Zagitova announces a temporary suspension of her competitive career; will perform in shows, incl. 'Art on Ice 2020'

It's obvious, and it is blunt.
It's obvious but not blunt. :D Blunt means people are speaking plainly. People aren't saying plainly "I'm trying to bring Eteri down because she's Queen of the Hill" but dancing around it. So... opposite of blunt.
 
Alina posted 5 photos from the hockey game in St. Petersburg:
Today I got a new unbelievable experience to perform at the hockey match SKA - CSKA in Saint Petersburg with 62,000 hockey fans! It is the record high audience in my practice ??. There was fantastic atmosphere at the venue and I enjoyed your energy a lot ??⛸??. Thank you to the organizers for the invitation and fans for your warm reception ??
Fan cam:
 
Hughes' 2003 SP was fierce. I didn't find it forgettable. Similarly with Goebel's Night on a Bald Mountain from 2005. Both were great programs that the skaters weren't able to execute past their retrospective primes.

Some people forget because they're unimpressed. Some people mis-remember the timeline, because of the tendency to push unsuccessful or less impressive performances to earlier than peak. I used to do this all the time with Hughes, mis-remebering 2002-3 as before SLC.

if Zagitova does not come back, I think that, particularly for people who aren't invested, her timeline will be mangled in memory, and many people will think that she didn't skate past the 2018 Olympics.
 
Thanks to jack Gallagher’s article, here’s Eteri’s coaching philosophy according to her sister: “Everything is very simple, no need to go deep into psychology, blame it on puberty or problems with coach staff, there are no problems except laziness, reluctance and relaxation. To win, you must follow the regime and train!”

That sounds just about right for Eteri. When it comes to her inability to transition older skaters into their adult body, It’s not just about imperfect jumping techniques and imperfect skating skills, which you can work on and improve slowly over time, like many or maybe most of the successful older female skaters have done. But it is her one size fits all approach that doesn’t work for older skaters. Many older skaters and coaches have said the key is to recognize that your body is now different, and you can’t train or skate like you used to. You have to Change not only the skating itself but also the training regime. Fewer repetitions, smarter focus.

I think Zagitova does have to change coaches if she wants to return to competitive skating.

She doesn't mean that you have to follow THE regime. She means you must have A training regime and you must stick with it.
 
I've seen a lot of mention of Kostner in these discussions and honestly it's not a fair comparison - show me a competitive programme by Kostner when she was 15 and 16 that showed elegance and i'll accept the argument. It took Kostner the best part of a decade to hone those skills into what we saw in the final few years. When she was 15-17 she was an incredbily fast, mostly lacking control skater with the big jumps at the time (3/3 combos), not unlike the young quadster girls now.

No 15-16 year old has the grace and elegance of an older skater (Kwan gave it a really good go when she came back at 16 but would develop and get better).

Skating is first and foremost a sport, the younger you are the more you focus on your technical elements and the basic skating technique that gets you there. The finessing and polishing comes later. None of the young quad jumpers have been on the senior scene for even a year yet. No skater makes a splash for their performance/artistry their first year of seniors (Though Kostornaia is pretty close for me) .

I'm not sure that Tutberidze will turn out to be a coach that can get skaters through puberty and out the other side, but i also think we need to give these young girls a chance to develop before we compare them unfavourably to skaters in their late 20s.
I just want to put it out there that just getting older doesn't make you automatically graceful or elegant. If you want to be these things, you must work at it. We can all name dozens of older skaters who have neither.
 
I just want to put it out there that just getting older doesn't make you automatically graceful or elegant. If you want to be these things, you must work at it. We can all name dozens of older skaters who have neither.

I'm not really sure why that needs stating when no-one has suggested otherwise.
 
People always forget that Sarah Hughes didn’t retire after winning Olympic gold. She competed at Nationals and Worlds in 2003.
There’s a reason people forget those performances
It is a well known fact that Sarah Hughes competed one more season after the Olympics. She did not win the Nationals (ever) and in the Worlds following the Olympics she came in 6th. Then went to University (good for her).

Prior to that she never won 4CC or JGPF or GPF. Besides Olympic Gold (which she should be very proud of), her only 2 other "1st places" as a Senior, were 1 Challenger and 1 GP event, before the Olympics.

Hypothetically, there was plenty left to win for Sarah, besides Olympics: US Nat, Worlds, GPF and 4CC. But she chose Education. I am not willing to speculate why and throw "shade" by saying "she knew she can't win from Kwan or Cohen", or "she knew the Olympics was her own swan song and she knew she can't do it 2nd time". I absolutely trust that her family (from what was known about them), chose EDUCATION and it was part of the original plan.

Thanks to jack Gallagher’s article, here’s Eteri’s coaching philosophy according to her sister: “Everything is very simple, no need to go deep into psychology, blame it on puberty or problems with coach staff, there are no problems except laziness, reluctance and relaxation. To win, you must follow the regime and train!”
a) that comment was NOT about Zagitova but training in general. and it's already been discussed.
b) "regime" in context of sports, in russian language means "training routine" or "training schedule".
 
The comments was posted right after the GPF, correct? Right after Zagitova's poor performance. With a discussion about Eteri's inability to coach a skaters past puberty flaring up. But it's not about Zagitova? Ummm, right. Tinami is correct about the regime thing though - in Russian it means simply a training routine, i.e. training, sleeping, eating, doing cardio, etc.

Just read through some comments and realized Tinami Amori is an Eteri devotee, rather than a fan of a particular skater. Darling, everyone in Russia knows that Eteri Georgievna will chew you up and and SPIT YOU OUT. Just like she did with Lipnitskaya, Medvedeva and now Zagitova. You seem to be a tad behind the times.
 
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If only "jealousy for another's success" weren't the oldest trope... and the most tired one. Take things at face value.
... and the most true. I would suggest that you should take things at face value, but it's pointless to tell that to a person with a special agenda.. ;)

... but thank you for taking the time to register just to say "something" about Tuberidze, any increase of membership on a social site is good for the site.
 
... and the most true. I would suggest that you should take things at face value, but it's pointless to tell that to a person with a special agenda.. ;)

... but thank you for taking the time to register just to say "something" about Tuberidze, any increase of membership on a social site is good for the site.
You are welcome. I've been registered for ages, just never got around to posting. I think it's a good idea to provide a different Russian perspective. From someone who actually lives in Russia. By the way, the envy trope is only true for those who are strongly motivated by the green eyed monster themselves. As far as Eteri Georgievna is concerned, I am strongly opposed to her training methods. I will leave it at that.
 
You are welcome. I've been registered for ages, just never got around to posting. I think it's a good idea to provide a different Russian perspective. From someone who actually lives in Russia. By the way, the envy trope is only true for those who are strongly motivated by the green eyed monster themselves. As far as Eteri Georgievna is concerned, I am strongly opposed to her training methods. I will leave it at that.
95% of negative stuff about Eteri Tutberidze are lies, intentional lies and exaggerations. The other 5% are subjective issues.

The best perspectives come from skaters and coaches who have nothing to gain or lose in regards to Eteri. Those who are non-partisan, are very positive about her. Many articles posted.
  • Laura Liptesky/USA (recent article) - ET is a great coach! lot's of respect. an idol. https://fs-gossips.com/laura-lipetsky-tutberidze-is-an-example-of-a-truly-great-coach/
  • T. Moskvina - positive on methods and approaches of ET.
  • Artur Dmitriev - positive on methods and training of ET.
  • Panenkov - "regret i left her. would come back if she took me"
  • Tarakanova family - "we did not quit Eteri, we just decided to quit at the time. no problems with her".
  • Pitkeev - "she does not force anyone to do anything. she says we have to want it".
  • Shelepen - "i realized later how right she was. she did more for me than a coach. she worried about my education, taught me poetry".
- Medvedeva (q about ET) - Eteri Geogievna is not only a great coach, she is a great person, not just in skating, always there for you, always helps you with everything she can.
- Medvedeva (2016) - @14:52 - I want to be like Eteri, she's my role model, she teaches me not just to skate but how to be a woman (video has english subtitles).
- Medvedeva interviews - @10:03 - more than half of my accomplishments belong to my coach and parents help.

Yesterday's interview: Serafima Sakhanovich (re Tutberidze, quads, etc)

Shelepen: When i skated with Tutberidze, i begged her to teach me a quad. But she was protective, she advised that for me it would be dangerous and to think about my safety/health first. She is accused of not carrying/taking care of her skaters, but that is absolutely not so. She was very carrying about us, and did not want us then to do quad. She was also concerned that we might lose our triples.
 
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Isn't that what they said about Stalin? 95% are lies, 5% are psychological deficiencies of the critics. In any case, I admire your devotion.
Was not it said about Alfred Dreyfus that he was a traitor and wrongly accused of treason, due to convenience of several interested and truly guilty parties? Was not he sent to the Devil's Island, and the whole country believed he was guilty, until people/Zola, made efforts to prove he is not?
 
The comments was posted right after the GPF, correct? Right after Zagitova's poor performance. With a discussion about Eteri's inability to coach a skaters past puberty flaring up. But it's not about Zagitova? Ummm, right. Tinami is correct about the regime thing though - in Russian it means simply a training routine, i.e. training, sleeping, eating, doing cardio, etc.

Just read through some comments and realized Tinami Amori is an Eteri devotee, rather than a fan of a particular skater. Darling, everyone in Russia knows that Eteri Georgievna will chew you up and and SPIT YOU OUT. Just like she did with Lipnitskaya, Medvedeva and now Zagitova. You seem to be a tad behind the times.
Tinami was a regular poster on this forum when Eteri was still learning to use lipstick. Which you would of course know if you were a "regular" - or would you?

It's perfectly normal to be a devotee of a coach who delivers such exceptional results.
 
Tinami was a regular poster on this forum when Eteri was still learning to use lipstick. Which you would of course know if you were a "regular" - or would you?

It's perfectly normal to be a devotee of a coach who delivers such exceptional results.
Etri was born knowing how to use lipstick, she has one-up on me, even when she was racing tricycle under her mother's dining room table... :D

I hardly knew who Tutberidze was in 2013-2014.... but when someone gets unfairly accused due to very obvious ulterior motives, that gets my attention.. :lol:
 
Tutberidze and her team have been excelling at one thing that many an established coach has not, which is to train so much talent at the same time and to foster an environment where that is an advantage to her students and where they get along well enough to train as a group.
 
I just saw Bombshell, about the unbelievable internal politics (and sexual harassment) at Fox News resulting in Roger Ailes’ firing.

I’m not bringing it up to compare Ailes to Eteri, only to say that in such intensely competitive environments, where women’s looks are judged along with their skills, no one really can prove the negatives unless someone inside can document them. That goes for skating in general.
 
Tinami was a regular poster on this forum when Eteri was still learning to use lipstick. Which you would of course know if you were a "regular" - or would you?

It's perfectly normal to be a devotee of a coach who delivers such exceptional results.
You don't need to be a message board regular to recognize obsessive behavior. And there is more to skating, sports and life in general than "exceptional results." Respect and genuine caring about other human beings come to mind.
 
You don't need to be a message board regular to recognize obsessive behavior. And there is more to skating, sports and life in general than "exceptional results." Respect and genuine caring about other human beings come to mind.
That's exactly what we come here to discuss - respect and genuine caring about other human beings.
 
That's exactly what we come here to discuss - respect and genuine caring about other human beings.
It's clearly not what you come here to discuss. But that's a personal choice, isn't it? I view the world of figure skating as something that shouldn't be void of normal values. Such as respect and caring about other human beings.
 
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A coach can cope with the problem, and Eteri has been coping for 2 seasons. But the skater him/herself has to want to cope. People are given FREE CHOICE..... Don't you westerners believe in "free choice" and "individuality"? i am starting to doubt....

Make her skate - evil. Let her not skate - evil.... "evil everything" only if it is the coach is the one some-one does not like because of her success.

Sarah Hughes' coach also did not hold her from retiring after Sarah decided to leave the sport after winning Olympics to get an education.

Polina Edmunds' coach also did not stop Polina from going to college, where she developed new friendships and interests, posted many happy photos, and now is skating for fun....

Osmond also, won all she could, realized it is the most she can win, and retired......

Sotnikova won Olympics, and got side tracked after it... Buianova and her "god-father" Tarasova, in spite of all the yelling and convincing, were not able to bring her back. She tried with Plushenko..... and still never returned. She was 16 when she won the Olympics, and did not do much in competitive sports since... Do we have any hysterics over Buianov, Tarasova, Plushenko "not doing enough" for her?

Some tried for years, and did not win anything, or less than they wanted to, and retired... (long list of names).

Some tried for years, finally won something big, and immediately retired... (long list of names).

Some started young, had some success and left before anything major was accomplished.... (long list of names).

Eteri is "King of the Hill" and people are simply trying to bring her down. It's obvious, and it is blunt.
Polina Edmund's was also dealing with a bone bruise which caused pain when she skated. I cannot remember how that injury coincided with college. Wondering if the injury allowed her more time to focus on college.
 
And, IIRC, Sarah Hughes' coach wasn't happy with her retiring and going to college. She may even have been a strong influence in Sarah staying in that extra year. Her family, OTOH, did value education and quite strongly.
 
I remember wondering what Hughes’ educated family thought about having to do those lame ABC fluff pieces about how big and close their family was with shots of Sarah flipping a single pancake and the ten of them watching her do it.

Also, she tried to cash in doing SOI for a year but she and I think that tour didn’t last very long, but I think education was always the end goal. I mean she went to Yale and her younger sister Emily went to Harvard. Education had to be a priority for them to get in.

I was always curious as to how Sarah and Emily ended up with different coaches. Something tells me that family also valued giving them individual experiences as well.
 

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