Khodorovski's interview with Arutyunyan

TAHbKA

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Boris Khodorovski's interview with Rafael Arutyunyan for ria.ru


BK: In Tallinn 9 junior skaters attempted a quad jump. Some even landed. Does it mean the competition was a high level?
RA: The level was good. Malinin dominated, but then he already competed at the senior worlds. I can point some other guys. The Kazakh Mikhail Shaidorov - Urmanov's pupil had 3 quads in his LP. I liked the Estonian skater Mikhail Selevko.

BK: Malinin had 4 quads scheduled and 3 were different ones - toeloop, salchow, lutz.
RA: Ilia landed the flip and loop in the practices. He is quite consistent with his quads which he showed in the competition.

BK: What happened to your pupil Stephen Gogolev?
RA: It's an achievement he was able to compete after almost 3 years off. We needed to remind he is still alive. He grew to be 1.80cm tall and taking the huge gap in his practices his 5th place at the junior worlds is a great achievement.

BK: does he want to switch to pairs?
RA: No. He can jump, his coordination is good - he'll be a single skater. I was shocked when Stephen who became 30cm taller and have not practiced for a while landed a quad. We have to work very cautiously with him. He was growing and needed to heal his back problem.

BK: How do the professionals take the lack of the Russian skaters?
RA: There is nothing good about it. No matter which country the skaters are from. The goal of the national federations and the ISU is to let the athletes compete. When the main medals contenders are not competing at the main competition of the season is a loss. Though the Russian skaters still competed in Tallinn, just representing different countries. Even the American Malinin and the Canadian Gogolev have roots from Ural. The Kazakh Shaidorov is training in Sochi with Urmanov, Lev Vinokur who represents Israel - in Moscow, the Czech Georgii Reznichenko was born in St. Petersburg. A lot of coaches communicate in Russian.

BK: It seems plausible the ISU congress will expel Russia - permanently or temporarily. Will the coaches and the athletes be heard?
RA: It's a mixed coattail now and it does not taste nice. The skaters should have a chance to compete on the highest level. This is my point of view.

BK: The main loss for the JW 2022 is the lack of the Russian junior ladies, who showed the content worth of the Olympic medalists in the nationals in Saransk
RA: Everyone knows it.
BK: For the American Levito who won the lack of the competition is a good thing or a bad?
RA: For winning - a good. For feeling the competition - probably a bad.

BK: It also seems plausible the ISU will decide to raise the age. Your comparison of the young champions to the disposable cups and a preference to have your coffee from a porcelain cup became a saying in Russia.
RA: I didn't want it to become part of the PR campaign. When the age question arose I was sure: one day the ISU will need to make the changes to prolong the skaters' careers. Though now it is a moot point with the Russian and Belarusian skaters not competing.

BK: During the Olympics in Beijing you were saying it will be hard for you to endure another Olympic cycle and raise the champion for Milan Olympics. Once the first emotions were gone have you changed your plans?
RA: Not at all! I will continue working but without as much enthusiasm and will. I would not mind if one of my assistances would become the coach of the future Olympic champion and kept me as a mentor.

BK: Have the Olympic champion Nathan Chen change his mind about focusing on his studies?
RA: At any rate that will be his priority. I can't tell whether he'll continue practicing and competing. It's hard to finish the brilliant career at once. Chen will decide himself, but I love the magic of the numbers: 6+3+1. 6 times USA champion, 3 times World champion, an Olympic champion. Beautiful, isn't it?
 
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AYS

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This response
BK: does he want to switch to pairs?
RA: No. He can jump, his coordination is good - he'll be a single skater. I was shocked when Stephen who became 30cm taller and have not practiced for a while landed a quad. We have to work very cautiously with him. He was growing and needed to heal his back problem
Illustrates what Bruno Marcotte was talking about in this quote from @clairecloutier article posted in the Canada pairs thread:
“Despite all of our great history in pairs skating, and now the Olympic team event, there is still a stigma around trying pairs in Canada,” Marcotte said ruefully. “We need more people [to try]. Skaters often think that they will finish their singles career and then try pairs. Only then, it’s too late, or they’re going off to college.”
“Right now, we have a lot of promising boys skating in Canada.” He’d like to see some of them consider pairs.

Since Stephen can still jump and has good coordination (as if being a pair doesn't require coordination?), he's too good to try pairs, in Arutunian's view.
 

soogar

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Since Stephen can still jump and has good coordination (as if being a pair doesn't require coordination?), he's too good to try pairs, in Arutunian's view.
Doing pairs is a huge sacrifice and involves commitment with another person. Most pairs couples do not work out and not many can afford all of that training. Not to mention that pairs is incredibly dangerous and hard on a man's shoulders and back. Stephen just underwent a growth spurt. He needs some time to get used to his new body before deciding that he has reached the limit in singles and to try for pairs (if he even has the interest for pairs skating).
 

AYS

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Doing pairs is a huge sacrifice and involves commitment with another person. Most pairs couples do not work out and not many can afford all of that training. Not to mention that pairs is incredibly dangerous and hard on a man's shoulders and back. Stephen just underwent a growth spurt. He needs some time to get used to his new body before deciding that he has reached the limit in singles and to try for pairs (if he even has the interest for pairs skating).
All true, but that's not the point he was making (and I was pointing out). His rationale was (basically) that Stephen is "too good" to go into pairs. Different point than yours.
 

soogar

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All true, but that's not the point he was making (and I was pointing out). His rationale was (basically) that Stephen is "too good" to go into pairs. Different point than yours.
The requirements for pairs jumps are still not where they are for singles. Even in Russia, they don't funnel their top singles skaters into pairs and ice dance. That doesn't mean that the skaters they have for pairs are bad skaters or poor jumpers, they are just not the same level as top singles jumpers. Looking at Gogolov's height, it seems like he is about 5'10- 5'11 which is not super tall. There have been men champions who performed quads at that height- Urmanov and Kulik. If he has back issues from singles, they are not going to improve with pairs skating.
 

MacMadame

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The requirements for pairs jumps are still not where they are for singles.
That's because jumping side-by-side is harder than doing it alone.

If doing SBS wasn't harder than doing a jump by yourself, then you know at least one federation would decide to dominate Pairs by putting their best jumpers into it. Then a Mens skater with quads would pair up with a Womens skater with quads and they'd win everything. But that doesn't happen because it's too hard to do quads SBS consistently in competition.
 

Nadya

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That's because jumping side-by-side is harder than doing it alone.

If doing SBS wasn't harder than doing a jump by yourself, then you know at least one federation would decide to dominate Pairs by putting their best jumpers into it. Then a Mens skater with quads would pair up with a Womens skater with quads and they'd win everything. But that doesn't happen because it's too hard to do quads SBS consistently in competition.
That's true but pairs skating requires many other skills in addition to jumping, so a not-singles-level jumpers have opportunities they wouldn't have in singles - if they are successful in not-jumping parts.
 

cholla

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I have roots in Ireland but if I attend a competition, no one is going to think athletes from Ireland are there. :rolleyes:
Because your family name doesn't sound Irish. If the speaker wasn't citing the skaters' countries first or more exactly the country skaters represent, plenty of casual fans would think Malinin and Gogolev are from somewhere East, probably Russia. My complete first name is Catherine but I've always been called Kate and in France, most people think I'm a native English speaker from whatever English speaking country there is. As stupid as what Raf said is, your family name can't get people confused, although I'm pretty sure some Irish bear the same (some French too BTW). But it's not distinctive.
 
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jlai

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I remember Korean fans taking pride in D Ten’s accomplishment too.

If I were in singles I wouldn’t want to switch to pairs either. It is 1) basically starting a career over, 2) coordinating your whole career with another person instead of deciding just for yourself and 3) sharing prize money too.
If one is reasonably successful in singles why will one want to start everything over to something one may or may not have passion for? Not to mention it is dangerous as heck. It is a ‘bad’ deal

Perhaps pairs skating is not as popular
because the financial incentive to participate isn’t there and is potentially more dangerous. And maybe coaches know too.
 
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airgelaal

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The problem with the Russians is that they call everyone associated with the Soviet Union ours. And there is no difference whether they were born in the Soviet Union or already in independent countries. Especially if they speak Russian. This can be heard all the time, for example, from commentators or various specialists.
 

Nadya

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The problem with the Russians is that they call everyone associated with the Soviet Union ours. And there is no difference whether they were born in the Soviet Union or already in independent countries. Especially if they speak Russian. This can be heard all the time, for example, from commentators or various specialists.
It would have been a great leap of elastic logic to call Tatiana Malinina an Uzbek ice dancer. For whatever reason, the post-USSR space perceives your ethnic identity first and your passport second.

Fun fact: Malinin attends my in-boundary high school.
 

cholla

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My last name is very popular in Ireland. It is one of the top 40 names in Ireland and the 15th most popular in Ulster and Northern Ireland. 🤷
It is very common in France too. I have had 7 patients in the last 6 months who have your last name 😉 I have none called Malinin or Gogolev and if I had, by reflex, I'd think they have origins in Eastern Europe. If I heard a skater with your last name announced in a competition, I'd think he could be from about anywhere. Again it doesn't mean I agree with what Raf said. It's just that some names tend to point towards some specific origins. It's certainly no reason to lump their bearer with Russia and ban them from competition. That would be preposterous. Raf's being a jerk and I'm disappointed. I don't even know why I made my original post as it's totally useless 😄. In French it's called "enfoncer une porte ouverte" (breaking and entering through an open door) 🤣 Don't mind me, I'm still on anti-depressant and not functioning at full capacity. My neurons are having a rave party on their own 🤪
 
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MacMadame

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It is very common in France too.
And in the US. It has Welsh roots though or so some professor insisted to me once when I was trying to interview him about something else. And in Ireland, it seems to have started with O'Madame and over time the O got lost. It definitely didn't originate in France! :D

In the US, there are tons of people who have Eastern European roots and last names. One of my representatives is named Wieckowski. No one associates him with Poland. I think it's different in skating but I still think Raf's comments are weird on this one.

ETA Ha! Should have looked it up. It has origins in Ireland, England, and Wales but also France! I did not know. Next time I'll use one of my grandmother's maiden names for my example.
 

Maximillian

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My last name is very popular in Ireland. It is one of the top 40 names in Ireland and the 15th most popular in Ulster and Northern Ireland. 🤷
The Irish diaspora is really too big and too long-standing for a proper comparison, since most people in the USSR could not leave the USSR until the early 1990s, thus a Russian sounding name is a lot less common in the West than an Irish surname. An native Irish first name on the other hand, such as Aoife, Grainne, Mairead or Fionn would be much more unusual outside of Ireland.
 

pointbleu

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And in the US. It has Welsh roots though or so some professor insisted to me once when I was trying to interview him about something else. And in Ireland, it seems to have started with O'Madame and over time the O got lost. It definitely didn't originate in France! :D

In the US, there are tons of people who have Eastern European roots and last names. One of my representatives is named Wieckowski. No one associates him with Poland. I think it's different in skating but I still think Raf's comments are weird on this one.

ETA Ha! Should have looked it up. It has origins in Ireland, England, and Wales but also France! I did not know. Next time I'll use one of my grandmother's maiden names for my example.
Madame sure sounds French. But French and British have made many trips across the English Channel (let’s say La Manche) to have influenced very much each other’s languages! 😌
 

pointbleu

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It is very common in France too. I have had 7 patients in the last 6 months who have your last name 😉 I have none called Malinin or Gogolev and if I had, by reflex, I'd think they have origins in Eastern Europe. If I heard a skater with your last name announced in a competition, I'd think he could be from about anywhere. Again it doesn't mean I agree with what Raf said. It's just that some names tend to point towards some specific origins. It's certainly no reason to lump their bearer with Russia and ban them from competition. That would be preposterous. Raf's being a jerk and I'm disappointed. I don't even know why I made my original post as it's totally useless 😄. In French it's called "enfoncer une porte ouverte" (breaking and entering through an open door) 🤣 Don't mind me, I'm still on anti-depressant and not functioning at full capacity. My neurons are having a rave party on their own 🤪
(Enculer des mouches? 🤪)

I would be offended if Frenchmen thought that all people have a French last name would hail from France or having a deep connection/ownership to France 🤷‍♀️
 

TAHbKA

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The problem with the Russians is that they call everyone associated with the Soviet Union ours. And there is no difference whether they were born in the Soviet Union or already in independent countries. Especially if they speak Russian. This can be heard all the time, for example, from commentators or various specialists.
It annoys me to no end when people demand I elucidate where I was born and how come I speak Russian. I was born in the USSR, thus I speak Russian.I have 0 connection to the country it is now.
 

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