- Joined
- Nov 9, 2014
Evgenia Medvedeva Documentary
- Thread starter Skate2Music
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2014
Thank You for posting that link.............Wow, I would love to have lunch with her coach. It's funny the impression she gives, reminds of me of me. I was never warm and friendly to anyone outside my circle. I'm sure people must have wondered how I'd always get such strong students every year when I seemed like a such basta*d in public.
Very interesting. I wasn't able to see the subtitles in the last 10 minutes or so. Anyway, I was never a fan of Eteri, but after watching the video, I have warmed up to her. Clearly, she is not someone who expresses much emotion, so it was nice to see her talk about her life, and interact with her students. I can't help but admire her "tough love" approach and what she's accomplished with her students, esp Medvedeva. I also have to admire Evgenia- she seems like such a mature, sensible, and strong person. You know it is not by chance or talent alone that she won everything this season. Such accomplishments can only come with extremely hard work and dedication. On another note, I do hope Eteri's daughter is doing well. She looked very sad to me.
Found translation of the video's end in youtube comments:
Eteri would never raise a hand at any of her students. But there is one exception. Her daughter Diana. She can give her an occasional spank. The unwomanly tough style of communication is her method. But what is important is that the goal is not to offend, but to motivate.
ET: “Diana, it was a good layback spin though! Come here. Diana…”
Her students have a lot of respect for her. As for men, however… Men are afraid of her. They won’t even take the risk of coming up and engaging her in conversation. Diana’s father does take part in his daughter’s life, but he was never the official husband of Diana’s mother.
ET Senior: “Men want to be cared for, you see. She has no opportunity to care for someone. To become such a coach, one has to give oneself fully to this. Without reservation. Give oneself totally. That’s what she’s been doing. I, too, would say to her, ‘Eteri, you still don’t have a family...’ And she would say, ‘Mom, how come I don’t have a family? I have you guys!’ I would say, ‘We won’t live forever. Besides, Diana is going to grow up one day.’”
ET: “Before I achieved a result, of course I often heard this said to me. Dad, too, was really worried that I live alone. But when I got the result, I thought it’s worth it.”
Georgi Tutberidze was a very strong healthy man. He died in an accident 4 years ago. He never saw his youngest daughter's triumph as a coach in Sochi. It’s an unhealed pain for Eteri that she could not share the joy of the victory with her father. Discipline, character, resilience – Eteri inherited all those from him.
ET: “I left the sports when I was told I’d have to be paying $100 to the choreographer. In those days, it was a lot of money. $100 per month. It would have been a monthly financial slavery. I would not have dared to declare that to my parents. I know Dad would have found the money. He surely would have.”
ET Senior: “My sweet girl! How was your training?”
Diana: “It was okay. How are you?”
ET Senior: “Was it okay? Did you do jumps?”
Diana: “Yes.”
ET: “Let me give a hug to Grandma.”
Mom and daughter – the closer circle that she carefully protects and doesn’t let anyone into. Here, there is all her life. And here she is totally different. The authoritative snow queen whom nothing can force to relent on the ice – be it a defeat or students’ betrayal – when she speaks of her loved ones, she becomes very gentle, real. Probably because the happiness and wellbeing of her loved ones fully depend on her alone.
“Do you often see your mother?”
ET: “No, not as often now.”
“Which of you complains more often and to whom?”
ET: “I don’t complain at all. Why would I make her unnecessarily worried? I’m doing fine.”
“Are you doing fine?”
[ET sighs and nods]
ET: “Mommy, you have so many flowers here! See how everybody loves you!”
ET Senior: “You said it! Yes, yes…”
The daughter is being a little sly. In reality, the flowers are hers.
ET: “They gave them to me for my birthday. I brought them all here from the skating-rink. Well, not all of them. I left part of them at the rink – in the coaches’ room and in the hall.”
Diana: “Here is my collection. I’ve been collecting these for around 7 years. Some things are gifts, others were brought by Mom, some others I found them myself.”
Everything in this house is about figure skating. The daughter’s special pride is the skate earrings which her mom brought as a gift from an important competition. But Diana doesn’t wear them. She keeps them. Another rare thing is a present from the head of the Olympic Committee. All of the winter sports in miniature.
ET: “These are handmade. They were made only for the winners. Only for the athletes. For some reason, they gave me a set, too.”
Now, this thing is unique and was received from the President [Vladimir Putin] in person.
ET: “As they are manufacturing an Olympic medal, they cut out the middle, and this thing here is what is left over. For myself, I regard this even more valuable than the Olympic medal. And it’s heavy. Just as heavy as heavily it is obtained. … For the athlete it’s about hard work and result, and for the coach it’s about responsibility both to the nation and to the athlete. … And this is an order called ‘For Merit to the Fatherland,’ 4th degree.”
ET Senior: “This order is so beautiful.”
ET: “Let me feel how you’re hurting inside. … Your arm keeps staying too straight. After you do this and then roll away - ta-da-da-da - as you make this first arm movement, make it more tender. … Do the last spin for me please. Entrance. Pull it. Don’t lift your shoulders. Stretch your fingers out longer, longer.”
Evgenia Medvedeva did not lose at any of the important starts this year. But for them, the Grand Prix Finals, the European Championship, and actually even the World Championship are only one step of the many. Because the main tournament is still ahead. There are less than two years to go till the next Winter Olympics in South Korea. Neither Evgenia Medvedeva nor her coach are trying to make guesses about that future. Zhenya still has to go through that period of all-at-once maturation which is hard for any female skater. Both are aware that there may be difficulties. In fact, Tutberidze is always careful talking about the future and likes to repeat, “We don’t know what awaits us tomorrow.” In March 2016, another two talented athletes suddenly left her group. But the coach is confident about her future relationship with Zhenya. Whatever is going on around them, Eteri Tutberidze and Evgenia Medvedeva know that they can rely on each other, that they can trust each other.
Eteri would never raise a hand at any of her students. But there is one exception. Her daughter Diana. She can give her an occasional spank. The unwomanly tough style of communication is her method. But what is important is that the goal is not to offend, but to motivate.
ET: “Diana, it was a good layback spin though! Come here. Diana…”
Her students have a lot of respect for her. As for men, however… Men are afraid of her. They won’t even take the risk of coming up and engaging her in conversation. Diana’s father does take part in his daughter’s life, but he was never the official husband of Diana’s mother.
ET Senior: “Men want to be cared for, you see. She has no opportunity to care for someone. To become such a coach, one has to give oneself fully to this. Without reservation. Give oneself totally. That’s what she’s been doing. I, too, would say to her, ‘Eteri, you still don’t have a family...’ And she would say, ‘Mom, how come I don’t have a family? I have you guys!’ I would say, ‘We won’t live forever. Besides, Diana is going to grow up one day.’”
ET: “Before I achieved a result, of course I often heard this said to me. Dad, too, was really worried that I live alone. But when I got the result, I thought it’s worth it.”
Georgi Tutberidze was a very strong healthy man. He died in an accident 4 years ago. He never saw his youngest daughter's triumph as a coach in Sochi. It’s an unhealed pain for Eteri that she could not share the joy of the victory with her father. Discipline, character, resilience – Eteri inherited all those from him.
ET: “I left the sports when I was told I’d have to be paying $100 to the choreographer. In those days, it was a lot of money. $100 per month. It would have been a monthly financial slavery. I would not have dared to declare that to my parents. I know Dad would have found the money. He surely would have.”
ET Senior: “My sweet girl! How was your training?”
Diana: “It was okay. How are you?”
ET Senior: “Was it okay? Did you do jumps?”
Diana: “Yes.”
ET: “Let me give a hug to Grandma.”
Mom and daughter – the closer circle that she carefully protects and doesn’t let anyone into. Here, there is all her life. And here she is totally different. The authoritative snow queen whom nothing can force to relent on the ice – be it a defeat or students’ betrayal – when she speaks of her loved ones, she becomes very gentle, real. Probably because the happiness and wellbeing of her loved ones fully depend on her alone.
“Do you often see your mother?”
ET: “No, not as often now.”
“Which of you complains more often and to whom?”
ET: “I don’t complain at all. Why would I make her unnecessarily worried? I’m doing fine.”
“Are you doing fine?”
[ET sighs and nods]
ET: “Mommy, you have so many flowers here! See how everybody loves you!”
ET Senior: “You said it! Yes, yes…”
The daughter is being a little sly. In reality, the flowers are hers.
ET: “They gave them to me for my birthday. I brought them all here from the skating-rink. Well, not all of them. I left part of them at the rink – in the coaches’ room and in the hall.”
Diana: “Here is my collection. I’ve been collecting these for around 7 years. Some things are gifts, others were brought by Mom, some others I found them myself.”
Everything in this house is about figure skating. The daughter’s special pride is the skate earrings which her mom brought as a gift from an important competition. But Diana doesn’t wear them. She keeps them. Another rare thing is a present from the head of the Olympic Committee. All of the winter sports in miniature.
ET: “These are handmade. They were made only for the winners. Only for the athletes. For some reason, they gave me a set, too.”
Now, this thing is unique and was received from the President [Vladimir Putin] in person.
ET: “As they are manufacturing an Olympic medal, they cut out the middle, and this thing here is what is left over. For myself, I regard this even more valuable than the Olympic medal. And it’s heavy. Just as heavy as heavily it is obtained. … For the athlete it’s about hard work and result, and for the coach it’s about responsibility both to the nation and to the athlete. … And this is an order called ‘For Merit to the Fatherland,’ 4th degree.”
ET Senior: “This order is so beautiful.”
ET: “Let me feel how you’re hurting inside. … Your arm keeps staying too straight. After you do this and then roll away - ta-da-da-da - as you make this first arm movement, make it more tender. … Do the last spin for me please. Entrance. Pull it. Don’t lift your shoulders. Stretch your fingers out longer, longer.”
Evgenia Medvedeva did not lose at any of the important starts this year. But for them, the Grand Prix Finals, the European Championship, and actually even the World Championship are only one step of the many. Because the main tournament is still ahead. There are less than two years to go till the next Winter Olympics in South Korea. Neither Evgenia Medvedeva nor her coach are trying to make guesses about that future. Zhenya still has to go through that period of all-at-once maturation which is hard for any female skater. Both are aware that there may be difficulties. In fact, Tutberidze is always careful talking about the future and likes to repeat, “We don’t know what awaits us tomorrow.” In March 2016, another two talented athletes suddenly left her group. But the coach is confident about her future relationship with Zhenya. Whatever is going on around them, Eteri Tutberidze and Evgenia Medvedeva know that they can rely on each other, that they can trust each other.
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2011
This actually is REALLY interesting and I'd highly recommend people watch it, but like others have kind of hinted/said, I think it actually shows more about Etri than about Evgenia, at least in terms of what I think are the interesting bits. Very fascinating watch.
Yeah, they preach and practice 'tough love' concept over there in Russia. There is no second place at any given training day, there is only one winner and the rest of the pack.
honestly her tough love stance reminds me of my mom lol XD
It's like a bona fide Tiger mom. They will yell at you, spank you, don't give out praises or hugs easily - and instead show their love through how much they sacrifice to provide for you as much as they can to ensure you will be successful later in life.
Finally got a chance to watch. Eteri has always come off kinda scary to me, but maybe that is just a facade. I don't know. I thought it was funny when Medvedeva says that the hockey boys are convinced Eteri beats the girls. Whatever she is doing certainly seems to have worked for Medvedeva and they seem to have a close enough relationship that has produced results. I would not make a good skating mom because I don't know about this business of dragging the girl across the ice. Sounds like it lit a fire in Medvedeva though and made her work harder. Was kinda surprised that Eteri talked about the end of her relationship with Yulia. Was this the first time that either of them addressed it? I would be curious what Yulia's version is.
I felt bad for Eteri's daughter. I did not realize she was hearing impaired. Eteri seems kinda like she can be demanding even as a mom. I get tough love and all, but Diana did not seem happy. She is 13 so maybe it's just a difficult period for the young girl. It was an interesting watch.
All in all it did soften me on her a bit. I guess weak people don't succeed, particularly in sport.
I felt bad for Eteri's daughter. I did not realize she was hearing impaired. Eteri seems kinda like she can be demanding even as a mom. I get tough love and all, but Diana did not seem happy. She is 13 so maybe it's just a difficult period for the young girl. It was an interesting watch.
All in all it did soften me on her a bit. I guess weak people don't succeed, particularly in sport.
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2011
I was a bit bothered by the dragging thing too, but at the end of the day it's clear that Evgenia wasn't hurt, that she also wasn't bothered by it and in fact finds it really funny, and that it actually worked. Etri did also say she wouldn't have done it to another student but knew specifically it would motivate Evgenia, so I sort of ended up thinking it wasn't actually a bad thing, though like you if I was a skating mom I would be like OMG get my kid out of there...
Julia has thanked Etri for the collaboration and wished her well but so far that's all.
It was the second time, there was an interview few months ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrr0on0nh7c&nohtml5=False
Yulia version is she thanked Eteri because she was her coach for so many years... at Cup of Tyrol or Russian Cup she said also she needed a coach more interested in her training, Eteri was so busy.
My point of view (based on Yulia, Ilya and Eteri statements): Eteri is a great coach with her pupils, but she didn't pay enough attentions to other skaters from her group (Yulia and Voronov this season, Moris Kvitelashvili,...). Also i remember Yulia started to feel left out when she asked a music change for the long program, and Eteri is that type of coach who decide the program (she choreographed also some of these programs) for you according to your potential and your music tastes because she knows what to do in order to reach the top.
In fact Yulia's FP, before Urmanov adjustements, was very flat and boring.
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