Figure Skating Mystery

RODNINA RUNS RUSSIA?

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:00:00 +0000

Irina Rodnina wants to run the Russian Figure Skating Federation.

Translation of an article by Andrey Klinkov printed in the Russian language publication “Express Gazeta” on April 9, 2008

Irina Rodnina went on the offensive against the President of the Russian Figure Skating Federation, Mr. Valentin Piseev. The three-time Olympic Champion and now a member of the Russian Duma (The Parliment) insists that the leadership of the Russian Figure Skating Federation has to be changed.

At the last two World Championships, Russian figure skaters won just a single medal. And it was only a bronze medal for ice dancing, where the Russian were just 0.26 points ahead of the American pair. Ms. Rodnina feels that the Russian skaters were just lucky, since the Americans fell down in their compulsory program. In essence in Geteborg the Russians may have been left without any medals. Moreover, in the next season Russia may have in competition only two duets in ice dancing and one single lady skater.

Ms. Rodnina claims that the Federation should have thought about preparing the reserves ahead of time. “When was it a time that we were proud to take seventh place in men’s skating? And what about pairs? If the Japanese skater, Yuko Kawaguchi, would not become a Russian citizen, we would have been behind in pairs as well. In that type of skating we were the best in the world for decades” - said Irina.

Rodnina feels that Valentin Piseev should retire. He was not able to bring back to amateur sports Tatiana Totmjanina and Maxim Marinin and the situation with Pluschenko is still not clear. Many figure skaters have to make their own costumes and buy their skates. The Federation did not secure a corporate sponsor yet.

Mr. Piseev was very upset and angered by the statements of Ms. Rodnina. “She was trying to get in my seat 2 years ago, but at that time she did not have the votes.” - claimed Mr. Piseev.

The vote was taken soon after the Turin Olympics where Russian skaters won 3 gold medals. Who would replace the head of the Federation after such a success? It seems that Ms. Rodnina would like to replace many people. She tried to take the place of the head of the Russian Olympic Committee, but failed. In the last Duma, she wanted to become the Chairperson of the Committee of Physical Educations and Sports and failed again. In the new Duma, she is not getting any more success either.

Piseev continues – “Irina was upset that Russian skaters won bronze medals, because the worse they perform the better it was for Ms. Rodnina - she had the chance to criticize. It is easier to flap one’s tongue than to work. What did she really achieve after she left sports? If she is so smart, let her take over and run the Federation. But I am not sure that she has the votes.”

Point of interest:

Mr. Piseev has run the Russian Figure Skating Federation for more than 20 years. In 1982, for a short period, he was replaced by a former husband of Ms. Rodnina – Mr. Alexander Zaitsev, who was soon fired for a drinking problem and Mr. Piseev was reinstated in his position.

YAKKING WITH YAGUDIN

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:38:00 +0000

Alexey Yagudin – I did not hide my relationship with Masha Savelieva.

Translation of an interview with Alexey Yagudin (AY) by Maria Remizova (MR) a correspondent of a Russian language publication “Komsomolskaya Pravda” printed on April 17, 2008.

The famous figure skater talked about his personal life and many other things.

Alexey Yagudin left the big sport, but he is still the center of attention as a famous persona and one of the most valuable bachelors of Russia. Not long ago, during his work at the Ice Period show, there were a lot of talks about his romance with singer Victoria Deineko. There were even rumors of a wedding, but Mendelssohn was quiet that time. Recently his autobiographical book “Stopping at Nothing” came out where he honestly talked about the behind the scene events in figure skating.

MR – Alexey, are you getting ready for the Olympics?

AY - Currently I am working at the show “Symphony on Ice” with Ilja Averbuch. We are performing a lot and I am in good form. We are working ourselves into the ground. In reality, I am not getting ready for the Olympics for some time now, because of my operation. Unfortunately the rehabilitation was not going as I expected. Now I am just supporting my form to make my spectators happy every day.

MR – Who do you consider to be the main competitor of yours in figure skating?

AY - I respect the work of practically everyone. For me the first place or the 25th place really makes no difference – everyone has their positive and negative sides. I am just observing other skaters and I am trying to use their positive qualities for my own development. I have a great choreographer – Alexander Zhulin. Prior to him I was working with Tatiana Tarasova with whom I still have very good and warm relations. She is forever my coach number one and the only coach who gave me everything that I have in this life.

MR – Do you often visit your mother? Does she spoil you with some tasty things?

AY – Of course she spoils me with homemade meat patties and other things. Lately I am staying in Moscow most of the time and very rarely go to St. Petersburg. My mother and grandmother are the main people in my life, and any time I visit with them, they try to stuff me with some tasty food. They are always telling me that I lost weight, but it is how all normal loving parents are.

AR – Do you observe a diet?

AY – I am watching my body and sometimes I go on a diet.

MR – Did you give any thoughts to what you would be doing after sports?

AY – I am considering two options while currently I am still skating. I also am considering investing in real estate. I have a transportation company in St. Petersburg. But I am doing it only for financial reasons. My main business is figure skating. The other areas that I like to develop are the movies and music or other creative sides of life. Currently I am involved in the production of a TV series under a working title – “Hot Ice”. It is my first try out as an actor. We have already taped 20 episodes. Of course I have other proposals and I like it very much. I just published a book, which was also some different activity from figure skating. Of course I did not write it myself, I was just dictating the text. Initially it came out in Japan and later in Russia.

MR – It came out as a very revealing book. Was anyone upset?

AY – I did not set a goal to upset anyone. I just wrote about the events as they were happening. I feel that the main thing in our life is to stay a human being, not to step over some lines.

MR – Many are talking about your competition with Evgeny Pluschenko. Do you maintain any relations with him?

AY – We never were close, even when we were skating in the same group. At this time we do not call each other or write to each other. We are moving in different circles, we have different friends. To be honest I am thankful to Evgeny that all these years we were practicing and competing together. This way we helped each other to fully develop. The level that we reached at the 2002 Olympics has not been reached since then by other skaters. I have respect for his achievements and contributions to the sports. We never had bad relations.

MR – Who did you consider as an echalon of woman’s beauty in your childhood?

AY – No one. For me each person has her beauty. I can not say that I like blonds more than brunettes. Each person has her best feature.

MR – Many people think that you are a Casanova.

AY – In my life I never created any image of myself, I just live. Life is unpredictable and thus it is interesting. One never knows what will be next. But that is interesting is the process. If we would know what is next, we would be bored. And what is related to me being a Casanova, I think that all men are like that.

MR – It had been said that you are now dating a soloist of the group “Fabrica” Dasha Savelieva. How did she conquer you?

AY – It is clear that I meet ladies based on their external beauty, but if there is nothing behind the beauty, we can not have relations. Sasha is a very open, nice person. The main thing is that I can trust her. She is a good friend, very devoted and I appreciate it very much.

MR – Why did you keep your relationship with her a secret for so long?

AY – We did not really kept it a secret. We did not want to have outsiders get involved in our relations; it is usually not a good idea. Our private lives are fine, we are dating.

MR – Do you seek advice on your private matters from your mother?

AY – I am an adult and can make my own decisions.

MR – Are you planning to settle down and to start a family?

AY – I like the way I live now.

MR – So, you are not planning to get married?

AY – I was not planning to go to Germany for exhibition performances, but all of a sudden I got an invitation. I do not plan things, I just live my live and whatever happens, happens!

MR – Would you like to have many children in the future?

AY – Maybe. I am a man who often changes his mind. My views and tastes are constantly changing. Considering children, one must be an idiot not to want children in the future. Regarding the number of kids – life will tell.

MR – Did you have an event in your life that you feel sorry that it happened?

AY – Absolutely not! All actions that I took were parts of my life. We all make mistakes. One just has to draw conclusions from these mistakes. It is easy to say that one has to learn on someone else’s mistakes. But it rarely happens. Usually we make our own mistakes. It is especially true for the Russians.

MR – What is missing in your life now as to make you happy?

AY – Honestly I am happy now. I have everything that I need now. I have a job that I love; people that I love are around me. I have devoted friends and I am calm and happy.

SLUTSKAYA ON STAGE

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:13:00 +0000

Irina Slutskaya became an actress.

Translation of an article by Anastasia Pleshakova printed in a Russian Language publication Komsomolskaya Pravda on April 9, 2008

Former figure skater played a leading role on the theatrical stage.

The tragedy of Sophocles about the daughter of Oedipus named Antigone is one that many people read in their youth. That was the reason why for many spectators who came to the theater, the intrigue was not in the plot of the performance. The main attraction was the fact that a famous figure skater, many times Champion of Europe and the World, Ms. Irina Slutskaya debuted as a leading lady in the performance.

When choosing the leading lady for the role of Antigone, the director – Ms. Nika Kosenkova, was using simple logic – who would be better than Irina, with her temperament and her strong character to play Antigone, a woman who was not afraid to stand up to her uncle, the tsar. It did not matter that Irina did not have theatrical experience, and that she felt much more confident on ice than in an antique drama.

It was said that when Irina was offered the project she was at first puzzled, but then took it very seriously as a true sportsperson. She was working very hard at rehearsals. But she got pregnant at that time. The show was supposed to start running in November of last year, but at that time Irina had her son and opening night was postponed. There is even a joke among the troupe – Irina’s son is a result of the project.

Incidentally there are other amateurs participating in the performance – a publisher of a business magazine and an architect. One of the professional actors, Georgy Melsky, who played the role of the tsar, Kreont, was proud to announce that in his youth he was also a sportsman – master of sports in boxing.

Before opening in Moscow, the show opened in the city of Orel. There is an old theatrical tradition in Russia – to test a nontraditional performance in the provinces before taking them to the capital. The citizens of Oreal were known to be tough spectators who could even throw rotten tomatoes at the stage and express their dissatisfaction with loud whistling if they did not like the show even if it was performed by professional actors. They did like the show very much and Irina had an ovation and several curtain calls.

PLUSHENKO PRESS

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Mon, 05 May 2008 11:35:00 +0000

Official press release of the Russian Federation of Figure Skating.

Olympic Champion of Turin, Evgeny Pluschenko, and his coach, Alexey Mishin, on April 4, 2008 submitted to the Russian Federation of Figure Skating a detailed official plan for preparation of Evgeny for the 2008-09 skating season.

The plan described all of the goals and milestones for each step of the preparation, defined the due dates for selecting the music, dates for developing the short and free programs, making of the costumes, participation in obligatory skating events, sport camps, competitions and exhibition shows.

“After I received the official plan for the preparation of the 2008-09 season, I truly understood the seriousness of intentions of Evgeny Pluschenko to come back to amateur sports and I am very happy to support his decision” – stated the President of the Russian Figure Skating Federation Mr. Valentin Piseev.

PIZZA PLUSHENKO

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Fri, 02 May 2008 13:16:00 +0000

Figure skater Evgeny Pluschenko was denied entry to Croatia.

Translation of an article by Roman Grigoriev, printed in the Russian Language publication Pravda.ru on April 21, 2008

The MTV channel is working on a reality show – “Live with Pluschenko." The leading personality of the unique show will be the Olympic Champion Evgeny Pluschenko himself. For the first time, spectators will learn everything about the life of a famous figure skater. (Ed. Note: A concept I explored in the book, Death Drop.)

“Live with Pluschenko” is a continuation of a series of reality show projects with famous people where the TV crew is traveling with the stars all over the world. The heroes are telling themselves of all of the events of their lives on the tours.

In the first segment of the show the group goes to Japan, where Plushenko is literally followed by his fans. The spectators will see the fragments of the show on ice in Japan and even some scenes from a real Japanese steam room.

But if in Japan Plushchenko is adored, he was not able to enter Croatia at all. He was stopped at the border as he did not have an entrance visa, a condition that was introduced by the Croats recently for Russian nationals. The Border guard would not give in to Evgeny’s fame and would not let him in the country.

Another “situation” occurred at the famous resort in St. Moritz. A few minutes before the show, Evgeny remembered that he forgot his costume at the hotel. Evgeny found the solution by doing his number in the pants that he used for practice and the spectators, who paid several thousand Euros for the tickets, appreciated his resourcefulness and were very supportive of him.

In Italy, Evgeny decided to make pizza by himself for the first time. He decided to surprise his friend, the violinist Edvin Marton, and during dinner at a restaurant, he went to the kitchen. Unfortunately, the cook did not speak English and Evgeny did not speak Italian. The result of his efforts was a nice looking but inedible pizza that was appreciated only by the dog of the owner of the restaurant.

MARRIAGE MISS

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:26:00 +0000

Anton Sikharulidze canceled his wedding

Translation of an article by Maria Remizova printed in a Russian Language publication Komsomolskaya Pravda on April 8, 2008.

Friends of the Olympic Champion are hoping that the lovers will reconcile.

Famous figure skater and Chairman of the Committee of the Russian Parliament for Physical Education and Sports, 31 year old Anton Sikharulidze, can not say good bye to his bachelor life. Last winter, he told the press that he was getting married in the summer. His bride was a 21 year old girl with auburn hair named Nadezda.

This beauty is a graduate of the Moscow State University, Institute of Journalism.

His relationship with Nadezda has not always been worry free. During Anton’s performance in the "Ice Period" show, Nadezda was very jealous of Anton’s skating partners – the singer Sasha Saveljeva, and the dancer Nastia Volochkova, with whom he was very friendly. It almost came to a break up between Anton and Nadezda, but finally they resolved their problems and the date of the wedding was set for July 5.

More than 300 hundred guests were invited to the wedding, but last week the bride called her friends and told them that the wedding was off. The friends are hoping that they will make up again since they look so nice together.

It has been observed that Anton moved out from the place where he lived together with Nadezda and now lives alone in a Moscow Marriott Hotel.

TCHAIKOVSKAYA: THEY ALL SUCK

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:46:00 +0000

Elena Tchaikovskya: We may be too late for Sochi.

Translation of an interview by Sergey Dadigin (SD) a correspondent of a Russian language publication “Express Gazeta”, printed on April 1, 2008
.
Elena Tchaikovskya (ET) a famous figure skating coach who brought up a number of wonderful skaters, feels that Russia is in a crisis in woman’s single skating.

SD – Elena, aren’t you a little too negative?

ET – No, not at all. If our best skater, Ksenia Doronina, takes 17th place and some people consider it a good result, I want to scream how low we've dropped. Yes, Ksenia is making her debut, but I remember that my student Julia Soldatova won the silver at European and bronze at the World Championships her first year. That was what we were supposed to reach for! Now our women do not demonstrate figure skating, but rather figure standing! It is stagnant. Many girls just know only one thing- speed up and jump! And that is all of their program!

SD – Maybe it was not worth it for Elena Sokolova to leave the sport? She could have gotten a medal at the European competitions.

ET - Maybe Elena got tired. She was competing at the highest level for the last eight years.

SD – Elena stated in one of the interviews that she was forced to leave the sport by the President of the Russian Figure Skating Federation and that she may come back next year.

ET – May come back! Absence from the ice for a year will not pass unnoticed. We will see what will come out of it. As I see it, now we need to put all of our resources in bringing up women’s single skating. I do not think that we will correct the situation before the Vancouver Olympics, but if we will be slow, we will miss out at the Sochi Olympics too.

SD – Do you have any beef with the judges?

ET – The new system of judgment is worse that the old one. Now there are two technical controllers who can do whatever they want. They can assign to an element the second level instead of the third, and the marks will automatically go down. In Geteborg, the judges sometimes discounted clean jumps, while they closed their eyes at the real deficiencies.

SD – Do you think that Maxim Shabalin was correct to compete in the European Championship with a not completely healed trauma? In the end, they won the European Championship, but did not go to the Worlds.

ET - I am not sure what recommendations the doctors gave to Maxim. In this situation the coach is the one who makes a decision. I remember that many years ago, I took Alexander Gorshkov, who had a part of his lung removed in an operation, to the World Championship in the USA. Colorado Springs, where the competition took place, was located high above sea level and the air was very thin there. It was hard to breathe with normal lungs. Some people told me that Gorshkov would die there. But I consulted with the doctors in advance, and nothing bad happened.

Shabalin had a simple meniscus operation. In principal, it is not a complex operation and doctors know how to do it well. I remember that my student Vladimir Kovalev, after a similar operation, won the gold medal for the second time at the Worlds. It is more difficult for the single skaters, who jump and have to land on the injured leg, than for the dancers to perform after a meniscus operation.

Despite her age, Ms. Tchaikovskay is in a very good sports form. Recently she demonstrated her abilities in the show “Dances on Ice”.

SD – Millions of TV viewers were delighted when during the Gala Concert you came out on the ice with another coach – Alexey Mishin. Did you practice a long time for that number?

ET – No, not at all. It was not difficult. I am conducting my coaching lessons on the skates. Of course I can not risk jumping, but I can skate for some time.

SD – Will this year the TV show “Dances on Ice” be shown again on the Russia channel?

ET – Certainly, but I will not tell you which surprises we are preparing this year.

VASILIEV THE CYNIC

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:39:00 +0000

Oleg Vasiliev: Pluschenko will never come back!

Translation of an article by Sergey Latinin printed in the Russian language publication Express Gazeta on April 1, 2008.

After the completion of the World Championship in Geteborg, discussion centered on whether the famous Russian figure skater Evgeny Pluschenko would come back onto the ice. In the opinion of many experts, the new World Champion, Canadian Jeffrey Buttle, and the French skater Brian Joubert, showed the highest level of figure skating, and that Pluschenko, who has not skated for two years and lost his form, would not be able to compete with them.

Evgeny himself is very optimistic. He said that he has won competitions against both Joubert and Buttle and he does not have any inferiority complex toward them. He did not change his mind about coming back. He also said that he met with the management of the Russian Figure Skating Federation and made arrangements that the Federation will pay for his practices, for his costumes and other things. He will not ask for any direct payments from the Federation to him for his return.

In regards to the operation on his meniscus, which was performed last year in Germany, it went well. The athlete is only concerned that he started to put the load on his leg too early and as a result he had some problems. That was why he lost this season.

But not all believe that Evgeny is sincerely planning to come back. The famous coach Oleg Vasiliev, whose students Tatiana Totmjanina and Maxim Marinin initially also announced that they were coming back to amateur sports but later changed their minds, was frank and said that he thought that Pluschenko would not come back to amateur sport.

According to Vasilliev, all of Plushenko's statements that he was coming back were just pure PR. After the Turin Olympics Evgeny tasted "la dolce vita” – parties, restaurants, presentations… He is used now to commercial shows, while in sports one has to work hard.

Incidentally, Evgeny did not behave right. He quarreled not only with Averbuch, but with other producers. As a result, his show – “The Golden Ice of Stradivarius” was not very successful and many people in show business turned away from him.

Vassiliev believes that at the beginning of the next season there will be the same song, Plushenko will say that he is ready to start practicing, but something will interfere. Oleg Vasiliev thinks that the other ex-world Champion – Alexey Yagudin will not become again an amateur as well.

PLUSHENKO PLANS

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:00:00 +0000

Evgeny Pluschenko: This time I will invite everyone to the wedding.

Translation of an interview by Maria Remizova (MR) printed in the Russian language publication “Komsomolskaya Pravda” on March 27, 2008.

Evgeny Pluschenko (EP), the famous figure skater told this reporter about his personal life and his plans for a return to big sport.

MR – You are coming back to big sport. Are you getting ready for the Olympics?

EP – Of course I am getting ready for competition.

MR - Whom do you see as the real competitors in figure skating?

EP – I was watching the Worlds recently and saw that there were some good skaters. I was rooting for the guy from Japan, but he ended up in fourth place. Our skater, Voronov, was not bad. I was surprised by how badly Lambiel was skating. Buttle looked good, but I think I can beat them.

MR – Do you have any good luck charms?

EP – No, I do not, just my cross and an icon.

MR – You seem to have lost a lot of weight lately.

EP – It is not enough. I just started losing weight. I am playing tennis and hockey.

MR – Where do you like to rest?

EP – I like St. Petersburg. I am building a house with a steam room in the suburbs. Also I like to ride a motorbike.

MR – You recently got divorced. Do you see your son?

EP – Of course I see him.

MR – What gifts do you give him?

EP – I brought him a child’s car and he drives it and even knows how to park. From Japan, I brought him a samurai sward. He started walking at about 9 months and now easily climbs up to the third floor. He already says “papa”.

MR – In your last interview to our paper you said that you met your new love and you would not rule out that you may get married this year. But you did not tell us the name of your chosen one. Will you have a lavish wedding like your first one, or you will marry in secret?

EP – I will have a great wedding and hope that it will be in St. Petersburg. It will be a celebration for all of my friends, since I did not invite many of my friends to my first wedding.

Currently Evgeny has been seen going out with a pretty blond, the producer of famous Russian singer Dima Bilan, named Jana Rudkovsky. The loving eyes of Pluschenko are speaking loudly of his feelings for her. They met about a year ago. They started going out in public together only after the divorce of Pluschenko. There are rumers that they want to legalize their relations by the end of this year. Evgeny is 26 years younger than Jana’s current husband. She claims that Evgeny became her reliable friend. Until now Pluschenko and Rudkovskaja were not publicizing their relations, since she was still married.
Her husband, Victor Baturin, postponed their divorce till mid April. Jana claimed that her husband has a very tough character. It is not a secret that Jana is a very mysterious woman. She has a lot of admirers in show business and that was why some gossiped that it was not clear what drove her to divorce – feelings for Pluschenko, or just PR.

ICE PRINCESS: RUSSIAN STYLE

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:25:00 +0000

Figure skater with pony tails.

Translation of an interview with Elena Vodorezova by a correspondent of Russian Language newspaper “Rossijskaja gazeta” Konstantin Ioch (KI) printed on April 3, 2008.

The TV channel “Russia” is working on a show called “Two Sisters." The story is set in the late 70s in Moscow and Yekaterinburg.

The lead character is a talented figure skater, who reached serious success in big sports, but because of a trauma had to drop out and look for other avenues available to her.

The prototype for the lead role is a famous Russian figure skater, Elena Vodorezova (EV). She was the first Russian woman to become European and World Champion (ed. note: Vodorezova was never World Champion. She won the World Bronze in 1983) and the first woman in the history of figure skating who performed five consecutive double jumps in her free program.

These days, Elena is a coach at the Central Sports Club of the Russian Army. She gave her blessing for the filming of the show and even appeared in a cameo as a coach.

KI – Did you see the first episodes of the show? Did you find similarities with reality there?

EV – When I read the script, I saw similarities with the group of Stanislav Zhuk – the coach that I was working with since I was 11 years old. His group was unique in that it was the only group where the singles and pairs skated together. It was not practiced before, and it is not practiced now, but Zhuk was able to coach everybody together.

There were some other details. In the Army Sports Club, the figure skaters and the hockey players were practicing at the same rink, and lived at the same sports camp. Figure skaters started earlier and the hockey players were next. When they came out on the ice, all of the figure skating girls would start showing off and Zhuk was very angry with them. The hockey players liked to take care of the skaters. When I was a part of the Russian delegation at the Olympic Games, they called me “the team’s daughter” and took me everywhere with them holding my hand.

It is hard to reinstate that epoch. The equipment, the rink, the skating style and the practices are all different now.

KI – Were the producers able to recreate your image?

EV – Yes, very much so. When I saw the clip with the leading actress on ice, I thought that it was me: I was wearing the same pony tails and a similar dress. It is funny, but even now people recognize me and tell me that they remember me by my pony tails. In essence, they better remember my pony tails than me.

DRESS UP TIME

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:44:00 +0000

How to correctly dress a figure skater.

Translation of an interview by a correspondent of the Russian language publication Dni.ru Sonia Ray (SR) with the costume designer for figure skaters Nika Valegjanova, printed on March 20, 2008

To win over the judges at figure skating competitions, just technique is not enough. The skater has to leave a good impression as to be remembered and to get good marks. One of the means to reach such a goal is the costume. Costume designer Nika Valegjanova (NV) works with Yuka Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov who took fourth place at the recent World Championship.

SR – Who makes the costumes for figure skaters?

NV – Often the costumes are made in the theater. For example, Slava Zaitsev designed costumes for Natalia Bestemjanova and Andrey Bulkin and they were made in the tailor shop of the Bolshoy Theater. They had to stay still for long hours leaning on skiing polls, as their arms would not get tired, while the costumes were handmade to fit their figures. These days, computers are assisting in making the patterns which can be used to cut the fabric.

SR – How does the costume begin?

NV – In my case, everything starts with the coach – Tamara Moskvina. Usually she would come in with bright eyes and would tell me what new number they had developed, would bring the disk with the music and the tape of the practice so I would see what moves they are making. Then I make my design and present it to her. Sometime I would make prototypes and the skaters would skate in them while the costumes are being held by pins.

SR – How many fittings is required to make the costume fit well?

NV – Sometimes the costume can be made from a pattern in one session, but other times it takes 5-6 fittings. Sometimes even this is not enough. I had a situation with Alexander Smirnov recently. I found an appropriate fabric that stretched and looked like wool. We joined it with natural leather and after several fittings we made a very nice looking costume. Two days before they were to leave for the competition I came to the practice session to see how things were. All of a sudden during practice, Alexander came to me and told me that he could not skate in the costume since it was limiting his movements. I was almost hysterical. We had to make a similar costume from a different material in a hurry. The new costume did not look on him as good as the first one, but it did not limit his movements. It is very hard to guess. Each fabric has its own features.

SR – How many copies of the same costume are usually made?

NV – Usually they make only one for a season. The skaters do not skate two seasons in the same costume. They may use the old costumes for an exhibition performance, but for the competitions they need the new ones.

SR – Maybe that is the reason why even the costumes of the leaders sometimes have holes in the mesh or splitting seams.

NV – The holes in the mesh are unavoidable. But the seams have to be mended. The skaters have to watch out for their costumes, have to mend them and wash them. The skaters can not afford assistants that would look after the costumes, the hairdressings and their make up.

SR – How does fashion affects the costumes of the skaters?

NV – Of course there is a figure skating fashion. Each season has its rules. It was known that the representatives of the former Soviet Union countries liked very stylish costumes with a lot of beads and a lot of laces. Even men had laces on their shirts. Sometimes there are difficulties with the fashion. Currently in vogue are costumes similar to the formal evening dresses, especially for women -- short cut and with deep décolleté. It is very good for the skaters like Tatiana Navka: she can open her feet, and upper torso. It is different for Yuka – her skin is of transparent bluish color and at the cold ice in a cold light she will look green. Also, her sports figure with strong shoulders and broad hips is not suitable for open dresses.

SR – Could the costumes be changed during the same competition?

NV – Yes, it is possible. Tamara Moskvina once even dressed a male skater in a costume from one program and the female – from another. I was very upset seeing this, but she explained that she looked around at the rink, saw what the people were wearing there and thought that in that particular instance it was better for the skaters. I thought about that and realized that as long as the costumes did not clash, it appeared that she found a new design beneficial for the skaters. And that was most important.

URMANOV UPDATE

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:39:00 +0000

Alexey Urmanov: I do not want to be a mediocre coach.

Translation of an article printed in the Russian language publication Novie Isvestia (NI) on April 1, 2008.

Many sports fans remember the recent performance at the World Championship in Geteborg of Sergey Voronov, who took seventh place there, while in Zagreb at the European Championship he was forth.

Of course after the wins of Pluschenko and Yagudin it was not such a great achievement, but it gave hope that men’s single skating will be resurrected soon. And that hope is supported by the fact that Mr. Vorovov is coached by a famous figure skater, the Olympic champion of 1994, Alexey Urmanov (AU).

NI – Alexey, it is known that a first class skater can rarely become a great coach. Did you decide to disprove this opinion?

AU – The work of a coach is such that one can not be sure of himself for 100%. But to be honest, from the very beginning I did not want to become a mediocre coach. If you would not set a goal for yourself, you would not gain anything. But do not rush to praise me. I clearly understand that to become an elite coach I have to work a lot.

NI – In the “kiss and cry” zone at the World’s Championship, you were so happy for your student. It seems that you did not expect him to do so well after last year’s 19th place.

AU – We worked very hard and smart on his program. This season he was actually competing, compared to last season. He was performing then like in the fog. It was not planned that he would participate in this competition. Also, his leg hurt him very much. He completed his performance, but the old trauma of a stressed fracture became so acute that after the competition he was moving around Tokyo in wheelchair.

NI – What kind of trauma was it that sometimes it allowed him to jump and sometimes it put him in the wheelchair?

AU – It was a fracture of the bone due to the heavy load. Sometimes in this condition the bone splits and there is nothing that one can do about it. The only treatment is rest; one can not glue the bone back together or put a plate in. Sometimes such trauma heals by itself, because while the body is young, bone tissue is still forming. Unfortunately, Sergey’s trauma is not healing. We talked with many doctors and so far have had no positive results.

NI – In general, do you think that men’s singles skating is moving in the right direction?

AU – I think that it is, although people often ask me why there are no new developments in singles. It is so because it is much more difficult to skate these days, compared with the days when I was skating. The requirements are much tougher. To put together an image, an idea of the program and quads – that's an insurmountable goal for many skaters.

NI – With the introduction of the new rules, many coaches confessed that their load also increased. They have a constant headache of exactly the sort you were talking about. Incidentally, not that many single skaters of your generation became coaches. In Geteborg, except for you, there were no new coaches at the side of the rink.

AU – I do not feel sorry for myself. I wanted to become a coach when I was still competing as an amateur. I had a very good foundation myself and had a good understanding of where I would lead the young sportsmen. There is a lot of work for me now. Children are going into figure skating in such numbers that we do not have time to refresh the ice.

NI – But in any event, is it not difficult psychologically to stay at the side of the rink?

AU – Yes, very much. When I was a skater I knew that the one who is standing at the side of the rink is also getting nervous and worrying, but I never thought that I would worry more than my student. I feel with each cell of my body how my student performs. Even though with each performance of my student, I am getting more experience, I can not say that it is getting easier.

ANTON SIKHARULIDZE

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:33:00 +0000

Anton Sikhuralidze: I became a politician because I was sick and tired of being Charlie Chaplin.

Translation of an interview by Vladimir Kozin and Jaroslav Korbatov printed in a Russian language publication Komsomolskaya Pravda (KP) on March 28, 2008.

KP – Anton, your sports career was full of bright events. Be honest, are you working on a book?

AS – Elena Bereznaja and I received such a proposal after the Salt Lake City Olympics. We developed an outline, even selected a publishing house, but then we left for a month-long tour and our enthusiasm came way down. However, we can always come back to that subject. We do have a lot to tell.

KP – What about the story of your miraculous rescue of Elena?

AS – Yes, after her trauma and brain surgery we could not even think about Olympic gold. She had to learn to talk and to walk again. We had to do a lot to bring her back to her current condition of being a nice, smiling and successful girl. I do not like to lecture on morals, but one could learn a lot from her about courage and strength.

KP – When did you see Elena last?

AS – To be honest, we see each other very rarely. She is busy rearing her newborn child. My schedule is also very tight. I rarely come to St. Petersburg where she lives now, but we talk on the phone regularly.

KP – Were you disappointed by the performance of our figure skaters at the Worlds?

AS – I think that it was a very successful performance. The guys were performing at the maximum of their abilities. It is another story that, as of now, they are not ready to successfully compete, but it is not their fault. When Elena and I were competing, our team consisted of 5 or 6 people who just by themselves were representing an epoch in figure skating. It was unreal that so many talented people got together at the same time. The leadership of figure skating was euphoric about that situation and missed the time to prepare the next generation of figure skaters. We are paying for that mistake now.

KP – Do you have the feeling that the TV shows overshadow the competitions?

AS – It is a world trend. Figure skating is losing its popularity. There are no real bright stars. The new system of judging also played a role in the degradation of the sport. I would call this system anti-spectators, and even anti-Russian. Even I, an Olympic champion, sometimes do not understand why the judges give their particular marks. It seems that the new rules were designed to fit the Asian type of figure skating. They force the skater to concentrate only on the elements – such as what side of the skate is used for a rotation, what is the position of the hands during the lifts? Is it really that important for the spectator? The spectator wants an image, an emotional performance that a couple could create on ice. That was the trademark of the Russian school of figure skating.

KP – When will we see you in an ice show?

AS – I am afraid that I will not have time for it. I know that "Ice Age" will come back in the new TV season, but I won’t be there and it is not a problem.

KP- - When did you skate last?

AS – Not long ago. I was skating with my friend’s kids at an open-air skating rink. Incidentally, I like to frolic at the open rinks – the snow is falling, the kids are skating, the music is playing – it is wonderful and very romantic. It was nice that these kinds of rinks were opened in the main squares of Moscow and St. Petersburg.

KP – Did the story with the second set of gold medals for the Canadians in Salt Lake City influence your decision to become a politician? It was a clear example of how politics interferes with sports.

AS – No, that six years old story did not influence my decision about my future life direction. I think that sport is for young people. One has to know when to quit without being pushed out. One day, I felt that I was sick and tired of being Chaplin (The program called “Chaplin” was a trademark of Anton and Elena). I felt that I grew up. I was always interested in social activities and I was preparing myself to get involved in sports politics. I am comfortable with my work at Duma (The Russian parliament) and I feel that I can be useful there.

KP – It seems that figure skaters contributed to the prestige of Russia more than soccer, but skaters are making much less that the soccer players. Could you correct this unfairness?

AS - I am glad that soccer and hokey players are making serious money and I would not want to take it away from them. But I agree that it is not fair that an Olympic champion in gymnastics, a world legend, earns in a year as much as a medium level hokey player makes in a week.

KP – You are 32 years old and already Chairman of the Duma’s Committee of physical education and sports. But what about your personal life? Is it true that you are getting married in July and could we congratulate you in advance?

AS – No comment.

NON SKATING FUNNY

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:49:00 +0000

As a novelist who also just had to deal with The Writers Guild of America strike, the following article from "The Onion" pretty much said it all:

Novelists Strike Fails To Affect Nation Whatsoever

LOS ANGELES—The Novelists Guild of America strike, now entering its fourth month, has had no impact on the nation at all, sources reported Tuesday.

The strike, which scholars say could be the longest since 1951, when American novelists may or may not have voluntarily committed to a six-month work stoppage, has brought an immediate halt to all new novels, novellas, and novelettes from coast to coast, affecting no one.
Enlarge Image Novelist Strike

Bookstores across the country saw no measurable change in anything.

Nor has America's economy seen any adverse effects whatsoever, as consumers easily adjust to the sudden cessation of any bold new sprawling works of fiction or taut psychological character studies.

Entire sad but true story, here.

TARASAVA'S MEMOIRS PART #2

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:30:00 +0000

Translation of an article printed in the Russian Language publication “Sovsport.ru” on March 15, 2008.

The publishing house “Astrel” has published a book – “Beauty and the Beast," which consists of autobiographical stories of coach and consultant to the Russian Figure Skating Federation, Tatiana Tarasova. In the book, Ms. Tarasova frankly talks about her unique family and her outstanding pupils.

Continued.

About Grishchuk and Platov.

One day my phone rang. Evgeny Platov is calling from America, which was a complete surprise for me. He said a traditional phrase: “Tatiana Anatolievna, we are lost. We are in the same group as Ovsannikov and Krilova. Lininchuk is giving them all of her attention and does not see us." I did not like to hear this and asked him why he called me. He said – “We do not have a choice. Our coach tells us that we should quit, but we still want to compete. We have a good original program, but it is incomplete and has some flaws. We missed a lot of competitions and people lost faith in us. We would like to participate in the Olympics. Please take us."

They were told that it was time for them to become professionals. But they did not want to become professionals, they wanted to compete two more years in the World Championships and they wanted to win a second Olympic Games. There were no dancers until then that had won a second Olympics, even the legendary Pachomova. Twenty minutes later, Grishcuk called and asked me to take them. She told me that she would listen to me, even though she had a bad temper, but she would try. She begged for me to take them so they would be able to continue in sports, since Lininchuk favored another couple.

A terrible Olympic year began. Grischuk was constantly yelling and screaming. The whole rink was under tremendous tension every day. I can not even explain now how we prepared the program. It was a miracle that I can not understand. A half an hour before her entrance on to the ice, I would take a relaxant pill as I would be able to work with her without trying to tear off her ears or pull her teeth one at a time. Throughout all of her hooliganism and rudeness, she always brought me flowers and left me notes where she told me that she loved me and called me mother.

She developed a terrible psychosis. She tried out in Hollywood and was told that she needed to change her name. At that time, Oxana wanted to be called Pasha. Evgeny could not understand why she wanted that, but I agreed to go along with the game. The new name came out of the English word “passion," In real life, she was crying, hitting Evgeny, insulting him, was knocking him in his weak knees with her skate and diminishing his dignity. I did not want to go with them to the Olympics.

When she was begging me to take them in, she told me that they would pay me as it was customary. Feeling bad for them and out of the goodness of my heart, I did not sign any contract with them, which was a terrible mistake and I hate myself for that weakness. I should have signed the contract with her then, when she was standing in front of me on her knees and begging to take them in. At that time, normal coaches would put on the table a contract where she would agree to pay for each day of my work with them and would pay me the balance at the completion of the work. Practice takes away my life. I am only paid for my work and I have no other income. I still keep the check which shows that for all of the Olympic season I received from Oxana/Pasha Grishchuk just a few thousand dollars- for the whole season! For this money I should have just brought her music to the rink.

Finally we got to the Olympics. They were perfect at the practice, no one had any questions. All of a sudden in the first compulsory dance, she began to be nervous. She fails the turn, the one that she could do with her eyes closed. She was actually very good at turns. And that was in the very first compulsory dance! But Grishchuk and Platov stayed in first place since their competitors, Krilova and Ovsannikov, also made a mistake in the turn.

Before going out on ice, Evgeny kept saying his mantra – I am ready, I am ready, I am ready. I was concerned that he overexcited himself before the start and began praying. I was standing at the edge and saw that he almost stopped breathing, so nervous he was. I thought that I had to take him out of that condition. I had a bottle of mineral water in my hand and I poured water on him 15 minutes before the start. He looked at me in horror and said: “I pressed the shirt all day!" Oxana burst in tears. I told her that he was ready and sent them out on the ice. And from the first bars of music, I knew that they would win. I never cried so much after the performance of my students than I cried then. I was crying because they could do it and I could!

About Yagudin.

I have to admit that Yagudin was thrown out of a tour twice. The first time, the whole company was dining in a restaurant in New York. It was a tradition – after the show they went to a restaurant. I told him not to go. But he went. In the restaurant, at a nearby table, there was sitting a pretty woman, African-American as they are called now. The “n” word that we were taught in our schools from “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is considered an insult in America. Passing by her table in a very good mood, he said “How are you doing, “n”?” and even slapped her on the back. Furthermore, going back he said the same thing again and was surprised why she did not reply. This woman happened to be an anchor of some television network. She called Tom Collins and told him that he has a racist in his show. Alexey could not get to her to apologize. He had to do it to continue with the tour, since Tom did not want any problems on the tour. Everyone knew that Yagudin was a good-natured man and was not a racist. But the language of a nineteen years old boy, an absence of tact and the feeling of danger, played a bad joke with him. Finally he was able to get through to that anchorwoman and explain to her what was the problem. She accepted his explanation and called Collins that she was satisfied with his explanation. But of course, Tom could not forgive such stupidity of anyone.

Any one of our boys, a sportsmen or not, can have a drink. I do not know of a single skater who would not have a drink at the end of the season. Alexey is not better or worse than the others, but simpler. Being an initiator, if anyone would get caught, he would be the one. There is one other deficiency in him – he says what he thinks. Initially, in the first days of the tour, his passport was stolen. He had to go back to Moscow to get a new passport and visa. He missed a couple of performances, but finally he got a new passport. I am sitting in Hanover, drinking tea in the morning and watching the TV. Suddenly, I see Alexey skating at the World Championship. I was happy to see him, but the announcer told us that he was dropped from the tour for drinking.

For a long time, I was investigating this incident. I respect Tom Collins, but my pupils are embellishing his tours very much. Alexey was sent home based on the law that in America people before 21 years of age should not drink alcohol. It may be right because by 21 a person knows better how much and where he can drink. Alexey came in the bar where some of his friends who were 21 were drinking. He took a sip from someone’s glass and the barmen caught it and called the police. Tom did not want to cover up the incident with the police and sent Alexey home. It seemed that Tom sent him back only for a few shows, but when Alexey came home he was told that he was banned from the tour for good. Like a child, Alexey stayed upset for a long time, thinking that he was deceived by Tom who told him that he was going back just for a few shows.

TARASAVA'S MEMOIRS PART #1

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:37:00 +0000

Memoirs of the great coach Tatiana Tarasova – “For Ilja I could kill!”

Translation of an article printed in the Russian Language publication “Sovsport.ru” on March 15, 2008.

The publishing house “Astrel” has published a book – “Beauty and the Beast," which consists of autobiographical stories of coach and consultant to the Russian Figure Skating Federation, Tatiana Tarasova. In the book, Ms. Tarasova frankly talks about her unique family and her outstanding pupils.

About the father, the famous hockey coach.

Father was always writing something. I do not remember him without a notebook or a huge amount of notes on his desk. Every day beginning at 5 am, he was writing. He never gave me this list of exercises that he was developing all of his life. He thought that I was not worthy of that list since I have not done much in my life. In that list, he had thousands of exercises for different groups of muscles. He was not just a professor, but rather an academician of sport. He would not start his day until he would think of at least 10 new exercises. Every day.

It was interesting to observe him working on the tactics of hockey. Sine there were no metal boxes where the figures could move on magnets, he would make the figures of the players out of the cardboard with a round base and would work with these figures for hours.

About Ilja Kulik.

We were flying to America. We selected a brand new airline. I do not remember what it was called, but remember that the tickets there were less expensive than on Aeroflot. But as soon as we arrived in New York, the company went bankrupt. We were holding worthless return tickets. That was our economy flight. Together with us on the plane there was another figure skater – Nikolay Morozov, a friend of Ilja who was skating with Tatiana Navka. At some point during the flight, Ilja went to see Nikolay and had a few drinks. When Ilja came back to his seat it was obvious that he could not hold the drinks and needed to have his stomach pumped. I made him drink as much water as he could to cleanse his stomach. It was an unpleasant but necessary session of shock therapy.

Ilja was getting ready for the World Championship in a normal way, without any twists. The Championship was held in Switzerland. We went there well in advance as to get acclimatized. Ilja jumped very easily and nothing indicated the upcoming disaster. Three days before the “qualification” skate, he was practicing at the main rink. Many interested people – the judges, coaches and participants came to see him practice. Ilja performed a great jump but at the landing his foot twisted and he fell on the ice dropping on his hands with a scream of pain. I expected that he broke his leg. But he was getting up and seeing that I was about to faint, he yelled – it's the skate! Apparently his skate broke upon landing, but he was fine. In the best case scenario the new skate could be delivered the day after next and he will have to spend time to sharpen it. He remembered that he had a spare set of skates in Moscow and we were able to get the new skate the next day. But it need to be sharpened.

Here an important role was played by another coach, Valentin Nikolaev, a Ukrainian coach who had a sharpening stand. Even though Mr. Nikolaev was the coach of Ilja’s competitor – Mr. Zagorodnuk, he immediately gave the stand to Ilja. Not every coach would do that in a similar situation. Ilja worked on the stand for hours, sharpened a replacement skate and missed a second day of practice.

That night, the ice was scheduled for the dance couple of Grischuk and Platov and we asked the organizational committee to allow Ilja to practice on ice simultaneously with the dancers to see how he could stand on the new skate. The time for really feeling the new skate was very short and the next day he skated at the “qualifications” in a state of shock, but even then he managed to jump a quad. Actually he put all of his efforts on the one leg with an old skate, since he was not sure about the feel of the new skate. Psychologically it was a very difficult test. A new skate feels differently from the old one especially for a high class skater. But Ilja holds up and ends up in the third place after Urmanov and Eldredge. Stojko comes in fourth.

The night of the competition he came out on the ice as usual. I was standing at the edge of the rink and was advising him not to do the quad on the new skate and to skate a clean program. As usual, he drew the first staring number, but he was very anxious to begin his program. I suggested to him to calm down, to stay at the edge with me for a little longer, to drop the tension, that he had two minutes after his name was announced, but the moment his name was called, he rushed on ice even though he did not completely recover form his accident.

I did not realize what a nightmare was unfolding around me, what a deceit was being prepared for me. I saw some unusual activity around me, but being preoccupied with his performance, I did not pay attention to it. As I expected, his morning practice took too much of his energy and he missed his opening jump and the rest of the program went downhill from there. He lost too much energy and was completing his program with a lot of mistakes. He needed just a few seconds to recover, but the program was so dense going without pauses and in one rhythm, that he did not have those few seconds.

But let’s go back to those minutes when I saw in the corridor that our doctor was rushing somewhere, that Mishin (coach of Urmanov) and Piseev (President of Russian Figure Skating Federation) were taking Urmanov somewhere. I understood that something was happening, but I did not want to get involved. I asked someone what was going on, but was told that everything was fine. Urmanov came out on the ice for practice and I could see how he was jumping. After Kulik had his unfortunate performance, Urmanov announced that he was not going to compete. Nobody told us about that. The foreign skaters knew that Urmanov was quitting and changed their programs with the knowledge that the main competitor was out of the race. The foreigners knew, and we were the only ones who did not know. Only we - the fellow compatriots -- did not know. I consider it such treason that I could never understand it and never forgive it.

Apparently Piseev knew early in the morning that Urmanov was quitting the competition, and he should have, even must have, told me about it. If Ilja would know that, he would not try to jump the quad and would not make all of the following mistakes. It was obvious to everyone. Everybody knew that he had a broken skate three days before the competition but did not do anything to help him. What does it say about the Russian National Team after that? To hide such a development from a teammate was highly unprofessional and bordered on the behavior of gangsters. They just wanted to punish me, to put me on my knees. It was their attitude toward me that reflected in Ilya losing a year of his life and work. I was so mad that I wanted to hit someone in the National team management. For Ilja, I was ready to kill! Especially after such a baseness.

Yagudin, the second pupil of Mishin, did not look great as well, but the judges were already rooting for him and he bypassed Ilja and came in third. Eldridg fell, but stayed in second place. Stoiko skated cleanly and won. It is not known what place he would be in if Kulik would have a clean performance. It is not known how that Championship would go if our geriatric management would not have a goal: anyone, but Kulik! Just to punish me for daring to coach singles.

PART TWO: COMING SOON

PLUSHENKO V. WORLD

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:33:00 +0000

Phantom of Pluschenko hovers over Europe.

Translation of an article by Yaroslav Korbatov (YK) printed on March 22 in the Russian Language publication Komsomolskaja Pravda.

Today is the last day at the World championship where the men are competing for the last set of medals. Russia is represented by the young Sergey Voronov and today he has to answer the question if he could become the heir of the great Pluschenko.

Incidentally, the shadow of Pluschenko, who announced that he was coming back to big sports, was hovering inside the walls of the “Scandinavium” and finally it materialized in the figure of Pluschenko’s agent Mr. Ari Zakharjan (AZ). We met during a break in the women’s free program, where Mr. Zakharjan explained his appearance at the World’s Championship as a scout for Mr. Pluschenko.

AZ - From behind the scenes, we need to learn the new order of power in figure skating, who we could expect to be the competition and prepare the ground for Evgeny’s return.

YK - So his return is not just gossip any more?

AZ - Of course not, it is a done deal. That is why I came here. Evgeny could not come since he is getting ready for a show in Eastern Europe. On March 27, he is performing in Kiev and then he is going to Prague. They are so exited there. All tickets to his performance were sold out within 24 hours.

YK - Does his leg bother him after the operation?

AZ – There were some complications. We thought a lot about a second operation in Germany, but in the end rejected that idea. We will come back to fighting form gradually. See what happened to Maxim Shabalin. In January, he had an operation on his meniscus and he immediately went to the European Championship. He won the gold but then the complications started. As a result he not only his participation in the World Championship, but there is a risk that he may drop out of sports altogether. His story taught us a good lesson.

YK – How will Evgeny get back his old form?

AZ – Currently he is completing his show tour – “The Golden Ice of Stradivarius” and beginning in July he will start serious practice. As soon as the program for the new season will be ready, we will show it to the public as to see how it will be accepted. Of course we will show it to the specialist, then we will do our homework to correct the mistakes and then we will start participating in the different stages of the Grand Prix.

ZOOM IN ON ZHULIN

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:44:00 +0000

Zhulin is becoming a movie star.

Figure skater Alexandr Zhulin will add acting to the list of his talents.

Translation of an article printed in the Russian Language publication “Tvoy Den” on March 10, 2008.

It was announced that a famous figure skater and now a coach has received a proposal to star in a movie.

Alexander agreed to the proposal despite the fact that he did not see the final version of the script yet.

“I am playing the role of a leading men – a playboy and I do not like that part,” said Zhulin.

The taping will start this summer.

TATIANA TARASOVA

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:30:00 +0000

Tatiana Tarasova is going to be inducted in the International Figure Skaters Hall of Fame.

Translation of an article printed in the Russian language publication Rian.ru on March 12, 2008.

Famous Russian figure skating coach will be inducted into the International Figure Skating Hall of Fame located in the American City of Colorado Springs.

The official ceremony dedicated to that event will take place in Goetheborg, Sweden, on March 20, where the World Figure Skating Championship will take place.

The list of her famous pupils includes Olympic Champions single skaters - Alexey Yagudin and Ilja Kulik, pairs – Irina Rodniba and Alexander Zaitsev and dancers – Marina Klimova and Sergey Ponomarenko.

During Turin Olympics in 2006, Tarasova assisted Japanese skater Shizuka Arakawa and American Skater Sasha Cohen who became Gold and Silver medalists correspondingly.

Biography of Tatiana Tarasova.

Tatiana Tarasova was born February 13, 1947 in Moscow in the family of a famous hockey coach, Anatoly Tarasov, and a school PE teacher Nina Tarasova.

Tarasova started skating when she was 5 years old. She was in a group together with Ludmila Pachomova who later became a famous figure skater. In pair with Gregory Proskurov, she won the World Students Games Competition. At 18 years old she got a trauma that precluded her from figure skating.

In 1964 she was admitted and in 1969 she graduated from the Central Institute of Physical Culture.

Beginning from 1967, Tatiana Tarasova is working as a coach. Since that time she cultivated 11 Olympic Champions; her pupils won in aggregate 38 gold, 15 silver and 5 bronze medals at the highest level competitions, including 7 Olympic Gold medals.

Irina Rodnina and Alexander Zaitsev; Irina Moiseeva and Andrey Minnenkov; Natalia Bestemianova and Andrey Bukin;Marina Klimova and Sergey Ponomarenko; Oxana Grischuk and Evgeny Platov; Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergey Grinkov; Ilja Kulik and Alexey Yagudin are among her famous students.

She set a record not only in the number of medals won by her pupils, but also she was able to create her own style in a very conservative sport like figure skating, where ice dances consist of only seven elements. Her style is followed by most of the ice dancers in the world.

In the middle of the 80s, Tatiana Tarasova together with Elena Tchaikovskya created an ice theater “All Stars”, the cast of which consisted on many famous figure skaters. The theater stayed open for 14 years. Tarasova was a coach, a choreographer and a director in this theater. They traveled the whole world with their performances.

Tarasova worked with skaters from all over the world. Among her pupils were Barbara Fusar-Poli and Mauricio Morgalio from Italy; Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz from Canada; Galit Khait and Sergey Sakhnovsky from Israel; Nakako Tsuzuki and Rinat Farhutdinov from Japan; Alissa DiCarbonel and Alexandr Malkov from Belarus.

In 2005, Tatiana Tarasova was appointed a coach-consultant for the Russian Figure Skating Federation.

She was awarded the titles of the Distinguished Coach of the Russian Federation in 1972 and of the USSR in 1975. She was awarded a variety of orders and medals of Russia.

Husband of Tatiana Tarasova is a famous pianist Vladimir Krajnev, professors at the Hanover Conservatory of Music.

KATARINA WITT

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:03:00 +0000

Saying goodbye to the “Face of the Socialism”

The last performance of figure skater Katarina Witt took place in Germany.

Translation of an article by Miron Goychman printed in Russian Language publication “Gazeta” on March 7, 2008.

On Tuesday, March 4th, the famous German figure skater came out on the ice for the last time. Her performance in Hanover was the last part of her farewell tour where the famous 42 year old figure skater was saying goodbye to her fans. It goes without saying that in Germany, which adores her, the tour created a lot of interest and in Hanover, more that 10 thousand fans came to her performance.

The tour started in her birthplace – the small city of Hemnitz, where 37 years ago, while it was still a part of Karl Marxshtadt, Katarina for the first time came out on the ice under the instructions of famous coach Ms. Uta Muller.

At 16, Witt became the German national champion, and 2 years later - the European and World Champion. Two times in 1984 and 1988 she became an Olympic Champion. In the DDR she was called the most beautiful face of Socialism. In difference from other East German sportspeople, she was able to become the symbol and beloved person of the new unified Germany. And not only of Germany, but of the whole world!

When she became a professional figure skater, she conquered America and became the first German athlete who received the prestigious Jim Thorpe Pro Sports Award. She made a quick transition from sports star to successful show business woman. Pictures of naked Katarina in Playboy magazine caused record sales of this magazine and books of her biography became bestsellers. Whatever endeavor she would start – from jewelry collections to movies and ice reviews, she would always create a lot of interest and commercial success. The list of shows in which she participated took a few pages in the last tour’s play bill.

The farewell show became a holiday for her fans, especially considering that her friends such as Brian Boitano, Ekaterina Gordeeva, Steven Cousins and many other famous skaters took part in her show. It is a pity that many other fans of Katarina could not see the show in other countries. It was especially of interest because it had some historic tapes of very young Katarina and her best performances in the Calgary, Sarajevo and Lillehammer Olympics. But that was on the screen. On ice, spectators could see again her unforgettable Carmen – the program that for many years had become the calling card of the skater. The dance that she performed in Lillehammer 14 years ago still brought joy to the spectators. (Ed. note: Katarina skated to Carmen in Calgary, in the Battle of the Carmens with Debi Thomas. In Lillehamer she performed her Long Program to Where Have All the Flowers Gone?)

There were of course farewell speeches, which Katarina never really learned to deliver. She said that she thought for a long time of what to say and prepared a speech, but she completely forgot all of the words and she just wanted to say – Thank You Very Much.

These were the last words of Katarina at the completion of the show.

MORE SURGERY FOR YAGUDIN

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:33:00 +0000

From http://www.sovsport.ru/news/default.asp?id=284811

March 8, 2008

Olympic Champion Alexey Yagudin undewent an operation for appendicitis in the Russian City of Krasnodar where he was performing as a member of the cast of the Ilja Averbuch’s show “Ice Age.”

The operation was successful and Alexey was in stable condition resting in his private room at the hospital. It is not known when he will be discharged from the hospital at this time.

YAGUDIN INTERVIEW PART #2

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:22:00 +0000

Part #1, here.

About Tarasova.

I started looking for another coach who could replace Mishin. I considered some coaches, but they were working with other
first class skaters and I was concerned that I may create a conflict. Finally I heard that Ilya Kulik was leaving Tatiana Tarasova. Known as a “polisher of talents,” Tatiana Tarsova had a reputation as the “number one” coach in the world. In the 60s she was skating in pairs herself and was competing against Mishin, who was the partner of Tamara Moskvina. When I called Tarasova she asked me to send her a list of my performances in the last year and briefly describe how I was preparing for them. A few days later she told me that she would agree to coach me.

My financial arrangements with her were the same as I had with Mishin. I would get a free apartment, meals, skating sessions, costumes and ice time until I start making money. It was also expected that by the end of a season I will pay the coach one third of my earnings. I always considered myself a jumper and up until I started working with Tarasova, I did not understand that figure skating was something bigger that just moving from one element to another. My performance was supposed to become an artistic production, where everything was important – the posture, the skating and the feel of music. Sometimes I thought that she was overdoing on the artistic values, but I followed all of her instructions without a word.

But the jumps were my domain – even if she wanted to change them, I would not give in. The strength of Tarasova was in her great creative abilities. My strength was in my jumps. And even if I would change the approach to the jumps, I would perform the jumps as I was taught by my two previous coaches.

The night before leaving Italy, Mauricio and his friends asked me out. For the first time in a month I did not have to skate the next morning and decided to have a good time. We had a great time and I came back to the hotel after midnight. The plane to St. Petersburg was leaving early in the morning and I had no more then 2 hours for sleep. I missed the wake up call. An hour later, Tarasova banged on my door until I woke up. She pushed me in the shower and started packing my suitcase. She made me take a cup of tea and called a taxi. When we left the hotel she told me that from now on I was supposed to be in the place where I needed to be at all times. And she was not joking.

Accusations of homosexuality.

Once I was sharing a room in a hotel with Oleg Ovsannikov. He was older and used to smoke a lot, while I did not tolerate the smoke. At that time I was friends with Tara Lipinski, while she was a friend of Rudy Galindo. Rudy was staying alone in a double room and suggested that I move in with him. I gladly accepted his invitation. Rudy, a US Champion, was one of the kindest men that I knew. He was a great guy and I was very surprised when a few weeks later the gossip about our relationship started circulating. I knew that he was gay; he never concealed his sexual orientation. We set the boundaries of our relations from the very beginning and never had problems. When I told Tarasova that I was staying in the room with Rudy she was terrified and asked me if I knew what I was doing. She liked Rudy but she had a better understanding about the environment in which we lived and she realized how this situation could be turned against me. I told her that I would move out immediately. But I realized that she was right when people started talking behind my back. This situation bothered me a lot. Rudy did not get upset when I told him that I was moving out. Up until the end of the tour I shared a room with Anton Sikharulidze. Unfortunately my move did not help me. For a few more years I was considered gay. There were even some correspondents who were investigating my relationships with other skaters. I was very upset and wanted to quit sports.

About Olympics.

Tarasova found me after I left the hotel and told me that if I was tired and wanted to quit sports it was fine, but she suggested trying for one last time to go to the Olympics. If it would work out, we would end up with at least a silver medal. Being a genius coach she realized that she did not have to push me, but she had to give me time to work out my problems. She even suggested I see a shrink. I agreed. Rudolf Zagainov was a well known sports psychologist. He was working for many years with the skaters of Stanislav Zhuk, and with chess masters, who were becoming world champions. My communications with him turned out to be very pleasant and somehow I told him about all of my problems. I told him that I lost myself. We talked about everything. He gave me written recommendations of how to behave in different situations and I always had them with me. A few days before the Olympics, Dr. Zagainov gave me a piece of paper where there was only one sentence: “Who if not you, and when if not now?” Up till now I had some of his notes and when I feel bad, I'd read them. I restarted my practice. My jumps became more stable. I worked with Zagainov and every day I felt better and better. In Salt Lake City, I demanded that Zagainov would be with me at all the practice sessions, because I could not be with Tarasova before the competitions – she was very nervous.

The time came when I was called on the ice. At that moment something happened inside me. I was floating in the air above reality. I was surprisingly calm and balanced. In this condition I stared my program, “Winter." The stands fell silent while I was preparing my first cascade with a quad jump. I looked back at my left as to check the distance to the edge and came up against the sharp glance of Mishin, my former coach. He was standing at the edge where he knew that I would definitely see him, and was looking at me with his piercing eyes. I knew very well this was a tactical move to get me off balance. I told myself that he would not succeed this time and made my jump. At the completion of the program, I jumped in exactly the same corner where he stood and gave him a wide smile.

After my program, I changed and continued to watch the competitions on TV. Todd and Elvis did not skate well, but the others mostly skated OK. Finally Evgeny came out on the ice and I held my breath. When he fell down, I jumped and cried out – yes, yes! I knew that this behavior did not become me, but there was too much riding on his performance and I could not and did not want to hide my happiness at getting so close to Olympic gold. At that moment I knew that I would be a Champion.

When everything was over, I dropped on my knees and kissed the ice. Than I got up and bowed to the spectators. A minute later the fact that I became the Olympic champion finally reached my conscience, and I started jumping up and down. I turned around and saw that Tarasova was crying and I rushed to her. I dropped to my knees in front of her in a sign of my gratitude, my respect and my love for her. She helped me to reach my treasured goal, and the gold medal belonged to her as much as it belonged to me.

About trauma and return to sports.

Haven’t you heard this? I am coming back into the big sport! I want to participate in the Vancouver Olympics and win a gold medal! I was surprised when that news reached me. I did not make any such statements. Yes, now it seems realistic, but what will happen next?

Today I am an owner of a transportation company in St. Petersburg. I perform in the “Ice period” show. I am being pulled back to sports because I did not compete enough in my time. I would like to have again the sharp feelings that I had before. There are not enough competitions or adrenalin rushes, and without that I am bored. Maybe it is all because I left sport too early at the age of 23 and not of my free will, but because of a trauma.

Beginning in 2000, I lived initially with periodic and later with constant pain in the right hip. No one knows what torments I lived through. Any physical activity caused pain. I took handfulls of pain killers; otherwise I could not finish my performances. In public I tried to walk straight and not to show my pain, but as soon as I would get behind the curtains, I would limp badly.

When my doctor and I were getting ready for the operation, we discussed at length what prosthesis to use. There were a lot of different options – ceramic, plastic or metal. Since I decided to stay in sports, the titanium prosthesis was the best. It is the strongest alloy that the bone would grow in easily. A titanium joint head on a rod is inserted in the bone and attached with titanium screws. The rest of the joint is also made of titanium.

The operation took 4 hours. I came to at 12.30 and by 7 pm I was in the regular hospital room. I had catheters and dripping intravenous lines attached to me and I was given a lot of painkillers.

Now I have a special certificate to go through metal detectors at the airports since I trigger them with my metallic hip. When I am asked how I will skate after the operation, I say – “Now I am a Terminator. I will be back!”

YAGUDIN INTERVIEW PART #1

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:35:00 +0000

Olympic champion Alexey Yagudin: -“Now I am the Terminator”
Memoirs of a sports star.

Translation of an article printed in Russian language publication Sovsport.ru on February 28, 2008.

The life of Olympic and four time world champion Alexey Yagugin is full of interesting and sometimes curious events. For example, the winner of the European and World Championships was never a National Champion of Russia. In his autobiography titled “Stopping at Nothing," one of the most talented figure skaters of our time frankly told everything (or almost everything) that happened with him since he started practicing as a figure skater.

How it all started.

I do not remember the very first years of my life when I was not able to stand on skates. Turns, jumps, slides on ice were for me as natural as breathing. Even now I often come to the bridge of Lieutenant Shmidt. My feet bring me here by themselves. Maybe with age I became sentimental. To the left of the bridge, near the water, there was a small church.
In its place a skating rink was built for the great Belousova and Protopopov. Now the church is restored in that place.
The parents were not allowed at the rink. They could watch their children trough a wide gates of the former church. Up until 12 years of age, I was coached by Alexander Mayorov. Earlier he was a single skater. I do not remember when I performed my first jump, but I recall that by 10 years of age I could jump all double jumps, by 12 - I was jumping triples, and by 13 years of age I landed my first triple Axel.

I was a naughty boy and was punished a lot. My parents divorced. On leaving, my father left a collection of stamps. I tried to continue collecting stamps, but I did not become a philatelist. Although I developed a habit of collecting stuff. Seeing that I am performing better than other pupils in my group, my coach started paying more attention to me. In the past, Mayorov was a student of Alexey Mishin, and when he was offered a job in Sweden, he asked Mishin to take me in his junior group.

About Mishin.

At first I did not connect too much with Mishin. He was mostly working with advanced skaters, in particular with Alexey Urmanov, who was supposed to compete in the GoodWill Games in St. Petersburg in September. At the end of August, they left and a few days later I had a phone call from the Federation of Figure Skaters stating that Mishin wanted me in St. Petersburg immediately. I was supposed to replace Alexander Abt. I was really surprised. My sports shape at that time would not allow me to compete for anything even at the children’s level. Mishin knew that, but nevertheless he wanted me there.

I came out on the ice as a nod of nerves and performed the worst program in my life. I was so ashamed that I wanted to disappear into thin air. I was depressed and very angry with Mishin. I considered him to be a cause of my disgrace. I felt like a laughing stock and I knew then that I will never forgive Mishin for that.

After participating in “Skate America,” I won a bronze medal at the Cup of Nations in Germany and silver at the Cup of Russia. The gold medals in all of these places went to Urmanov. Usually the coaches themselves select the competitions for their students. I was trying to understand for a long time why Mishin always sent me to the same competitions as he sent Urmanov. Why would he not give me a chance to come out of the shadow of my older comrade? Finally I understood that Mishin wanted me to lose to Alexey all the time.

The season of 97/98 Urmanov missed because of a trauma and now Mishin put all of his attention on me. Unfortunately it did not last long. He started working with Evgeny Pluschenko, who shortly became his favorite. Mishin liked the character of Pluschenko. Evgeny, in difference to me, never contradicted his coach. As Urmanov, Pluschenko always trusted his coach, never argued with him and never asked additional questions. If Mishin would ask him to jump, he would just ask “how high?”

In the 97/98 season I won the Cup of Finland. Pluschenko was second. That was how our uncompromised competition started and culminated in the 2002 Olympic games. At the World Championship in Milan, I lived in the same hotel room as Pluschenco. In difference to Urmanov, he never talked to me.

The whole podium in Milan was taken by the Russians. I got my first World Gold, Evgeny got silver and Alex Abt got bronze. After that competition I was told that when Mishin was congratulated that his two students got the gold and silver, he was upset that it was me and not Pluschenco who got the gold. I felt that it was time to look for another coach. Our relations did not work out and to continue with him did not make any sense to me. Mishin himself brought up the subject and we decided that I would look for another coach. I thanked him for what he had done for me, promised to pay him his share of winnings for the season, we shook hands and parted our ways. I was upset how cold he was with me, but I felt that it was for the best.

To Be Continued...

QUAD-RA-JUMPIA

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:56:00 +0000

Evgeny Pluschenko: I am going to jump quad!

Translation of an interview by Nikolay Dolgopolov (ND) a correspondent of Russian language publication “Rossijskaya Gazeta” printed on February 22, 2008

Evgeny Pluschenko (EP) Olympic Champion and three time winner of A World Championship is seriously getting ready to come back. Evgeny looks great, he is in a very good mood and has a lot of plans.

ND – Evgeny, you lost a lot of weight. Please share with us your secret.

EP – There is only one way – to run a lot. I am running almost every day for about 40 minutes.

ND – Are you practicing?

EP – Regularly. I participated in the shows in different cities in Switzerland. In St. Moritz, I jumped three turns and tried a quad Salhow. Slowly, without forcing myself, I am getting into my form.

ND – Were you traveling with your own show?

EP – Not yet, but it is possible that I will have my own show as well.

ND – How is your leg?

EP – I still have some problems. It never happens that there are not problems, they always are.

ND – This sport season you missed. What will be happening in the next season?

EP - I will start from the very beginning. In September, I will start with some small competitions. I don’t know yet which particular ones. Thrn I will take part in the Grand Prix, than Nationals, European and World Championships. You are looking at me funny. I am not kidding! It is the truth.

ND – Are you still with Mishin?

EP – With whom else? He says that in the summer we will go to practice abroad, in Tallinn.

ND – In the past Mishin would always go to summer training camps in Switzerland.

EP – Not always, sometimes we go to Estonia. The main thing now is to find good music.

ND – Are you looking already?

EP – Yes, but we are not finding anything yet. Everything begins with the music.

ND – I thought that the music was mostly important for the pairs and dancers.

EP – Music is extremely important. If you find the right music, everything will be fine. I was promised some help. Actually I need a lot of help – with costumes, medicines, rehabilitation. I have my hopes on our Federation.

ND – I assume that you are watching current skaters. How do you evaluate this season?

EP – Our couple won the European Championship. I watched the men’s single skating and I would say that Voronov is a great skater. I congratulate him and his coach Alexey Urmanov, who himself was a pupil of Alexey Mishin. If it would go on like now, Voronov will definitely win prizes. It is not as good in woman’s skating. I do not see anyone now. It is not a catastrophe, but we have to catch up a lot. I will come back and if I will be strong enough and will win the Worlds and possibly the 2010 Olympics, than the “Laureas” Academy would recognize me as the best sportsmen of the year, as they did with Federer.

READER QUESTION

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 15:36:00 +0000

A reader wrote with a question about Ludmila Smirnova, the woman whom Ulanov left Irina Rodnina for:

Hi,

My friend has a professor in grad school in education with that name who is in her late fifties and is Russian. Could this woman be the figure skater?

Ludmila Smirnova the skater was born July 21, 1949, which would put her at almost 59 years old now.

However, there is a Dr. Ludmila Smirnova who teaches in the Education Department at Mount Saint Mary College, who I believe is not the same person.

This Dr. Smirnova writes:

I am an educator with more than 30 years of experience with a global perspective on learning and teaching. I was a Professor, Dean of School of Foreign Languages at Volgograd State Pedagogical University (Russia) for more than 20 years... In Russia, I started as a school teacher and administrator (Vice-principal, responsible for Extra-curricular programs), then I was a University professor, a Ph.D student, Dean of school of Foreign languages, Supervisor of Master's and Ph.D programs.

Ludmila Smirnova the skater was still competing in 1974 (she and Ulanov finished 2nd at Worlds and 3rd at Europeans that year, behind, naturally, Irina Rodnina and her new husband/partner), so it's unlikely she was also getting a PhD at the same time.

Furthermore, in 2007, Ludmila Smirnova was listed as the former coach of the Russian pair Shestakova and Lebedev.

Interestingly enough, a Ludmila Smirnova is listed as co-author of an article entitled Pressure Measurements on Amputee's Residuum in Classification for Standing Ice Hockey in the publication The Bulletin of the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education.

Could this be the champion skater -- or a third Ludmila Smirnova all together?

For more on Rodnina/Ulanov/Smirnova, click here!

Thanks for writing!