Interesting interview with Adelina Sotnikova

[ancientpeas]

i'm just used to the russian coaches accusations. i've never seen on this forum that someone other than russian coach was actually accused in this kind of things.
anyway, i don't see nothing wrong in a sports diet. all high level athletes are doing this.

Then you never saw all the stuff about the Chinese coach who limits the drinking of water. Which is so ridiculous it makes me want her run out the business for not knowing anything about nutrition or the importance of being well hydrated.

Assuming that everyone is anti-russian or anti eteri gets old after a while. Maybe try assuming instead that people are merely concerned for the health of all the skaters no matter what country they are from unless they say ""Russian ladies" or "Eteri". The overwhelming majority of people here just want the skaters to be healthy and happy no matter where they are from.

 

[Farnaz]

Then you never saw all the stuff about the Chinese coach who limits the drinking of water. Which is so ridiculous it makes me want her run out the business for not knowing anything about nutrition or the importance of being well hydrated.

Assuming that everyone is anti-russian or anti eteri gets old after a while. Maybe try assuming instead that people are merely concerned for the health of all the skaters no matter what country they are from unless they say ""Russian ladies" or "Eteri". The overwhelming majority of people here just want the skaters to be healthy and happy no matter where they are from.

 

[Lester]

Please ladies, different anatomy of a woman body does not justify prescribing pills and smoothies as a diet. The whole point is that putting young girls into these unnatural starvation procedures and making them believe that it's the right path for them is ethically wrong and inhumane.

It's unnatural and unhealthy but you're essentially saying in your post that since it was easy for you to control your weight during your sporting career, no, that this even required no significant effort from you, it should be so for everyone. Forget that people are different, different sports have different demands on the body.

Unfortunately there will always be girls who starve themselves but I hope in the future we will see more coaches influence their charges to eat healthily and achieve jump technique that doesn't rely on a weightless prepubescent body.

 

[Farnaz]

i'm just used to the russian coaches accusations. i've never seen on this forum that someone other than russian coach was actually accused in this kind of things.
anyway, i don't see nothing wrong in a sports diet. all high level athletes are doing this.

Well, I heard about Russian, US, Chinese, ... coaches. I've seen it with my own eye in my own country though in gymnastics not figure skating. I will certainly never accuse any specific person or country

 

[BlueCat28]

The point is where they get strenght to jump? Imagine starving whole day and train a couple hour a day doing 3lz3l . lol for me it stinks

 

[Farnaz]

It's unnatural and unhealthy but you're essentially saying in your post that since it was easy for you to control your weight during your sporting career, no, that this even required no significant effort from you, it should be so for everyone. Forget that people are different, different sports have different demands on the body.

Unfortunately there will always be girls who starve themselves but I hope in the future we will see more coaches influence their charges to eat healthily and achieve jump technique that doesn't rely on a weightless prepubescent body.

Well, regardless of how we are saying it, we hope for the same thing so thank you kindly

 

[TryMeLater]

i'm just used to the russian coaches accusations. i've never seen on this forum that someone other than russian coach was actually accused in this kind of things.
anyway, i don't see nothing wrong in a sports diet. all high level athletes are doing this.

Well, In her TSL interview Linda Fratianne talks about how Frank Caroll used to have a scale in the back of his car.
Before each practice he would ask her to weigh in, and if her weight was over 100 pounds he would send her home.
She said it (sending home) only happened once, when she weighted 101 pounds.
It starts here at about 1:18.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GZcRaHU4Ls
Now, of course it isn't harsh and he didn't tell her what to eat, but I can imagine it having some influence on an athlete.
Having said that, of course weight is an important issue for each athlete - what to eat, how to eat in order not to starve, but still maintaining a low weight.
It's a matter of how it is done - no more, no less.

 

[tjb]

Then you never saw all the stuff about the Chinese coach who limits the drinking of water. Which is so ridiculous it makes me want her run out the business for not knowing anything about nutrition or the importance of being well hydrated.

Assuming that everyone is anti-russian or anti eteri gets old after a while. Maybe try assuming instead that people are merely concerned for the health of all the skaters no matter what country they are from unless they say ""Russian ladies" or "Eteri". The overwhelming majority of people here just want the skaters to be healthy and happy no matter where they are from.

yes, i actually never saw that. i just read recently a coupe of pages in the american ladies thread, about awful russian system and it touched me a bit. but thanks to the overwhelming majority for their kindness. i believe most of the people a pro-russian there and they are really caring only about health and happiness

 

[Farnaz]

yes, i actually never saw that. i just read recently a coupe of pages in the american ladies thread, about awful russian system and it touched me a bit. but thanks to the overwhelming majority for their kindness. i believe most of the people a pro-russian there and they are really caring only about health and happiness

Well, my best friend is Russian and it makes me having a soft spot for Russians :luv17: Sorry, for the off-topic :scard7:

 

[brightphoton]

Well, In her TSL interview Linda Fratianne talks about how Frank Caroll used to have a scale in the back of his car.
Before each practice he would ask her to weigh in, and if her weight was over 100 pounds he would send her home.
She said it (sending home) only happened once, when she weighted 101 pounds.
It starts here at about 1:18.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GZcRaHU4Ls
Now, of course it isn't harsh and he didn't tell her what to eat, but I can imagine it having some influence on an athlete.
Having said that, of course weight is an important issue for each athlete - what to eat, how to eat in order not to starve, but still maintaining a low weight.
It's a matter of how it is done - no more, no less.

In the mid 90s, Frank coached teen Michelle Kwan, and he'd release her and her sister's height and weight to the media.

If you read articles from that era, they say things like "4 foot 7 seven inch Michelle Kwan weighs 89 lbs, but she has all her triples" or "Michelle Kwan is 5 foot 1 inches tall and 92 lbs and is training a triple-toe triple-toe."

 

[VenusHalley]

I think you are misreading the comments.
The Russians are more open about it - it's not that it doesn't happen in other countries, it's just that you don't hear talk about it in other countries.
And you are right, we don't know if it happens it Russia, but here you have a top Russian skater admitting to hearing "rumors".

And then Eteri makes disturbing comments like "my girls are not robots, none of them weights more than 45 kilos". Maybe others are as dangerous in starving their skaters, but they don't openly speak about it.

I don't know why so much controversy on the diets.
Figure skating is a sport in which every 100 g matter, so obviously athletes and especially girls, cause they are more prone to gain weight during puberty, have to watch their diet. It depends much on the genetics of each skater, but they should be careful what they eat. I mean even normal people - those that aren't professional athletes - keep diets. It's just normal to be careful with what you eat,drink and at what hours you eat.
I am against unhealthy nutritional regimes, but there are many diets which are healthy.

being careful with what you eat also means eating enough, eating balanced diet of real food.

 

[tjb]

And then Eteri makes disturbing comments like "my girls are not robots, none of them weights more than 45 kilos". Maybe others are as dangerous in starving their skaters, but they don't openly speak about it.

it's just a joke. polina and daria clearly weigh more than 45.
there is also a youtube channel with old zagitova periscope videos
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDsMG2V6EJBX81wUn5S5Emw/videos
while watching this i was mostly surprised with what the girls eat. because alina and other girls are eating all sorts of junk food and sweets on camera. there is also a video of alina in a hotel, where grandmother invites her to have a dinner and literally forces her to eat a chicken because she "doesn't want to throw food away", while alina is saying that she doesn't want to eat.
it doesn't look like starvation

 

[tothepointe]

There is also a nutritional theory called calorie restriction, optimized nutrition where calories are reduced but almost everything you eat has is nutritionally dense. Diet is so much more than just energy intake. Vitamins, minerals and other functional molecules are just as important. I would suspect many atheletes diets focus on the energy and protein intake but then take supplements for the other things whereas it should come from the food.

Though I should point out I doubt many figure skaters are eating optimally. It's possible to technically be slight underweight but also be very healthy but I doubt any one is really finetuning that much. It's also psychologically very hard to eat things that only benefit you physiologically.

Having gone through graduate training in nutrition there is too much disagreement about what is "correct" and new studies come out everyday that contradict each other. I decided to take a break once I realised my patients were never going to listen to what I had to say if it disagreed with the internet. (not that has anything to do with this discussion)

 

[oatmella]

In the RT documentary Evgenia did say matter of factly that she and Alina are slim because they watch their diets. And that an extra 250-300 grams of weight can affect their jumps.
I read in a NY Times article about Nathan winning junior Nationals at 14 that he had cut out stuff like potato chips and soda from his diet (although now he’s sponsored by Coca-Cola lol). I would think this was for health/performance, not necessarily weight (he was tiny) or an attempt to suppress puberty.
Russians do seem more matter of fact about discussing weight and the realities of it - like Raf is thinking how he can make an elephant fly but in the US he would have to say something less blunt like, “You look sluggish.”

 

[evasorange]

You guys giving examples of Eteri and Frank Carrol’s past behaviors regarding weight and food intake-do you really think it’s a coincidence that two of their more recent successful students(Gracie and Yulia) both came out saying they had to leave the sport to get treatment for eating disorders?? Put two and two together-normalizing that kind of behavior is very harmful to young athletes who’s bodies are still growing and changing all the time

 

[TryMeLater]

You guys giving examples of Eteri and Frank Carrol’s past behaviors regarding weight and food intake-do you really think it’s a coincidence that two of their more recent successful students(Gracie and Yulia) both came out saying they had to leave the sport to get treatment for eating disorders?? Put two and two together-normalizing that kind of behavior is very harmful to young athletes who’s bodies are still growing and changing all the time

First of all, we don't know what is really happening out there.
We do know, that the Russians are more open about it than the Americans.
I can't forget how Tarasova implied that Elena Ilinykh was fat during the season she skated her bollywood routine (and that's ice dance - no jumps).

 

[oatmella]

I think it is sad that Yulia and Gracie struggled and suffered from eating disorders. But part of me can’t help but think that it would be very difficult for them to have had success in figure skating without controlling their weight as their natural body types are not ideal for the sport. Unfortunately not everyone is built like Evgenia (body composition, frame etc) and those who have the desire to succeed but not blessed with a naturally good physique for skating do have to fight against it in a sense or else things like jumps are more difficult. At least for Gracie, when she put on weight her skating did get worse and she acknowledged that.

 

[evasorange]

First of all, we don't know what is really happening out there.
We do know, that the Russians are more open about it than the Americans.
I can't forget how Tarasova implied that Elena Ilinykh was fat during the season she skated her bollywood routine (and that's ice dance - no jumps).

We don't-but we are given clues by interviews and anecdotes and a lot of it is worrying. All athlete's control their weight and figure in someway-there is no problem with that. However when you are the adult dealing with young people who (most of the time) are very driven to succeed and are put into a position of power over them, then it's unacceptable to encourage behaviors like surviving on protein shakes and not being able to train if you gain a pound.(ever heard of water weight) For most young people, healthy nutritious diet and steady consistent cardio and weight based workouts would be more then enough to be kept in fighting shape. An adult skater has to work a lot harder then a younger one to stay in shape but an adult who has already learned the proper way to train and take care of their body will stand a much better chance then one who learned as young teen that the way to be an elite athlete is to restrict and deny and obsess over half pound gains. Also I'm not sure of the specific anecdote your talking about but I have never in all of my time watching seen any figure skater in any discipline look even chubby, let alone fat! Breaks my heart that such attitudes are so widely accepted

 

[chuckm]

First of all, we don't know what is really happening out there.
We do know, that the Russians are more open about it than the Americans.
I can't forget how Tarasova implied that Elena Ilinykh was fat during the season she skated her bollywood routine (and that's ice dance - no jumps).

Elena was noticeably more voluptuous that season.

 

[Barb]

Wow, the topic of weight, ED, food is ALWAYS so popular in forums.