Zagitova announces a temporary suspension of her competitive career; will perform in shows, incl. 'Art on Ice 2020'

[TAHbKA]

I'm curious about something: are ice shows that lucrative in Russia? I know in the U.S. they've died a slow death and really are not the huge money machines they were in the 1990's. Because I don't know why Zagitova making the sensible decision to take a break brings about such a fierce feud with accusations of money grubbing.

So it seems. Averbukh's shows have been successfully running for more than 15 years now. He has them on the main TV channel. The Navka shows are a new thing and are a competition to Averbukh. There are also Pluschenko's shows, of course.
And during the holidays season they are a huge thing. Yagudin had just published a list of shows he is doing - seems for the next 2 weeks he is having 2 shows a day (he is with Averbukh's group).
Zagitova is paying both the federation and her coaches from the money she receives. So her going to the GPF and being 6th was hardly useful for her coaching team, her doing the shows and having endorsements - is.

 

[Perky Shae Lynn]

Averbukh gets a lot of criticism for both his choreography and his personality - but he's built a skating empire in Russia. I've been to a couple of shows, and they are amazing. I make a point of going every time I am in Russia for work.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Meow!! Ouch! Plushenko goes off on Tutberidze in his Instagram. A quick synopsis:

• Eteri you only want Alina 'cause you're making money off of the poor girl!
• Eteri you suck as a coach, it's Dudakov who teaches them jumps, you're a "manager" not a coach!
• Eteri if I WANTED to steal other people's skaters, I would have had a splendidly funded team, what with my reputation, stature and financial resources!
• Eteri I never wanted to steal Alina, I just gave her a few tips when she asked me - perhaps your TEAM doesn't give her enough attention or just wanted some warm and fuzzies - and I told her to learn the quads; it's odd that your TEAM doesn't keep up with the trends of your sport
• Eteri tons of kids from your school defect to me voluntarily - that's cause I train them myself and I'm not a "manager" like you. Stop by, maybe you can learn something from me.
• Eteri you should be ashamed to throw shade at the great TAT whose feet you aren't fit to kiss. Remind me again, which skater did you raise from infancy? Trusova? Valieva? Kostornaya? Be grateful when the great advise you, don't pout now.
• Eteri everyone knows you only accept kids who already mastered all the triples as you don't wanna bother training them yourself. You're the chief stealer of skaters in this sport!

- Eteri, all of this I only wanted to whisper in your ear, but since you upped and went public, here it is, read and weep!

Kisses,
Plushy

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Whoaaaa. I am away from fsu for a few days and this is whats going on...??..??

I need to reprioritize my life (even though Im leaving for Germany tomorrow morning. tee-hee)...so much juiciness here......

 

[Vagabond]

Germany can wait.

 

[Perky Shae Lynn]

Whoaaaa. I am away from fsu for a few days and this is whats going on...??..??

I need to reprioritize my life (even though Im leaving for Germany tomorrow morning. tee-hee)...so much juiciness here......

Got to make time for the drama.

 

[Frau Muller]

Zagitova already has more than fulfilled her obligations (test skate, Japan Open invitational, her 2 GPs & the Final). BTW, there is no WTT this season.

I meant for after her annnouncement. Whatever it’s called, there’s usually some sort of cheesy event in Japan.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Fortunately "adults" are at least smart enough not involve Alina in the "media squabbles", and she is enjoying herself with shows and spare time.

Her IG account went up by 25+ thousand subscribers, from 690K to 725K in 10 days.

on TV with Navka @ "Evening Urgant Show".

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on Dec. 19 she is a special guest/opening act at a major hockey game.

Alina Zagitova on Instagram: “До скорой встречи в Питере ⛸❄🏒 // See you soon in S.Petersburg 🏒🥅⛸ #хоккей #hockey #ice”

21.2k Likes, 307 Comments - Alina Zagitova (@azagitova) on Instagram: “До скорой встречи в Питере ⛸❄🏒 // See you soon in S.Petersburg 🏒🥅⛸ #хоккей #hockey #ice”

www.instagram.com

and Masaru.. (small dog is her mother's pet).

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[Yazmeen]

My personal take on Alina's decision, especially with the young and tiny Russian quad queens in the Tutberidze camp? A vibe from Eteri - if I may borrow from Ariana Grande: "Thank you, NEXT."

 

[Tinami Amori]

My personal take on Alina's decision, especially with the young and tiny Russian quad queens in the Tutberidze camp? A vibe from Eteri - if I may borrow from Ariana Grande: "Thank you, NEXT."

"Thank you, next" in case of Alina and team is very false. We know the stories from last season, before "supposed next", were Alina told in interview how she "ran out of the rink into the open field not wanting to skate, and Eteri ran after". And we know the situation where she last year was not sure if she wanted to skate before Worlds 2019, was convinced by the team and won. Alina had mood-swings last season and thanks to her team she continued, with great results do note.

It is absolutely Alina's decision and it is not something that happened overnight, or because of 3 new ladies.

Just out of curiosity, what situation would not make her "next", if we assume that she left because she does not want to face competition.

• there are 3 ladies who are placing ahead of her, legitimately on their own merit.
• she at present decided not to increase her technical content (of her own choice, she had options).
• should the coaching team hold the other 3 ladies back, for sake of Alina, or kick them out of the club?
• should the coaching team force Alina to skate, and/or to learn quads and 3A?

The negativity and doubts have nothing to do with Alina's choice. It's an unrelated resentment towards Alina for wining Olympics, Eteri's success, and all the negativity spread around the group.

Anything Alina would do, would be critiqued:

• if she stayed and competed - she'd be critiqued for "not winning" (last season her 2nd places were called "disasters", by "interested parties").
• she graciously taking a vacation, saying she will not claim her spot on the World Team this year because she is not competing at Nationals, and she is still critiqued.

It is not about what Eteri/Alina "do" or "don't do"..... It's about bunch of "Salieri's"..

 

[Perky Shae Lynn]

My personal take on Alina's decision, especially with the young and tiny Russian quad queens in the Tutberidze camp? A vibe from Eteri - if I may borrow from Ariana Grande: "Thank you, NEXT."

Minus the "thank you".

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

If Alina would like to skate for Ireland, I'd be happy to make the supreme sacrifice and offer my hand in marriage.

Although, she probably wouldn't be too thrilled with the name Ally O'Malley.

 

[Tinami Amori]

If Alina would like to skate for Ireland, I'd be happy to make the supreme sacrifice and offer my hand in marriage.

Although, she probably wouldn't be too thrilled with the name Ally O'Malley.

The other athlete, Ally O'Malley would not be thrilled either..

Ally O'Malley - Athletes | Nuun Our Community

 

[feraina]

Thanks to jack Gallagher’s article, here’s Eteri’s coaching philosophy according to her sister: “Everything is very simple, no need to go deep into psychology, blame it on puberty or problems with coach staff, there are no problems except laziness, reluctance and relaxation. To win, you must follow the regime and train!”

Yuzuru Hanyu's return, Daisuke Takahashi's farewell headline nationals

Yuzuru Hanyu returns to the Japan Championships this week for the first time in four years. After winning the title four straight times (2012-15), Hanyu has missed the last three installments due to illness and injury.

www.japantimes.co.jp

That sounds just about right for Eteri. When it comes to her inability to transition older skaters into their adult body, It’s not just about imperfect jumping techniques and imperfect skating skills, which you can work on and improve slowly over time, like many or maybe most of the successful older female skaters have done. But it is her one size fits all approach that doesn’t work for older skaters. Many older skaters and coaches have said the key is to recognize that your body is now different, and you can’t train or skate like you used to. You have to Change not only the skating itself but also the training regime. Fewer repetitions, smarter focus.

I think Zagitova does have to change coaches if she wants to return to competitive skating.

 

[chantilly]

Honestly I’m guessing Zagitova is just taking time to weigh her options and see whether she can change coaches as I think she must and if she can and/or is willing to start working on quads and at least triple axels.

The fact of the matter is is that Russia seems to have an infinite number of young women or girls who can deliver enough technical content to win for a couple of years and then wash, rinse and repeat.

And the US is starting to find ladies who can do it too.

I’m not up on all the Japanese girls up and coming but I’m guessing they are already working on quads.

I’m not enthralled with what’s going on with all the young quadsters because I think their programs aren’t there and I’m really missing the maturity and elegance of people like Kostner for example.

I love Kihira and the new Russian gal who does the triple axel, but ladies skating had turned into a bunch of girls skating that lack something other then then the technical.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Honestly I’m guessing Zagitova is just taking time to weigh her options and see whether she can change coaches as I think she must and if she can and/or is willing to start working on quads and at least triple axels.

The fact of the matter is is that Russia seems to have an infinite number of young women or girls who can deliver enough technical content to win for a couple of years and then wash, rinse and repeat.

And the US is starting to find ladies who can do it too.

Absolutely right! and to add, what's happening in terms all the invented problems and undeserved negativity against Eteri and Alina is the "King of the Hill" effect" - when someone makes it to the top, many people for many reasons try to pull that person down. It's part of many cultures and inside the sentiments of many people. There is such thing in english "cut the head of the tallest poppy" and in scandinavian cultures "Law of Jante" - don't stand out and don't be better than the others.

• if Alina stayed and competed, every time she did not win, even if skated well and won medals, many would scream "she failed", like they did last season, ignored all the Gold medals, and concentrated on when "she came in 2nd". And Eteri would be blamed for "making her skate for her own benefit".
• now she announced her break, everyone is blaming Eteri for not handling her properly, neglecting the facts that Eteri made a lot of efforts last and this season to give all she could to Alina and lead her to Gold in WC 2019, GPF 2019, and a very lucrative contracts.
• if Alina by chance would beat one of the 3 girls, Sasha, Anna, Aleona, people would say "Eteri is holding one of them back for sake of Alina".

.. no matter what Alina and Eteri would do, some people would invent problems to attribute to any of their actions or decisions.

There are jr. and sr. skaters this season, in USA/Canada/Japan/Europe breaking their bones, pulling their backs, all sorts of injuries, but many watch "only Eteri's club", where situation with injuries is not the critical compared to others.

There are at least 2 famous skaters in North America, Daleman and Gold, with serious issues, weight and depression, which occurred under the watchful eyes of North American coaches, right in front of their noses, and were either neglected, unnoticed and certainly not helped. Both Ladies were also experiencing doubts about their careers, future, abilities, personal matters, etc., which lead them to such severe conditions..... But it is Eteri who is blamed for not "transitioning Alina properly", while Alina is clearly stating she wants a break, and for a while now.

And last but not least, people are refusing to acknowledge what all the systematic and organized negativity and actions, in Russia and in the same amounts outside, against Alina and her coaching team for the last two seasons, has done to Alina's stated of mind. There are a lot of people to blame for it, by names, and none of the names are in Alina's coaching team.

And last.... nothing happened... Alina is taking a break after wining all there is to win, with sponsors' contracts, old and new, planned shows, and her monetized IG account jumping from 690,000 to 727,000... 37K in 12 days.

May all the skaters be so "neglected" and "unlucky"..

 

[Sylvia]

Photo gallery:

From Don Quixote's Kitri to Cleopatra: Figure Skating Prodigy Alina Zagitova's Many Roles

Acclaimed Russian figure skater Alina Zagitova announced a break in her career - which means she will skip the upcoming Russian championship, as well as the European and World Championships.

sputniknews.com

 

[Skibean]

Absolutely right! and to add, what's happening in terms all the invented problems and undeserved negativity against Eteri and Alina is the "King of the Hill" effect" - when someone makes it to the top, many people for many reasons try to pull that person down. It's part of many cultures and inside the sentiments of many people. There is such thing in english "cut the head of the tallest poppy" and in scandinavian cultures "Law of Jante" - don't stand out and don't be better than the others.

• if Alina stayed and competed, every time she did not win, even if skated well and won medals, many would scream "she failed", like they did last season, ignored all the Gold medals, and concentrated on when "she came in 2nd". And Eteri would be blamed for "making her skate for her own benefit".
• now she announced her break, everyone is blaming Eteri for not handling her properly, neglecting the facts that Eteri made a lot of efforts last and this season to give all she could to Alina and lead her to Gold in WC 2019, GPF 2019, and a very lucrative contracts.
• if Alina by chance would beat one of the 3 girls, Sasha, Anna, Aleona, people would say "Eteri is holding one of them back for sake of Alina".

.. no matter what Alina and Eteri would do, some people would invent problems to attribute to any of their actions or decisions.

There are jr. and sr. skaters this season, in USA/Canada/Japan/Europe breaking their bones, pulling their backs, all sorts of injuries, but many watch "only Eteri's club", where situation with injuries is not the critical compared to others.

There are at least 2 famous skaters in North America, Daleman and Gold, with serious issues, weight and depression, which occurred under the watchful eyes of North American coaches, right in front of their noses, and were either neglected, unnoticed and certainly not helped. Both Ladies were also experiencing doubts about their careers, future, abilities, personal matters, etc., which lead them to such severe conditions..... But it is Eteri who is blamed for not "transitioning Alina properly", while Alina is clearly stating she wants a break, and for a while now.

And last but not least, people are refusing to acknowledge what all the systematic and organized negativity and actions, in Russia and in the same amounts outside, against Alina and her coaching team for the last two seasons, has done to Alina's stated of mind. There are a lot of people to blame for it, by names, and none of the names are in Alina's coaching team.

And last.... nothing happened... Alina is taking a break after wining all there is to win, with sponsors' contracts, old and new, planned shows, and her monetized IG account jumping from 690,000 to 727,000... 37K in 12 days.

May all the skaters be so "neglected" and "unlucky"..

Not sure where you heard that Gracie’s coach didn’t notice or pay attention to Gracie’s struggles. Frank Carroll tried to help her. I know this as fact. I don’t know enough of the Daleman situation to speak on it, but I don’t think you do either.
North American coaches don’t appear to have the same relationship with skaters as Eteri has with hers.

I also don’t understand why it keeps being repeated, and even posted by Alina herself, that she has won everything. Certainly fans are aware that she won competitions. Skaters take breaks and/or retire every year. I don’t understand why this is any kind of an issue at all. Its being speculated that certain people created this to get more exposure for Alina and Eteri. I hope this isn’t truth, because Alina deserves better.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Its being speculated that certain people created this to get more exposure for Alina and Eteri. I hope this isn’t truth, because Alina deserves better.

(no..........)

 

[feraina]

I also don’t understand why it keeps being repeated, and even posted by Alina herself, that she has won everything. Certainly fans are aware that she won competitions. Skaters take breaks and/or retire every year. I don’t understand why this is any kind of an issue at all. Its being speculated that certain people created this to get more exposure for Alina and Eteri. I hope this isn’t truth, because Alina deserves better.

Because, her stopping to compete can't possibly be due to any imperfection of The Great Eteri and her coaching team. No, no. It is simply due to her own intrinsic loss of motivation after winning everything. It's all her. Her coaching team is perfect, and she has nothing but the highest gratitude for everything they're done for/with her.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Because, her stopping to compete can't possibly be due to any imperfection of The Great Eteri and her coaching team. No, no. It is simply due to her own intrinsic loss of motivation after winning everything. It's all her. Her coaching team is perfect, and she has nothing but the highest gratitude for everything they're done for/with her.

That's right, it's not... and if i you're going to repeat nonsense given your agenda, i will dispute it.

In an interview last year, Alina said that in summer 2017, before Olympics, before it was known that Med had a fracture, before any of what followed, she ran away from the training camp into an open field, feeling doubt if she wants to skate. Eteri ran after her and convinced her to come back. At that time Alina was #2 if not #1 lady in singles, and had very little competition.

Before Worlds 2019, Alina again, was not sure if she wanted to skate, and Eteri and team made a lot of efforts, personal and as trainers, to entice her to compete, as a result she won the Worlds 2019.

This season too, she had doubts, yet she was given 2 new beautiful programmes, carefully thought out to fit her mood and her abilities and 2 beautiful costumes which were carefully crafted after A LOT OF research on the subject of "Cleopatra" in particular, which has a true history quite different than what's in films. Alina was given a bit more attention, by Eteri and Gleikh, than 3 other girls who worked more with Dudakov concentrating on improving jumps.

Alina grew in height, and size too. She was not ready to learn new jumps, and decided to concentrate on keeping her ready jumps stable, and the artistic side of her programmes. She said this many times herself. To the honor of the coaching team, they did NOT push her to do what she was not ready.

At the same time, Trus-Sher-Kost were ready to learn new jumps, and Eteri and Team had no right, nor wished, to hold them back for sake of Alina. Alina did not expect this either.

Except for Trus-Sher-Kost, Alina Zagitova is the ONLY other Senior Russian Lady who won medals at every GP event and made it to Grand Prix Final.

There are 3 spots on the podium, and 3 spots is a maximum for any country's world team. Right now 4 best Russian Ladies are practicing in one rink in one group. There are two more at other rinks. Total of 6. Only 3 will go.

It does not matter which rinks they practice at - there are 6 Ladies, and 3 spots. It makes no difference what rink you come from if you're one of the three who does not make it - changing the order of summands doesn't change the sum!

If anything needs to be changed - it's the number of spots allowed to each country, or to switch to the ranking system like in tennis.

 

[Aussie Willy]

My personal take on Alina's decision, especially with the young and tiny Russian quad queens in the Tutberidze camp? A vibe from Eteri - if I may borrow from Ariana Grande: "Thank you, NEXT."

As long as there are flowers involved.

 

[AxelAnnie]

She has

Not sure where you heard that Gracie’s coach didn’t notice or pay attention to Gracie’s struggles. Frank Carroll tried to help her. I know this as fact. I don’t know enough of the Daleman situation to speak on it, but I don’t think you do either.
North American coaches don’t appear to have the same relationship with skaters as Eteri has with hers.

I also don’t understand why it keeps being repeated, and even posted by Alina herself, that she has won everything. Certainly fans are aware that she won competitions. Skaters take breaks and/or retire every year. I don’t understand why this is any kind of an issue at all. Its being speculated that certain people created this to get more exposure for Alina and Eteri. I hope this isn’t truth, because Alina deserves better.

won everything. There are no more mountains to climb.

 

[barbarafan]

Because, her stopping to compete can't possibly be due to any imperfection of The Great Eteri and her coaching team. No, no. It is simply due to her own intrinsic loss of motivation after winning everything. It's all her. Her coaching team is perfect, and she has nothing but the highest gratitude for everything they're done for/with her.

Wow!!
could be if she is not training hard she is not setting a good example for the other girls. Also Alina is still getting good PCS as World Champion and she wants the ridiculous PCS to go to another of her girls...doesn't matter which one...they are interchangable to her...The medals are Eteri's golds.....not the girls....that is what she is tracking.

 

[antmanb]

I’m not enthralled with what’s going on with all the young quadsters because I think their programs aren’t there and I’m really missing the maturity and elegance of people like Kostner for example.

I've seen a lot of mention of Kostner in these discussions and honestly it's not a fair comparison - show me a competitive programme by Kostner when she was 15 and 16 that showed elegance and i'll accept the argument. It took Kostner the best part of a decade to hone those skills into what we saw in the final few years. When she was 15-17 she was an incredbily fast, mostly lacking control skater with the big jumps at the time (3/3 combos), not unlike the young quadster girls now.

No 15-16 year old has the grace and elegance of an older skater (Kwan gave it a really good go when she came back at 16 but would develop and get better).

Skating is first and foremost a sport, the younger you are the more you focus on your technical elements and the basic skating technique that gets you there. The finessing and polishing comes later. None of the young quad jumpers have been on the senior scene for even a year yet. No skater makes a splash for their performance/artistry their first year of seniors (Though Kostornaia is pretty close for me) .

I'm not sure that Tutberidze will turn out to be a coach that can get skaters through puberty and out the other side, but i also think we need to give these young girls a chance to develop before we compare them unfavourably to skaters in their late 20s.

 

[Nadya]

Puberty fells skaters everywhere. Eteri didn't invent that problem.

 

[muffinplus]

I’m not enthralled with what’s going on with all the young quadsters because I think their programs aren’t there and I’m really missing the maturity and elegance of people like Kostner for example.

The "quadsters" have other qualities other than the quads... . Shcherbakova is a very musical skater... if you only see quads when watching her, well, then

 

[Yazmeen]

If anything needs to be changed - it's the number of spots allowed to each country, or to switch to the ranking system like in tennis.

Especially when it allow more skaters from the country or style that one personally favors...

 

[Tinami Amori]

Laura Lipetsky, Alysa Liu's coach, gave an interview. Praising Eteri Tutberidze, calling her a great coach, and defending technical advancements in FS, quads and all. The interview is in Russian. google-translates well. here is the link and some parts.

«Тутберидзе — идеал тренера». Кто воспитал россиянкам главную конкурентку?

Эксклюзивное интервью Лауры Липецки — тренера американского вундеркинда Алисы Лью.

www.sport-express.ru

Laura Lipetsky: “Tutberidze is a terrific coach, whom I respect a lot”.
Laura Lipetsky, the coach of the American skater Alysa Liu, shared her opinion about the qued jumps in women's figure skating.

Q: In Russia, there is a point of view that quadruple jumping at a young age is harmful to health. And in this regard, very close attention is focused on the group of Eteri Tutberidze. And what about the situation in the USA? Did you hear something similar in USA?

LL: No, so far nothing like that happened, that someone would say to me "oh no, no, Alysa must not jump quads, it's too dangerous for her health". Eteri is a great coach, whom i respect a lot, she has many girls able to do quads. If i was lucky to have more students, who would be able and willing to do quads, i would only gladly help them/train them.

Q: We also come across an opinion that quads are killing a truly beautiful "female skating". And the same Tutberidze several times explained what that is not true..

LL: I agree with her. Quads are not killing ladies skating, but make it more exciting. If some girls have the ability to do them, then why not make a jump 4-turn?

Plus, as soon as the quadruples become easier for the skaters, they will have the opportunity to develop other aspects of their skating.

Let's remember Hanyu and Chen, when they started to include a large number of quads in their programmes. In the beginning the other elements of their skating were not as amazing, as they are now. The same is with the ladies.

***

 

[feraina]

Puberty fells skaters everywhere. Eteri didn't invent that problem.

Indeed. And she decided she doesn’t need to cope with the problem, unlike other coaches who don’t have an endless supply of preternaturally talented girls waiting at the door. Much easier to just train the next prepubescent jumping bean, since the current judging system doesn’t care that much about maturity or artistry anyway.

Next!

 

[Tinami Amori]

Indeed. And she decided she doesn’t need to cope with the problem, unlike other coaches who don’t have an endless supply of preternaturally talented girls waiting at the door. Much easier to just train the next prepubescent jumping bean, since the current judging system doesn’t care that much about maturity or artistry anyway.

Next!

A coach can cope with the problem, and Eteri has been coping for 2 seasons. But the skater him/herself has to want to cope. People are given FREE CHOICE..... Don't you westerners believe in "free choice" and "individuality"? i am starting to doubt....

Make her skate - evil. Let her not skate - evil.... "evil everything" only if it is the coach is the one some-one does not like because of her success.

Sarah Hughes' coach also did not hold her from retiring after Sarah decided to leave the sport after winning Olympics to get an education.

Polina Edmunds' coach also did not stop Polina from going to college, where she developed new friendships and interests, posted many happy photos, and now is skating for fun....

Osmond also, won all she could, realized it is the most she can win, and retired......

Sotnikova won Olympics, and got side tracked after it... Buianova and her "god-father" Tarasova, in spite of all the yelling and convincing, were not able to bring her back. She tried with Plushenko..... and still never returned. She was 16 when she won the Olympics, and did not do much in competitive sports since... Do we have any hysterics over Buianov, Tarasova, Plushenko "not doing enough" for her?

Some tried for years, and did not win anything, or less than they wanted to, and retired... (long list of names).

Some tried for years, finally won something big, and immediately retired... (long list of names).

Some started young, had some success and left before anything major was accomplished.... (long list of names).

Eteri is "King of the Hill" and people are simply trying to bring her down. It's obvious, and it is blunt.