Simonenko's interview with Evgeni Plushenko: 'When I'm looking at Serafima on the ice, I want to jump with her'
https://rsport.ria.ru/interview/20171127/1129245018.html
- Evgeni, is coaching as exciting as competing?
- Of course, it's exciting. When I was skating, I was the only one on the ice. And I'm skating with my student now. It requires a lot of hard work, but I'm truly interested in it.
- What do you think about Serafima's performances here?
- Firstly, I am very glad that we were lucky and had a chance to go to Skate America. And she did a great job here, skating for the first time in the new team. Of course, there is something to work on, but she has stepped up.
- What are the main advantages of her performances?
- I am very glad that she has gained some consistency. She has already had a lot of competitions this season: both in Russia and abroad, and now she competed at such a big event.
- Nevertheless, are you still on the ice with your feet, when you are standing at the boards and watching Serafima?
- And with my legs, and body, and head. I always want to jump with her, to give her strength and energy. An interesting feeling.
- Sima told me that you have found the right words for her and that was the most important thing for her.
- Firstly, I'm not the only one, who works with Serafima, she also works with Alexei Vasilevsky and Yulia Lavrenchuk, and also with Oleg Ovsyannikov, Alexander Zolotarev, masseurs and others. I have a very good team and I'm grateful to everyone. Serafima skated greatly because of the whole team. And the words ... Of course, we have found some words for her. We talked a lot, maybe she feels the difference now. But I do not want to offend anyone, she also showed decent results with her previous coaches. We will continue working further.
- Did those words come from the heart or, perhaps, you used the methods of your coach, Alexei Nikolaevich Mishin?
- I do not hide it, I took the technique from Alexei Nikolaevich Mishin. And the words, of course, came from the heart. And were based on my own experience. I've been in this sport for a long time, I know how to set the mood. For me, the main thing was to explain Serafima that it's foolish to retire at 17. She still has time to work, to learn a lot, to achieve results and to have fun. After all, competitions bring a great pleasure. It's cool to compete, to skate in front of the audience, the judges! I can honestly say that I missed it a lot, when I left the sport in 2006 and hadn't skated for three years. So, I hope, we have found the right approach to Serafima with the whole team.
- What are your goals for this season?
- To skate decently. And we have a way more ambitious plans for the next season - we will work on a quad salchow in the off-season. She has the desire and strength to do it. I think that she has a potential to land it.
- Is it possible to teach a skater, who doesn't really like to compete, how to enjoy the competition?
- It is. She's a fighter. Everything can be changed. The main thing is that the athlete must listen to the coach and the whole team team. For example, today, in the free program, she made a big mistake. She was told to add few steps before the double axel, but she hurried and didn't add it, so she popped that axel. If she had done it in the right way, she would have landed that jump. She also could have added the third jump in the combo. But all this is understandable. She didn't have a lot of starts, she is still trying to get used to the team, to me. And for me, this is also a very new experience. I think that Sima will learn how to enjoy competing.
- She also told me that she was a little nervous, when she found out that you were coming to Lake Placid. You didn't tell her that on purpose?
- No, I was on tour in Europe, we did half of the shows, but the others were postponed. And I immediately decided to go to America, when I found it out. By the way, the road was rather hard. I was in the city of Poprad in Slovakia, from there we drove to Zilina, from there to Vienna, from Vienna flew to Moscow, from Moscow to New York, and in New York we rented a car, and then had a five hours drive. All of this in one day. But a good result was worth it. It was necessary for me to support her.
- Will she perform at the Russian Nationals?
- Yes, and I will go there with her. The main goal is to show clean and confident skating. She needs to regain self-confidence. When she came to me, she did not have this confidence. We found the right words, the right exercises and the right approach to help her. We believe in her, and this is only beginning. She is just 17, she has lots of time.
- How is Adelina Sotnikova?
- Adelina is training and recovering. Her health is much better now. She took part in our shows in Europe. Everything goes according to plan. I hope in January she will start training in her fool force
- Did you mean triple jumps?
- Yes, she has double jumps but it's too early to work on triples. She has such desire, but we need to make sure that her injury has completely healed. But she is eager to fight and ready for it.
- I can not help but ask you about Sergei Voronov. He has qualified to the Grand Prix Final, by winning bronze in Lake Placid.
- Sergei performed well at his last events, did a great job there. He is very experienced skater, and I do not see anything surprising in his results. He knows how to compete, he has his own technique, good coaching team. He trusts them. He started working well, and here is the result.
- But he's 30 years old...
- 30 years ... You know, Sergei did not skate at the JWC at age of 13 (smiling). He got up a little later. So he can still skate.
- Do you think you are worthy to enter the Olympic team?
- The Russian Nationals will show. There is Mikhail Kolyada, there is Alexander Samarin, and there is Sergey Voronov. And do not forget about Maxim Kovtun, who can perform well if he heals his injury. Then there will also be a European Championship. I think that Sergei can easily qualified to Olympics.
- Two Russian skaters - Kolyada and Voronov - have qualified to the Grand Prix Final. Isn't a little step up for Russian men?
- It is. The boys started doing quad lutzes and salchows. Figure skaters understand that you need to keep up with the times, in order to compete with Nathan Chen, Yuzuru Hanyu, Shoma Uno. Of course, it will be difficult to compete with them this year. But maybe something will change in the future.
- Your student Vladimir Samoilov tried a quad flip ...
- And he has learned a quad lutz. He has landed all quads at the trainings. But we will need time to add them to his competitive programs. By the way, he will also perform at the Russian Nationals. Recently he had a start, where I set the task - to try four quads in the free program. Quad lutz, quad flip and two quad salchows. He tried it but didn't succeed. Miracles happen sometimes but very rarely. But I think that we will work more on all those quads for the Nationals. We have nothing to lose, we just need to take it. Will see.
Please, feel free to correct any mistakes or typos
https://rsport.ria.ru/interview/20171127/1129245018.html
- Evgeni, is coaching as exciting as competing?
- Of course, it's exciting. When I was skating, I was the only one on the ice. And I'm skating with my student now. It requires a lot of hard work, but I'm truly interested in it.
- What do you think about Serafima's performances here?
- Firstly, I am very glad that we were lucky and had a chance to go to Skate America. And she did a great job here, skating for the first time in the new team. Of course, there is something to work on, but she has stepped up.
- What are the main advantages of her performances?
- I am very glad that she has gained some consistency. She has already had a lot of competitions this season: both in Russia and abroad, and now she competed at such a big event.
- Nevertheless, are you still on the ice with your feet, when you are standing at the boards and watching Serafima?
- And with my legs, and body, and head. I always want to jump with her, to give her strength and energy. An interesting feeling.
- Sima told me that you have found the right words for her and that was the most important thing for her.
- Firstly, I'm not the only one, who works with Serafima, she also works with Alexei Vasilevsky and Yulia Lavrenchuk, and also with Oleg Ovsyannikov, Alexander Zolotarev, masseurs and others. I have a very good team and I'm grateful to everyone. Serafima skated greatly because of the whole team. And the words ... Of course, we have found some words for her. We talked a lot, maybe she feels the difference now. But I do not want to offend anyone, she also showed decent results with her previous coaches. We will continue working further.
- Did those words come from the heart or, perhaps, you used the methods of your coach, Alexei Nikolaevich Mishin?
- I do not hide it, I took the technique from Alexei Nikolaevich Mishin. And the words, of course, came from the heart. And were based on my own experience. I've been in this sport for a long time, I know how to set the mood. For me, the main thing was to explain Serafima that it's foolish to retire at 17. She still has time to work, to learn a lot, to achieve results and to have fun. After all, competitions bring a great pleasure. It's cool to compete, to skate in front of the audience, the judges! I can honestly say that I missed it a lot, when I left the sport in 2006 and hadn't skated for three years. So, I hope, we have found the right approach to Serafima with the whole team.
- What are your goals for this season?
- To skate decently. And we have a way more ambitious plans for the next season - we will work on a quad salchow in the off-season. She has the desire and strength to do it. I think that she has a potential to land it.
- Is it possible to teach a skater, who doesn't really like to compete, how to enjoy the competition?
- It is. She's a fighter. Everything can be changed. The main thing is that the athlete must listen to the coach and the whole team team. For example, today, in the free program, she made a big mistake. She was told to add few steps before the double axel, but she hurried and didn't add it, so she popped that axel. If she had done it in the right way, she would have landed that jump. She also could have added the third jump in the combo. But all this is understandable. She didn't have a lot of starts, she is still trying to get used to the team, to me. And for me, this is also a very new experience. I think that Sima will learn how to enjoy competing.
- She also told me that she was a little nervous, when she found out that you were coming to Lake Placid. You didn't tell her that on purpose?
- No, I was on tour in Europe, we did half of the shows, but the others were postponed. And I immediately decided to go to America, when I found it out. By the way, the road was rather hard. I was in the city of Poprad in Slovakia, from there we drove to Zilina, from there to Vienna, from Vienna flew to Moscow, from Moscow to New York, and in New York we rented a car, and then had a five hours drive. All of this in one day. But a good result was worth it. It was necessary for me to support her.
- Will she perform at the Russian Nationals?
- Yes, and I will go there with her. The main goal is to show clean and confident skating. She needs to regain self-confidence. When she came to me, she did not have this confidence. We found the right words, the right exercises and the right approach to help her. We believe in her, and this is only beginning. She is just 17, she has lots of time.
- How is Adelina Sotnikova?
- Adelina is training and recovering. Her health is much better now. She took part in our shows in Europe. Everything goes according to plan. I hope in January she will start training in her fool force
- Did you mean triple jumps?
- Yes, she has double jumps but it's too early to work on triples. She has such desire, but we need to make sure that her injury has completely healed. But she is eager to fight and ready for it.
- I can not help but ask you about Sergei Voronov. He has qualified to the Grand Prix Final, by winning bronze in Lake Placid.
- Sergei performed well at his last events, did a great job there. He is very experienced skater, and I do not see anything surprising in his results. He knows how to compete, he has his own technique, good coaching team. He trusts them. He started working well, and here is the result.
- But he's 30 years old...
- 30 years ... You know, Sergei did not skate at the JWC at age of 13 (smiling). He got up a little later. So he can still skate.
- Do you think you are worthy to enter the Olympic team?
- The Russian Nationals will show. There is Mikhail Kolyada, there is Alexander Samarin, and there is Sergey Voronov. And do not forget about Maxim Kovtun, who can perform well if he heals his injury. Then there will also be a European Championship. I think that Sergei can easily qualified to Olympics.
- Two Russian skaters - Kolyada and Voronov - have qualified to the Grand Prix Final. Isn't a little step up for Russian men?
- It is. The boys started doing quad lutzes and salchows. Figure skaters understand that you need to keep up with the times, in order to compete with Nathan Chen, Yuzuru Hanyu, Shoma Uno. Of course, it will be difficult to compete with them this year. But maybe something will change in the future.
- Your student Vladimir Samoilov tried a quad flip ...
- And he has learned a quad lutz. He has landed all quads at the trainings. But we will need time to add them to his competitive programs. By the way, he will also perform at the Russian Nationals. Recently he had a start, where I set the task - to try four quads in the free program. Quad lutz, quad flip and two quad salchows. He tried it but didn't succeed. Miracles happen sometimes but very rarely. But I think that we will work more on all those quads for the Nationals. We have nothing to lose, we just need to take it. Will see.
Please, feel free to correct any mistakes or typos
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