Tatiana Volosozhar & Maxim Trankov

[kinoriH]

Interesting thing he told about quad throw - that it's much easily to learn when triple throws aren't hight and distant, like DR or KS has (about 3FTh of DR he sain several times something like "Erik just doesn't prevent Megan to jump - I almost don't see a difference between her throws and jumps"). And these teams do quad throws from extremely slow entrance - so it interups program. And those teams who do triple throws like for half of rink, work on quads rarely or don't work at all because in this technique quads are extremely dangerous, much more dangerouse than for pairs with small throws.

THIS.

THIS.

THIS.

Seriously. I don't get why ppl praise D/R that much. yeah they do lutz and a quad throw but even those elements aren't pretty to look at done by them.

 

[cl2]

CBC interview with Meghan quoted some nasty personal attacks Trankov made against her. I couldn't infer from the article the origin of his comments. Anyone knows?

"And they're like…she has no flexibility and she's so stiff and they don't show any emotion at all," Duhamel told CBC News in a sit-down interview.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/figureskating/meagan-duhamel-eric-radford-get-final-laugh-on-their-critics-1.3017166

 

[aetos]

CBC interview with Meghan quoted some nasty personal attacks Trankov made against her.

Is it clear from the article that the words quoted by you were said by Trankov? I don't think so. He criticized their skating but not Meagan's personal features.

 

[sweety_doe]

I've never particularly liked Meagan but after reading this interview I like her even less.
Maxim was asked to comment the WCh, and that's exactly what he dit, he gave his professionnal opinion of their skating, nothing more. She's the one making it personnal in this interview.
And as far as I'm concerned, I couldn't agree more with what Maxim said. D/R skating is technically very good but not pleasing at all to see, I don't feel anything when I see them. Honestly this year I was bored watching WCh apart from P/T and K/S for instance.

 

[FSGMT]

He told a lot what he doesn't like in pair skating now. Many times when he commented WCh he told that he doesn't like that many pairs work much more on jump elements (jumps and throws) but not on pair elements (lifts and parallel spins - he thinks many mistakes on these elements are because pairs just don't spent enought time working on it). Also he told a lot about many pairs prefer to do something like standard lifts which is enought for level 4 than to create some new lifts (it takes a lot of time and doesn't give points). Also he said a lot about he thinks that pair skating is about skating in synch, using holds (not just hand-to-hand as many do) and so on, with good lines and it also takes a lot of time. He said he see that most of pairs prefer to work not on that but on quads. So, he tolked mostly not about technique but about skating. (And he told a lot of good things about P/T skating - something like "this is WHAT real pair skating is", "it's a pity this kind of skating is disappearing").
Interesting thing he told about quad throw - that it's much easily to learn when triple throws aren't hight and distant, like DR or KS has (about 3FTh of DR he sain several times something like "Erik just doesn't prevent Megan to jump - I almost don't see a difference between her throws and jumps"). And these teams do quad throws from extremely slow entrance - so it interups program. And those teams who do triple throws like for half of rink, work on quads rarely or don't work at all because in this technique quads are extremely dangerous, much more dangerouse than for pairs with small throws ( here he mentioned chinese pairs - girls often get injuries working on quads and most of pairs stopped trying quads after that). And he said that is the reason why he will never throw Tanya for quad - because it's too dangerous to do in their technique.

Well, I can agree with some of these things but... did he watch Sui/Han's first lift in the FS? And it's not just about the Canadians (even if I like them a lot, there are many things in their skating that could be improved), all of the Chinese couples (I include Yu/Jin) have beautiful programs and choreographies and they're all "young" couples (even Peng/Zhang, yes, since she's only 17 and they are not really experienced as a couple), so their artistic level for their age is simply wonderful! And then of course there were the mature and experienced K/S and P/T. Pair skating is not about jumping, yes, but let's not forget that it is not just pure skating, go and watch Ice Dancing if you want that! I'd say that this past WC was one of the best in recent years in terms of completeness: we had both the technical and the artistic side, better than most of the previous championships. His opinion was simply the one of a competitor criticizing the most dangerous of his fellow competitors, I'm afraid (even if, again, he did say some true things) But, ok, this is a Fan Fest thread, so sorry for bringing negative things here

 

[eli60056]

Well, I can agree with some of these things but... did he watch Sui/Han's first lift in the FS? And it's not just about the Canadians (even if I like them a lot, there are many things in their skating that could be improved), all of the Chinese couples (I include Yu/Jin) have beautiful programs and choreographies and they're all "young" couples (even Peng/Zhang, yes, since she's only 17 and they are not really experienced as a couple), so their artistic level for their age is simply wonderful! And then of course there were the mature and experienced K/S and P/T. Pair skating is not about jumping, yes, but let's not forget that it is not just pure skating, go and watch Ice Dancing if you want that! I'd say that this past WC was one of the best in recent years in terms of completeness: we had both the technical and the artistic side, better than most of the previous championships. His opinion was simply the one of a competitor criticizing the most dangerous of his fellow competitors, I'm afraid (even if, again, he did say some true things) But, ok, this is a Fan Fest thread, so sorry for bringing negative things here

As someone who had listened to/read all interviews and commentaries of Maxim Trankov that are out there, I can say for certain that as always his comments are not taken within the bigger context in this case. I assure you he did not sound the least bit concerned about his own prospects as a competitor to D/R. In fact he said that seeing the direction pair skating is taking, it makes him even more motivated to come back to compete. And why should he be worried for himself? He has won all the titles he could have wished, some of them several times over. He can happily retire tomorrow and will be assured of an excellent income for as long as he and Tatiana could skate in shows, and a place in their Sochi skating school besides. He and Tatiana could be the crown jewel of ice shows.

Anyway, he said that it is quite right that in the absence of the first two pairs from years past, namely S/S and V/T, it was the turn of the two times bronze medalists from the previous two WC to get the first place. He was not insulting D/R personalities, looks or their skating abilities. On the contrary, he said they are both very highly skilled skaters. It is the style of pair skating he was questioning, as are many on this very board. He doesn’t like the direction pair skating is taking towards difficulty. This by the way is not the only occasion he has advocated against that. He has been talking about it way before D/R were on the horizon. He has been saying this for essentially the last four years. He says that the quad throws are extremely dangerous for young girls and the way the pair skating is going, young girls will feel even more pressured to attempt it and get serious injuries. Of course we may never hear about the many children who get injured in the attempt, but it doesn’t mean there would not be any. When someone is excited about skaters pushing the technical boundaries in the sport, I wish to ask them to please take a moment to think about the blood baths we have witnessed just a few years ago on the competitions and take that into account and then see if their enthusiasm for quads is still undiminished.
Humorously in an interview 4 years ago he said that he is ready to throw any willing female partner in a quad throw immediately, except Tatiana. The technique that he and Tatiana use is for the girl to get really high, and far, for the throw. The technique of K/S for example is not such. They don’t do a huge throw, and the quad is happening very fast and closer to the ground. That still resulted in a serious injury for Kawaguti. (I have seen their quad live and well executed by K/S. It was not as impressive as the triple throw of V/T BTW.)
His other concern is that with increased technical requirements in the future, there will be even fewer competitors on the competitions due to not being able to cover the minimum requirements. He says that is the case even now. With the rules changing every year, many pairs don’t get enough time to catch up to them, which does nothing for the extension and the diversity in the sport.
And another argument against the difficulty in the jumps is that more and more pair skating resembles two strong single skaters skating parallel with no interaction with each other apart from the absolutely necessary contact. Less attention is paid to the “pairs” elements, in particular-lifts. The huge part of the training is spent on the jumps and throws and not nearly enough time on the lifts, therefore those elements suffer and in some cases could again lead to serious injuries when failed to execute on competitions.
I will not even touch on the beauty of the program suffering as a result of that, because obviously some people find more beauty in the parallel skating of D/R than in the pairs like V/T, P/T, S/S etc. That point is highly subjective.

This long post is just an attempt to shed more light on the matter from someone who understands the language and is not relying on hearsay or a loose paraphrase about what Trankov has said or not said. He, like everyone else, has strong opinions and is just as entitled to voice them, more so because the man has been in the sport practically his whole life and definitely knows what he is talking about.

 

[cl2]

Is it clear from the article that the words quoted by you were said by Trankov? I don't think so. He criticized their skating but not Meagan's personal features.

The article is not clear about anything, that's why I'm trying to ask people who know more about Trankov than I do. Big thanks to eli60056 for clarifying his stance on things.

 

[AnaBM]

I think Meagan and Eric are taking things a bit too personal. There's no need to make so much drama, obviously Maxim's comments were taken out of context and were not personal aggressions. C'mon he was commenting a competition, he was not going to say only positive things, that's ridiculous. The only ones who are looking bad here are CBC's reporters for not give the proper information .
Just like Eli60056 said, he has won everything out there, I don't think he's jealous or worried for D/R to just trash out over them. Both him and Tatiana have always been subject to criticism and don't take it that serious, all teams on the spotlight are or have been at some point: S/S, S/K, K/S... even Gordeeva and Grinkov IMO they should just try to learn from here and move on with that, is not going to be the first or last time they are going to be criticized.

 

[MaxSwagg]

Does anyone know what Max said during Pang/Tong's performances?

 

[HermioneG]

Does anyone know what Max said during Pang/Tong's performances?

He said something like This is real pair skating, this way pair skating should looks like. And he said a lot of good about their throws, espetialy about exits from them. Also he really worried about Tong's jumps because his right knee is in bad condition and he even very raraly try to do triple jump during trainings because of that - he was very happy he did all his jumps at the competition (and a bit diappointed about Pang's mistake at FS - said he waited a mistake, but not from her). He was happy that they finish their long skating together this way - good skating at home.

 

[kinoriH]

There's a new TV interview with Tanya and Max.

Seems really interesting but i don't understand word. I'd be so nice if anyone could translate the main parts at least...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKBxnYtGCIE

 

[HermioneG]

There's a new TV interview with Tanya and Max.

Seems really interesting but i don't understand word. I'd be so nice if anyone could translate the main parts at least...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKBxnYtGCIE

It's need to listened to in russian)))
Nothing about trainings or plans, and not many new things to know, but very interesting to listen to.
Tanya is a student now. About films - they like different mostly) about films about sport - films about great athlets are useful for children and youth - maybe some of them may go into sport. Again about pressure in Sochi.
What new - for the first time someone asked them about Russian/Ukrainia. relationship and how it reflect in life. They answered they try don't watch or read news and begun to watch less TV at all (prefer videos from internet), don't speak at political toppics at all, espetially with Tanya's friends from Ukraine, speaking on ohter toppics(actually a lot of people try to do this way).
Also - yes, Dexter is named after Dexter Morgan from TV serial.
Again question about food - they said generally they don't have spetial diet, first time they both had to think about it was last summer.
About alcohol Max said it's not a secret he likes beer but only not during serious preparation for competitions, mostly during vacations or just after competitions.
At the end they played a game with questions on cards. That was funny but not infirmative)

 

[kinoriH]

Thank you so much HermioneG !! <3

So funny to know that Dexter is named after a serial killer... LOL

 

[FSGMT]

As someone who had listened to/read all interviews and commentaries of Maxim Trankov that are out there, I can say for certain that as always his comments are not taken within the bigger context in this case. I assure you he did not sound the least bit concerned about his own prospects as a competitor to D/R. In fact he said that seeing the direction pair skating is taking, it makes him even more motivated to come back to compete. And why should he be worried for himself? He has won all the titles he could have wished, some of them several times over. He can happily retire tomorrow and will be assured of an excellent income for as long as he and Tatiana could skate in shows, and a place in their Sochi skating school besides. He and Tatiana could be the crown jewel of ice shows.

Anyway, he said that it is quite right that in the absence of the first two pairs from years past, namely S/S and V/T, it was the turn of the two times bronze medalists from the previous two WC to get the first place. He was not insulting D/R personalities, looks or their skating abilities. On the contrary, he said they are both very highly skilled skaters. It is the style of pair skating he was questioning, as are many on this very board. He doesn’t like the direction pair skating is taking towards difficulty. This by the way is not the only occasion he has advocated against that. He has been talking about it way before D/R were on the horizon. He has been saying this for essentially the last four years. He says that the quad throws are extremely dangerous for young girls and the way the pair skating is going, young girls will feel even more pressured to attempt it and get serious injuries. Of course we may never hear about the many children who get injured in the attempt, but it doesn’t mean there would not be any. When someone is excited about skaters pushing the technical boundaries in the sport, I wish to ask them to please take a moment to think about the blood baths we have witnessed just a few years ago on the competitions and take that into account and then see if their enthusiasm for quads is still undiminished.
Humorously in an interview 4 years ago he said that he is ready to throw any willing female partner in a quad throw immediately, except Tatiana. The technique that he and Tatiana use is for the girl to get really high, and far, for the throw. The technique of K/S for example is not such. They don’t do a huge throw, and the quad is happening very fast and closer to the ground. That still resulted in a serious injury for Kawaguti. (I have seen their quad live and well executed by K/S. It was not as impressive as the triple throw of V/T BTW.)
His other concern is that with increased technical requirements in the future, there will be even fewer competitors on the competitions due to not being able to cover the minimum requirements. He says that is the case even now. With the rules changing every year, many pairs don’t get enough time to catch up to them, which does nothing for the extension and the diversity in the sport.
And another argument against the difficulty in the jumps is that more and more pair skating resembles two strong single skaters skating parallel with no interaction with each other apart from the absolutely necessary contact. Less attention is paid to the “pairs” elements, in particular-lifts. The huge part of the training is spent on the jumps and throws and not nearly enough time on the lifts, therefore those elements suffer and in some cases could again lead to serious injuries when failed to execute on competitions.
I will not even touch on the beauty of the program suffering as a result of that, because obviously some people find more beauty in the parallel skating of D/R than in the pairs like V/T, P/T, S/S etc. That point is highly subjective.

This long post is just an attempt to shed more light on the matter from someone who understands the language and is not relying on hearsay or a loose paraphrase about what Trankov has said or not said. He, like everyone else, has strong opinions and is just as entitled to voice them, more so because the man has been in the sport practically his whole life and definitely knows what he is talking about.

Ok, thank you for explaining things in detail, I'm still convinced of some of the things I say but those are just subjective opinions; it's always good to have a "balanced" approach to what peoplesay! :agree:

 

[Sugarpova]

As someone who had listened to/read all interviews and commentaries of Maxim Trankov that are out there, I can say for certain that as always his comments are not taken within the bigger context in this case. I assure you he did not sound the least bit concerned about his own prospects as a competitor to D/R. In fact he said that seeing the direction pair skating is taking, it makes him even more motivated to come back to compete. And why should he be worried for himself? He has won all the titles he could have wished, some of them several times over. He can happily retire tomorrow and will be assured of an excellent income for as long as he and Tatiana could skate in shows, and a place in their Sochi skating school besides. He and Tatiana could be the crown jewel of ice shows.

Anyway, he said that it is quite right that in the absence of the first two pairs from years past, namely S/S and V/T, it was the turn of the two times bronze medalists from the previous two WC to get the first place. He was not insulting D/R personalities, looks or their skating abilities. On the contrary, he said they are both very highly skilled skaters. It is the style of pair skating he was questioning, as are many on this very board. He doesn’t like the direction pair skating is taking towards difficulty. This by the way is not the only occasion he has advocated against that. He has been talking about it way before D/R were on the horizon. He has been saying this for essentially the last four years. He says that the quad throws are extremely dangerous for young girls and the way the pair skating is going, young girls will feel even more pressured to attempt it and get serious injuries. Of course we may never hear about the many children who get injured in the attempt, but it doesn’t mean there would not be any. When someone is excited about skaters pushing the technical boundaries in the sport, I wish to ask them to please take a moment to think about the blood baths we have witnessed just a few years ago on the competitions and take that into account and then see if their enthusiasm for quads is still undiminished.
Humorously in an interview 4 years ago he said that he is ready to throw any willing female partner in a quad throw immediately, except Tatiana. The technique that he and Tatiana use is for the girl to get really high, and far, for the throw. The technique of K/S for example is not such. They don’t do a huge throw, and the quad is happening very fast and closer to the ground. That still resulted in a serious injury for Kawaguti. (I have seen their quad live and well executed by K/S. It was not as impressive as the triple throw of V/T BTW.)
His other concern is that with increased technical requirements in the future, there will be even fewer competitors on the competitions due to not being able to cover the minimum requirements. He says that is the case even now. With the rules changing every year, many pairs don’t get enough time to catch up to them, which does nothing for the extension and the diversity in the sport.
And another argument against the difficulty in the jumps is that more and more pair skating resembles two strong single skaters skating parallel with no interaction with each other apart from the absolutely necessary contact. Less attention is paid to the “pairs” elements, in particular-lifts. The huge part of the training is spent on the jumps and throws and not nearly enough time on the lifts, therefore those elements suffer and in some cases could again lead to serious injuries when failed to execute on competitions.
I will not even touch on the beauty of the program suffering as a result of that, because obviously some people find more beauty in the parallel skating of D/R than in the pairs like V/T, P/T, S/S etc. That point is highly subjective.

This long post is just an attempt to shed more light on the matter from someone who understands the language and is not relying on hearsay or a loose paraphrase about what Trankov has said or not said. He, like everyone else, has strong opinions and is just as entitled to voice them, more so because the man has been in the sport practically his whole life and definitely knows what he is talking about.

THIS so much!!
he really was professional in commentating imo & no matter how much I can complain about commentators commentating during the performances (ppl were criticising him & the other Eurosport commentator for doing this in WC broadcast) I really enjoyed watching comps with his insight & will brish off the haters.

D/R generally get those comments about looks/style etc etc & I get why they're frustrated but Max isnt the one who is visious or envious. He just voiced his preferences & without being rude or arrogant.:confused2: Its a shame reporters create drama & conflict where there shouldnt be any

don't speak at political toppics at all, espetially with Tanya's friends from Ukraine,

good thing she even speak to each other. All of the ppl I know completely cut ties with everyone from over there b/c of the comments they recieve from their side (even close relatives)

 

[svetik]

I just want to add a little bit to what HermioneG wrote about Tanya talking to her friends only about women's things. She and Maxim don't watch news on TV, they just change channels. They were asked, if they watch Russian version on Dancing with Stars, they said, they;re supporting Adelina Sotnikova, so they look forward of watching her dances/ Maxim was asked to do the show as well, but he refused, as he's got the best partner in the world and they would agree to do the show, if they are asked to dance together. He doesn't want to dance with anybody else, as he loves his own partner.

 

[sweety_doe]

I just want to add a little bit to what HermioneG wrote about Tanya talking to her friends only about women's things. She and Maxim don't watch news on TV, they just change channels. They were asked, if they watch Russian version on Dancing with Stars, they said, they;re supporting Adelina Sotnikova, so they look forward of watching her dances/ Maxim was asked to do the show as well, but he refused, as he's got the best partner in the world and they would agree to do the show, if they are asked to dance together. He doesn't want to dance with anybody else, as he loves his own partner.

Be still my heart!
Maxim is just a sweetheart and a gentleman, at least with Tatiana. He is so devoted to her in or outside the skating rink. It's very nice to see.

 

[Sandpiper]

A big thank you to the Russian speakers for translating Trankov's words. In context, he simply sounds like an expert giving his opinion. Even though I don't personally agree with everything he said (level of skating was low, it's wrong for pairs to move in the direction of high difficulty), he has the right to voice it.

What he says about the technique on throws is very, very interesting. The great Shen/Zhao never got the throw 4S, despite working very hard and having such an amazing throw 3S. Zhang/Zhang's throw 4S at Nationals is often cited as the best of its kind, but they went and had such a horrific fall at the Olympics. :no: S/H's throw quad was almost always two-footed, despite looking far better in the air than any throw 4S we saw at Worlds this year.

D/R (and K/S for that matter) don't really have impressive triple throws, yet they handle the throw 4S with comparative success. Both teams slow down noticeably when they approach the quad, instead of speeding up like S/H used to. I do want the sport to move forward and hope that someday, training/technique/skates could progress to a point where we get impressive-looking quad throws with consistency and less injury. But so far, the facts seem to line up with what Trankov is saying--to do 4S, there is ironically a trade-off in the height, distance, and wow factor of the throw.

 

[MaxSwagg]

Tatiana posted a video on her instagram of them doing a reverse lasso lift (and with one hand).

https://instagram.com/p/1EVtruj_gZ/?taken-by=fire_bird

 

[kinoriH]

Tatiana posted a video on her instagram of them doing a reverse lasso lift (and with one hand).

https://instagram.com/p/1EVtruj_gZ/?taken-by=fire_bird

this is acrually a level 4 lift and I'm soo glad they haven't forgotten their elements.
Their SBS triple toes at AOI were spot on and also the throw triple loop.

Now all they have to work on is the twist! *prays*