovskiys and Rudnitskiys and a family of a Russian choreographer who works here. Five-six Russian-speaking families meet every year at someone’s place according to our old tradition”.

*Orthodox Christmas is on January 7th.

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