Tinami Amori
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Mother of Elizabet Tursynbaeva speaks about the coaching differences in Tuberidze’s and Orser’s group.
https://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/na_kitai/2299603.html
Editorial: Mother of the famous skater, Elizabet Tursynbaeva, Mrs. Padishahan Sultanalieva, born in Aksa, but a long time resident of Moscow since her university attendance days, told the correspondent of RDV about the developments in life of their family, and why they decided to return to Eteri Tutberidze from Brian Orser.
RDV: We know that Elizabet used to train with Eteri Tutberidze, then you moved to Orser, yet today you returned to Tutberidze. To begin, how is your daughter Elizabet is described from a professional/athletic point of view?
TursyMom: She is petite, neatly/compactly shaped, flexible and thin - a combination that is considered good for a figure skater, also Elizabet has good genetics for jumping.
RDV: How did your children end up at a rink, and in the world of sports in general?
TursyMom: Can the dreams come true? In 1980 in Moscow during 1980 Olympics the whole country watched the event on the TV screens. I watched with great inspiration, I was only 9 years old. Watching at the screen I imagined and dreamed up a picture, how it is me there among the athletes. I told my mother: I want to be there, it’s a grand path, a real life, with great people and the whole world. One has a defined path in life, one is never bored (idle), and the path to become an Olympian is so exciting – even then I had the premonition of what such life would be as an athlete.
So it happened, due to Elizabet’s efforts, that history was made, as prior to her, no other female from Kazakhstan ever made it to the Olympics. And yet she (Elizabet) managed to earn two quotas for Olympic participation (for Kazakhstan).
RDV: In Kazakhstan, seems that the athletes on such level are well treated. Do you feel this level of support?
TursyMom: Yes, from the very beginning they supported us, always treated us well. From my own experience, I know that the success level of a young athlete heavily depends on the titanic efforts of his family, even if there is government support. A lot of aspects we (parents) must organize through our own efforts, at our own expense, and all that we invest.
In the beginning our goals were to make the Russian team, at the Tutberidze’s group, then, after consulting within the family, decided that Elizabet should represent Kazakhstan, and that meant some changes. At that the Russian coaches were not allowed to train non-russians, and my daughter already took Kazakh citizenship.
That and other reasons lead us to go to Brian Orser in Canada, just prior to 2014. We were searching for best possibilities and opportunities, and Orser was available to train athletes from foreign countries, besides the fact that he is one of the best coaches. When we arrived to Canada, we understood how the relationship between a coach and a pupil work.
In Canada, in general, if a child doing sports, his parents pay for everything, and we soon learned that it is not so each to secure state’s support (for the training) as it is usually done in Russia. In Russia it is a given, that a promising athlete from young age, is guided and supported by the state, although, parents too, in addition, cover many high expenses. Food, medicine/doctors, costumes, skates, athletic gear and accessories – all is very expensive.
There were instances when Elizabet reminisce and say to me: we should have stayed with the previous coach. Tutberdize had a better inside for what each pupil needs. And here (in Canada) we had to learn English, adapt to each other, and five years just went by.
RVD: Brian Orser – what is he like?
TursyMom: Orser – he is cheerful, open (easy going), but extremely busy. He has many students, he travels all over the world. (He) spends quite a lot of time on ice shows. Our mistake in choosing Orser was our misconception that he will be with us 24/7 (that we will be under his management through out the day). But instead we had to work pretty much all on our own.
RVD: So there is a difference in the systems – “old soviet” vs. “western”?
TursyMom: Over there (in the west) you’re left to your own devices, a lot you have to decide on your own, all the way to selecting your own programmes. But when you make a mistake, it is your mistake. Orser, pretty much, gives a 20 minute lesson, and he is responsible for these 20 minutes. But for the “global results” you need to either fetch for yourself, or to have a strong Federation behind you, like Russia, to help, to support. Even in Kazakhstan that kind of Federation does not exist, it lacks well trained judges, tech controllers, coaches, but still Kazakhstan provides Elizabet all the help that is available.
RVD: Then why was it necessary to change citizenship?
TursyMom: Because it also has its reasons, in Russia there is high competition. Looking at my daughter I thought about her able to handle such competition, can she survive it? I looked at it with “mother’s eyes”, not as a coach, but maybe I did not have the right to do so (to underestimate her ability). Some parents do that – just put their child on the coach and that’s it. I could not do that, I had to guard her until she is of legal age, to avoid mistakes. Now we are preparing for the 2022 Peking Olympics, and it is a new beginning for my girl.
RVD: After Orser, will there be changes from Tutberidze in your daughter’s (training/technique)?
TursyMom: Of course, it is standard practice, yet technique from Tutberidze was not affected (saved) under Orser. We begged Eteri (to take us) for a long time, conducted negotiations. Eteri Georgievna, when she works, she puts her soul into it, and is not held back by formalities, perhaps that is why she has such results. She is a well organized (disciplined) coach with a great team – coach Dudakov, choreographer Gleikh.
RVD: Has Tatiana Tarasova, the honored coach of USSR, made any comments about Elizabet?
TursyMom: She (TAT) thinks that Elizabet could do well in pairs, because of her built, but I am not getting involved in my daughter’s business, she is now 18.
RVD: Do you fly back to your native homeland, to Kyrgyzstan, and which part were you born in?
TursyMom: I was born in Aksa. When I fly back, I spend a lot of time in Bishkek (capital), and then go to my native Aksa. In Bishkek I have many friends, and eager journalists. They ask my advise on healthy lifestyle, how to attract people to sports on a national level. We are not genetically inferior to others (athletic predispositions of other races/ethnicities), so many talented kids around and we must push and develop, and raise our Nation’s spirit.
By the way, I am writing my 3rd book, about our life. It is called “Figure Skating – is my life”.
****
(spelling and corrections welcomed, reasonable ones).
https://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/na_kitai/2299603.html
Editorial: Mother of the famous skater, Elizabet Tursynbaeva, Mrs. Padishahan Sultanalieva, born in Aksa, but a long time resident of Moscow since her university attendance days, told the correspondent of RDV about the developments in life of their family, and why they decided to return to Eteri Tutberidze from Brian Orser.
RDV: We know that Elizabet used to train with Eteri Tutberidze, then you moved to Orser, yet today you returned to Tutberidze. To begin, how is your daughter Elizabet is described from a professional/athletic point of view?
TursyMom: She is petite, neatly/compactly shaped, flexible and thin - a combination that is considered good for a figure skater, also Elizabet has good genetics for jumping.
RDV: How did your children end up at a rink, and in the world of sports in general?
TursyMom: Can the dreams come true? In 1980 in Moscow during 1980 Olympics the whole country watched the event on the TV screens. I watched with great inspiration, I was only 9 years old. Watching at the screen I imagined and dreamed up a picture, how it is me there among the athletes. I told my mother: I want to be there, it’s a grand path, a real life, with great people and the whole world. One has a defined path in life, one is never bored (idle), and the path to become an Olympian is so exciting – even then I had the premonition of what such life would be as an athlete.
So it happened, due to Elizabet’s efforts, that history was made, as prior to her, no other female from Kazakhstan ever made it to the Olympics. And yet she (Elizabet) managed to earn two quotas for Olympic participation (for Kazakhstan).
RDV: In Kazakhstan, seems that the athletes on such level are well treated. Do you feel this level of support?
TursyMom: Yes, from the very beginning they supported us, always treated us well. From my own experience, I know that the success level of a young athlete heavily depends on the titanic efforts of his family, even if there is government support. A lot of aspects we (parents) must organize through our own efforts, at our own expense, and all that we invest.
In the beginning our goals were to make the Russian team, at the Tutberidze’s group, then, after consulting within the family, decided that Elizabet should represent Kazakhstan, and that meant some changes. At that the Russian coaches were not allowed to train non-russians, and my daughter already took Kazakh citizenship.
That and other reasons lead us to go to Brian Orser in Canada, just prior to 2014. We were searching for best possibilities and opportunities, and Orser was available to train athletes from foreign countries, besides the fact that he is one of the best coaches. When we arrived to Canada, we understood how the relationship between a coach and a pupil work.
In Canada, in general, if a child doing sports, his parents pay for everything, and we soon learned that it is not so each to secure state’s support (for the training) as it is usually done in Russia. In Russia it is a given, that a promising athlete from young age, is guided and supported by the state, although, parents too, in addition, cover many high expenses. Food, medicine/doctors, costumes, skates, athletic gear and accessories – all is very expensive.
There were instances when Elizabet reminisce and say to me: we should have stayed with the previous coach. Tutberdize had a better inside for what each pupil needs. And here (in Canada) we had to learn English, adapt to each other, and five years just went by.
RVD: Brian Orser – what is he like?
TursyMom: Orser – he is cheerful, open (easy going), but extremely busy. He has many students, he travels all over the world. (He) spends quite a lot of time on ice shows. Our mistake in choosing Orser was our misconception that he will be with us 24/7 (that we will be under his management through out the day). But instead we had to work pretty much all on our own.
RVD: So there is a difference in the systems – “old soviet” vs. “western”?
TursyMom: Over there (in the west) you’re left to your own devices, a lot you have to decide on your own, all the way to selecting your own programmes. But when you make a mistake, it is your mistake. Orser, pretty much, gives a 20 minute lesson, and he is responsible for these 20 minutes. But for the “global results” you need to either fetch for yourself, or to have a strong Federation behind you, like Russia, to help, to support. Even in Kazakhstan that kind of Federation does not exist, it lacks well trained judges, tech controllers, coaches, but still Kazakhstan provides Elizabet all the help that is available.
RVD: Then why was it necessary to change citizenship?
TursyMom: Because it also has its reasons, in Russia there is high competition. Looking at my daughter I thought about her able to handle such competition, can she survive it? I looked at it with “mother’s eyes”, not as a coach, but maybe I did not have the right to do so (to underestimate her ability). Some parents do that – just put their child on the coach and that’s it. I could not do that, I had to guard her until she is of legal age, to avoid mistakes. Now we are preparing for the 2022 Peking Olympics, and it is a new beginning for my girl.
RVD: After Orser, will there be changes from Tutberidze in your daughter’s (training/technique)?
TursyMom: Of course, it is standard practice, yet technique from Tutberidze was not affected (saved) under Orser. We begged Eteri (to take us) for a long time, conducted negotiations. Eteri Georgievna, when she works, she puts her soul into it, and is not held back by formalities, perhaps that is why she has such results. She is a well organized (disciplined) coach with a great team – coach Dudakov, choreographer Gleikh.
RVD: Has Tatiana Tarasova, the honored coach of USSR, made any comments about Elizabet?
TursyMom: She (TAT) thinks that Elizabet could do well in pairs, because of her built, but I am not getting involved in my daughter’s business, she is now 18.
RVD: Do you fly back to your native homeland, to Kyrgyzstan, and which part were you born in?
TursyMom: I was born in Aksa. When I fly back, I spend a lot of time in Bishkek (capital), and then go to my native Aksa. In Bishkek I have many friends, and eager journalists. They ask my advise on healthy lifestyle, how to attract people to sports on a national level. We are not genetically inferior to others (athletic predispositions of other races/ethnicities), so many talented kids around and we must push and develop, and raise our Nation’s spirit.
By the way, I am writing my 3rd book, about our life. It is called “Figure Skating – is my life”.
****
(spelling and corrections welcomed, reasonable ones).
SEKRET 
