I ended up watching the whole interview and taking notes. It was Elena talking 95% of the time anyway.
I didn't really proofread so please forgive typos...
TSL post-Worlds recap with Elena Bechke
Bechke says after they took 1-2 at the 1992 Olympics, Tamara turned to her and announced she was going to retire, but here she is.
She adores her and thinks of her as a second mom.
She didn't think B&K should have changed their SP music, but assumes they did so because it was Russian music, not well known to the world.
She's surprised Boikova fell on a jump, she has never seen her do that. Doesn't know why she's struggling with throws all of a sudden. Her comment in the K&C will haunt her, like Nancy Kerrigan. It's not Tamara's or Minchuk's fault. With the throw maybe it could be her partner's fault, but the solo jump mistake is 100% her fault. She loves them all but B&K come across as super confident, which goes hand in hand with cocky. She could not dream of telling Artur Dmitriev "get in line"
She was upset multiple times she thought she should have won and didn't, but also there were times she won and shouldn't have. That's sport. Boikova is 20 years old, not 5, and should have waited until she was behind closed doors. She read that in Russia, the part where Boikova threw the credit at Dima and made the comment to Moskvina were removed from the broadcast (I don't know if this is true?) because Moskvina is a national hero and they would not want to show that.
She hasn't dared ask Moskvina what she thinks about it, she believes Tamara will be embarrassed but won't act on it, will go home and everyone will calm down. Believes Boikova will deeply regret this, and that Tamara needs to watch M&G so they don't get a big head too.
She said Moskvina/Mishin competed once in St Pete's and beat the Protopopovs and everyone was shocked. At the press conference, Mishin did not know what to say, because the Protopopovs were so devastated, so he said "we won today, but we are not above them" and the next day, all the papers were quoting him because of how respectful and diplomatic it was.
Moskvina is known for shaping skaters like a diamond, helping them on many different levels. Relates the story how she chose the music for M&G. Moskvina felt B&K were more classical and M&G were more energetic. She was afraid of the comments about giving them "We are the Champions." She didn't know they would win, but the music fit. Finally she said "I'm 80 years old, I'm allowed to be cocky for the first time in my life." It didn't have the lyrics at first, but she felt it didn't fit. She felt like adding the words was like an insult to the rest of the world to say this team will be the champions of the world, but said "if you're going to be cocky then go all the way" and she went for the lyrics.
Had there been Worlds last year, B&K likely would have won. They got derailed emotionally which Bechke can relate to. When she competed with M&D, she would get derailed too, thinking is Moskvina spending more time would them, giving them better programs, etc. She calls these "stupid and incorrect thoughts" and they ultimately hurt her. If M&D felt the same way, they ignored it and worked hard. They were friendly with M&D, but on the ice it was healthy competition. Moskvina doesn't let it get in the way. She is sure Moskvina created a healthy environment.
She completely understands Boikova's position, but when she had such thoughts, she kept her mouth shut. The one time she said something to Moskvina, before the 1992 Olympics, Moskvina did (zip your mouth motion) and said "don't talk about it, I am the head coach and I make all the decisions." Bechke knew immediately she was right.
Moskvina does not yell, but she can say things in a certain way, with sarcasm, and you get it. She told Bechke basically (when Bechke was jealous of M&D) "it's none of your business, go land your triple toe loop." Moskvina yelled at her maybe 3 times, and each time she fully deserved it.
Once, Bechke's mother got involved (called Tamara after Bechke complained at home), Moskvina picked her up for a 20 minute ride and yelled at her the whole way ("How dare you, who are you, when I need your mother I'll call her"). It is a major no-no in Russia for parents to get involved. (Bechke is laughing during this, she clearly adores her). In Russia you can be kicked off the ice or out of the group. Every time she was kicked off, she was in tears of shame. In the US, you can't keep a skater off the ice, because they paid for it, and if Bechke as a coach dared to do that, it would be taken as an insult, not a punishment. She will only do it if the skater is hurt. She and Denis got kicked out a few times for arguing on the ice.
It's not good for Moskvina's health to get upset, and she doesn't think she will. M&G were super respectful to Moskvina, B&K's body language is different. She thinks M&G left Velikovs because Velikova was not nice and appreciative of her pairs teams. B&K can either suck it up and work hard and still win Olympics, or be silly and switch coaches. They already have the best coach in the world. They should be grateful to have her.
She thinks all 4 programs will change for next year. B&K's LP is good but needs a change. M&G can't keep the same music. The SPs were about equal.
Once, Moskvina wanted to experiment and she gave B&P music they didn't like. A weird SP and a Middle Eastern type LP. They didn't like it but were afraid to say anything. It was 1991 and they failed at Worlds. Then they talked about the Olympics, Moskvina suggested French music for the SP, they loved it, and some other music medley for the LP that French people would like. They said no. Moskvina said "if you don't like my suggestion, pick your own music but I won't do your choreography." They came up with Nutcracker and found a choreographer, a former dancer. They worked with her to put their elements to the music and work on expression. When Moskvina saw it, she admitted they were right, and she was wrong. She let them keep it.
Asked about why pairs are still struggling with the same 3toe Bechke did in 1992. She never had a triple jump until she started skating with Denis. She was 21 and they told her to learn a triple or they would find another partner with a triple, because Denis could do three triples. Moskvina went on tour with V&V and said "you have four months, when I come back I want to see something." Set her up with Mishin, who adjusted her 2axel technique . She worked with Mishin every day of the week. He did not get any extra money for this, because he was on salary. She would fall and cry, he encouraged her. Finally she landed a two footed triple, and Denis said "just don't put your foot down" and then she landed it clean.
She had such a feeling of success.
She thinks the problem is pairs have ice time for pairs elements, say 1.5 hours, maybe 10 minutes is spent on jumps. What they need is separate ice time for singles elements. They don't have to be with their partner. Denis didn't need time to learn triples, she did. He would just watch her skate and do all these repetitions.
B&K are strong singles skaters, she thinks their triples are amazing, so are M&G's. If you're not a strong single skater, and can't handle stress (T&M) one or the other will fall. Evgenia crumbled under the pressure. It reminded her of herself at 1991 Worlds. She was fine in practice, then lost her timing during the warmup, and thinks this happened to Evgenia in the SP, which freaked her out for the LP.
Jonathan says great talent can be a burden, not a gift. She agrees T&M's skating is amazing, Evgenia is so strong, but they are under so much pressure. They finally want to do it, they are always almost there. The desire to do it is killing their talent.
She thinks this years set of programs are the best they've had. She thinks Marina has given them a lot of beauty but they have a stiffness, because of nerves. They need to relax more. Can't let it show on the outside. She thinks they were dating and stopped, the lack of romantic connection could be important. In the St. Petersburg school, they weren't forced to date, but they were expected to be respectful of their partners and go places together and get along. They need more connection and eye contact. Judges are people and they want to see that. She thinks Vladimir must get frustrated with Evgenia, as Denis did with her. Dave says Vlad is not the most consistent either, she gives the guys a pass because they are taller.
Dave wonders if S&H are slipping technically. Bechke says they are still one of the best, they are aging/getting injured. They do an amazing job with lifts and throws considering the lack of height. Lots of pressure on them, it will be difficult to manage. Coaches are responsible to keep them safe and healthy. She is sure they will change programs because it has been 3 years.
She talked about Moskvina's interview about the risk of quad twists and throws. The points are not worth the risk of serious injuries. You can get around it if you can do clean triples and throw lutzes and flips and high GOE.
In Russia, they used to have a written 4 year plan. When you are assigned competitions, you must tell the federation where you intend to place. You try to give yourself some room and say 3rd/4th. If you were going against G&G you weren't going to predict first place. They would sit with Moskvina and create a reasonable plan. It was dangerous to say 1st/2nd all the time, and not meet the expectations you set for the federation. With her first partner they were told they were not a good prospect and they would no longer support them, so he quit. She thinks it's probably the same now. The federation pays, they expect good behavior, results, and for you to stay in shape. She says Eteri's students know what is expected, if you want to do quads, you must stay in shape otherwise you simply can't rotate a quad. The girls do it because they want to be there. It is a job, your training is tracked, they also track off-ice training results like how fast you can run a mile.
Yu/Jin are a beautiful team. They have a romantic look, she almost likes them more than S&H (but doesn't quite want to say it). Look what happened with the Russians, the #2 can beat #1.
Judges are human. She always tells her students that Wylie deserved to beat Petrenko, but that an expectation is set. Wylie was known for never delivering, while Petrenko did, and so he won. You earn reputation from the judges over the years. In 1994 G&G came to win, they had great practices, although their program was not as difficult. M&D struggled in practice, judges said "well these guys made two mistakes, but they are so beautiful and perfect" and gave it to G&G. She says M&D deserved to win, but you need consistency. The judges just did not care that G&G messed up, M&D were devastated.
MT&M, can they move up? She says the SP was messy, LP was ok, they have the potential to be top 5, but how can they beat the teams above them?
She loves Savchenko/Massot's program and watches it all the time. The Russians and Chinese have great transitions. Great programs will be the key to the Olympics. Even today, she recognizes some moves in Moskvina's programs that she remembers she started to develop with Tamara, taken to the next level. She praises B&S' programs from SLC, amazing choreo. The programs she rewatches are Wylie, Lipinski, Hughes, Jason Brown.
Talking about awkward positions when the girls do the splits. She likes when the camera doesn't focus on it.
Bechke was the second oldest skater in her Olympics (after Calla Urbanski) but Savchenko was much older, and looked like a 16 year old. However, when you keep going and not winning, you start to feel like it's time to retire. She and Denis felt that way in 1991. Moskvina encouraged them to stay. Bechke felt stronger after 8 years in SOI than when she was competing.
Trusting the coach is key, as you can see with Kostornaya. She has two months to get a triple axel. If she really wants it, she can do it, but has to get in shape. Plushenko didn't push her as much as Eteri. She took a while not being pushed, now she knows what she needs. Making the team is so hard, the other girls won't stop progressing. She cried along with Liza.
Dave says Alexa wrote down everything he ever said about them on the show, and one was that they should leave Delilah. Elena is happy they went to Meno & Sand, great people, very wise, kind but firm, it will give them a chance to be top 5 maybe.
Elena talks about a competition when they dropped from 1st to 4th (3rd overall). Moskvina hired a psychologist, they made a plan to keep negative thoughts out of the way, created key words for her. This guy followed her around all the time asking her what she was feeling and thinking. Moskvina said they must do every competition available before the Olympics, even tiny local ones, and skate their LP in exhibitions. The strategy was to get used to holding it together. It worked and they won Nationals, and did the best they could at Olympics. She was dying inside, but fell back on that psych training. She used to feel "aah, I am going to mess up, and they will win!" but she turned it into an anger "I am NOT going to let them win, I've got this." She kept this mentality even in pros.
She says it's killer not being able to compete, it was good that the Russians kept it up this season. In 1992, Moskvina advised them to turn pro. They wanted to stay. They went to Sun Valley for a summer and performed 2x a week with throws and jumps. After that summer, they wanted to stay because of the experience, but she advised them to turn pro and make money. They had a huge fight. Moskvina said think about it this way "you got 2nd, the same pairs are going in 1994 plus G&G, will you beat G&G, M&D, or B&E?" Best case scenario was 3rd, why stay for that? She felt they should find a new coach if they stayed, she didn't want to do it to them. After a sleepless night, they did retire and lived happily ever after.
Dave wonders how early they knew G&G knew coming back. She said they were out to dinner with M&D when they all found out, and Dmitriev said "great, that's even better so we can beat them."
Elena was shocked lol. It was huge motivation for M&D, they worked so hard for it, and the pressure caught up with them in practice. At this point Bechke said she wouldn't do it for a million dollars and Moskvina's advice was 100% correct. She totally agreed with Yamaguchi and Lipinski winning and retiring.
About Medvedeva, she was bitter, saying Zagitova should have stayed in juniors. Zhenya would not have been able to perform Alina's program without mistakes. Zhenya can't be bitter that Alina was given a higher point program, if she herself couldn't do it. She skated perfect, at HER best, but could not beat Alina. She should have moved on to professional at that time and been the best in another field. There are lots of shows in Russia and they are beloved. At this point there is no chance for either to come back. For Bechke, SOI was the time of her life.
When she was ready to retire from pros, she asked Tamara for advice. She said what do you want, Bechke said she wanted a baby. She already has the medals and proved herself.
She agrees with Massot's decision to not come back. Aljona should enjoy her life. The Russians and Chinese are only getting better, can she skate another performance of her life, with just a year? She thinks Tamara would tell her the same.
yes, we will see
) has been completely out of the limelight leading a very normal life
They ruined the legacy of one of the best pairs of all time
poor B&S
