Nina Mozer: For me, 4th place is akin to complete failure. Interview in Moskow Skater Magazine.

Alilou

Alilou

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A recent interview with Nina Mozer translated and published on FS Gossips.

fs-gossips.com

Nina Mozer: For me, 4th place is akin to complete failure

Interview with Nina Mozer. About the ISU international pair skating seminar held in Novogorsk, development of pair skating, Olympics and past season
fs-gossips.com

In all countries there are national teams, regardless of the number of people participating in the development of this sport. Just the Chinese are a gifted nation, like all Asians. We arrived to the World Championships, they gave us a magazine, which is usually issued during the championship. We look at the medal contenders in men’s single skating: six photos – all Asians. Same situation in ladies’ skating, except Zagitova. So in the single skating, we have an absolute dominance of Asian athletes, because they have twice more speed fibers than Europeans. If Africans were engaged in figure skating, then it would be even harder for us to compete, as in athletics. They are fast and with lots of stamina, unlike us, I mean not only Russia.

In my life I have seen thousands of competitions, trainings, warm ups, I saw moments of falls, injuries. An Asian falls, gets up, rubs the bruised place and continues to skate. A European from any country falls – minimum sprain, maximum fractures or torn ligaments. We have surprisingly become fragile. Or is it just such genetics.
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And much more . . . . .
 
I mean, it's not incorrect to say that different races can have physical characteristics that lend themselves to success at different sports i.e. height, weight, build etc. For example, to stand a chance at winning the 100m sprint, you will probably need to have a physique like Usain Bolt and the chances of that happening will vary from race to race.

But in terms of figure skating, I don't think the dominance of one race is so complete as to make it as hopeless for Russians as Mozer makes out. Certainly not in pairs skating - it is vastly caucasian.

And for the Chinese pairs skaters - well, I would say that Sui/Han are doing very well in spite of their physical characteristics. In a perfect world, Han Cong could do with being 15cm taller, but the team makes their small stature work for them.

To me it sounds like Mozer is utterly exhausted and emotional.

Figure skating is a lot different to sports where you can just 'muscle it out'. Having an ideal physique is important - but so is having the proper training and technique taught, good choreography, good attitude, good diet and health and a good level of mental health too. And plenty of money and government funding. There's a lot more to it than just putting a body to solid use.
 
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Mozer's recollection of what happened in the stands during the pairs warm-up at the Games is not accurate. I was in the section next to the VIPs and saw what transpired. A few Japanese photographers took some photos before the photo chief told them to go back to their seats - maybe 20-30 seconds. There were no flashes (plural) going off because that is forbidden in the arena for professional photographers. The IOC photographer was the only person using a flash as he was taking photos.

In any case, photographers rarely ever shoot the warm-ups at any competition - other than the Japanese photogs when there is a Japanese skater on the ice or someone else their outlet has told them to cover.
 
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SkateSand said:
Maybe it is a type of smelling salt? What they used to give fainting ladies in old Victorian novels, or wherever I remember it from.
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This is an aside, but I thought it worth mentioning that the fainting ladies often fainted because their corsets were so tight they could not breathe. :( Not because they were 'fragile women', as is often believed to be the case.
 
Oh, it's the NH4OH, the ammonia solution. It smells so bad and so strong that if you are faint you come to your senses. So yes, quite like a smelling salt for the faint ladies in the corsets...
 
Do many skaters sniff smelling salts to get their senses going before a competition? I would have thought a calming remedy would be of more use for most.
 
Wow. Way to ignore the success of Russian ladies. Not to mention the depth of Russian junior pairs. She sounds worse and worse every time she interviews.

It’s especially ridiculous to whine about it in pairs, where height and strength of the men is so critical, and ability to rotate quickly is not, and Caucasians have a general genetic advantage. Way to discount other teams’/countries’ hard work and success.
 
Every time Nina Mozer gives an interview, I’m left speechless.

She sounds very out of touch with reality, but much too eager to give her opinion on things she doesn’t understand. She reminds me of Mrs. Bennet, the mother in Pride and Prejudice who’s always making everything about her and saying everyone is having problems in their lives just to “vex her” :ROFLMAO:

Don’t get me wrong, she is a successful coach and if it works it works, but I just can’t read these interviews with a straight face.

manhn said:
I am Asian, why am I not gifted? Where are my speed fibres?
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I’m Asian too and I have no athletic inclination whatsoever :)

I guess Aliona Savchenko and Vanessa James must be Asian too, if they’re so good at sports!
 
Loves_Shizuka said:
What on earth is all the stuff about the photosession during the pairs warm-up about?! What is she so upset about?
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I read the original Russian version. she is saying that right next to where the coaches were standing during warm-up of the last group in the Olympic FS, in the VIP sitting section, right above their heads, and IOC officials were holding a noisy and attention destructing photo-session with North Korean skaters. That there was a lot of noise, fussing, camera flashes, which were interfering with coaches and skaters interactions and instructions during warm-ups.
 
I really hope a singles skating athlete of color does rise to the top within the next decade. Only to hear the excuses of “the code helps them” or what not. It is already happening in Artistic Gym. Debbie Thomas was beaten by Witt, Bonaly was beaten by Baiul, Kwan by Slutskaya, now the Russian ladies are beating the Japanese at the big competitions. Those speed fibers aren’t doing much are they? The Russian men are like the U.S. men during the 2010-2014 Olympic cycle, beautiful skaters when on but crappy competitors. That is all there is to it.
 
Tinami Amori said:
I read the original Russian version. she is saying that right next to where the coaches were standing during warm-up of the last group in the Olympic FS, in the VIP sitting section, right above their heads, and IOC officials were holding a noisy and attention destructing photo-session with North Korean skaters. That there was a lot of noise, fussing, camera flashes, which were interfering with coaches and skaters interactions and instructions during warm-ups.
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What? She heard all this over the noise of the audience cheering and shouting to their favourites during the warm-up?

Given that the IOC officials were sitting up in the stands in the middle of the rink behind the judges - just three or four rows down from the exit to the concourse - it would not have been possible for her to hear anything from their section.
 
Lizziebeth said:
I saw that title and I immediately thought of Ivana Komova.
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But, again, the Komova titles are not so different from some of the other ones. Omitting interviewers' names from the titles, we find:

Nina Mozer: "I want to say to God, why do you keep go breaking my heart?"

Interview with Nina Mozer `When am mad my inner Montserrat Caballé wakes up'

Mozer: "With God on our side, we will be victorious."

Interview with Mozer `Experienced skaters go out on the ice and fight'

Interview with Mozer `Volosozhar/Trankov's honeymoon will be on the ice'

Mozer: The plan is to be ready to compete

Mozer: Figure skating is a disease. Once you get it you're hooked

Interview with Mozer: I have less friends after Sochi

Interview with Nina Mozer: Competition stimulates development and progress

Iinterview with Mozer `The coach is not entitled to have emotions'

Mozer: Volosozhar/Trankov are far from their peak

Nina Mozer interview: There is no point of leaving good in search of something better

So, you see, Komova and the other interviewers must be using the same copy editor. :COP:

As if all of this weren't enough, we have this thread:

Samokhvalov's interview with Mozer

And this quote:

NM: And I recalled when I was afraid. When Natalia Zabijako was injured. She bumped her head on the ice and it was a sound of a watermelon falling from the high. We were waiting for the ambulance and she was conscious. We were a bit calmed by her blood pressure that was stable. Her eyes were opening and closing, but the pulse was stable. The special car never reached us and she went with the usual ambulance to the hospital. I remember my legs not moving, I was so frightened for her life. It's scary seeing people fall from the elements. Scary because it's life. Its' easy to become handicapped doing what they have to do. I understand I send people to hardships, I understand am responsible to them. But they are sometimes so fearless that they don't talk about their problems. They take a risk to get their medals. That is scary.
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My pet theory is that Anatoly Samokhvalov is one of Komova's pseudonyms. 🤷
 
"We look at the medal contenders in men’s single skating: six photos – all Asians. Same situation in ladies’ skating, except Zagitova. So in the single skating, we have an absolute dominance of Asian athletes, because they have twice more speed fibers than Europeans. If Africans were engaged in figure skating, then it would be even harder for us to compete, as in athletics. They are fast and with lots of stamina, unlike us, I mean not only Russia."

What the hell is Flotilla Houseboat going on about?? Jeez... (My apologies for not being PC here.)
 
Mozer is an "emotional" coach so that is equal of being unprofessional?
I always thought the skaters chose the coach the like and are comfortable with, or else, they leave.

As for the speed fibers and other in Asians, its well known they we are indeed different, Asians, Africans, Europeans but of course even if you are born a certain type doesn't necessarily men you will succeed so many other factors need to be there too.
 
Vagabond said:
But, again, the Komova titles are not so different from some of the other ones. Omitting interviewers' names from the titles, we find...
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FWIW the editor is usually the one to pick the title for the interview. The editor, who might not be a figure skating fan (hence a lot of times the titles are `<skater name> <some shit about football> <some shit about a city in Russia no one heard about>. The reason am usually writing the interviewer's name/who is interviewed and not the title...)
 
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