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[size=+2]TAMARA MOSKVINA: “PRIZES ARE LIKE HIGH HEEL SHOES”[/size]
[size=-1]Irina GOLUBENKO
April 7, 2006[/size]
Renowned coach of figure skating champions admits to never setting winning medals as her goal.
At the world figure skating championships which took place right after the Olympics in Canadian Calgary, famous coach Tamar Moskvina brought her only team, Julia Obertas and Sergei Slavnov. After the champions Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin announced they were leaving, followed by the other Peter skaters Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov saying their good bys to the eligible sport, Moskvina’s students practically became the team leaders. They only came eighth at the World championships. Neither the skaters not their coach were happy about it. Moskvina, having brought up so many champions, tends to largely blame herself.
“Tamara Nikolaevna, following Worlds, your student Sergei Slavnov said that to do well he and Julia lacked psychological stability.”
“What does it mean, psychological stability? It’s when you can do everything, but fail to show you’ve got at championships. But Julia and Sergei don’t yet have stable elements at practices. It’s too simple to blame things on psychology, as this science is not easily quantifiable.”
Following Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikhuralidze leaving the eligible sport, you’ve spend several years training a team that…
Is always a promising team, as I’ve read somewhere.
Are you worried?
Obviously, a coach whose students have consistently medaled at the biggest championships, I can’t like the situation. It’s been three years. For the first two years I didn’t expect quick victories, but this season I expected good results. If this didn’t happen, it means something in our team is wrong. We’ve analyzed this. Possible, practices have been too lax, training too undisciplined, so the kids don’t have a chance to do the elements repeatedly, until they do them both consistently and well.
t has been said that in the new Olympic cycle Russian will loose its leadership of figure skating. Is that so?
At Worlds, our best team, Petrova and Tikhonov, ended up in third. They skated well, but didn’t get the place they were aiming for. Those guys showed consistent master, and fought an even battle even with the Chinese athletes, who are now the leaders of world pair skating. The other two Russian teams came in eighth and twelfth. Clearly, those kids will have a hard time earning medals in the next seasons. They don’t just have to overcome a mastery gap. It’s important for the potential medalists to be well recognized, to have a certain prestige. So I can’t say anything hopeful – it’s true that Russian pair skating will experience a certain decline.
You used to train another team, right?
Borzenkova and Chuvilyaev. Unfortunately, when they still didn’t make it to the national team, they decided to quit skating.
I guess it’s hard to work with two teams at once?
It is. It’s easier to sit at home on the sofa watch TV. It’s easier to train only one team. But they you loose the competition element, the team becomes spoiled as hey see the coach and choreographer fuss over them like babies. Even in Soviet times, we tried, however artificially, to create competition among the students. It doesn’t matter if it is competition within one coach’s group, or among students of different trainers, or even rivalry between those representing Petersburg, and, say, Moscow. I always had two or three teams that could watch each other and try to better their “rivals”. However, keeping athletes in your group for the sole reason of creating competition is unethical.
Do you have an eye on any promising youth? For instance, your student Oleg Vasiliev took two young teams immediately after Totmianina and Marinin announced they were going pro.
What do you mean he took? Those teams used to train somewhere else, they didn’t come out of thin air! Usually the athletes approach the coach. Of course, I could keep on eye out for young pairs. But please understand – coaches working with those youngsters are counting on going to big competitions with them. No one is ready to have Vasiliev or Moskvina come to them and say, “You did such a good job with this team, now I’ll take over!” It’s the most simple thing a high level coach could do, but you have to respect your colleagues. It’s a different story when an athlete looks for another coach that he’ll feel more comfortable with or achieve better results. Athlete is not a coach’s property, he can choose. But I haven’t had any offers from skaters yet.
If an athlete can choose another coach, then a coach can also say that he sees no point to keep working with someone. Have you had to do that?
Yes. It’s always very difficult, because you always hope that the result is around the corner. I always blame myself – I could teach good work ethics, I couldn’t motivate the given skater, I couldn’t convince him to train more, to hold off another year, may be the circumstances just weren’t favorable. But after trying everything, I have to consider that the person has their whole life ahead, and that if they have no future in this profession, only the desire to be in this sport, than it’s better to be honest, so that they don’t waste their time on figure skating, but do something else.
You have many sports and governmental awards, you’re in the figure skating Hall of Fame. Is there anything else you want to achieve?
I did not even want those! I never thought – I’ll work well, and then I’ll have a medal. I’ll work more, I’ll have two medals. I’ll work some more, and I’ll be included or elected somewhere.
Isn’t it true that every athlete works for the medal?
Not at all. A medal is a material representation of the work we don – selecting music, creating a new element, putting together an interesting program that has earned the audience applause and the judges’ high marks. All of this is done not for the round piece of metal on a string that has no material value. For example, I never though I’d be a champion. I watched other athletes who were my role models, who achieved the hitherto untouched heights, and I wanted to skate like they did. I never set being a champion as my goal. Having become a coach, I mostly enjoy the work itself. It’s a game where you use your knowledge from all different fields – musical, pedagogical, theater, psychological, marketing. All to have a given student become a star, become better than an athlete from another country or another group. The goal is to become better. What medal we’ll get is of secondary importance. Later on, those medals lie in a case and mean nothing.
What about you medals?
They’re also in a case. I know have a beautiful display case, it all looks very civil now. Until then, I kept them in boxes. When I was abroad I saw that over there, any award, even a minor one, or even a photograph with a famous person, is always prominently displayed. Then I thought – why are we so shy? So I did a display at home. Though, let me repeat, those medals for me are not the goal, but a proof that all this game of working on athletes who are so different, some without talent, some with problems… I’m not a genius, I know m flaws! So, it’s a proof that we did this game better than others. The process is interesting, it inspires while the medals do not. Those awards are like high heels for a woman. A girl will dream of her first pair, but once you have several, it doesn’t matter anymore.
You’re one of the few coaches who do not say that training conditions in Petersburg are worse than in the West.
Everyone chooses where he’s comfortable. I’ve worked in America, in Europe, and in Russia. Here I don’t get paid much. America and Europe provides better quality of life, and better pay. But you can work anywhere. Even at the North Pole if you so desire. We spent our whole lives at “Jubileiny”, here we’ve raised athletes who have been the best in the world for many years. Is it a coincidence? Did the ice deteriorate since than? Or does Moskvina have some special ice? No, there is not Moskvina’s personal ice, it’s not made of cognac. My skaters have always trained with others. That means the training conditions don’t affect the results that much, right? Yes, America has good conditions, but where are their champions?
So, you have no complaints?
Why complain? Yes, it’s difficult, but I do enjoy. If it weren’t interesting, I wouldn’t train. When I hear how difficult it is to be a coach, I can only say one thing – don’t! Quit. You can’t? Than you really need it. Than you want to get the best result. So do it, despite all difficulties.
What if it doesn’t work?
Than that’s life.
[size=-1] “Neva Times” newspaper[/size]
[size=+2]TAMARA MOSKVINA: “PRIZES ARE LIKE HIGH HEEL SHOES”[/size]
[size=-1]Irina GOLUBENKO
April 7, 2006[/size]
Renowned coach of figure skating champions admits to never setting winning medals as her goal.
At the world figure skating championships which took place right after the Olympics in Canadian Calgary, famous coach Tamar Moskvina brought her only team, Julia Obertas and Sergei Slavnov. After the champions Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin announced they were leaving, followed by the other Peter skaters Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov saying their good bys to the eligible sport, Moskvina’s students practically became the team leaders. They only came eighth at the World championships. Neither the skaters not their coach were happy about it. Moskvina, having brought up so many champions, tends to largely blame herself.
“Tamara Nikolaevna, following Worlds, your student Sergei Slavnov said that to do well he and Julia lacked psychological stability.”
“What does it mean, psychological stability? It’s when you can do everything, but fail to show you’ve got at championships. But Julia and Sergei don’t yet have stable elements at practices. It’s too simple to blame things on psychology, as this science is not easily quantifiable.”
Following Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikhuralidze leaving the eligible sport, you’ve spend several years training a team that…
Is always a promising team, as I’ve read somewhere.
Are you worried?
Obviously, a coach whose students have consistently medaled at the biggest championships, I can’t like the situation. It’s been three years. For the first two years I didn’t expect quick victories, but this season I expected good results. If this didn’t happen, it means something in our team is wrong. We’ve analyzed this. Possible, practices have been too lax, training too undisciplined, so the kids don’t have a chance to do the elements repeatedly, until they do them both consistently and well.
t has been said that in the new Olympic cycle Russian will loose its leadership of figure skating. Is that so?
At Worlds, our best team, Petrova and Tikhonov, ended up in third. They skated well, but didn’t get the place they were aiming for. Those guys showed consistent master, and fought an even battle even with the Chinese athletes, who are now the leaders of world pair skating. The other two Russian teams came in eighth and twelfth. Clearly, those kids will have a hard time earning medals in the next seasons. They don’t just have to overcome a mastery gap. It’s important for the potential medalists to be well recognized, to have a certain prestige. So I can’t say anything hopeful – it’s true that Russian pair skating will experience a certain decline.
You used to train another team, right?
Borzenkova and Chuvilyaev. Unfortunately, when they still didn’t make it to the national team, they decided to quit skating.
I guess it’s hard to work with two teams at once?
It is. It’s easier to sit at home on the sofa watch TV. It’s easier to train only one team. But they you loose the competition element, the team becomes spoiled as hey see the coach and choreographer fuss over them like babies. Even in Soviet times, we tried, however artificially, to create competition among the students. It doesn’t matter if it is competition within one coach’s group, or among students of different trainers, or even rivalry between those representing Petersburg, and, say, Moscow. I always had two or three teams that could watch each other and try to better their “rivals”. However, keeping athletes in your group for the sole reason of creating competition is unethical.
Do you have an eye on any promising youth? For instance, your student Oleg Vasiliev took two young teams immediately after Totmianina and Marinin announced they were going pro.
What do you mean he took? Those teams used to train somewhere else, they didn’t come out of thin air! Usually the athletes approach the coach. Of course, I could keep on eye out for young pairs. But please understand – coaches working with those youngsters are counting on going to big competitions with them. No one is ready to have Vasiliev or Moskvina come to them and say, “You did such a good job with this team, now I’ll take over!” It’s the most simple thing a high level coach could do, but you have to respect your colleagues. It’s a different story when an athlete looks for another coach that he’ll feel more comfortable with or achieve better results. Athlete is not a coach’s property, he can choose. But I haven’t had any offers from skaters yet.
If an athlete can choose another coach, then a coach can also say that he sees no point to keep working with someone. Have you had to do that?
Yes. It’s always very difficult, because you always hope that the result is around the corner. I always blame myself – I could teach good work ethics, I couldn’t motivate the given skater, I couldn’t convince him to train more, to hold off another year, may be the circumstances just weren’t favorable. But after trying everything, I have to consider that the person has their whole life ahead, and that if they have no future in this profession, only the desire to be in this sport, than it’s better to be honest, so that they don’t waste their time on figure skating, but do something else.
You have many sports and governmental awards, you’re in the figure skating Hall of Fame. Is there anything else you want to achieve?
I did not even want those! I never thought – I’ll work well, and then I’ll have a medal. I’ll work more, I’ll have two medals. I’ll work some more, and I’ll be included or elected somewhere.
Isn’t it true that every athlete works for the medal?
Not at all. A medal is a material representation of the work we don – selecting music, creating a new element, putting together an interesting program that has earned the audience applause and the judges’ high marks. All of this is done not for the round piece of metal on a string that has no material value. For example, I never though I’d be a champion. I watched other athletes who were my role models, who achieved the hitherto untouched heights, and I wanted to skate like they did. I never set being a champion as my goal. Having become a coach, I mostly enjoy the work itself. It’s a game where you use your knowledge from all different fields – musical, pedagogical, theater, psychological, marketing. All to have a given student become a star, become better than an athlete from another country or another group. The goal is to become better. What medal we’ll get is of secondary importance. Later on, those medals lie in a case and mean nothing.
What about you medals?
They’re also in a case. I know have a beautiful display case, it all looks very civil now. Until then, I kept them in boxes. When I was abroad I saw that over there, any award, even a minor one, or even a photograph with a famous person, is always prominently displayed. Then I thought – why are we so shy? So I did a display at home. Though, let me repeat, those medals for me are not the goal, but a proof that all this game of working on athletes who are so different, some without talent, some with problems… I’m not a genius, I know m flaws! So, it’s a proof that we did this game better than others. The process is interesting, it inspires while the medals do not. Those awards are like high heels for a woman. A girl will dream of her first pair, but once you have several, it doesn’t matter anymore.
You’re one of the few coaches who do not say that training conditions in Petersburg are worse than in the West.
Everyone chooses where he’s comfortable. I’ve worked in America, in Europe, and in Russia. Here I don’t get paid much. America and Europe provides better quality of life, and better pay. But you can work anywhere. Even at the North Pole if you so desire. We spent our whole lives at “Jubileiny”, here we’ve raised athletes who have been the best in the world for many years. Is it a coincidence? Did the ice deteriorate since than? Or does Moskvina have some special ice? No, there is not Moskvina’s personal ice, it’s not made of cognac. My skaters have always trained with others. That means the training conditions don’t affect the results that much, right? Yes, America has good conditions, but where are their champions?
So, you have no complaints?
Why complain? Yes, it’s difficult, but I do enjoy. If it weren’t interesting, I wouldn’t train. When I hear how difficult it is to be a coach, I can only say one thing – don’t! Quit. You can’t? Than you really need it. Than you want to get the best result. So do it, despite all difficulties.
What if it doesn’t work?
Than that’s life.
[size=-1] “Neva Times” newspaper[/size]
