From Russia With Love (No 32): Spring to Summer 2019

[Madison25]

I always liked the articles written by Elena Vaitsekkhovskaya (what I read here, translated). They offered substance and a different perspective. As I see, she is more a journalist that presents opinions than only facts and information, and that it is all right, because it is clear from the very beginning that these are her opinions.
I think in every civil society, there is the need for a diversity of opinons. RusFed should understand that this is normal in a healthy society even though they dont like or disagree with some of what it is expressed.

 

[Ka3sha]

Not that it's a big surprise or anything, but Elena Ilinykh has officially retired.
She was on radio yesterday, said that she has moved on and is now focusing on new projects and their Academy.

 

[TAHbKA]

I always enjoy the many interviews she does that are translated on this forum. She seems better and more prolific than other Russian interviewers — though admittedly this is a also a function of what’s translated/introduced on
this forum. I’m confused. Are we talking about the same journalist?

Can only speak for myself, but I try to translate all Vaytsekhovskaya's interviews, because I find them interesting. I never translated any of her analyzing pieces, because they are her personal point of view and any FSUer who is really good with words could write the same (mainly published before the conpetition with 'those are people to follow', sometimes giving predictions). I try to translate Simonenko, Samokhvalov, Ermolina, Flade (hi), Kulinicheva, Sovetova, Hodorovski if I have time - all their interviews are either informative or just well written even if there is 0 information. There are some out blue pieces that I read and go 'wow' and run to translate (immediately comes to mind a several years ago an absolutely brilliant interview with Ovcharova by someone who I never heard before nor after).
There are two 'journalists' I absolutely would not translate and feel like I need a brain bleach after reading their pieces.
The choice what to translate is 100% personal - neither of us gets payed for that. The only thing we try to do here is sync - just so 2 people will not translate the same article.

 

[Bigbird]

Not that it's a big surprise or anything, but Elena Ilinykh has officially retired.
She was on radio yesterday, said that she has moved on and is now focusing on new projects and their Academy.

Smart girl, will Sotnikova follow suit soon ? She's made quite the successful transition to life beyond competitive figure skating, they are already up for a public award with respect to sport as a business. All the best to her and her team!!

Is there a link to the recording?

 

[Ka3sha]

Honestly speaking, I would have preferred if Russian Fed said a word or two about Tarasova/Morozov and their future plans (including their new coach's name if there is one?) rather than provoked yet another conflict.

Last we have heard about them (and the whole Mozer's group) was that Trankov stepped away from coaching, Mozer already have had enough of it and is permanently tired of coaching.
Mozer also said that they will discuss the future of her group after 15th of April
Now she says that Tarasova/Morozov will find out their new coach's name by the end of April
Aleksandr Gorshkov, the head of the Russian Skating Federation, declined to comment on the current situation

 

[Bigbird]

Honestly speaking, I would have preferred if Russian Fed said a word or two about Tarasova/Morozov and their future plans (including their new coach's name if there is one?) rather than provoked yet another conflict.

Last we have heard about them (and the whole Mozer's group) was that Trankov stepped away from coaching, Mozer already have had enough of it and is permanently tired of coaching.
Mozer also said that they will discuss the future of her group after 15th of April
Now she says that Tarasova/Morozov will find out their new coach's name by the end of April
Aleksandr Gorshkov, the head of the Russian Skating Federation, declined to comment on the current situation

Why so much unpleasant and unsettling news around such a good pair? It all just seems so strange.

 

[zebraswan]

Not that it's a big surprise or anything, but Elena Ilinykh has officially retired.
She was on radio yesterday, said that she has moved on and is now focusing on new projects and their Academy.

Did she talk about her relationship with Sergei Polunin? Or is that just FSO fanfiction?

I assume they haven't announced T/M's new coach yet because there are contracts that need to be finalized, etc. Not sure why that would create a "conflict"...what is the big deal? Why is it "unpleasant" and "unsettling" for them to get a new coach? The same people complained here about Mozer and Trankov all the time anyway.

 

[barbarafan]

Why so much unpleasant and unsettling news around such a good pair? It all just seems so strange.

I love this team. I hope they end up with a fantastic training situation either by accident or design and they knock it out the park.

 

[hanca]

Did she talk about her relationship with Sergei Polunin? Or is that just FSO fanfiction?

I assume they haven't announced T/M's new coach yet because there are contracts that need to be finalized, etc. Not sure why that would create a "conflict"...what is the big deal? Why is it "unpleasant" and "unsettling" for them to get a new coach? The same people complained here about Mozer and Trankov all the time anyway.

I think what the above poster found unpleasant and upsetting was how T/M are being treated. First Mozer gives interview where she says how her senior pairs are boring and that she is not willing to commit, then she criticised Trankov, even though Trankov took the role of their coach quite reluctantly, rather than that he would be that keen to be suddenly a coach of this level. Then when things were not working out that great (and to be fair, Trankov was always very open that he does not have the coaching experience), Mozer sounded like doing them a huge favour for taking then back on (for the month or two till the end of the season) and now she is again letting them go. I don’t think it is very motivating, knowing that your coach will help you (because she feels that she has to) but it reality she doesn’t really care and made it known that her senior pairs are not interesting enough for her and that her heart is with (imaginary) super pairs that no one has ever seen in competition. Unless it is the pair who just finished third in some tiny unimportant competition?

 

[zebraswan]

Well, she could have just dropped them out of nowhere at the start of the season like Aliona did to the Knierems. Nina had a lot of health issues over the past few years, so it's understandable if she needs to prioritize her duties, and maybe she frankly does find T/M boring. Yes, they are technically superb, but in terms of personality and charisma, there's not a whole lot there (although they still have more than Z/E, imo). If that's the way it is, then that's the way it is. Nobody here was happy with her when she was coaching, blaming her for literally everything, now people are upset that she isn't going to coach them full time. Why does she need it?

 

[hanca]

Well, she could have just dropped them out of nowhere at the start of the season like Aliona did to the Knierems. Nina had a lot of health issues over the past few years, so it's understandable if she needs to prioritize her duties, and maybe she frankly does find T/M boring. Yes, they are technically superb, but in terms of personality and charisma, there's not a whole lot there (although they still have more than Z/E, imo). If that's the way it is, then that's the way it is. Nobody here was happy with her when she was coaching, blaming her for literally everything, now people are upset that she isn't going to coach them full time. Why does she need it?

She did drop them. That’s why Trankov took over.
I don’t think Mozer’s problem is her health. Sure, she has health problems, but she made it pretty clear that her senior pairs are not interesting and she has no motivation to coach them. That’s based on her words, not my opinion.

 

[barbarafan]

Not that it's a big surprise or anything, but Elena Ilinykh has officially retired.
She was on radio yesterday, said that she has moved on and is now focusing on new projects and their Academy.

She is so good but she may have very good reasons for this.....re: happiness and physical and mental health. Some of us have bodies which in order to compete at the maximum would have to lead a life of complete denial and she already lived long enough under that regimen. There was an interview on this forum a few yrs ago but a few yrs after Sochi. It of course was translated but even so she seemed very agitated. She talked about Sochi and what a mess she was then..always crying...and she said she hid in her room and cried all the time she was not on the ice. And she cried before they took the ice at Sochi, in between, and after. As much as I disliked Nikita at that point I wondered if part of the reason he dumped her might be he did not find her reliable at that point. I really liked Sinkats up until the debacle at Canton where he was smacking Vicktoria around in practice and they had to leave the country. This interview was after NHK where he had slashed Tessa's leg and she said V/M had cut them off in a warmup in sochi in one of their programs so I found a vid of the warmup from Sochi and V/M weren't in the same warmup with them so it was really weird.
I hope both she and Yulia are both very healthy and happy in their academy and impart the joys and skills of skating to as many kids as possible. It is a great loss to the world of skating that they won't be competing but they are certainly giving back to the sport. Hopefully one day we will see them at the boards at competitions but if they don't want to go there that is fine as well. The best to them.

 

[Bigbird]

I think what the above poster found unpleasant and upsetting was how T/M are being treated. First Mozer gives interview where she says how her senior pairs are boring and that she is not willing to commit, then she criticised Trankov, even though Trankov took the role of their coach quite reluctantly, rather than that he would be that keen to be suddenly a coach of this level. Then when things were not working out that great (and to be fair, Trankov was always very open that he does not have the coaching experience), Mozer sounded like doing them a huge favour for taking then back on (for the month or two till the end of the season) and now she is again letting them go. I don’t think it is very motivating, knowing that your coach will help you (because she feels that she has to) but it reality she doesn’t really care and made it known that her senior pairs are not interesting enough for her and that her heart is with (imaginary) super pairs that no one has ever seen in competition. Unless it is the pair who just finished third in some tiny unimportant competition?

Truth is for Moser the only interesting team for her was V/T, everybody else was just extra work. You think that Ksenia was uncomfortable working for her for absolutely no reason?

Who is that pair? Zhuk and Miroshkin? Do Liza and Maxim really have a shot of becoming that good?

 

[hanca]

Truth is for Moser the only interesting team for her was V/T, everybody else was just extra work. You think that Ksenia was uncomfortable working for her for absolutely no reason?

Who is that pair? Zhuk and Miroshkin? Do Liza and Maxim really have a shot of becoming that good?

I don’t know who ‘the pair’ is. She promised in the autumn that she will show them off in December, and there was no new pair in December. Maybe Akopova/Shagalov, but their competitions were not that huge success. Not bad, just an average. It wasn’t like ‘here come the future champions’.

 

[Eislauffan]

Nina Mozer has given a few strange interviews in the past. I think she has good expertise and a lot to give and it would be a shame should she completely retire from coaching. I remember her in the old days when she coached junior pairs and her pairs always stood out, had something special.

As for Tarasova/Morozov, I would love to see them working with Robin Szolkowy full-time. Obviously that would mean now to move to California and I'm not sure if the Federation would support this, plus it is expensive and again a non-Russian coach ... Some stupid people called Evgenia Medvedeva a "traitor", because she moved to Canada and started to work with Brian Orser ...

I also could see Tarasova/Morozov training in Tamara Moskvina's school. Moskvina and Oleg Vasiliev have a lot of experience of coaching at the top-level and there would be also a good "sparring partner" with Boikova/Kozlovskii.

The main question is - what do Tarasova/Morozov want? What is their preferred choice? Would they be willing to move from Moscow to another city or even to another country?

 

[Sylvia]

Eteri Tutberidze's Champions on Ice show is today - re-posting from the SinKats cheer thread:

Victoria and Nikita are guess in Eteri's show!!!
Channel 1 live stream starts soon https://www.1tv.ru/sport/shou-eteri-...u/pryamoy-efir

 

[DobrinFan]

Eteri Tutberidze's Champions on Ice show is today - re-posting from the SinKats cheer thread:

Show participants
Alina Zagitova
Alexandra Trusova
Anna Shcherbakova

Students of Eteri Tutberidze
Elizabet Tursynbayeva
Alena Kostornaya
Kamila Valieva
Daniel Samsonov
Sofya Akateva
Arseny Fedotov
Moris Kvitelashvili

Guest Stars
Evgenia Tarasova - Vladimir Morozov
Victoria Sinitsina - Nikita Katsalapov
Alexandra Stepanova - Ivan Bukin
Maxim Kovtun
Diana Davis - Gleb Smolkin

 

[DobrinFan]

Show participants
Alina Zagitova
Alexandra Trusova
Anna Shcherbakova

Students of Eteri Tutberidze
Elizabet Tursynbayeva
Alena Kostornaya
Kamila Valieva
Daniel Samsonov
Sofya Akateva
Arseny Fedotov
Moris Kvitelashvili

Guest Stars
Evgenia Tarasova - Vladimir Morozov
Victoria Sinitsina - Nikita Katsalapov
Alexandra Stepanova - Ivan Bukin
Maxim Kovtun
Diana Davis - Gleb Smolkin

YouTube link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZUvPBmrpug

 

[Kasey]

Interesting that Moris is apparently considered a "guest star" instead of "student of Tutberidze".

 

[hanca]

Interesting that Moris is apparently considered a "guest star" instead of "student of Tutberidze".

I am curious why Scherbakova, Trusova and Zagitova are ‘show participants’ rather than Eteri students.

 

[DobrinFan]

Interesting that Moris is apparently considered a "guest star" instead of "student of Tutberidze".

No he wasn't listed (along with Diana/Gleb) on Channel 1 and I added him (them) that way I can move him up.

 

[Mad for Skating]

Not that it's a big surprise or anything, but Elena Ilinykh has officially retired.
She was on radio yesterday, said that she has moved on and is now focusing on new projects and their Academy.

Aww, well there goes my hope of an epic comeback. I wish her well though.

Honestly speaking, I would have preferred if Russian Fed said a word or two about Tarasova/Morozov and their future plans (including their new coach's name if there is one?) rather than provoked yet another conflict.

Last we have heard about them (and the whole Mozer's group) was that Trankov stepped away from coaching, Mozer already have had enough of it and is permanently tired of coaching.
Mozer also said that they will discuss the future of her group after 15th of April
Now she says that Tarasova/Morozov will find out their new coach's name by the end of April
Aleksandr Gorshkov, the head of the Russian Skating Federation, declined to comment on the current situation

Poor T/M. I hope they figure out something; they have so much talent and deserve a solid coaching team. Moskvina please?

Well, she could have just dropped them out of nowhere at the start of the season like Aliona did to the Knierems. Nina had a lot of health issues over the past few years, so it's understandable if she needs to prioritize her duties, and maybe she frankly does find T/M boring. Yes, they are technically superb, but in terms of personality and charisma, there's not a whole lot there (although they still have more than Z/E, imo). If that's the way it is, then that's the way it is. Nobody here was happy with her when she was coaching, blaming her for literally everything, now people are upset that she isn't going to coach them full time. Why does she need it?

I think Mozer was a good coach for V/T and did her best with S/K until all the injuries came. But those situations were ideal: in 2014, she had the gold medal favorite pair and a hungry, young pair on the rise. When things started going awry with S/K, I think she struggled to manage the problems - understandable, but she is their coach and it’s her job. With T/M I think she just lacks the inspiration to get emotion out of them. I don’t think she’s the worst coach ever, and I don’t think she’s the best.

 

[Cherub721]

I am curious why Scherbakova, Trusova and Zagitova are ‘show participants’ rather than Eteri students.

I think it's just listing them at the top as the "stars."

 

[Bigbird]

Poor T/M. I hope they figure out something; they have so much talent and deserve a solid coaching team. but she is their coach and it’s her job. With T/M I think she just lacks the inspiration to get emotion out of them. I don’t think she’s the worst coach ever, and I don’t think she’s the best.[/QUOTE]

No, that would definitely be Moskvina.

 

[BittyBug]

The main question is - what do Tarasova/Morozov want? What is their preferred choice? Would they be willing to move from Moscow to another city or even to another country?

It is maddening that a pair with their talent should have their coaching situation in such a state of uncertainty.

Where is Stanislav Morosov currently? Is he still part of Mozer's group or on his own?

 

[NAOTMAA]

With V/T and S/K it seem both Maxim and Xenia had a strong will, drive and self vision that helped move along the natural talent the teams were. And while Tatiana and Fedor weren't as flashy they were equally secure and confident. It made Mozer's job so much more easy that she almost wasn't head coach anymore (someone with the main vision who made decisions on all aspects and took total charge) but more like a team player who helped guide and advise.

No other team she has coached has any of that, they all need more from her. The training atmosphere was totally different, more reliant on her, and she didn't have the creativity or exact vision to make it happen all on her own. That's why she didn't know how to take T/M to the next level beyond their natural talent and had Z/E fake sword fighting (Xenia would have put a stop to that!)

 

[Stephanie]

It is maddening that a pair with their talent should have their coaching situation in such a state of uncertainty.

Where is Stanislav Morosov currently? Is he still part of Mozer's group or on his own?

Assuming this is up to date he is coaching in St. Petersburg: http://www.fskate.ru/skaters/2309.html

 

[hanca]

Assuming this is up to date he is coaching in St. Petersburg: http://www.fskate.ru/skaters/2309.html

I thought I read on the Russian forum that he hasn’t been coaching for quite a while. He tried to coach Poluyanova/Sopot at the beginning of the season, but their results were not great and then he sort of gave up...

 

[Amy L]

As for Tarasova/Morozov, I would love to see them working with Robin Szolkowy full-time. Obviously that would mean now to move to California and I'm not sure if the Federation would support this, plus it is expensive and again a non-Russian coach ... Some stupid people called Evgenia Medvedeva a "traitor", because she moved to Canada and started to work with Brian Orser ...

I also could see Tarasova/Morozov training in Tamara Moskvina's school. Moskvina and Oleg Vasiliev have a lot of experience of coaching at the top-level and there would be also a good "sparring partner" with Boikova/Kozlovskii.

I think T/M could avoid some of the same backlash Medvedeva got becuse they already worked with Szolkowy. They could just say something like they're just following Robin because they worked well with him in the past, they're not exactly packing up and changing everything 100%. Although I don't think this move is likely because California is a very expensive place to live and the RSF would be forking over tons of money to help with their living expenses and paying a team of non-Russian coaches. Also, Evgenia barely speaks any English and I could imagine her being nervous to live on her own in a foreign country. And her anxiety issues regarding change and her feeling a lack of support seemed to distress her for most of the season (and Mozer had to swoop in at the last second to 'save' their Worlds).

I think Vasiliev is a more possible scenario, but Oleg PLEASE DON'T TRY TO DATE EVGENIA!!!

Where is Stanislav Morosov currently? Is he still part of Mozer's group or on his own?

He was already one of their main coaches when they were juniors. They credit him for their gigantic twist but have also said that they have personality clashes with him, and that's why they stopped working with him and Robin took over.

 

[Bigbird]

I think Vasiliev is a more possible scenario, but Oleg PLEASE DON'T TRY TO DATE EVGENIA!!!

She would laugh him to scorn.