`Am not too fond of the USA' - Vaitsekhovskaya's interview with Leonova

[Loves_Shizuka]

Read it more carefully:
She didn't say that about Aranjuez, but about another music that they tried before reverting back to the last year's program.

It still applies. What the hell did they find MORE funereal than Barber and RFAD?! Four minutes of people just sobbing and wailing?!

(FWIW, I like Alena; rather alot actually)

[AndyWarhol]

Have other people whinged about Olympics food before?

[MacMadame]

she doesn't have to moan

You don't have to moan either. Hasn't stopped you..

Have other people whinged about Olympics food before?

NEVER!

I mean all the time, if we're talking about the food in the Olympic Village.

[Jayar]

I've interviewed Elena, and she was very accommodating. She knew that I knew zero Russian, and she found someone who could help with the interview. She was very sweet in her responses, and I found her refreshing. Personally, I would be crabby about having to train in another location. Different bed, climate, air quality, food, etc. I don't blame her. I can't imagine having to dust to Russian culture why maintains a high level of athlete preparedness. Then again, I do not travel well.

[Vagabond]

You don't have to moan either. Hasn't stopped you..

I'm just an obscure nobody who has never (yet) qualified for the Olympics. I promise that if I do make the team, I won't whinge about the food or the hotels where I had to stay while I was training.

[PeterG]

I've interviewed Elena, and she was very accommodating.

Is Berezhnaya friends with Leonova?

[Jayar]

Is Berezhnaya friends with Leonova?

Because you are perfect.

[Marco]

Well, Kostner is quite modern and abstract , while Leonova is 'hit you in the head with a hammer' Literal. When Leonova skates to pirate music, every movement her clothing, her face constantly remind you, she's a PIRATE! Why do some funky transition when you can get to the same place by doing a few crossovers with a big pirate face? it's not surprising that Kostner mostly loses her.

I am not saying what she said isn't correct or how many people feel, I am saying it's weird coming from her. What if Zhang was criticising Flatt for being slow, or Lysacek was critising Plushenko for using his arms too much...

[julieann]

You don't have to eat at McDonalds like Leonova seems to think-you can have a salad. McDonalds has those too. I have heard her complain before about meals but good ones are available.

Or you can be like Megan Duhamel and bring your own just to be safe.

I think being homesick is normal but she really did know what she was getting into witj travel and such.

[triple_toe]

I recall a recent interview where Patrick complained about the lack of organic chicken and greens in Sochi and how awful the food was in general, saying it was too greasy and gave him the runs but that Russians were used to it, just like they were used to constantly being surrounded by cigarette smoke. He also compared the lodgings to the hotel from the Shining so it's not a purely Russian phenomenon

[kwanfan1818]

Natalie Pechalat said that she loved going to the Bolshoi all the time when she lived in Moscow. I think she'd have thrived in NJ -- Hackensack being a stone's throw from NYC -- had Krylova and Camarlengo been based there, the best of both worlds.

I think it's a valid point that if a US skater had made similar remarks, she'd be accused of disliking real food that has real spices and ingredients, instead of that bland, sweet, over-processed stuff they serve in America, and that she was spoiled by perfect ice, private lessons, over-heated living spaces ,and central air conditioning, and she didn't know how to roll with the punches, the little Princess and her pea.

I thought it was great, though, when she talked about food a lot in her blog during her stay in Vancouver. Having real Russian food made her so happy.

[Jenifer]

Are you sure that's a Patrick quote you're thinking of and not this gem from Rosie Dimanno?

Wide awake at 3 a.m., internal clock unadjusted, the joint feels more like The Overlook from The Shining, spooky.

[TAHbKA]

Perhaps this is a translation issue as much as anything. In my own experience, I've found that there can be hazards in attempting to translate English into Russian. Many years ago, I was taking a beginning Russian class, and I got the bright idea of writing a fan letter to Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut in Russian.

What I intended to say was:

"Dear Olga. Congratulations on your recent victory. I saw you on television recently, and really enjoyed your performance."

Only after sending my letter, however, did I find out that what I had actually written was this:

"Dear Olga. Congratulations on your recent spoilage. I saw you on top of my television set recently, and really enjoyed your performance."

So I would imagine that similar difficulties may exist in translating Russian into English.

If I were in the middle of `English for beginners' - yest. Fortunately am not.

No, nothing went lost in the translation, yes, Russian is just more straight forward.
BTW, the readers of Vaitsekhovskaya's blog commented on this interview being rather sad - Leonova doesn't mention anything positive, which is quite unusual to her normal `everything is great, I'm the best, let's go and kick some asses'

[triple_toe]

Are you sure that's a Patrick quote you're thinking of and not this gem from Rosie Dimanno?

Yep:

“We were staying in a sanatorium, built during the Communist era. It's a huge compound with six different buildings of hotel rooms with the high-class rooms and the lower-class rooms,” he said. “We definitely got the lower-class rooms. Some people got beautiful hotel rooms and we had some shady rooms. It was like showing up at The Shining – the flicker of the lights in the hallways.

“It's where the government workers, high officials, would go for a vacation and have a spa treatment for a weekend and sometimes, reward factory workers,” he added. “They have a different sense of luxury, definitely.”

link here

[Jenifer]

Thanks for the link. Interesting that the Shining comparison is the go-to one for Canadians visiting Sochi. Seems as though Canadians are just as fond of Russian food as Russians are of Canadian food.

[TAHbKA]

Thanks for the link. Interesting that the Shining comparison is the go-to one for Canadians visiting Sochi. Seems as though Canadians are just as fond of Russian food as Russians are of Canadian food.

Frankly, from what I read in Russian about Sochi, GPF organization etc - Chan sounds positive enough...

[sadya]

Virtually every Russian skater interview has the obligatory anti-USA digs, so it's par for the course. No problem.

Perhaps Leonova wants to show she still appreciates Russia and feels very Russian, no matter where she goes and what she achieves and gains.

When Kulik went to the US for his training not everyone liked it. Some even used it against him, like Mishin making comments as 'see? He went to the US and is performing less because he has every accomodation there and life is easy, he doesn't have to fight', well I can't remember the exact words, but that's more or less what he meant anyway.

Yagudin got the same treatment from Mishin and some others. While audiences and especially the judges in Russia seemed to prefer Plushenko (who also very publicly said he's staying and training in Russia instead of going to the US like Yagudin did), out of Russia mostly Yagudin was preferred because of his presentation skills, that's the impression I had anyway.

In the recent past, leaving Russia to train in the US seems to have been used by rivals and their supporters to make those training in the US seem less patriotic, less Russia loving thus less worthy of being Russian, it was a way of trying to win more support from the public and judges for the rivals staying and training in Russia. Perhaps these opinions and tactics still matter there.

[lala]

Yagudin got the same treatment from Mishin and some others. While audiences and especially the judges in Russia seemed to prefer Plushenko (who also very publicly said he's staying and training in Russia instead of going to the US like Yagudin did), out of Russia mostly Yagudin was preferred because of his presentation skills, that's the impression I had anyway.

I disagree. Maybe Yagudin was preferred in US and North-America, but not in any other country. This is a stereotype in FSU forum, but is not true. Yagudin was preferred in USA, because he trained there, Tarasova was his coach and he won his Olympic Champion title in US. He competed in North-America many times in professional competitons. But you are right, Yagudin has never been Russian champion, he was beaten Kulik or Plushy. But you don't forget Yagudin was beaten by Plush in 2000 ECH, when Plushy was 17 y.o and in 2001 everywhere. Plushy is almost 3 years younger like Yagudin. And if you really curious their presentation skills, look at their early programs. Plushenko's artistry comes from inside, he had innate artistry, but Yagudin has learned it. I remember when Yagudin begun to compete in the senior comps the commentators said Yag is very good in jumps but needs to improve in presentation. But Plushy's second marks were really high from the beginning.

[analia]

Oh, a skater says something interesting, now hate him/her. Why even read interviews if you are only expecting press releases and positive thoughts? Readers can get so self-righteous sometimes.
I simply love reading this. The brutality of being Alena Leonova...with not a classic skater body, in a training group where she is not the favorite girl, the battle with her lack of natural talent every day. Very real. And American food does suck (and not just american food, every type of food is worse in America because all the ingredients are heavily processed), plus you need to drive to places in New Jersey, which is inconvenient for foreigners. You would have to rent cars and stuff, just very complicated. She was completely right.

Russia's hotels are terrible though. Expensive with terrible facilities. Four star hotels in Moscow have rooms that look like a highway motel.

[Prancer]

Oh, a skater says something interesting, now hate him/her. Why even read interviews if you are only expecting press releases and positive thoughts? Readers can get so self-righteous sometimes.

And here I thought most posters were rather bored by the whole thing and most were also sympathetic to Alena.