From Russia with Love [#33]: Summer 2019

[Ka3sha]

Anjelica Krylova’s group had an open practice session and a press conference today

Sergei Mozgov said that he had two surgeries this off-season and missed 3 months of training in total.

They initially wanted to skate to Bolero, but then switched to Bohemian Rhapsody.
Two short clips of their FD from today’s practice:

Российские фигуристы Попова и Мозгов представили программу под «Богемскую рапсодию» - 29 августа 2019 - Sport24

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sport24.ru

 

[PRlady]

[frivolous]I love Janny's red outfit! She looks sharp![/frivolous]

MedvedevaNation on Twitter

“From the press conference ✨ #EvgeniaMedvedeva https://t.co/FgmEO7EaEO https://t.co/xXG11yGy1B”

twitter.com

And decently-fed.

 

[caseyedwards]

Anjelica Krylova’s group had an open practice session and a press conference today

Sergei Mozgov said that he had two surgeries this off-season and missed 3 months of training in total.

They initially wanted to skate to Bolero, but then switched to Bohemian Rhapsody.
Two short clips of their FD from today’s practice:

Российские фигуристы Попова и Мозгов представили программу под «Богемскую рапсодию» - 29 августа 2019 - Sport24

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sport24.ru

Hope they do well!!!

 

[zebraswan]

Daniil's mom passed away suddenly. She had worked at the rink the day before, seems there were no signs of anything wrong. Very sorry for Daniil and everyone who knew her there...must make things quite difficult going into the new season.

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[Vash01]

Daniil's mom passed away suddenly. She had worked at the rink the day before, seems there were no signs of anything wrong. Very sorry for Daniil and everyone who knew her there...must make things quite difficult going into the new season.

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Poor kid! May his mom RIP.

 

[irenemulindwairen]

Poor kid! I hope his mom RIP.

My Deepest and heartfelt condolences to Daniil and his family.
May his Mum RIP.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Daniil Gleikhengauz lost his father when he was still competing. It was one of the reasons why he quickly switched from competitive skating to coaching/choreographing, so he can support his mother (who was not a performing ballerina any longer).

https://24smi.org/public/media/resize/800x-/2018/4/24/01_qfe9CSU.jpg

Tutberidze's group posted a very nice foto with Mrs. Shalashova and with all kids together taken very recently.

https://sun6-14.userapi.com/c855224/v855224998/d6113/1ytzrwMVkdU.jpg

 

[Ka3sha]

Igor Moskvin celebrates his 90th birthday today!


Elena Vaytsekhovskaya’s article dedicated to him

Человек-эпоха — Вайцеховская об Игоре Москвине

Он стартовал в одной из парусных регат на яхте олимпийского чемпиона Валентина Манкина, а его собственную яхту мыла в Севастополе будущая олимпийская чемпионка... РИА Новости Спорт, 30.08.2019

rsport.ria.ru

His first competition

I remember the first competition I took part at in January, 1947 because the famous Nikolai Alexandrovich Panin-Kolomenkin, a figure skater who became the first Russian Olympic champion in 1908, was present there. He came to the rink in a long - either fox or wolf coat, felt boots [valenki], sat in a chair which was specially prepared for him and watched the competition. The ice rink was tiny, and I remember rushing from one side to another like a nut. It seemed to me that since it was an ice skating competitions, it was necessary to skate quickly. Moreover, before that I had participated in speed skating competitions. There were very few people at those competitions, so I ended up taking the first place. I was very proud of it. As a prize, they gave me another tracksuit and boots. Although I really counted on skates ...

The Protopopovs

If at the beginning of my coaching career I had not crossed paths with the Protopopovs, I probably wouldn't have turned towards creativity. I would have worked like Stanislav Zhuk, who did all the work as if on the front line. I can’t boast that I made this pair [the Protopopovs] just like Zhuk created his own. Mila and Oleg did it themselves. At the certain stage, I was helping them to develop their skating in the right direction. And under the influence of Mila and Oleg I matured as a coach.
Protopopov generally never used the word "flaw" regarding his skating. On the contrary, at every convenient opportunity, he emphasized that Mila and he are the best, the most correct, know everything and can do everything. Mila always supported me. She was an ideal figure skater: light, beautiful, good performer. She did not need to be convinced of anything or forced to try some new things. You offer her something new - she immediately goes to do it. And on the contrary, you always had to prove something to Oleg. But overall we got along. Oleg, of course, everywhere emphasized that she and Mila were training on their own, but I was not offended by this. I just knew that he was like that.
We were quite friendly while we were working together with Mila and Oleg. We went on holidays together, lived together at a training camp in a hotel in Voskresensk, where Mila in her room always cooked pancakes for everyone on an electric stove, which we took with us everywhere we went. We often went skiing together, that is, the relationship was much closer than just an official. In 1968, after the World Cup in Geneva, I offered Mila and Oleg to retire. Just at that time, the “Jubilee” ice rink was opened in Leningrad, so I suggested Protopopov to work there together. Like, I will work with singles and you will coach pairs. And he unexpectedly replied to me: "You offer this to me only because you want to free up a place in the national team for your wife."
I freaked out and said that I don't want to listen to such nonsense. And if he really thinks so, let him train further himself - without my help. It wasn't a big fight, but my position was extremely tough.
Then, by the time they had already left the sport, I heard that they had a conflict with the leadership of the ice ballet company, where they skated at that time. But I never expected that denouement.
In Leningrad they lived close to Tamara and me, and I was really touched when I received a thick envelope with photographs by mail one day. A letter was enclosed: "Dear Igor and Tamara! Don’t remember us dashingly. Hope to see you soon."
There was a collection of all the photos where the Protopopov and I were captured together or in the same company. That is, they did not want their departure to the West to create at least some difficulties for people who knew them and with whom they were close at some point in life"

Yachts and sailing

"... My yacht was very beautiful. Clean, lacquered to such an extent that it was shining. I have just moved it to Sevastopol from Leningrad after a major overhaul. After each training, I had to pull the yacht ashore and clean it - to wash the oil off from it .
Prozumenschikova [Galina Prozumenshchikova, Soviet breaststroke swimmer, 5 times Olympic medalist] revolved around all the time: her hair was disheveled and burned out. She was about 12 years old then. And she constantly asked: "Uncle Igor, can I wash your yacht myself?"
Sometimes I was even a bit embarrassed that she helps me to wash a yacht. And in 1964, when Galya won the Olympic Games, I became even proud of my acquaintance with her. The fate is a funny thing sometimes.

People on sailing are generally interesting and unusual. Sailing itself is a constant struggle with the elements. Perhaps that is why those who take part in it relate to each other on equal terms. People around me were very noble people. There were, of course, rogue ones - on the level of rules, but no one had ever done any vile things to each other. This is not like figure skating, where you can put your opponent's skates near the radiator - and that’s it.

I remember there was a competition held in Helsinki dedicated to the centenary of the Newland Yacht Club. And they sent me there. There was a long pier , where the yachts of all participants stood side by side. It so happened that the place for our yacht was reserved next to the yacht of King Olav V of Norway. And we were there on our own - you come from the race, open an old stove immediately, start preparing food: cabbage soup [shchi] is boiled, meat ... Everything is natural, not from some cubes. When we cooked, the smell went throughout the whole yacht club.

Some day I was messing around on the deck in the evening - I was cleaning something. I saw the king coming. And he asked me: “Sir, could you ask the captain’s permission to come on the board?”
I remember asking if he speaks German. Olav answered with humor that he was not just speaking German, but he believed that he was doing it pretty well. Then he got on our yacht. Naturally, we set the table for this occasion, I acted as a translator.
All the time that the Norwegian king was staying with us, his two guards with rifles were standing on the pier near our yacht. He visited out yacht several times - just to talk about life.
On one of the days, they decided to cancel the race because the wind was not strong enough - almost calm. And Olav's boat went out to tow him to the shore. We also tried to row oars to the shore somehow. It turned out that we had only two or three oars on the yacht.

When the royal yacht passed us, Olav suddenly waved to our captain: throw the end. And then slowed down. I threw the end, he caught it with his own hand, secured it - so we got to the shore in a royal tugboat. The next day, one newspaper even wrote: "Olav the Fifth extended a helping hand to the Communists." The head of our delegation was very happy with that publication.
The following year, the "Golden Cup" race was held in Norway and Olav the Fifth awarded all participants himself. When I got on stage, he did not carefully look at me and did not even ask, but rather affirmatively said: "We have already met - last year."

By the way, the Greek king, Constantine II, also went to those competitions in our class. I also remember an American who was almost an Olympic champion in the class of large yachts, and in ordinary life was a rather famous professor at one of the largest American universities. Therefore, it was very interesting for me to communicate with such people. And then, not everyone can say that he treated the king with his cabbage soup? .. "

On figure skating

Now everyone is caged too tightly with the new rules. Everything that is not prescribed by these rules is simply not evaluated. In pair skating, for example, there is a number of important points for me. For example, the distance between two partners while they are skating. The closer it is, the more difficult and risky it is to skate. If you look closer, it is the most difficult thing. But now this is said only in passing. And complexity is sucked out of completely incomprehensible things to me.
Take the spins, for example: now the skater must change the edge and a fulcrum during the spin. What for? Is this the essence of the element? Why then they do not offer ballerinas to perform fouette on their heels? In spins the most important things are the speed, the centering and different positions. Who cares, on which edge it is this done?

Steps in figure skating are a kind of exercises, training in skating skills. Indeed, any highest skill is based on the ability to do elementary things very well. It is the law. And the most difficult thing in each lift is to raise a partner and to put her down. Everything else is easy.
If I were 40, or 50, I would have fought. I would try to change the situation, to teach people. Rules are not a dogma. Especially illiterate rules. There are also laws. The laws of the same scene. And don't say that these rules are the rules of the International Skating Union. ISU is a group of specific people. Many of them did not skate themselves, did not teach other people how to skate. How can they know how it should be? People just wanted to stay in the history of figure skating that way. As a kind of milestone. But a milestone is a different thing ...

 

[Vash01]

Happy 90th birthday, Coach Moskvin!

 

[Taso]

Igor Moskvin celebrates his 90th birthday today!


Elena Vaytsekhovskaya’s article dedicated to him

Человек-эпоха — Вайцеховская об Игоре Москвине

Он стартовал в одной из парусных регат на яхте олимпийского чемпиона Валентина Манкина, а его собственную яхту мыла в Севастополе будущая олимпийская чемпионка... РИА Новости Спорт, 30.08.2019

rsport.ria.ru

His first competition

The Protopopovs

Yachts and sailing

On figure skating

Thank you so much for this translation. Always one of my favorite coaches and voices in the sport, so good to hear from him on his 90th birthday!

 

[Tinami Amori]

Alina Zagitova posts a small tribute to her relationship with Mrs. Shalashova, Daniil's mother (it's an old video, but watch what's in the box).

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[Ka3sha]

It’s definitely not the most suitable thread for these news, but IDK where else to post:

According to her mum’s Instagram , Elizabet Tursynbaeva is dealing with an injury, they have been looking for the right treatment for two weeks now, but haven’t find one yet

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[Japanfan]

I thought their on ice chemistry was just fine. Most of that so-called chemistry is just acting. Their acting skills improved as they got older and more mature. Lots of pair and dance teams are just good actors.

But chemistry also naturally occurs between two pairs skaters or ice dancers. For example, S/Z found it within themsleves, and it is part of what made them great.

And chemistry isn't necessary for a pair to be great. I don't think D/R had much of it, although they certaintly had a strong connection. And I still thought them to be an excellent (although not great) pair. Megan's feisty personality always lit up the ice, in singles and in pairs. I used to love it when she'd be up in a lift and chattering down to Eric.

 

[Jeschke]

Do we have a schedule for the test skates yet?
Or a list of participants?

 

[Ka3sha]

Do we have a schedule for the test skates yet?
Or a list of participants?

Test skates start at 15:00 on both days (Saturday/Sunday), usually it takes around 4 hours.
List of participants hasn't been published yet, and I doubt that it will appear before Friday.

 

[starrynight]

It’s definitely not the most suitable thread for these news, but IDK where else to post:

According to her mum’s Instagram , Elizabet Tursynbaeva is dealing with an injury, they have been looking for the right treatment for two weeks now, but haven’t find one yet

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What is wrong with Tursynbaeva? The Instagram post from her mother sounds quite dramatic. Does that mean anything? Injuries are not uncommon in sports but the talk of ‘silently crying from despair’ sounds unusual or is that just how her mother writes?

There had been rumours that Tursynbaeva had left Eteri, but I expect that was only because she must have been absent from training due to injury.

 

[hanca]

What is wrong with Tursynbaeva? The Instagram post from her mother sounds quite dramatic. Does that mean anything? Injuries are not uncommon in sports but the talk of ‘silently crying from despair’ sounds unusual or is that just how her mother writes?

There had been rumours that Tursynbaeva had left Eteri, but I expect that was only because she must have been absent from training due to injury.

Her mother seems to be very emotional/over dramatic person, judging by her behaviour from K&C. She is obviously stressed from having an injured daughter. Sometimes it takes ages to diagnose an injury - while the doctor can see that something is wrong, they don’t always know what. (It took a year to diagnose labral tear in my hip! I had seen four different specialists and had quite a few different scans before one of them figured out what was wrong.) So I am guessing Tursynbaeva is unlucky that she has something that is harder to diagnose and mum is frustrated, because without diagnosing it they can’t work on fixing it.

 

[Ka3sha]

New Vaytsekhovskaya’s interview with Evgenia Medvedeva

Медведева: "Когда на животе появились кубики, подумала — о, я это сделала!"

В эксклюзивном интервью РИА Новости двукратная чемпионка мира и вице-чемпионка Олимпийских игр Евгения Медведева рассказала о том, почему ей пришлось поменять... РИА Новости Спорт, 02.09.2019

rsport.ria.ru

Translated by fs-gossips here: when six-pack abs started to appear this greatly added confidence

Right after the World Championships in Saitama, you said that you intend to change your body over the summer so that it becomes possible to solve more complex technical tasks. With such summer workload, did you succeed?
– Despite the fact that I performed in shows a lot, I had more than enough time to do everything I had planned. Even more than I expected. So, I managed to do everything. I changed my training outside the ice very much to develop muscles properly.
Usually, such a work isn’t quick. When did you realize that the result you are striving for starts to appear?
– Speaking specifically about working with the body, about increasing muscle mass, developing the right muscles and so on, I’m generally not a very fast person. I know people who only need to go to the gym for a week, and the body starts to get fit. But it doesn’t happen to me. Therefore, from the very beginning I understood that quick results should not be expected. You just need to work every day, monitor the regimen, and nutrition, and then maybe the result will come someday.
Well, when did the moment come when you looked at yourself in the mirror and said: “Oh! I did it”?
– When six-pack abs started to appear. This greatly added confidence. Well, then things started to go up. During training, I began to feel stronger, looking in the mirror, saw that I was becoming slimmer, all this added motivation to work on myself further.
I suppose six-pack abs are not the only goal.
– We work a lot on the legs muscles. Muscle mass during the summer work increased quite noticeably, my weight in this regard also increased, but, you know, it’s a different kind of weight. The fat layer always interferes, slows down the work of muscles. But when the muscle becomes powerful and well-developed, it gives a feeling of strength. On the ice, I constantly feel that the muscles have become stronger and sharper, I even started to jump with a different rhythm. True, I had to change the wardrobe: all the trousers became tight, but tops, on the contrary, turned out to be too loose. Actually, this was the first indicator for me that all the efforts in the gym were not in vain.
After the World Championships, you probably discussed with your coaches a plan for working on jumps, on complication the programs. To what extent have these plans been implemented?
– In this context “discussing plans” is a bit of a big word. In our country, such discussions are usually very abstract and take 2-3 minutes. “Let’s try?” – “Ok!”. We decided in advance that we would complicate the program in the technical part, have more complex artistic images, we also decided to sew cool costumes …
Asking about your plans, first of all, I meant jumps.
– In terms of jumps, in my short program, instead of a triple loop I have a triple lutz now, and in the free program I have two lutzes instead of flips.
Does it mean that you finally managed to overcome your problems with the wrong edge on the lutz?
– I can tell you for sure that it is incredibly difficult to fix the inside edge on the lutz. Therefore, I have to control every move in this jump. There is a progress in this regard and it’s significant, but absolutely correct execution is still given by great efforts.
Who, in your opinion, has the best lutz in the world?
– I like the way Nathan Chen jumps. I liked how Yuna Kim jumped triple lutz. It was always very correct and very beautiful.
Talks that you are actively trying to learn the quadruple salchow – are they just talks, or is there something behind them?
– We are working on this jump, and we are working a lot. But let’s not forget that I’m learning it just a month and a half.
The athlete usually immediately understands whether he will do this element or not.
– Good attempts happen, I understand that the element is absolutely real. I’m generally not the kind of person who rushes to show the others half work done. I have a goal is to show the quad in competitions.
How did you choose choreographers for this season?
– Yes, we decided right away that Ilia Averbukh would do my short program, and Shae-Lynn Bourne would do the free program.
Because…?
– Just because we decided so. Ilia and I chose music together, although I was the first to offer Exogenesis, and the program was made in a few days right after Worlds. There were no questions at all with the Memoirs of a Geisha. As soon as I first heard the music, I knew that Shae-Lynn was the only person who could do this program. I can’t explain why. I just didn’t see any other choreographer for this program. In general, everything that Shae-Lynn does is very close to me. She has amazing feeling of music, movements, her programs are always different from the others and very recognizable. True, it is very important to perform these programs exactly as it was choreographed. Then they really sparkle.
Was it your first experience with Bourne?
– Not really. We met on shows, this year in Korea there was a case when I urgently needed a gala program. Shae-Lynn helped me a lot. She came up with a program to Alla Pugacheva song “Million Scarlet Roses”. Quite unusual things quite often happen in my career. For example, the step sequence in the short program choreographed by Averbuch was made by Jeffrey Battle.
How did he fit in there?
– When I returned from Moscow to Canada, I told Brian that we need to think how to make a step sequence. He instantly reacted “What is there to think about? Here is ice, and here is Jeffrey.”
What do you like the most about this step sequence?
– Weird question. I already like the fact that I have it.

...

Those shows in which you performed after the Worlds were perceived as a continuous stream of quite the same performances, or did you remember something special?
– It was very cool at Stars on Ice show in Canada. Kurt Browning performed there, with whom I had never talked before, although in principle we were familiar. Kurt quite often comes to Cricket Club to skate, but there we just greeted each other. Here, throughout the show, we talked a lot. Kurt turned out to be an interesting interlocutor. We did one job, talked about the same things, understanding each other perfectly, and that was great.
Does the show format allow to use them in training mode?
– It can be difficult. If after each show I had the opportunity to get additional ice, I could easily use this time for training. If at the same time there was an opportunity to work in gym, it would be great. But the problem is that there is no excess ice or a gym in the show, therefore, all such performances are held in the offseason, when most skaters haven’t begun to prepare for the next season yet.
But did you have such plans?
– Not completely. At that time, we hadn’t built a plan for general physical work yet, a nutrition plan, so all these shows actually went as “vacation”, instead of a trip to the south or somewhere else. So the beach didn’t happen this season, but this is for the best.
Do you adapt quickly to stage conditions during various shows?
– The hardest thing to skate in the dark. Although you get used to it. At first, the feeling of yourself in space is greatly lost: you don’t see where are the boards, where you jump, where you land, and this, of course, is hard. I always confuse the sides of the rink and I always afraid to end the performance not where I need to.
Is your life now strongly subordinated to some business projects?
– Since I’m still an active athlete, I can refuse of any project. In other words, no matter how many offers I have received, I will not do anything if this is to the detriment of my main job. Any offer is very carefully considered in terms of dates, travels, my busyness at one time or another.
Do you have to refuse a lot?
– I have to. In this regard, I understood a very important thing: if you want to achieve something global in your life, you need to be able to say “No” to people.
This is not always easy.
– I know. I had to feel very awkward about this when, deep down in my heart, I knew that I absolutely didn’t need something, but I couldn’t move my tongue to tell “no”. This is not necessarily about business contacts. Sometimes a person just wants to come to visit, I also want to see him, but I look at the clock and I understand that I can’t go to bed later than ten in the evening, if I have trainings the next day. And I have to come up with something so that the refusal doesn’t sound insulting.

 

[oleada]

I’m eager to see Medvedeva with a Bourne program. I don’t think her David Wilson programs were a good fit last year so I’m hoping for better this year

 

[starrynight]

Her mother seems to be very emotional/over dramatic person, judging by her behaviour from K&C. She is obviously stressed from having an injured daughter. Sometimes it takes ages to diagnose an injury - while the doctor can see that something is wrong, they don’t always know what. (It took a year to diagnose labral tear in my hip! I had seen four different specialists and had quite a few different scans before one of them figured out what was wrong.) So I am guessing Tursynbaeva is unlucky that she has something that is harder to diagnose and mum is frustrated, because without diagnosing it they can’t work on fixing it.

I read on the other forum that apparently she can't feel her legs (I guess only partially) so it must be a back or nerve issue?

Unlike Russia, Kazakhstan doesn't have a mile long conveyer belt of ladies out the back of the rink, so it's quite serious for her fed if their top lady is seriously injured.

 

[barbarafan]

I read on the other forum that apparently she can't feel her legs (I guess only partially) so it must be a back or nerve issue?

Unlike Russia, Kazakhstan doesn't have a mile long conveyer belt of ladies out the back of the rink, so it's quite serious for her fed if their top lady is seriously injured.

Hopefully her mom will take her wherever she needs to to get experts on the job for diagnosis and treatment.

 

[Vash01]

Best wishes to Tursynbaeva for a speedy recovery.

 

[puglover]

Here's hoping that they find a solution and that it is in the best interests of her long term well-being. I worry about some of these serious sounding injuries when the athletes are still so young. I am sure right now all she wants to do is skate but she will have a long life after competing ahead of her.

 

[RoseRed]

I read on the other forum that apparently she can't feel her legs (I guess only partially) so it must be a back or nerve issue?

Unlike Russia, Kazakhstan doesn't have a mile long conveyer belt of ladies out the back of the rink, so it's quite serious for her fed if their top lady is seriously injured.

Somebody said that the 'not feeling her legs' is a quote from a video of the summer training, and not related to the injury - i.e. she was so tired that day from working hard. They also wrote that Elizabet has said that it's a back issue.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Update on Tursy's condition.
She posted a reply to the question "what's wrong", in english. From few other discussions "she pulled her back".

https://i5.imageban.ru/out/2019/09/02/b408bb6665167ab6c63acd25795bca80.jpg

Her mother said on her site pretty much that it is a recurrent situation: "it's figure skating, it's not the first time, and won't be the last. if i knew exactly when it is to happens, i'd "soften the blow". Also, they've been searching for the last two weeks for best possible method/solution/treatment.

Some friends and relatives (?) are giving mother advise "what to do", from taking coral calcium pills, to ultrasound, to acupuncture..... everything is everyone's business in former USSR..

 

[hanca]

Well, that’s good news that it doesn’t seem to be anything too serious, although back problems can’t be underestimated. There was several skaters who had ongoing back problems that led to them ending their careers. Pitkeev, Pogorilaya...

 

[starrynight]

Tursynbaeva's mother's highly dramatic post honestly made it sound like a terminal illness. I don't know if over reacting like that would help much. Tursynbaeva is probably stressed enough already about missing training time and I can't imagine drama from her mother helps.

 

[hanca]

Tursynbaeva's mother's highly dramatic post honestly made it sound like a terminal illness. I don't know if over reacting like that would help much. Tursynbaeva is probably stressed enough already about missing training time and I can't imagine drama from her mother helps.

After seeing her mother’s behaviour at K&C, I wouldn’t be surprised if such a dramatic post was made even for something as unimportant as a broken nail. But to be fair, we all worry if anyone close to us gets injured or ill.

 

[Wyliefan]

Tursynbaeva's mother's highly dramatic post honestly made it sound like a terminal illness. I don't know if over reacting like that would help much. Tursynbaeva is probably stressed enough already about missing training time and I can't imagine drama from her mother helps.

She's probably used to it by now.

 

[rfisher]

I'm not certain there are any elite singles figure skaters who don't have recurrent back problems. Kind of like golfers. It's almost an occupational hazard and has been the reason many retire when they do. Plushenko is certainly an example. Hope Tursy feels better soon.