Big interview with Tamara Moskvina for TSL

[Ic3Rabbit]

Moskvina quite politely and firmly told Lease that everyone should just do their job. She coaches, ISU and judges decide on things like alowing Russia to compete or value of 4A, and he, Lease, if he wants to know anything about Valieva or Mishina, he should call them, not Moskvina (since he is a journalist after all). She also side-eyed Lease's habit of holding his finger to his mouth, lol. Proper behavior was a reoccurring theme in her descriptions of training when it comes to athletes.

She talked a lot about following and learning from everything in the field and adjacent sports and art, like ballet, gymnastics (all types); underscored the importance of package (music, atletics, and behavoir) and competing package vs package, not country vs country. She laughed about retirement saying that she sees no sense in retiring from doing what she loves. Said that she trains M/G about 4 hours per day on ice. That B/K are their students and their children in sport, so of course she wishes them every success and cheers for their growth. She was very complimentary about Hanyu when Lease brought up his 2 hour show, and Lease promised to send her the recording since she didn’t have ability to watch it. There was a piece of music Lease mentioned that Moskvina said she likes the idea of using and thanked him for the suggestion, Legends of Love. She also told him she is only involved with packaging and psychological aspects of Gummennik training so couldn’t really convey Lease's suggestion that Gumennik skates a program like Nureyev.

One thing I didn't know was that Moskvina did Bielman first, taking the move from artistic gymnastics and adapting it to spin; it doesn't really bother her that Bielman adopted it and it was named after her, because she was 22nd or whatever in that competition and Bielman was the winner.

Her favorite FS moves are creative variations on the existing spins and positions, rather than one specific move.

In the end she emphasized that she loves figure skating as a sport, in all countries, and good athletes everywhere. Lease asked her to say it in Russian.

In other words, she stayed firmly to her principle not to spin rumors or comment on anything that doesn't immediately concerns her, and would talk shop, but not politic or criticize anyone. I think if Lease wanted that, he should have found Tarasova or Rodnina, lol

Thank you for the summary. The things she said and refused to talk about are what I expected in this fierce, grounded woman/coach. I have always appreciated her for that, she's a wonderful person and coach.

 

[throw_triple_flip]

..

Thanks for summing up.
(I find her fascinating but I refuse to watch TSL).

 

[throw_triple_flip]

Thank you for the summary. The things she said and refused to talk about are what I expected in this fierce, grounded woman/coach. I have always appreciated her for that, she's a wonderful person and coach.

From what I've gathered from other interviews, she seems very no nonsense, doesn't she?

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

From what I've gathered from other interviews, she seems very no nonsense, doesn't she?

Yes, she is very no nonsense in her coaching and otherwise.

 

[flipsydoodle]

It was a good interview until Dave went after the child again. It's got to stop. It's a poor reflection on his character to target a child in this way for approaching two years.

Surely he understands the difference between an explanation for how something possibly happened at a hastily convened hearing with 12 hours notice versus any explanation offered after months and months of a thorough investigation.

I'm not sure what you mean by "child", but since the sport of figure skating is by the numbers largely made up of children, IMO DL has abundant scope to be discussing children as sports figures. There's no figure skating without them.

For those of us who value sport achievement on the merits, distraction from highlighting child abuse and drug-supported training methods would be unethical and an abridgment of duty for a sports reporter. For fans and enthusiasts, too, IMO.

 

[Skating91]

A child? I would not describe any 15-year-old as a child. Legally a minor and certainly not an adult, but also not a child.

I believe a 17 year old is a child, let alone a 15 year old. I hope this isn't a prevailing belief in the sport, although it would explain how normalised the bullying and cyberbullying of children has become (I'm not talking about you just in general terms). For many it has become the sport within the sport.

I will defer to the UN:
Article 1
For the purposes of the present Convention, a child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.

I will also defer to the ISU. When changing the senior age from 15 to 17 they used the following arguments:
ISU Athletes Commission member and three-time Olympic figure skating medallist Eric Radford of Canada asked the Congress: "Is a medal worth risking the health of a child or a young athlete?"

At the same ISU congress the Irish representative said the following:
"We have to remember they are children first and athletes second," Ireland's representative in Phuket said.

Edit. I'd just like to add it is a little strange in retrospect that 15 was considered appropriate for senior competition in such a demanding, complex, psychologically difficult sport. I think an argument could be made for making the cut off 18 or 19 in seniors.

Still, the 2022 women's event at the Olympics is probably the high point in drama and quality (it is unfortunate that Valieva couldn't reach her potential but I don't blame her for having a bad skate it was completely out of her control), we will never see anything as dramatic and high quality ever again. Sakamoto didn't win bronze by default either it was two of the best skates you'll watch, but Shcherbakova and Trusova were too good both at the peak of the powers and will never repeat whereas Sakamoto is still skating.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Twelve-year-olds and thirteen-year-olds have competed in figure skating. On the age limit issue, the sport has obviously gone back-and-forth quite often, historically. In any case, individual maturity is not solely tied to age. Furthermore, protections for all athletes are important.

Whatever regarding the various definitions and declarations of what constitutes 'a child' in figure skating. The ISU is hardly the best example of responsibility and judiciousness in any number of instances over the years. A lot of their after-the-fact decisions are clearly reactionary, in response to scandals that could easily have been avoided.

 

[skylark]

One of my favorite Moskvina answers was when Dave asked her to comment on the technique she teaches for jumps. It was a leading question, it seemed clear that DL agrees with the oft-expressed (among figure skating fans, but I haven't noticed it being addressed much by coaches, judges, or skaters) opinion that certain jump techniques are meant to be criticized and fixed. Tamara simply said (something like) there are 3 steps: jump, rotate, land. She emphasized the importance of "land." It did my heart good, as I think technique is just one of the tools for good skating, not an end in itself. (I'm bored of remarks about Isabeau's jump technique. They pop up obsessively in every comment page, etc.)

My other favorite part of the interview was when Dave quoted Elena Bechke as saying that Tamara disagreed with Elena/Denis' choice of The Nutcracker for the 1992 Olympic season, and wanted Tamara to comment.

Tamara said, "I don't remember." Dave looked skeptical/amazed, and she continued: "What I don't need, I forget." Then she mumbled something about why would she keep garbage in her brain.

It's one of my go-to mottos in life: "What I don't need, I forget!"

 

[skatingfan4ever]

Dave clearly loves skating, but he also loves all the BTS drama far too much for my taste. I listen occasionally for curiosity and then I think, "Why on earth did I just do that?!" He has done good interviews, but it depends on the guest and whether he cuts them off too often or has too much of an agenda.

 

[skylark]

Dave clearly loves skating, but he also loves all the BTS drama far too much for my taste. I listen occasionally for curiosity and then I think, "Why on earth did I just do that?!" He has done good interviews, but it depends on the guest and whether he cuts them off too often or has too much of an agenda.

Me too! Or I give up early. But I pretty much always find nuggets of high value in his interviews. He asks good questions. Wish he'd stick to that, and to actually providing content about figure skating, rather than the extras/tangents/rants. ETA: I also hate it when he goes on a tear to expose something that a skater wants to keep private. That itself is why I really understand why people have sworn off his shows.

I always enjoy the programs where he has knowledgeable people comment on a recent competition. Some of my favorites of his regulars are Sandra Bezic, Meagan Duhamel, and Elena Bechke. I'm sure there are more favorites that just aren't rising to the top of my mind at the moment.