Interview with Rafael Arutyunyan

[Firedancer]

These interviews are great! I love Raf! Thank you!

 

[AxelAnnie]

OMG! I am officially in love with the guy. How old is he? Depending, I could either marry him or adopt him.

Love his approach, and his candid nature. He seems very clear about what his job is, and what it is not. (Not hand holding). Totally admire Ashley for moving to him. That took some kind of guts.

 

[Xela M]

OMG! I am officially in love with the guy. How old is he? Depending, I could either marry him or adopt him.

Love his approach, and his candid nature. He seems very clear about what his job is, and what it is not. (Not hand holding). Totally admire Ashley for moving to him. That took some kind of guts.

As I understand it, Adam and Nicks brought her to Rafa

 

[IceAlisa]

"I don't judge judges." This man... <3
Do you guys believe these parents? Raf's skaters jump too high and skate too fast. OMG

 

[Karpenko]

Maybe it's because their rink was too cold at the time. they skate that fast to keep warmer.

Raf was a a very enjoyable interview with him.

Big to Ted for doing a great job with it, Paula the Goldenskate owner for organizing it so well, and @Daniskates93 for such and beautiful photos.

 

[AxelAnnie]

"I don't judge judges." This man... <3
Do you guys believe these parents? Raf's skaters jump too high and skate too fast. OMG

I don't remember the chronology but werent both Nicks and Rafael working with Ashley. . And then Mr. NICKS didn't want to travel? I could be making that up or remembering the wrong skater
Just looked it up and Ashley ztill lists Mr. NICKS as a coach.

 

[skatfan]

What is it gonna take for US Figure Skating to help Raf to get a better training environment with his top skaters? It's an embarrassment.

 

[Xela M]

"I don't judge judges." This man... <3
Do you guys believe these parents? Raf's skaters jump too high and skate too fast. OMG

I know! The manager should have just told them to F off instead of approaching Rafa with that insane remark

 

[GarrAargHrumph]

Here in NJ, many rinks have different levels of freestyle sessions. The elite skaters have separate ice, so they don't, erm... "frighten the other skaters with their jumps which are too high and skating which is too fast"? Similarly, the elite coaches can get their own, separate ice for their skaters - the Russians do this at my rink when the come to the US.

Does the rink where he works not have stuff like this? If not, would he like to move to New Jersey...?

 

[snoopy]

Does the rink where he works not have stuff like this? If not, would he like to move to New Jersey...?

I don't know how serious he was but he mentioned in an earlier interview that he was too used to the nice weather in California and didn't want to move anywhere else.

 

[GarrAargHrumph]

We have nice weather in NJ. Sometimes.

 

[Sparks]

California seems to be his home. He got his US coaching start at Lake Arrowhead.

 

[Xela M]

I loved what Raf said about Nathan and that he recognises that his many injuries need to be managed better or he will waste his incredible potential.

 

[Spun Silver]

We have nice weather in NJ. Sometimes.

And when we don't, it's like Mother Russia!

 

[DE93]

Maybe it's because their rink was too cold at the time. they skate that fast to keep warmer.

Raf was a a very enjoyable interview with him.

Big to Ted for doing a great job with it, Paula the Goldenskate owner for organizing it so well, and @Daniskates93 for such and beautiful photos.

I'm glad at least someone got to see the photos (haha), I'll never find the time to go through them all! Thanks @Karpenko! As usual, great video editing! It's not always easy to make a cohesive "whole" out of a mish-mash of "parts" so I really admire all you do!

 

[ChibiChibi]

I know! The manager should have just told them to F off instead of approaching Rafa with that insane remark

I thought Rafael said it was during a public session. Ashely and Adam sometimes skate into the first part of the afternoon public session. Usually the beginning of the afternoon public sessions are very light, but sometimes it could be crowded due to school holidays.

There are high/elite sessions at East West, and even during open freestyle sessions, the majority of the skaters who train there are highly competitive skaters. Grant Hochstein, Caroline Zhang, Hannah Miller, and some international skaters also train at the same rink.

 

[aftershocks]

I love what Raf had to say about needing a rink to train a new generation of skaters and coaches!

Close the door and create something that makes people go "Wow!" but too late to copy. I hope Raf decides to stay around for longer than the 1, 2 or 7 years he contemplated during the interview.

Loved Raf's shout out to Sasha Abt coming in fifth at an Olympics that included top guns Yags, Plushy, Goebel, Elvis, Eldredge! Too bad Abt did not come up in the lean years of Russian singles men. I always loved Sasha's long forever legs, but I can see how it was a challenge for him learning to manage all the jumps and moves with such long legs. He did so beautifully though, with Raf's help. And Raf saying that he himself was young and inexperienced. Sigh. Coach and skater both were great during a stacked era of talented singles guys.

 

[Frau Muller]

These interviews by Raf are the GREATEST and FUNNIEST things I've seen all season related to skating. The coach is a hoot & I agree with whoever said (Hersh? Brennan?) that he should have this own segment in Olympic telecasts. Ted's subtle reactions & little glances to the camera as Raf rants are equally precious. More Raf, please! He can be the Bela Karolyi character-coach of all time. Even better than Moskvina.