Navka: "We might stay eligible" (or not) | Golden Skate

Navka: "We might stay eligible" (or not)

Ptichka

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Jul 28, 2003
Original

T. Navka: "We might stay eligible"
June 19, 2006


2006 Olympic ice dance champions Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov could continue their eligible career. Tatiana Navka told the Sports Information Agency "All Sport" about it.

"We haven't made any final decisions about leaving or remaining eligible", said the athlete. "We were leaning toward going pro. However, we recently heard that the newly re-elected Russian Skating Federation president Valentin Nikolaevich Piseev is talking about creating a special committee, whose function among other things will be getting the help of the government and business community representatives to entice Russian team leaders into continuing their eligible careers. So, if they really want to and can entice us, we'll be sure to stay. However, we haven't yet had any discussion with Valentin Nikolaevich about it".

Earlier, Tatiana Navka has told "All Sport" that this Fall she and her husband and coach Alexander Zhulin will be moving back to Moscow. For the past several years, they've lived and trained in the US.
 
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Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Money talks, LOL.

It will be very interesting to see what Pizeev will be able to accomplish along these lines.

MM :)
 

Kwanford Wife

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Dec 29, 2004
I, for one, would love for the Diva and that guy she skates with to stick around... She is one of my all time favs and with the exeception of B&A, the only reason I even watch ice dancing... and no, the new teams do nothing for me... but that seems to be the trend in all disciplines as I look towards the coming season... (sigh...)
 

Lanie

On the Ice
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Jul 26, 2003
Interesting!

I can see them saying they'll stay but end up not.

I never really liked them much, but they were (read as: Navka and the headband!) pretty talented! I found that I thought Roman was more along for the ride, a la F-P/M.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Ptichka said:
However, we recently heard that the newly re-elected Russian Skating Federation president Valentin Nikolaevich Piseev is talking about creating a special committee, whose function among other things will be getting the help of the government and business community
Ice sports are well represented. The Russian sports minister is former Detroit Red Wing hockey player Slava Fetisov, and Irina Rodnina is the head of some sort of sports liaison organization with the business community.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
With no new first tier skaters in his stable, I think this is the first of the eligible 'retired' skaters to change their minds. Piseev who needs to continue Russian domination in figure skating and with virtually no top names on the horizon willl have to convince last year's gold medalists to hang around.

Looking for money in a capitalistic world is not easy.

Joe
 

dorispulaski

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Joe, it's the second actually. Petrova/Tikhonov would be the first. They've committed to another year.
 

Ptichka

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Just wanted to say that it's not just about continuing the Russian domination. I liked what TT said in an interview about the importance of having strong leaders on the team. This creates a role model for younger skaters, something to work for.
 

dorispulaski

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I see nothing wrong with continuing the Russian domination, if the competitors feel up to continuing competing. I'd love for B&S to come back and start dominating pairs! ;)
 

Vash01

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Jul 31, 2003
Unfortunately B&S cannot come back (nor do they want to). I had wished that they would be around in 2006 but they seem to like the pro scene better. Besides, when they turned pro they said that they could not get financial support to continue as eligible skaters.

It will be good for Russian skating if the current champions stick around for one or two years. I am happy that P&T are returning. Hard to tell if N&K actually will.
 
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Linny

Final Flight
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Aug 13, 2003
add to the stable

Wouldn't having some of these skaters with such great success as eligibles return to Moscow as coaches help add to the stable more than for them to continue as eligibles?
Linny
 

Mafke

Medalist
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Mar 22, 2004
Linny said:
Wouldn't having some of these skaters with such great success as eligibles return to Moscow as coaches help add to the stable more than for them to continue as eligibles?

It depends. Great skaters aren't necessarily great coaches and some less than stellar competitors are great coaches. There's no necessary correlation.

That said, if I were Piseev (horrible thought) I'd concentrate more on support for coaches and promising skaters rather than just keep eligibles around for longer than they may want.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
I agree with Mafke. I believe Teaching in general is a calling. Some people have this love to teach and get great satisfaction out of watching their students progress in their discipline. Some people teach for the money and the results vary substantially.

Piseev and others connected with the old political system, still retain the glory of the motherland and want to keep it strong. I believe they will instill national pride in their students. This could work if the student buys it.

There is no absence of talent in Russia figure skating. The question is whether the new wave of skaters will be competiting for the State or competitng for themelves.

Joe
 
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