Elena Ilinykh & Nikita Katsalapov Split

After reading the interviews, I just want to puke.
I wander why Vik is not multiple Olympic champion already, how come we didn't notice her genius already. Same for Nikita, it was his fault they got NO medal at the world champs.
I so hope I/Z will place above K/S, can't wait!
And why weren't they asked about why he wanted to split? Zoueva could have been asked about the I/K quote she gave a few months ago.

ElenaNikitaFan said:

After reading the interviews, I just want to puke.
I wander why Vik is not multiple Olympic champion already, how come we didn't notice her genius already. Same for Nikita, it was his fault they got NO medal at the world champs.
I so hope I/Z will place above K/S, can't wait!
And why weren't they asked about why he wanted to split? Zoueva could have been asked about the I/K quote she gave a few months ago.

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The interview is by the Federation's press officer, I guess they would not be asking the hard hitting questions. You need someone like Simonenko & Vatchekovskaya to do a proper interview, but Vatchekovskaya at least has said she has no desire to interview Nikita, she says he just hides behind the adults around him and doesn't give straight answers to anything.

uhh said:

Did you miss I/Z getting the recommendation for approval within a week of training together?

Nikita is so ungracious. Elena said nothing bad about him when she had every reason to, and he hasn't even had to decency to thank her for everything she did in their partnership. Even something like "I decided it was time to move on, but I'm grateful for everything we achieved together". He wouldn't be able to fund his new project without his Olympic winnings and he certainly wouldn't have that money without her. Same for Victoria really, not a single kind word to Ruslan.

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If you paid attention to his Zhulin exit interview, Nikita has always displayed this tendency. I think this is my main problem with him, I think this more than anything created a wedge between him and Lena a long time ago. I found the interview quite sad.

This is honeymoon stage of partnership and everthing positive/pink for now. This is expected. What I don't understand is why Zoueva trying to sell this couple as ''new modern russian image''. If Sinitsina/Katsalapov is best of russian peoples then ..... :disapp:

elif said:

This is honeymoon stage of partnership and everthing positive/pink for now. This is expected. What I don't understand is why Zoueva trying to sell this couple as ''new modern russian image''. If Sinitsina/Katsalapov is best of russian peoples then ..... :disapp:

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I she meant what outsiders think of Russian people
typical blue eyes, blonde, wide slavic cheekbones

If you quote Zoueva she saidthey look like Vasilisa the Beautiful and Ivan Tsarevich
from a russian folklore

uhh said:

The interview is by the Federation's press officer, I guess they would not be asking the hard hitting questions. You need someone like Simonenko & Vatchekovskaya to do a proper interview, but Vatchekovskaya at least has said she has no desire to interview Nikita, she says he just hides behind the adults around him and doesn't give straight answers to anything.

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So from now on they are only going to talk only to their own journalists, expect from us to forget break up laugh, they will not speak a word about this at all. We only had to believe how talented Sinitsina/Katsalapov is Amazing really.

I don't know what you want Nikita to say. Once he starts talking about the break up he opens a door to a lot of questions. IF he says nice things about Elena than it becomes well if she's great why did you leave.

Sometimes not saying anything is better than saying something. He's also not defending himself.

sky_fly20 said:

I she meant what outsiders think of Russian people
typical blue eyes, blonde, wide slavic cheekbones

If you quote Zoueva she saidthey look like Vasilisa the Beautiful and Ivan Tsarevich
from a russian folklore

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I could have understand to sell beauty (thanks to skyfly, we are reading this thing forever) but trying to sell their manner Even die hard Sinitsima/Katsalapov fans like skyfly not using this approach and correcting Zoueva's words to beauty opposite of attitude. This means even fans of Sinitsina/Katsalapov not buying Zoueva's words about their good behaviour

This paragraph:

bekalc said:

I don't know what you want Nikita to say. Once he starts talking about the break up he opens a door to a lot of questions. IF he says nice things about Elena than it becomes well if she's great why did you leave.

Sometimes not saying anything is better than saying something. He's also not defending himself.

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"You know it was a difficult decision for me, for both of us actually, with our former partners we had achieved many great accomplishments. Speaking for myself there were just personal problems which Lena and I couldn't overcome. And I would prefer that these remain private. Nonetheless we all will ultimately skate for Russia. We will be competitors but we also ultimately belong to the same team. I wish for Lena and Ruslan every success"

Something like this, but it would require a bit of class. Nikita was also careless with his words "deliberate act". So could one also interpret it to mean that he deliberately foiled their twizzles at worlds as well? Disrespectful, IMHO :disapp:

bekalc said:

I don't know what you want Nikita to say. Once he starts talking about the break up he opens a door to a lot of questions. IF he says nice things about Elena than it becomes well if she's great why did you leave.

Sometimes not saying anything is better than saying something. He's also not defending himself.

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Look at how Kirsten & Dylan handled their split. They are another couple that everyone expected to do great things in the next couple of seasons, but you don't see the same questions from fans because Kirsten quickly said why she wanted to find a new partner, and they only had good words for each other afterwards, and they thanked everyone - coaches, federation, fans - for all their support. There was a clear line drawn under the old partnership, & now everyone moves on.

Contrast this with how Nikita refused to answer questions at Worlds, said nothing in public apart from throwing a fit on twitter because people were speculating about the split, and now this interview. If at the start he had been more upfront, said that he couldn't work with Elena because of personal differences or different goals or any reason there wouldn't still be this level of speculation. It doesn't have to be a full explanation, just some indication that things weren't working. As it is, people are still wondering why he went from looking so happy with her in Sochi & immediately after, and giving interviews talking about wanting to win the gold medal together in 2018 to secretly arranging to dump her just a few weeks later. The lack of comment just makes it look like he doesn't actually have a good reason, as if either he's just following someone else's agenda as Vaitchekovskaya has implied, or his motive for splitting is something that reflects badly on him which is why he won't talk about it.

It also does look very poor on his part concerning the regard he had for his former partner. However the partnership ended, they were at one point a team and they wouldn't have had all the praise and rewards from what they achieved in Sochi without each other, and he has never once acknowleged this. In addition, when this news first broke Elena was getting all sorts of cr*p thrown at her in the Russian media because they all decided it must have been her fault - even though she was completely oblivious that there was any problem at all or that he was planning to do anything after Worlds other than the Olympic Champions Tour with her and then to prepare for next season. By saying nothing, he hung her out to dry, and showed her absolutely no respect - and that's no way to treat someone who had helped him to his Olympic medals and skated her heart out at Worlds for their partnership under extemely difficult circumstances.

It's been poorly handled all the way through - he's free to make any decision he wants about his career, the vast majority of fans will accept that even if it takes some time to adjust to the idea of the new partnerships, but you and anyone else shouldn't be surprised when people question why he was saying one thing and then did a complete 180 turn, or criticise him or Victoria for acting so callously to their former partners. It would not have hurt them or their reputation to say "we're grateful to our former partners & coaches, but feel we need to take this step for our careers etc etc". In fact, people would be more inclined to look positively on the S/K partnership if they could show themselves to be classy & gracious over this. Unlike you, I do read the "we couldn't have made any other choice" comment at the end as very defensive, perhaps in recognition that they know this has not been handled well but now they need to imply it was their only option.

bramweld said:

"You know it was a difficult decision for me, for both of us actually, with our former partners we had achieved many great accomplishments. Speaking for myself there were just personal problems which Lena and I couldn't overcome. And I would prefer that these remain private. Nonetheless we all will ultimately skate for Russia. We will be competitors but we also ultimately belong to the same team. I wish for Lena and Ruslan every success"

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This would be too classy for him...

Nikita had like 33000 followers on instagram before the split, now he has only 26 862. Did he block people like crazy or people unfollowed him because they were diappointed by his classless behavior?

ElenaNikitaFan said:

Nikita had like 33000 followers on instagram before the split, now he has only 26 862. Did he block people like crazy or people unfollowed him because they were diappointed by his classless behavior?

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More than 6 thousand in different? I mean there would be no way Nikita had that much time to block that number of people.

I wonder how long it takes for sky_fly to pull a Zoueva and extol the virtues of skaters who have "gorgeous blue eyes". Although Gracie doesn't have them, so it'll be a while before that happens.

Yeah, ice dancing involves looks but it's predominantly about talent. Some people are so superficial and in their own little world of thin, model perfection.

These are probably the same people sitting morbidly obese with roots in their hair, hiding behind a keyboard, spewing these things about elite skaters.

fleeting said:

Elena's instagram is full of pictures of her and Ruslan today, including one with him that she's captioned 'My team'. It seems like they're getting along really well, and I'm happy that they ended up as partners. I think they'll mesh very well together.
I also give props for Elena probably influencing Ruslan's style - that haircut is very nice on him!

(Elena's instagram: http://instagram.com/blackswanei)

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Yes it's nice but he could borrow some gel from Ronaldo.

uhh said:

Did you miss I/Z getting the recommendation for approval within a week of training together? Nikita is so ungracious. Elena said nothing bad about him when she had every reason to, and he hasn't even had to decency to thank her for everything she did in their partnership. Even something like "I decided it was time to move on, but I'm grateful for everything we achieved together". He wouldn't be able to fund his new project without his Olympic winnings and he certainly wouldn't have that money without her. Same for Victoria really, not a single kind word to Ruslan.

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Absolutely this. I find their behavior disrespectful and horrid to Elena and Ruslan. Nikita is an Olympic medalist thanks in part to Elena. I/Z all the way!

http://fsrussia.ru.3s3s.org/news/12...borachivatsya-nazad-ni-v-koem-sluchae-nelzya/
…interview with Viki and Nikita from 29th of May
…they will introduce themselves as a couple in show at 31st of May, they will skate an exhibition program
…How hard it was to get used to a new partner?
Nikita: “From the first moment when we came to Marina I felt that we went into right place for us. I can’t hide that before an arriving I thought a lot how things would go but I understood being there that my expectations were right, even a little more than I planned. Marina is a very educated coach. Partly she even took a role of mom on herself, she lives through for any detail. A training process appeared to be very saturated, many sided. Adapt to one another was easy. We immediately started to make not only basis steps, some things, but everything…after two weeks all specialists who worked with us came and told: “Kids, there is a feeling that we know each other for ten years.“
Victoria: “I clarify this situation with positive mood which was at every practise. Nikita and Marina gave me an advises. All helped. They gave the advises, what and how must be done and it brought a confidence.“
Nikita: “Vika is a big hero. All coaches are enthusiastic about her. She is catching everything geniously. She needs to stand aside for a little moment, she thinks herself, then she starts to work. Truly Vika got many advises, because she was in not easy situation, she had to make many things faster. We may imagine only how she felt. But the positive atmosphere helped Vika to make herself free, to open. It is evident that she is in fire.“
To preparation differences…
Nikita: “The system of preparation in US is very different from those in Russia, not looking at the fact that many coaches now tries to do what Americans and Canadians do. First half of a day there are practises, many practises, where are many specialists. Every specialist is watching and controlling his own work. It is well-educated. When you train with one coach only and he trains with sportsmen for a long time then eyes becloud and some things are not felt. You do everythings right but something is not like it should be. In America with Marina practises are like in 3D. Many eyes, everybody brings something, clarifies, tells. This process attracts: you start to watch yourself from sideway, I value this a lot, because no one detail passes away then.“
About ideas for programs...
Victoria: “We have an idea for short dance. We did a exhibition number which helps us to coupled better. From Marina’s words, there is the soul of our couple visible in that exhibition number.“
Do you plan to continue with trainings in America?
Nikita: “Not looking at the fact that it is far from home, we feel very comfortable in Marina’s group. Yes and we came here for a result, to get back all positions in short time and became a couple.“
Do you regret anything?
Nikita: “No. From my side it was a deliberated act.“
Vctoria: “In any case it is not possible to turn back.“
Nikita: “I agree.“


Hopefully Zueva will not take an example from Morozov and put an exhibition number under choreography from Swan Lake.

Nikita notices how they immediately started to do all things on the ice, that all specialists were so satisfied. Really? In this case why Zueva changed dates so much? Gorshkov gave them three weeks for try-out, Marina changed it to four weeks first (12th of May), and then she changed the date of test skate for the end of May (which is 6 weeks since arriving to Zueva). Why so late test skate if only after two weeks they were already so great? Maybe Zueva had a different opinion than Nikita?

Nikita’s description of how Vika had to learn everything…it reminded me a situation when Battle of The Blades figure skaters talked about hockey players who needed to be tought everything about figure skating…well, Kustarova is well-known technician, her kids always had great technique since junior circuit. Victoria and Ruslan themselves had the same quality of twizzles this season with much spacing, good speed, but they had bigger number of succesfull attemps then Lena & Nikita – which makes Victoria a little bit better twizzler than Nikita. Some pages sooner I made a picture of blades from World Champs FD and Victoria had deeper edges in both step sequences than Nikita. As to keeping the rhythm, skating close to each other – Victoria & Ruslan were superior to Lena & Nikita. Speed of both couples was equal and great. More demanding choreography had Viki & Ruslan. Lifts were not very good thanks to all four skaters. Not good lift habbits from girls and not much power in Ruslan hands and not much coordination from Nikita. But in this interview Nikita talks how Victoria must learn everything to get on his level. Boy, the girl has skills where she is better then you…didn’t you notice it?

As to system of preparation… Nikita is so happy with American way of preparation and how Russian coaches tries to achieve it…wait….Zueva is….American? NO! She is Russian….does she also tries to take American and Canadian habbits into her Russian coaching soul?
Then Nikita’s description of how practises look like starts to be even more and more funny. As to number of specialist…
For example Morozov had an assistent – a woman, another assistent – a man, Leonid Raitsin who took care about conditions and muscle preparation, for some time Ludmila Vlasova who is a ballet coach, then he invited Sphilband, Grishuk, another ballet coach from Bolshoi Theatre, Lena & Nikita danced on Brodway, they had a specialist for lifts from Cirque Du Soleil, they worked with Latin dancers in 2011/12 season….
Zhulin has….Volkov like an assistent, Maxim Staviski like an assistent, Sergei Pethukov like a choreographer, then lift coach, he worked with Vlasova also, plus coach for off ice preparation, last two years also Khohlova helped with lifts. Plus Tarasova sometimes visited practises in last years, plus head coach – firstly Shabalin, then Khoklova, now probably Stifunin in past four years came to Zhulin‘s practises. In all cases so many people, so many eyes…so what is Nikita talking about? Who trains under one coach only? In this time almost all coaches have a team around himself/herself.

Overall I am very looking forward to see Victoria & Nikita skate, but I would like to see Lena & Ruslan in the same moment. I am sure that both couples will addapt to each other quickly and I am curious to see their progress step by step.

I've never looked at Elena's Instagram until now. She seems to have a bit of goofball in her That'll go a long way in helping her let negativity roll off her back. Hopefully she will only look at the future and train well. I'll be excited to see I/Z's debut.

desertskates said:

I've never looked at Elena's Instagram until now. She seems to have a bit of goofball in her That'll go a long way in helping her let negativity roll off her back. Hopefully she will only look at the future and train well. I'll be excited to see I/Z's debut.

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Yes. I've been following her for a while. I'm certainly looking forward to their debut. Team I/Z !!!

sisinka said:

For example Morozov had an assistent – a woman, another assistent – a man, Leonid Raitsin who took care about conditions and muscle preparation, for some time Ludmila Vlasova who is a ballet coach, then he invited Sphilband, Grishuk,

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Really? What is Oksana doing, is she involved with FS? I loved her, and hope to see her more involved in the future.