TAT interview: I don't like the word intrigue

[NadineWhite]

Great interview, strong lady, enjoyed reading it!

And I especially enoyed reading how they are all rallying around Zhenya, as it should be...

[bek]

Talking about the men - why stressing that Menshov is 29, 35 of 25? If he skated well the season then he skated well. If Russian Fed considers skaters as no longer promising due to age, then they should play open cards and simply introduce an age limit, as from TAT’s interview it’s just so obvious that this was the decisive factor. And I guess everyone following FS a bit in more detail is pretty much aware that Kovtun still is a junior as he only had results in juniors so far. And with Kovtun sure having shown impressive technical content, but it’s not only Kovtun or Yagudin or Plushenko (as he compared Kovtun to the latter ones) who had likewise great technical abilities as juniors – wasn’t Ilia Klimkin the first male skater to land two different quads in 1999 when he was still eligible in Juniors? And I wouldn’t say that Ilia Kulik’s technical abilities were worse than Kovtun’s that age, considering the fact that quads were done less frequent than today that time and as a result of that there also was less focus on such jumps in practices. The same is the case for Urmanov who, if I remember it correctly, did quads in major senior competitions at age 17, 18, when quad attempts in competition were still considered to be a sensation. :

Urmanov and Kulik became Olympic champions. In terms of Klimkin, Russia had a deep field back then....

I don't think its so much age as the fact that one guy is Russia's best hope for the future, and another guy frankly isn't. I don't believe in age limits but I do think its smart for federations to put consideration in giving the young ones chances. I remember saying last year that this year the Japanese fed should do (what they could in relation to the skaters skating) to see Hanyu is on the World team, because Hanyu is their long term future.

Menshov has had a long time to prove he could be successful on the World state and has not been...The Russians can't just look at Plushenko they have to start investing in their young. Kovtun could be a real key to getting Team Gold in Sochi and could be very successful in the long term. However they need to get him out there to compete....

And considering how well Kovtun did, I think the decision can be argued as justified.

[Lyinna]

Besides, I would like you to mention, that his primary coach is Elena Buyanova, not I. It's some strange tale written everywhere, that his coach is Tarasova. I emphasize: Buyanova. Yes, I am also his coach, but I'm the second coach. I am asking not to mix these two.

Acting like she did in K&C after Maxim's FS doesn't help her case. She's clearly involved in his career.

[Mayra]

I feel that she is making excuses for Adelina and Liza, comparing them to the late bloomers in ladies skating. OTOH, the amount of hype they both received raised everyone's expectations to a ridiculous level. I'd love to see an evolution, especially from Adelina. I do believe she is a special skater.

I hate the word hype. Both Adelina and Liza were fabulous as juniors and they deservedly got a lot of attention for it. After Slutskaya, the Russian ladies went through a dry spell and having a group of very talented girls coming up in juniors created a lot of excitement. Beyond that, it is FANS that seem to put unrealistic expectations on these girls. To me TAT isn't making excuses so much as stating the facts. The talent is still there, but they're also growing and learning to adapt to their bodies. Give them time.

[bek]

You know, they could have found a more flattering picture of TAT. I feel that she is making excuses for Adelina and Liza, comparing them to the late bloomers in ladies skating. OTOH, the amount of hype they both received raised everyone's expectations to a ridiculous level. I'd love to see an evolution, especially from Adelina. I do believe she is a special skater. .

What excuses. Neither girl has even been to Worlds yet. Neither Kim nor Asada became World Champions THEIR first year as Seniors (Meissner did the year before and didn't do much else later).. The pressure of this level of competition is immense and both girls are going into it with a lot of expectations. They both need time to get use to those expectations and this level of competition. If two/three years from now neither girl has gotten it together than we can talk, but then we can point out Kostner.

And I wouldn't call Kostner a late bloomer...She was well hyped from a young age as a potential World/Olympic champion...It just took Carolina a long time to figure out how to compete at this level. But I recall Kostner's worlds debut were people were talking about how she was talented enough to maybe even win Gold in 2006. And it looked like with her World bronze right before the Olympics that it could maybe even happen.

Even Plushenko with all of his talent, took some time to get use to this level of competition..So I think at this point good for Tarasova for giving excuses for those two girls. Saying they are a disappointment isn't exactly going to help their confidence.