Interview with Nina Mozer

[lala]

Jeremy Abbot is 1m78, and Boyang Jin is 1m68.
It has nothing to do with being Asian or not.
You can always find some Asian folks who's bigger than Jeremy and jumps worse or better than Jeremy if they got enough training from young like him.
And please watch JGP, Japan national, and maybe Chinese national, you will find soke folks who are as thin as Yuzuru and Boyang but jump much worse than then.
And in Russia there have been many guys who have the same body build as Plushy (and some folks look like Yagudin), but do they jump as well as Plushy and Yagudin?

talent, good coach, etc...

Yes, there is an ideal body type for the figure skater. I think the Asian men are similar to the ideal...and Mozer, Tomas Verner( and probably many others) also think that. But there are always exceptions .. and there are other aspects.

What do you think why the Afro-Americans are the best sprinters? Do you know one non Afro-American runner has better time than 10 seconds on 100m? ( the french Christophe Lemaitre)

Why the Kenyan, Ethiopian long-distance runners are the best?

THIS IS NOT RACISM!!!!!!!! These are physical characteristics... Please...

 

[Meoima]

talent, good coach, etc...
Yes, there is an ideal body type for the figure skater. I think the Asian men are similar to the ideal...and Mozer, Tomas Verner( and probably many others) also think that. But there are always exceptions .. and there are other aspects.
What do you think why the Afro-Americans are the best sprinters? Do you know one non Afro-American runner has better time than 10 seconds on 100m? ( the french Christophe Lemaitre)
Why the Kenyan, Ethiopian long-distance runners are the best?
THIS IS NOT RACISM!!!!!!!! These are endowments... Please...

Is Javi close to the ideal? Is he Asian? I can give you number of Asian men around me who I am sure even if they were trained from young but could never rotate even up to a double.
Again, if we have 10 Boyang, 10 Yuzuru, I can say Asian men are having advantage over the rest of the world. But do we have?
Mozer and you are making as if this sport is not figure skating but rotating competition which it's not.
Boyang medaled at Boston because Patrick bombed. Remember they put a Patrick who had a meh SP but great LP over a Boyang who were clean in both programs. You have forgotten 4CC?
ISU can always adjust the rules to regain the balance for those with better skating skill. This is skating competition after all.

 

[TAHbKA]

So was the conclusion Sergey Davydov is the beat jumper ever been made, or not yet?

 

[Meoima]

Again, Mozer's comment about Asian athletes is unfair because it's not the Asian skaters who won at Boston. None of them won WC for 2 consecutive years. So why is she complaining it's unfair to compete with Asian skaters? Her teams did worse than Sui/Han who got silver at Boston, accept that and train harder.

 

[aftershocks]

...

This is news to me. I thought Meagan and Eric ditched their second quad throw because it was causing havoc on timing/ rhythm of their triple throw. When, where and how did Meagan injure her chin?
...

Well, according to J&D in the latest installment of TSL's This 'n That, Meagan Duhamel indicates she did not suffer a chin injury at any time while training quad throws.

 

[Nomad]

Again, Mozer's comment about Asian athletes is unfair because it's not the Asian skaters who won at Boston. None of them won WC for 2 consecutive years. So why is she complaining it's unfair to compete with Asian skaters? Her teams did worse than Sui/Han who got silver at Boston, accept that and train harder.

Oh, please. Stop being logical.

 

[Plisskin]

She needs to just accept the fact that her team didn't skate well instead of bringing race into it. That and maybe take a look at the World medalists for the last few years. It hasn't exactly been a team Asia sweep like she thinks it is. Hell, she can wiki it if the ISU website acts up on her laptop. Funny how as soon as a small portion of non-European decent athletes start winning in sports, there are always ignorant comments like this. Same thing happened to gymnast Simone Biles a couple years ago in beam finals.

 

[Vash01]

May be her target audience is not us. It's the RSF

 

[SmallFairy]

So was the conclusion Sergey Davydov is the beat jumper ever been made, or not yet?

OMG you're my freakin f***** hero!!!

 

[Nomad]

Enough with the reason and logic, people. Jesus. WTH is wrong with you all?

 

[Xela M]

Bottom line is... D&R have won Worlds twice now because Mozer's pairs didn't turn up (at times literally and other times figuratively speaking).

Whether that has anything to do with Asian bodies I can't say

 

[lala]

Is Javi close to the ideal? Is he Asian? I can give you number of Asian men around me who I am sure even if they were trained from young but could never rotate even up to a double.
Again, if we have 10 Boyang, 10 Yuzuru, I can say Asian men are having advantage over the rest of the world. But do we have?
Mozer and you are making as if this sport is not figure skating but rotating competition which it's not.
Boyang medaled at Boston because Patrick bombed. Remember they put a Patrick who had a meh SP but great LP over a Boyang who were clean in both programs. You have forgotten 4CC?
ISU can always adjust the rules to regain the balance for those with better skating skill. This is skating competition after all.

You are very smart. You ignore those parts of my post what you can't answer. But maybe my english is so poor and I couldn't explain my thoughts. I will try again. And please, let the racist card stuff, because that is insult on me. I love and admire every athletes! With that logic the world's sport is a big racist game.

Javi isn't a big guy, but he isn't Asian. And I didn't say only the Asian men can be good skaters, good jumpers. And let the skating skills because that is irrelevant in our debate.
Yuzuru is a big skater he is one of the best jumpers not because of he is Japanese but because he is very talented, hard-worker!!!, he has one of the best coaches in the World, he was able to use his physical characteristics. Without his other qualities he would be one of those Asian skaters who are competing in the Chinese and Japanese Nat. Champs but don't achieve any result, and can jump only doubles.
I was an athlete and I'm working in sports. As I said and you agree with that the selection for the sports is a wise thing. You didn't deny a kind of body type is good of a particular sport. If those physical characteristics are found in some humans, they have a good chance become a good athlete in that particular sport. But as I said, it's just a chance. And there are always exceptions! This is a wonderful thing which makes the sport more exciting, interesting!!!
For example:
highy jumpers: they are very tall, thin guys in general. Most of them aren't Asian. Right ?The bests: Javier Sotomayor, Patrik Sjöberg,Stefan Holm..ups! Exceptions!: Stefan Holm is just 181 cm! And Zhu Jianhua (China) who is Asian but 193 cm! He was a recorder, too!
basketball players: tall guys in general.... an exception: Jao Ming he is very tall but Asian.
the best sprinters: most of them are Afro-American, but there are exceptions. But that is fact the only one non Afro-American Christophe Lemaitre has better time as 10sec on 100m!
the best long-distance runners: Kenyans, Ethiopians. exception: Lasse Viren...
handball( the American posters probably don't know this sport) the players are tall and very strong, big guys and girls. Very succesful nations in this sport: Norway, Fance, Sweden, Denmark, Spain etc. Exception: in the 80's was a South- Korean world champion team...
etc., etc.,
I think that there is nothing wrong in it. And if we don't say about it openly, it is still exists.

And we all know the figure skating is very complex sport.
So: physical characteristics+talent+strong-will+hard work+good coach+good jump technic+good nerves =outstanding skater, jumper.

Again, Mozer's comment about Asian athletes is unfair because it's not the Asian skaters who won at Boston. None of them won WC for 2 consecutive years. So why is she complaining it's unfair to compete with Asian skaters? Her teams did worse than Sui/Han who got silver at Boston, accept that and train harder.

If she said this or if she wanted to say this that is stupid, of course. That isn't unfair they worked hardly for the results.

 

[Karpenko]

Bottom line is... D&R have won Worlds twice now because Mozer's pairs didn't turn up (at times literally and other times figuratively speaking).

Whether that has anything to do with Asian bodies I can't say

Ironically, they also skated to Elton John. I wonder if those two things have any connection with each other.

I think that a fresh perspective on choreography would be good for Mozer's teams, especially someone like Moskvina/Tchernyshev. The quality of the elements is still there but the lack of change (technically and artistically) leaves a bland effect, even though the Russian pairs are my favorites because of the quality and performance skills. All she really needs to do is change it up a bit IMO, all of the ingredients are still there and she's a very strong GOE maximizing coach. Choreography is hit or miss at times and could be a lot more memorable and detailed; they should be blowing the field away in this area with what's there for a choreographer to work with IMO. Find someone new.

 

[clairecloutier]

I agree Mozer's group could use some new choreography (and it sounds like T/M are getting it, at least, this year, not sure about V/T). To me, the Mozer teams' main strength at this point is their skating skills and pairs quality--their overall polish, unison,and partnering. Technically, I feel there are actually a few weak points (not just with the jumps, either) and this is one of the reasons they didn't medal at Worlds this year.

 

[MsZem]

Bottom line is... D&R have won Worlds twice now because Mozer's pairs didn't turn up (at times literally and other times figuratively speaking).

And most notably, because D/R really showed up in great form both times. The Russian pairs couldn't coast on PCS like they did in 2014. S/K have been trying to address this on the technical side, but I don't think V/T really did, and their material wasn't good enough to set them apart, either.

Nina Mozer needs to look at what she can do better as a coach rather than making absurd pronouncements about Asian and "Latin" skaters.

 

[Meoima]

If she said this or if she wanted to say this that is stupid, of course. That isn't unfair they worked hardly for the results.

If she isn't making poor excuse for her team's performance, then what else was she talking about the "Asian athletes with endowments" for? Her tone is so much like "Asian skaters with thinner bodies have so much advantage than us Russians, they rotate faster jump better and they win most of the time. It's unfair for Russians to compete with that kind of body so we have to work harder!"
oh well, which Asian skater has won in these 2 years? It's her team's fault they don't have medal. S/K skipped WC Shanghai despite a guaranteed podium finish. V/T only needed to skate somewhat clean to get medal at Boston, but they bombed.
Regarding the injuries, oh well has she heard that Sui has just had a surgery and has to stay off ice for 4 months? Why being Asian doesn't make her stronger and faster more resilient than European ladies?
Mozer teams didn't lost because they had to compete with Asians who have the advantage of being thinner smaller. They messed up themselves. It's lame to bring the card "being Non-Asian make us hard to compete with Asian" when Asians don't even win.

 

[Xela M]

If she isn't making poor excuse for her team's performance, then what else was she talking about the "Asian athletes with endowments" for? Her tone is so much like "Asian skaters with thinner bodies have so much advantage than us Russians, they rotate faster jump better and they win most of the time. It's unfair for Russians to compete with that kind of body so we have to work harder!"
oh well, which Asian skater has won in these 2 years? It's her team's fault they don't have medal. S/K skipped WC Shanghai despite a guaranteed podium finish. V/T only needed to skate somewhat clean to get medal at Boston, but they bombed.
Regarding the injuries, oh well has she heard that Sui has just had a surgery and has to stay off ice for 4 months? Why being Asian doesn't make her stronger and faster more resilient than European ladies?
Mozer teams didn't lost because they had to compete with Asians who have psychological advantage. They messed up themselves.

This. There is no evidence whatsoever that Mozer's teams were at any kind of disadvantage. In fact, S&H messed up and left the door wiiiiiiiide open for Mozer's team (of OGM, OSM and T&M) to swoop in. The fact they didn't had nothing at all to do with their physique. In fact, I'd say S&H are the ones at a disadvantage with their tiny height difference.

 

[lala]

If she isn't making poor excuse for her team's performance, then what else was she talking about the "Asian athletes with endowments" for? Her tone is so much like "Asian skaters with thinner bodies have so much advantage than us Russians, they rotate faster jump better and they win most of the time. It's unfair for Russians to compete with that kind of body so we have to work harder!"

I agree, in this from it's a stupid opinion. For example the Russian pair skater girls are so tiny in this case it's absolute irrelevant who is Asian and who is not. Plus the boys are much more taller, stronger as the Asian. I don't see any advantage.

oh well, which Asian skater has won in these 2 years? It's her team's fault they don't have medal. S/K skipped WC Shanghai despite a guaranteed podium finish. V/T only needed to skate somewhat clean to get medal at Boston, but they bombed.

Agreed.

Regarding the injuries, oh well has she heard that Sui has just had a surgery and has to stay off ice for 4 months? Why being Asian doesn't make her stronger and faster more resilient than European ladies?

Being Asian doesn't make her stronger etc... of, course..But she didn't say that.

Mozer teams didn't lost because they had to compete with Asians who have the advantage of being thinner smaller. They messed up themselves. It's lame to bring the card "being Non-Asian make us hard to compete with Asian" when Asians don't even win.

Agreed.

 

[DimaToe]

Mozer just needs to accept that she and her team haven't been on their game since Sochi instead of trying to find bull$hit excuses left and right. From last years unnecessary withdrawal to this year, when it would have actually been excusable for at least one of her teams to withdraw, instead she brings a team that looks beyond burnt out, and the other not quite recovered from an injury, and her one team that did actually deliver has packaging so bland that it kept them from a 3rd or 4th place finish IMO. You can't completely blame a coach for a skaters bad performance IMO, but you can completely blame a coach when she tries to play chess with her teams to try and save face for as long as she can.

 

[Vash01]

I am now convinced that S&K missed the 2015 worlds because of some kind of 'strategy' by Mozer. As a coach she needed to help them rediscover their mojo. Instead she used the cop out. It really hurt S&K in the long run. Nobody could have predicted this year's injury but she is totally responsible for last year's decision, which hurt S&K in the long run. Had they been even world bronze medallists in 2015 they would still be further ahead than they are now.

Why are S&K still with Mozer? They deserve better, and so do T&M.

 

[arakwafan2006]

Ironically, they also skated to Elton John. I wonder if those two things have any connection with each other.

I think that a fresh perspective on choreography would be good for Mozer's teams, especially someone like Moskvina/Tchernyshev. The quality of the elements is still there but the lack of change (technically and artistically) leaves a bland effect, even though the Russian pairs are my favorites because of the quality and performance skills. All she really needs to do is change it up a bit IMO, all of the ingredients are still there and she's a very strong GOE maximizing coach. Choreography is hit or miss at times and could be a lot more memorable and detailed; they should be blowing the field away in this area with what's there for a choreographer to work with IMO. Find someone new.

I agree This is a rare case where I think that's all that's needed. The I Put a Spell on you program was a great choice for Ksenia but Fedor was just there for decoration and the choreography was merely "ok". All
Of Mozers teams do the old school skate, stand around, skate thing which has played out considering the other top teams bring it in every way possible.

She (her teams) just had a bad year. End of story. BTW where are the throw quads? Ksenia and Fedor might be safe with 3/3 and a 3Sal and good throws but Tat and Max need to up the ante. I wish them the best

 

[aliceanne]

I think Sui/Han are at a big disadvantage because Han is so small.

 

[Xela M]

I think Sui/Han are at a big disadvantage because Han is so small.

Exactly. Plus, Chinese pairs are not exactly known for having consistent SBS jumps, so I can't see biology being that much of an advantage over the Russians (who are always tiny girl/big guy pairings and are usually very strong jumpers)

 

[Vash01]

Exactly. Plus, Chinese pairs are not exactly known for having consistent SBS jumps, so I can't see biology being that much of an advantage over the Russians (who are always tiny girl/big guy pairings and are usually very strong jumpers)

I thought S&Z and P&T were both very consistent in their sbs jumps, before Zhao's injury.

 

[just tuned in]

I imagine "keeper of the homestead flame" to be the spiritual center, representing the power of conviction, and a guiding force.

 

[Xela M]

I imagine "keeper of the homestead flame" to be the spiritual center, representing the power of conviction, and a guiding force.

That's not what the Russian expression means though

 

[MAXSwagg]

She should've just said that her teams weren't mentally prepared (excusing V/T's apparent issues with their skates days before the event). Of course, the very incorrect components and GOE scoring of some of the teams, namely Aliona/Massot, and D/R, didn't help the placements either.

 

[Karpenko]

Well, thankfully after Volosozhar & Trankov completely tanked their program, their GOE and PCS reflected the performance. And they finished completely off of the podium, as they should've considering how they performed. Stolbova & Klimov had two scary split twists and a fall on a triple salchow. It is what it is.

 

[MAXSwagg]

Which also brings up another whacko thing about IJS. You can get a perfectly good lift invalidated if there are no revolutions, but you can bomb a jump and still get at least 50% of its value.

 

[Japanfan]

I imagine "keeper of the homestead flame" to be the spiritual center, representing the power of conviction, and a guiding force.

It brings to mind the English expression "I'll keep the home fires burning", which is the sort of thing a woman would say when her man goes off to war, or on even on just an extended business trip. IMO it's an essentially sexist statement because it relegates women to the domestic sphere.

Lofty statements have often been made about women in attempts to justify their relegation to the home. The notion that women are as you say "the spiritual center, representing the power of conviction, and a guiding force" is just one example. And there are always negatives to counter that, such as the view that women are weak, unstable, and overly-emotional/irrational. Fainting was used an example of this in Victorian times, when it was commonly the result of women's blood flow being constricted by their corset.

Another example that comes to mind is "behind every great man, stands a women" - but note that the woman stands behind.

In Japan they like to emphasize that women control the purse strings of society, because they do the banking (their husbands don't have time). However, this does no mean that they do in fact control the purse strings of society - economic and business forces (which largely exclude women) do that.

They also say that "the women are ruling from underground"? WTF does that mean? Does it mean that women are ruling the country subversively, having the final say in policy and legislative decisions made by government? I don't think so. I think it be very arrogant and sexist view because it denies women the right to rule from above-ground.

Another expression that comes mind is something I've heard Russian skaters say in interviews on this board: the man is the head, the women is the neck.

That one bothers me too, as the head is where the brain is. The analogy must be that the neck can manipulate the head through its motions, but so what? The head still makes all the decisions and gets all the credit.