2017-19 Splits & Partner Changes

[surimi]

We have another article guys! And this one is even more interesting. It's an interview with Martin.

And some things are really juicy.

Basically, Horklová and Anna's parents escalated it.

The decision about the split wasn't intermediate, it was a longer one. When did the decision in your debates appeared?
When we talked about it more after Worlds in March, there was still hope for two weeks, that we wouldn't split and we would solve it. But then we decided we wouldn't change and reach a compromise.

You felt, that if you wanted to become a better figure skater, you would have to travel more from CR, but you didn't find support for it with your partener and coach?
Yeah, I'd said it like that. I felt we were improving everytime we were abroad and wanted to stay there for longer. But Anička said she wanted to study and didn't want to study from a distance.

Additionaly, she wanted to study medicine with her skating skating carrer, but for example Tomáš Verner said this is not compatible with competitive figure skating. Did an impossible challenge arose?
Well yeah. She told me at first that I should wait for a year we would see, but then in the same sentence she says she'd like to study medicine.

How long did you together spend in Canada for training?
Around a month and a week.

How much you'd like to train there?
I wanted in to be 50/50 between CR and Canada. But I stopped trying when Anna told me she didn't want individual plan in school.

How many debates you had about it?
About three. All ended up the same.

Your coach Eva Horkolvá wanted you to stay in Czech Republic as well. I suppose you talked to her about it multiple times.
Also. She said it would be the same the next season and then we'd see.

You also told her you wanted to move out from Dušková's parents, where you loved because of easier driving to trainings. Reportedly, your wilingnes to become indepent wasn't well met.
I told Horklová at first, that one of the problems for was that I lived with her parents. But then she probably told them I had a problem with them - and they probably didn't find out my other reasons. I still wanted to talk about it with Anička. But then it escalated with her parents reaction, when they sent a letter to the Czech federation we would be splitting.

You told the same thing to the federation. There wasn't a way back?
No, it was over.

Will you remain friends with Anna?
Yeah, we are fine, we talk normally.

What did your Canadian coach Richard Gauthier, with who you are close and travelled to him for training, say about the split?
He wished me luck and said he'd try to find some partner. We could still travel to him to Canada to train with my new partner.

Is any new partner approaching?
A few girls have made an offer, we are negotiating. I have some possibilies. I'll wait if any other partner appears, I'm not decided yet.

There isn't a much of a choise in CR, could the partner be from abroad?
Probably. I think about everything, but looks more like abroad. But I still want to compete with her for CR.

Even though you wouldn't be able to compete for a year, if the partner represented a different country last season?
Yeah, I am prepared for this. If it was a good partner and we would have a future, I'd be willing to have the year break.

I'm sorry but translating interviews is not my thing, some formulations are weird but you can ask me, I tried as much as I could.

But did their coach turned on Martin behind his back and did Anna's parents annouced the split even before telling Martin? Please tell me my reading comprehention sucks!

At least Anna and Martin want to stay friends. At least something positive about this fiasco.

The Czech federation can burn in hell. I wish someone else called them out.

Btw, here's the article: https://sport.idnes.cz/rozhovor-mar...-dsb-/sporty.aspx?c=A180428_111132_sporty_tm2

Thanks for the translation (which is fine, btw, it's exactly what the text implies so unless the journalist took some liberties, it appears Anna's parents did send the fed a letter announcing the split before telling Martin). I'm sorry, I don't want to be hasty in my judgement since we have only heard one side of the story so far, but Martin's approach sounds like one of an elite skater who wants to climb to the top and whose priority is skating. As for Anna, well, from what I've heard so far, it seems her priority are her studies. That's also why I was confused about all the talk of her being 'ambitious' - perhaps it wasn't said in relation to skating then, but rather her life choices. The only bonus to going to the uni right after finishing her secondary studies would be that a) she won't forget what she's just learned at school which might make entrance exams easier, and b) if she's under 26 she doesn't have to pay for her studies (at least I think that's what the age limit used to be), so if money is an issue I'd kind of get it... but mostly not. So far she's giving me Ilinykh vibes in that it seems she doesn't have such a competitive mindset as Martin, and I hope her career doesn't end in the same way. We'll see if she can handle elite skating and her studies; after all, Nathan is about to juggle medicine and elite skating if I'm not mistaken, but if she's not willing to make compromises, I don't give her much of a chance. Add possibly meddling parents...
Oh and I'm relieved to hear Martin still wants to represent the Czech republic when he finds a new partner. It's a blow, but good luck to them.

 

[luckyguy]

I think the crucial sentence of the interview with Bidar is that he did not want to live with Anicka's family. And naturally he did not explain why.

 

[Jana]

We have another article guys! And this one is even more interesting. It's an interview with Martin.

And some things are really juicy.

Basically, Horklová and Anna's parents escalated it.

The other article said it a bit different. Martin "argued" (?) with Anna's parents and their coach Mrs Horklova. He wanted to go abroad (maybe left Mrs Horklova (?)) and Anna and Mrs Horklova don't. Please don't said that someone caused the split up. We don't know all the background. Now it seems that Anna and her family caused that, but firstly it was that Martin wants something (train abroad).

 

[Alchamei]

Thanks for the translation (which is fine, btw, it's exactly what the text implies so unless the journalist took some liberties, it appears Anna's parents did send the fed a letter announcing the split before telling Martin). I'm sorry, I don't want to be hasty in my judgement since we have only heard one side of the story so far, but Martin's approach sounds like one of an elite skater who wants to climb to the top and whose priority is skating. As for Anna, well, from what I've heard so far, it seems her priority are her studies. That's also why I was confused about all the talk of her being 'ambitious' - perhaps it wasn't said in relation to skating then, but rather her life choices. The only bonus to going to the uni right after finishing her secondary studies would be that a) she won't forget what she's just learned at school which might make entrance exams easier, and b) if she's under 26 she doesn't have to pay for her studies (at least I think that's what the age limit used to be), so if money is an issue I'd kind of get it... but mostly not. So far she's giving me Ilinykh vibes in that it seems she doesn't have such a competitive mindset as Martin, and I hope her career doesn't end in the same way. We'll see if she can handle elite skating and her studies; after all, Nathan is about to juggle medicine and elite skating if I'm not mistaken, but if she's not willing to make compromises, I don't give her much of a chance. Add possibly meddling parents...
Oh and I'm relieved to hear Martin still wants to represent the Czech republic when he finds a new partner. It's a blow, but good luck to them.

I disagree with that part. She definietly is ambitious about everything she sets her eyes on, that's the impression I got from their previous interviews. She was the one who got the leading role and kinda 'pushed' Martin foward, and when she said something, that was it. She wants to continue skating along with Uni, but I'm not sure if she can do it. There are some examples of elite athletes who studies medicine, like the the legendary Epke Zonderland. If you know him... You know he combined it 'pretty' well.

Anyway, I also thought at first that Martin was the one who inciated the split and also thought he should have waited. But know that we got more info, I'm inclining to the option that it was Anna's who iniciated the split. Or rather - her parents. From all the articles, I got the impression her parents very controled her decision and were the main part she didn't wanna go abroad. She said it herself, but she might be more open to training abroad if her parents weren't totally against it. I get the impression that they take Anna as a child and stricly control her life choises. I see people agreesing with it... But she is already 17, she in her third high scool year. She's almost an adult. Ahe should make her own decisions. I don't like how her parents interfered, and still do, to her skating carreer. I'm not saying her parents made her go to the Uni. I believe she wants it herself. But they shouldn't take her as a child and should let her more free to decide what she wants to do and mainly not get between her and skating and Martin.

Also, she is not even in her senior year. Youngsters change their opinions a lot. And it's possible she won't get accepted into the Uni, the entrance exams are ridiculously hard, the chance you get in is small. What is she is not accepted, what will happen? Will she try different studies, continue skating but in worse training conditions with potentially worse partner? And before you say that this was mainly about Martin and how he could have waited, I'd agree, had it not been for Anna's overcaring parents and his ridiculous coach and fed who didn't try to listen.

Also, concerning Martin, when I read in this interview how his coach didn't care and escalated the whole thing, how could he continue training with her when she is obviously against it? And when Martin speaks out about how they disagreed and how she behaved? Honestly, I think Martin was the weaker part in the partnership, but if he is willing to make sacrifices (and, looking at the state of Czech figure skating, he will have to) he might make it more far than Anna does. Honestly, I'd be more glad if he left CR and started competing for a different country if he finds the right partner.

Btw, are you Czech as well?

 

[Alchamei]

The other article said it a bit different. Martin "argued" (?) with Anna's parents and their coach Mrs Horklova. He wanted to go abroad (maybe left Mrs Horklova (?)) and Anna and Mrs Horklova don't. Please don't said that someone caused the split up. We don't know all the background. Now it seems that Anna and her family caused that, but firstly it was that Martin wants something (train abroad).

I said that their coach and her parents escalated it, not that they caused it. The problems between Anna and Martin were there before, it wasn't only their fault, it's possible the split would have happened anyway. However, telling behind your back only the problematic part and not more reasons (if that is true, it's not confirmed) and having her parents sending letters to federation about their split even before he knew about it, sorry, I have the right to be pissed.

 

[Jana]

There are some examples of elite athletes who studies medicine, like the the legendary Epke Zonderland. If you know him... You know he combined it 'pretty' well.

I think that there is a med student in Men's singles. But I don't know who.

 

[Alchamei]

I think that there is a med student in Men's singles. But I don't know who.

Yeah, it's Valtter Virtanen from Finland. His ISU bio says he graduated at the end of 2015 and works in a hospital in Obersdorf.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Right, so the gist of the story is that Martin wanted to train more in Canada, whereas Anna wanted to stay at home to study. And that they probably could have worked out a compromise and seen how it worked, except Anna's parents and Horklová started meddling.

I get the impression that Martin is more of an independent person, whereas Anna is a lot less so. Like, he did leave home at an early age to move from near the Austrian border to right in the middle of Bohemia to live with Anna. And now that he is an adult (don't forget that he is a year older than Anna), he wants to spread his wings further.

Personally, I was never too sure about the idea of them living together. Yes, logistically it was perfect for Martin. Just travel down the road for training rather than a 200 mile round trip. But, if you are spending absolutely all your time with somebody, it can get too much. Especially when their family are also part of the package.

And from what I have read over the past few days, the Dušeks seem to be very controlling parents, and still see their little girl as "a little girl".

This is not the kind of environment an independently minded person should be in. So, it is unsurprising that Martin was getting uncomfortabe. The problem is that he chose the wrong person to confide in. Because Horklová went straight to the Dušeks.

Whereas Martin moving out would seem a perfectly natural development to most people, I think Anna's parents took it as a personal insult. Rather than seeing it as him spreading his wings, they saw it as him being ungrateful for them looking after him for all those years. And, hence, they turned against him.

The final nail in the coffin was that Horklová also turned against him.

Personally, I do believe that Anna and Martin could have made it work for another year, and then re-evaluated based on how Anna got on with her Uni application. But, the meddling from "the adults" made it impossible to even carry on for just one more year.

With the support he has in Canada, Martin should have no problem finding a new partner.

But the more I read about this situation, the more I think we are not going to see Anna again.

Anna is definitely the stronger skater of the two (how their Singles careers went is testament to this), and she was ambitious enough to sacrifice a promising Singles career in favour of an even more promising Pairs career. But her priorities now seem to lie outside of skating. In her future "real life" career.

My concern is that I have a feeling that the paragraph I just wrote could be re-written, with all the references to Anna (apart from the first and last) being replaced by references to her parents.

It is natural for parents to want the best for their child. But, it is not healthy for them to totally take over their child's life. Especially when said child grows up.

I hope that time will show that I've got this all wrong. But I don't think it will.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Yeah, it's Valtter Virtanen from Finland. His ISU bio says he graduated at the end of 2015 and works in a hospital in Obersdorf.

The thing I found most interesting about Virtanen's ISU Bio is that the first person named in his coaching team is his wife, Alina Mayer (who, incidentally, was 7[SUP]th[/SUP] in Senior Ladies at this year's German Nationals).

Can you imagine what it is like to be coached by your other half?! Or what it is like to coach your other half?!

Imagine the arguments it could cause.

All I can say is that they must have a very strong relationship. Because this is the sort of situation that could easily rip a marriage apart.

But, as Meagan Duhamel and Bruno Marcotte have shown, it can also work out very well.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[4everchan]

this is heartbreaking...however, if she succeeds her studies and is a happy person, can we blame her? it happens all the time in my field that the most talented people choose a steadier road. sad.. but in the end, it's for the best.. let's think of it this way... if Anna becomes a doctor, how many lives will she save? if she becomes a figure skating champion, how many lives will she save?

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

this is heartbreaking...however, if she succeeds her studies and is a happy person, can we blame her? it happens all the time in my field that the most talented people choose a steadier road. sad.. but in the end, it's for the best.. let's think of it this way... if Anna becomes a doctor, how many lives will she save? if she becomes a figure skating champion, how many lives will she save?

Don't get me wrong, although I will miss this skating partnership, I have great admiration for Anna for choosing to pursue a medical career.

But, I am just concerned with the role her parents appear to have played in all of this.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[4everchan]

Don't get me wrong, although I will miss this skating partnership, I have great admiration for Anna for choosing to pursue a medical career.

But, I am just concerned with the role her parents appear to have played in all of this.

CaroLiza_fan

yup.. i get you...

 

[Spinning]

Wanting to be a doctor is hardly a impulsive decision. At least a few years in planning. I feel like it is a damage control press release right at this moment. They seems to have deep conflicts far more than they let out for people to see.

Dance or pairs are tricky disciplines involving so much sacrifice from skaters and their family. Too bad for such a beautiful and talents couples that things has come down to an end while they are on the way up. Good luck to both of them for their futures. :sad21:

 

[luckyguy]

Duskova has reportedly already found a new partner.

Together with coach Horklova the new partner has already been selected. "Soon we'll tell who it is." Dušková said mysteriously.
https://www.tyden.cz/rubriky/sport/...partnera-do-dvojice-i-na-seznamce_477772.html

 

[Jana]

Duskova has reportedly already found a new partner.

Together with coach Horklova the new partner has already been selected. "Soon we'll tell who it is." Dušková said mysteriously.
https://www.tyden.cz/rubriky/sport/...partnera-do-dvojice-i-na-seznamce_477772.html

That's nothing new. But important thing - they haven't tried to train together yet. And look at Czech singles skaters lists (both junior and senior). There is not a lot names, so we probably already named Anna's partner (Jiri Belohradsky, Petr Kotlarik, Radek Jakubka).

 

[hanca]

Right, so the gist of the story is that Martin wanted to train more in Canada, whereas Anna wanted to stay at home to study. And that they probably could have worked out a compromise and seen how it worked, except Anna's parents and Horklová started meddling.

I get the impression that Martin is more of an independent person, whereas Anna is a lot less so. Like, he did leave home at an early age to move from near the Austrian border to right in the middle of Bohemia to live with Anna. And now that he is an adult (don't forget that he is a year older than Anna), he wants to spread his wings further.

Personally, I was never too sure about the idea of them living together. Yes, logistically it was perfect for Martin. Just travel down the road for training rather than a 200 mile round trip. But, if you are spending absolutely all your time with somebody, it can get too much. Especially when their family are also part of the package.

And from what I have read over the past few days, the Dušeks seem to be very controlling parents, and still see their little girl as "a little girl".

This is not the kind of environment an independently minded person should be in. So, it is unsurprising that Martin was getting uncomfortabe. The problem is that he chose the wrong person to confide in. Because Horklová went straight to the Dušeks.

Whereas Martin moving out would seem a perfectly natural development to most people, I think Anna's parents took it as a personal insult. Rather than seeing it as him spreading his wings, they saw it as him being ungrateful for them looking after him for all those years. And, hence, they turned against him.

The final nail in the coffin was that Horklová also turned against him.

Personally, I do believe that Anna and Martin could have made it work for another year, and then re-evaluated based on how Anna got on with her Uni application. But, the meddling from "the adults" made it impossible to even carry on for just one more year.

With the support he has in Canada, Martin should have no problem finding a new partner.

But the more I read about this situation, the more I think we are not going to see Anna again.

Anna is definitely the stronger skater of the two (how their Singles careers went is testament to this), and she was ambitious enough to sacrifice a promising Singles career in favour of an even more promising Pairs career. But her priorities now seem to lie outside of skating. In her future "real life" career.

My concern is that I have a feeling that the paragraph I just wrote could be re-written, with all the references to Anna (apart from the first and last) being replaced by references to her parents.

It is natural for parents to want the best for their child. But, it is not healthy for them to totally take over their child's life. Especially when said child grows up.

I hope that time will show that I've got this all wrong. But I don't think it will.

CaroLiza_fan

Well, very nice analysis that concludes that two plus two is five.
The fact that seventeen year old girl doesn’t want to spend her last year at grammar school abroad is not a proof of her lack of idependence. While in the UK you have a lot of opportunities to get your A levels later if you messed up when you were 18, in the Czech Republic you don’t have the same opportunities. You do your maturita (equivalent of A levels ) at the age of 18 and the results will contribute to your admission or refusal to the university. Mess up and you have no chance of getting to uni. Unless you are very rich and can afford to pay for private university, but it is very expensive and the courses you could study are limited (e.g. no private university to study medicine). Dušková studies grammar school. That means that after finishing it she will not have any qualification as such. She needs to get to university unless she wants to do unqualified jobs. So your judging her for not being independent without understanding the situation with education in the Czech republic is not fair. As I see it, Martin is a bit selfish. Interesting that he didn’t choose to go abroad in his last year of school...

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Well, very nice analysis that concludes that two plus two is five.
The fact that seventeen year old girl doesn’t want to spend her last year at grammar school abroad is not a proof of her lack of idependence. While in the UK you have a lot of opportunities to get your A levels later if you messed up when you were 18, in the Czech Republic you don’t have the same opportunities. You do your maturita (equivalent of A levels ) at the age of 18 and the results will contribute to your admission or refusal to the university. Mess up and you have no chance of getting to uni. Unless you are very rich and can afford to pay for private university, but it is very expensive and the courses you could study are limited (e.g. no private university to study medicine). Dušková studies grammar school. That means that after finishing it she will not have any qualification as such. She needs to get to university unless she wants to do unqualified jobs. So your judging her for not being independent without understanding the situation with education in the Czech republic is not fair. As I see it, Martin is a bit selfish. Interesting that he didn’t choose to go abroad in his last year of school...

Whoa! I wasn't saying that Anna not wanting to go abroad meant that she wasn't independent.

What I was saying was that Martin was more independently minded than her. As evidenced first by leaving home at a young age to move to Prague, and now wanting to be based in Canada.

I actually agree that it is wise for Anna to concentrate on her studies this year. But, I think they would have been better off staying together for the coming year (even if it was on a sabbatical basis) until they knew for definite if Anna had got into Uni. And then they could make the decision of how to progress with all the factors known.

But, as I said, it appears that it was meddling from the "adults" that meant this was not possible.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[Jana]

Anna is already adult. She was born on 30 December 1999, so she is 18

Please, get more info about individual study plan at (state) grammar school. Martin is quite selfish because he ends this year and wants to go abroad. I understand Anna that she wants to study "normally".

 

[hanca]

Whoa! I wasn't saying that Anna not wanting to go abroad meant that she wasn't independent.

What I was saying was that Martin was more independently minded than her. As evidenced first by leaving home at a young age to move to Prague, and now wanting to be based in Canada.

I actually agree that it is wise for Anna to concentrate on her studies this year. But, I think they would have been better off staying together for the coming year (even if it was on a sabbatical basis) until they knew for definite if Anna had got into Uni. And then they could make the decision of how to progress with all the factors known.

But, as I said, it appears that it was meddling from the "adults" that meant this was not possible.

CaroLiza_fan

I agree that it would make more sense to stay together for another year, until they find out what uni Anna will go to, but that would mean that Martin would have to compromise. Going abroad during school holidays (e.g. whole July and August) and stay in Prague during school time. From what he is saying in interviews, it doesn’t seem he was prepared to compromise. He wanted to split the time at least half and half (Prague and abroad) which would not work for Anna’s final year at grammar school.

He also says that his decision to go abroad is supported by his brother and by Tomas Verner. Well, it didn’t worked that well for his brother to move abroad for skating.

 

[surimi]

Anna is already adult. She was born on 30 December 1999, so she is 18

Please, get more info about individual study plan at (state) grammar school. Martin is quite selfish because he ends this year and wants to go abroad. I understand Anna that she wants to study "normally".

Now it's you who seems to be jumping to conclusions. Let's take this one sentence in the interview - "First she told me to stay in the Cz with her for one more year, but then in the next sentence, she told me she wanted to study medicine." I don't think it implies he was unwilling to wait a year at all. He wouldn't have presented the two halves as contradictory otherwise. I'm inclined to think that Anna has been gradually realizing these last months that her studies are her first priority, whereas Martin has already made up his mind to concentrate on skating in the first place. But let's wait for the other side's statement, if any comes.

There are some examples of elite athletes who studies medicine, like the the legendary Epke Zonderland. If you know him... You know he combined it 'pretty' well.

Btw, are you Czech as well?

Depends on how you define 'elite' (no, I've never heard of Zonderland I'm afraid). I know of Virtanen. He's 'elite' in the sense of getting to Europeans (and Worlds? I don't recall at the moment), but not in the sense of making a big name for himself, getting into Worlds top 12, getting on the GP circuit and winning 'big' medals. So, assuming Anna's idea of 'elite' was the former, and Martin's the latter, I can see why they would be incompatible all of a sudden. I don't blame Anna for choosing her career at all, eventhough I really don't see an issue with enrolling in the uni some 4 years later (though yes, it would not be for free anymore), but what a loss for Czech FS. Once Brezina retires, there's noone to take his place, and D/B's.

And yup, I am. :handw: