Eteri Tutberidze interview 05.05.2017 | Page 19 | Golden Skate

Eteri Tutberidze interview 05.05.2017

Elaine1980

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Feb 25, 2014
School 37 to a level competitive with that of CSKA.
Also due to her efforts to introduce some additional professional coaches , at all age levels .
 

Ares

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I don't think we can assume anything is genetic without at least seeing what the parents look like. (I'm not familiar with either Maria or Evgenia's family.) But even if it's genetic, there's no doubt these ladies are on strict diets and have to maintain incredible discipline in order to control their weight. That's just part of being an elite figure skater, and we just have to hope that the strict diets are still healthy and not overly restricting. Because of course many ladies are not genetically-inclined to be thin, and they may have to be on less healthy, more dangerous diets in order to have the right body type. But it's likely that those ladies aren't the ones having a ton of success at the top of the sport.

(And someone can have an eating disorder no matter what size they are.)

But wasn't there talk that Evgenia is actually not on any special diet?
 

moriel

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Mar 18, 2015
Well, this bio (http://www.uznayvse.ru/znamenitosti/biografiya-evgeniya-medvedeva.html)
says that its Evgenia's mom on this pic: http://www.uznayvse.ru/images/content/2017/4/uzn_14927738362.jpg

If thats correct, we can see that her mother:
- isnt very tall and has an overall delicate build (see that her shoulders arent much wider than Zhenia's for example)
- is very thin herself
- doesnt have huge breasts

It looks quite possible that Evgenia has a similar build, which means her body will not change much from what it is now.
 

andromache

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Mar 23, 2014
But wasn't there talk that Evgenia is actually not on any special diet?

Maybe not a "special" diet, but there's no way Evgenia or any other elite skater gets to eat whatever they want whenever they want. That's just not realistic. Her diet might be "normal" in that she gets three regular meals of solid food a day, but the type of food she eats is probably carefully calculated to give her the right amount of nutrition without going overboard in calories.
 

Ares

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As for the body type selection... I wonder if people here ever watched the selection to Vagankova. Their requirements, openly stated, such as "good looking because a ballerina has to be beautiful", good body proportions, etc, would make half of this forum freak out a big time.
But then, it worked well for last 250 or so years for them. If there is a lot of people willing to join, sure a coach / school can select also by whatever criteria they think is appropriate to make sure they form top students only.


I remember watching some documentaries about promising Russian ballerinas and one of them was turned away from some lucrative school just because her legs were 1cm too short regarding her torso:eeking:
 

moriel

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I remember watching some documentaries about promising Russian ballerinas and one of them was turned away from some lucrative school just because her legs were 1cm too short regarding her torso:eeking:

Yeah stuff like that. Or because the girl is "too athletic".
Its pretty brutal, but actually makes sense. Also, i suspect that ones that grow somehow unfit to the school standards are dropped on spot too (too tall, too fat, whatever).
 

mrrice

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I remember watching some documentaries about promising Russian ballerinas and one of them was turned away from some lucrative school just because her legs were 1cm too short regarding her torso:eeking:

Completely true!! If you ever go to an audition for a show like "The Rockettes" you'd know that they have strict height and weight standards. They will drop a dancer for being half an inch too short. By drop, I mean that they will say "thank you for coming but we're looking for taller dancers" even before you set your bag down. I have never seen so many tears at an audition in my entire life and I was just a guest as I was singing in the show. They make it look beautiful but, these activities can also be heartbreaking. It's very bitter sweet....

Here's a quick look at the life of a Rockette......https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJKp7_eHxqI
 
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hippomoomin

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Oct 30, 2012
Isn't this the norm for all elite dance schools around the world? I believe it is not just height, but also torso to arms/legs ration.

I remember watching some documentaries about promising Russian ballerinas and one of them was turned away from some lucrative school just because her legs were 1cm too short regarding her torso:eeking:
 

andromache

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Mar 23, 2014
Is there/should there be a difference between career training standards (elite dance training) versus amateur sport training standards? One of the promises of sport is that if you work hard enough and train and blah blah etc. then you have the potential to succeed (whether or not that's true is another thing entirely, but yeah). And we have seen many, many different female body types succeed in skating - from someone like Carolina Kostner to Midori Ito.
 

moriel

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Is there/should there be a difference between career training standards (elite dance training) versus amateur sport training standards? One of the promises of sport is that if you work hard enough and train and blah blah etc. then you have the potential to succeed (whether or not that's true is another thing entirely, but yeah). And we have seen many, many different female body types succeed in skating - from someone like Carolina Kostner to Midori Ito.

Well, i think there should not be difference between training top dancers and training top figure skaters.
A coach is free to reject any students for any reason, same as students are free to try joining any group of their choice. If a coach thinks that a kid will not succeed or will not fit into the training environment, why would we blame the coach for rejecting this student? Somehow it makes all sense to me.
As for work hard enough and train and blablabla, i suppose we are all grownups here, and we all know how that is not true, as the sport at this level is highly competitive and it doesnt require hard work only (see many extremely hard working skaters who still will be 4th-6th unless their competition falters, no matter how hard they work).
 

hanca

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Well, i think there should not be difference between training top dancers and training top figure skaters.
A coach is free to reject any students for any reason, same as students are free to try joining any group of their choice. If a coach thinks that a kid will not succeed or will not fit into the training environment, why would we blame the coach for rejecting this student? Somehow it makes all sense to me.
As for work hard enough and train and blablabla, i suppose we are all grownups here, and we all know how that is not true, as the sport at this level is highly competitive and it doesnt require hard work only (see many extremely hard working skaters who still will be 4th-6th unless their competition falters, no matter how hard they work).

I think many extremely hard working skaters will end up even much lowe than 4th-6th. I wouldn't think that those who ended let's say 15th at worlds were less hardworking than those who medalled. Not necessarily.
 

andromache

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Well, i think there should not be difference between training top dancers and training top figure skaters.
A coach is free to reject any students for any reason, same as students are free to try joining any group of their choice. If a coach thinks that a kid will not succeed or will not fit into the training environment, why would we blame the coach for rejecting this student? Somehow it makes all sense to me.
As for work hard enough and train and blablabla, i suppose we are all grownups here, and we all know how that is not true, as the sport at this level is highly competitive and it doesnt require hard work only (see many extremely hard working skaters who still will be 4th-6th unless their competition falters, no matter how hard they work).

A coach is free to reject any students for any reason, and top coaches will be able to be way pickier about their students. However, having a long torso or short legs or whatever doesn't disqualify someone from being a top tier skater. Ideally, while someone without the perfect body type might not be able to get a top-top tier coach (at least in Russia - in the US, as long as you have money, you can train), you hopefully still have access to competent coaching, and thus, still have a chance at competitive success. Someone with a less-than-perfect "skating body" can still kick the butts of the ones with perfect bodies - that is what makes figure skating different than dance - the competition. Liza in 2014-2015 is the perfect example.

I think many extremely hard working skaters will end up even much lowe than 4th-6th. I wouldn't think that those who ended let's say 15th at worlds were less hardworking than those who medalled. Not necessarily.

FWIW, I'd basically consider skaters who qualify for the LP at Worlds (and heck, even some who, by bad luck, don't), skaters who get GP assignments, to all be at the top competitive level. Just because you aren't the best in the world doesn't mean you aren't at a certain level - it's sport, there can't be winners without losers.
 

Ares

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Maybe not a "special" diet, but there's no way Evgenia or any other elite skater gets to eat whatever they want whenever they want. That's just not realistic. Her diet might be "normal" in that she gets three regular meals of solid food a day, but the type of food she eats is probably carefully calculated to give her the right amount of nutrition without going overboard in calories.
I don't doubt that she does not overeat (ok unless she has bulimia, unlikely) and limits junk food and sugar, her calories intake is also smaller for sure but I think that her metabolism / genetics help her too. I just saw picture of Zhenya with her mum, her frame seems inherited even though she obviously has noticeably lower BMI than average teenager but that's also the case of almost every other elite lady figure skaters, I'd say she's healthy and those who claim she's malnutritioned or starving are bonkers. I share your view that she's changed considerably in the last two years, no child-like imo. Her ultra lanky legs though never stop to astound me.
 
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Barb

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Oct 13, 2009
Maybe not a "special" diet, but there's no way Evgenia or any other elite skater gets to eat whatever they want whenever they want. That's just not realistic. Her diet might be "normal" in that she gets three regular meals of solid food a day, but the type of food she eats is probably carefully calculated to give her the right amount of nutrition without going overboard in calories.

Agree, and Evgenia already said that she prefer vegetables to sweets and junk food.
 

silverfoxes

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Joined
Feb 16, 2014
Daria Panenkova has a more muscular body type than most of Eteri's girls, so it's not like they are all exactly the same. I don't think Polina looks like a waif, either. Anyway, I see plenty of other junior girls who have body types just like the girls in Eteri's team, and even some seniors. Are we still waiting for Yuko Kavaguti to go through puberty? ;)
 
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moriel

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Mar 18, 2015
A coach is free to reject any students for any reason, and top coaches will be able to be way pickier about their students. However, having a long torso or short legs or whatever doesn't disqualify someone from being a top tier skater. Ideally, while someone without the perfect body type might not be able to get a top-top tier coach (at least in Russia - in the US, as long as you have money, you can train), you hopefully still have access to competent coaching, and thus, still have a chance at competitive success. Someone with a less-than-perfect "skating body" can still kick the butts of the ones with perfect bodies - that is what makes figure skating different than dance - the competition. Liza in 2014-2015 is the perfect example.



FWIW, I'd basically consider skaters who qualify for the LP at Worlds (and heck, even some who, by bad luck, don't), skaters who get GP assignments, to all be at the top competitive level. Just because you aren't the best in the world doesn't mean you aren't at a certain level - it's sport, there can't be winners without losers.


I agree with that. Still i can see a coach just picking whatever he / she thinks will work better.
Hell, i can imagine a coach just girls and boys with model looks, because FS is part performance, and a skater with perfect looks will draw attention and blablabla
Their business. I´m sure the talented skaters who doesnt fit whatever the coach does can totally find a different place to train too.
 

OniBan

Final Flight
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May 8, 2014
I don't think that Eteri's lack of success with the boys has anything to do with her being a woman. A guy might feel reluctant to be bossed by a younger or his own age woman but we are talking about young boys coached by a woman at least 3 times older than them. AFAK 90% of school teachers in Russia are women, at home many live with one parent only - mother in most cases. So no, whatever the reasons it is little to do with her sex. Kolyada, Kovtun, Samarin are all coached by women after all.

It does matter though if one is a no nonsense kind of woman whose style is different from, say, a matronly and nurturing type of woman, and one has a male student that wants to be 'coddled' or emotionally propped. Again, I want to reiterate, no one style is better than the other, because I am of the idea that a woman can be both and it's fine. And reactions to both of those styles can be different. And I DID NOT say the problem is with her sex (who ever said it's a problem being a woman? that's just misogynistic) - when there is a possibility that a man reacts negatively to reinforcements or instructions from a woman, how can it be the woman's fault? :/
All I'm saying is there can be possible personality clashes between students and coaches, and while gender may come into play in forms of WHY these personalities may clash (sometimes men expect women to be agreeable (because research do find that women ARE generally more agreeable than men)... and find out they're not), it is by no mean, a 'problem'.

I did see a rusport article where Eteri basically said coaching boys are difficult because (in her words, roughly translated from google), boy want to be 'pitied' and 'they want to feel like they are loved'. Where as girls are 'more ready for work' (I take that as more agreeable to tasks set by the coach), and latter fits her coaching style more.

http://rsport.ru/figure_skating/20170428/1119723063.html
 
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Ender

Match Penalty
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May 17, 2017
Did the successful male skaters get the fatherly or motherly love from their coaches?
Yagudin left Mishin because he wanted more attention, or so I heard. But did Mishin act like a father/grandfather to his students?
 

anonymoose_au

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Did the successful male skaters get the fatherly or motherly love from their coaches?
Yagudin left Mishin because he wanted more attention, or so I heard. But did Mishin act like a father/grandfather to his students?

That's true, Yags was more than a little annoyed about the attention Mishin gave to Plushy, I think he once said that when he (Yags) won his first World Championships Mishin was more bummed out that Plushy had got third! When he moved Tarasova Yags felt a lot more loved that's for sure. :biggrin: (He's still her favourite I think!)

On the other hand Plushy calls Mishin his second father and Mishin sees him like a son, although I wouldn't say Mishin 'pitied' Plushy at any time. Interestingly enough until taking on Tuk Mishin had a similar attitude toward female students as Eteri has to male ones - i.e they needed too much coddling.

I guess this just proves...Russian coaches need to take each student's individuality into account more...or something :laugh:
 

moriel

Record Breaker
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Mar 18, 2015
That's true, Yags was more than a little annoyed about the attention Mishin gave to Plushy, I think he once said that when he (Yags) won his first World Championships Mishin was more bummed out that Plushy had got third! When he moved Tarasova Yags felt a lot more loved that's for sure. :biggrin: (He's still her favourite I think!)

On the other hand Plushy calls Mishin his second father and Mishin sees him like a son, although I wouldn't say Mishin 'pitied' Plushy at any time. Interestingly enough until taking on Tuk Mishin had a similar attitude toward female students as Eteri has to male ones - i.e they needed too much coddling.

I guess this just proves...Russian coaches need to take each student's individuality into account more...or something :laugh:

Or talk less =)
 
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