Elizaveta Tursynbaeva interview: “No condescension from Tutberidze, but it works for me”.

[Tinami Amori]

Elizaveta Tursynbaeva Interview. “No condescension from Tutberidze, but it works for me”.
http://flutz.ru/elizabet-tursynbaeva-u-tutberidze-nikakix-poblazhek-no-eto-moyo/
Interview by Valeria Kukaleva.

Kazhakh skater Elizaveta Tusynbaeva earned second place in SP at Finlandia Trophy. The athlete shared her thoughts about her new programmes and the coaching change from Brian Orser to Eteri Tutberidze.

Eliz: I have plenty to work on, I am sure; I was more reserved than usual. It’s start of the season, therefore I am more reserved. In time this programme will be executed better. In Bratislava my last spin combination was somewhat unfinished.

All I can say, there is plenty to work on, of course. And in Bratislava, and here (Finlandia), overall, I skated clean.

Q: Can you tell us something about your programmes?
Eliz: The programmes were created by Daniil Markovich (Gleikh), the music was also suggested by the coaches, and I liked them immediately, both the short and free skate.

Both programmes, of course, are quite different than the ones from last season. I hope not to disappoint Daniil Markovich and to perform them exactly as he planned them in terms of choreography.

Q: Which programme do you like the most?
Eliz: At present I probably like the short one. The FS I also like naturally, but first I must have more practice with it, and then they can be compared.

Q: Why did you decide to switch coaches?
Eliz: The Olympic cycle was over, I trained in Toronto several years, and after the Olympics we decided to change something, to try another coach.

Of course I am most grateful to Brian for everything. But in reality it is difficult to train away from family, across the ocean. (Such arrangement) splits the family in half, and now it is much simpler, when we’re all together at home in Moscow.

I plan to stay with Eteri Georgievna for the upcoming years. Not planning to change anything.

Q: What are the differences in training between Orser’s and Tutberidze’s groups?
Eliz: Absolutely different mentality, of course. In each there are pluses and minuses. With Eteri Georievna we train hard, work a lot, every day and no condescension. And that is good, it toughens you up, trains you.

It is easier to handle competitions, and as an old saying goes - the harder the boot camp, the easier the war. In Toronto the atmosphere is more geared towards “friendly”. I like to train with Eteri Georgievna, it suites me well.

Q: Did you switch to Tutberidze aiming at the next Olympics?
Eliz: Of course. I have not yet fully adopted (to the new environment), in other words, it has not been that long (since the switch), my best results are ahead, I am in the integration process, so to say.

Q: Did she (ET) agree to take you immediately?
Eliz: Yes, I used to come and train with her (ET) for periods of time before, we were on good terms, and she accepted me.

Q: You are now training in a group with girls who are executing ultra-c (top difficulty) jumps. Do you plan to do such jumps?
Eliz: Of course, I would like to, but first I must prepare my body for such. A Quad is not a simple jump, and to train it effectively and not get injured, one must have the proper body conditioning.

Currently I am in the process. Probably, my body grew a bit, and therefore I must condition it.

==

 

[barbk]

"as an old saying goes - the harder the boot camp, the easier the war."

I've never heard that, but some deep truth there along with a bunch of risk. It sounds a lot like the gymnastics ranch under Marta Karolyi -- certainly successful from a medals standpoint, but rather bad in many other respects.

 

[bardtoob]

What a contrast!

 

[Dobre]

Elizabet has always struck me as a Shannon-Miller type. She expects perfection of herself and isn't happy when even small points are left on the table. She's small in stature, but doesn't want to be treated that way. She wants to get the job done. I'm not surprised to hear that "boot camp" works for her.

 

[barbarafan]

Elizabet has always struck me as a Shannon-Miller type. She expects perfection of herself and isn't happy when even small points are left on the table. She's small in stature, but doesn't want to be treated that way. She wants to get the job done. I'm not surprised to hear that "boot camp" works for her.

She has always skated there in the off season with Eteri and then went to Toronto during competition season so she knew what it is like skating there. That is where she picked up the arms over the head for every jump. When Brian was asked questions about her (as she was so tiny) he said she has no problems sharing the ice with champions. She is quite fierce and would go out there and just grab her spot and go. She is also quite stubborn and insisted on putting the rippons on every jump although she could not jump that way properly and so had lots of problems doing the jumps. She then injured herself and was off the ice for quite a while. She seems to be doing well this year in her outings and I am not surprised as I always liked her skating. I don't think anyone does well jumping back and forth from different technique and one sticking to one style is more consistent. I think that was Alaine Chartrands problem. She was training with at least 3 diff. coaches every week in 3 diff. locations and when she competed you never knew what was coming out.