Yulia Lipnitskaya

[Alba]

As for the jumps, is it true that her jumps have deteriorated this year, and prior to that they have been acceptable? In other words, is jump quality a symptom of her anxiety?

Nothing has changed in that aspect, IMO, except that she is falling in competition.
She is doing jumps in practice and then bad at competition. She is doing jumps in the SP and then bad in the L, particularly in the second half of the LP. It is the anxiety and nerves causing that, and her physical form looked poor too. So maybe her conditioning caused the anxiety and she entered into a vicious circle.

 

[laybackspinster]

Hi fellow GSers,
Here's my translation of the interview with Ilya - can read/understand it relatively well, I think. Native speakers, feel free to correct any mistake.

Ilya Averbukh, choreographer and artistic consultant of Julia Lipnitskaya, very surprised to hear talk of the skater’s split from Eteri Tutberidze, agreed to speak with us about what might have happened and what may become of the situation.

Ilya, the figure skating federation calls this story about the split “rumors and speculations.” What is your opinion?
-I, in turn, got this impression from the press. Therefore I can’t confirm or deny anything. But in general, if it turns out to be the truth, then it wouldn’t be anything extraordinary or unbelievable. When a season doesn’t work out, skaters most often place the blame on their coach. Even Julia and Eteri already had this experience. Not just this unfortunate season, but in the season before. I remember that Eteri called me and said these words: “Julia and I are having difficulties in our relationship, she is getting ready to leave – please help me out with some good programs.” I tried, and it worked (author’s note: refers to the Olympic season programs “You Don’t Give Up on Love” and “Schindler’s List,” which, without exaggeration, won over the whole world). It worked out in great part thanks to Eteri – she is a very gifted person, fanatic about what she does, and it’s no accident that Eteri developed such a strong group.

You must be thinking that Eteri Tutberidze would not suffer from this separation. But as for Lipnitskaya…
-Probably not- for what reason? A coaching change often acts as a great stimulus. Moreover, maybe it will be the better way in this situation. Everything depends on whom they will go to personally. Here, like in a family, when people close to each other cannot and do not want to listen to each other…they must to stay and cross out the past, start anew from a new leaf – that, or the coach, already tired of knocking against a concrete wall, will give her strength, time, and attention to other pupils. Those who want to listen to her. And Eteri Tutberidze has many good students. There’s Adian Pitkeev, Sergei Voronov, both medalists at the Russian Championships, both preparing for Europeans. Evgenia Medvedeva – an amazing girl, who’ll be an international star in no time.

Theoretically, to whom could Julia go?
-I can’t imagine. Julia is very serious in training, she dedicates herself to the fullest, needs full attention. But who could give her this? Besides Nikolai Morozov, who is totally free at the moment and is happily taking a break from figure skating, I don’t see any other options. Who could take upon himself a task of such scale…

Why of such scale – from expectations?
-Above all, the amount of work. Work on skating skills. Julia is a terrific athlete, she has unique spins, she can jump difficult combinations, but besides that there is a lot of work to be done. Yulia is a delicate girl, she doesn’t skate with power, she lacks high, flying jumps. Work needs to be done on her stroking, connecting steps, footwork. It’s difficult, repellent work which takes a lot of devotion, and results don’t come right away. Julia herself doesn’t really enjoy grunt work, but looking to the future, it’s of utmost importance. But of course there are also the expectations. It won’t look good if Lipnitskaya takes third or fourth place anywhere with her new coach. Everyone around will expect achievements that correspond with her status, name and reputation.

So besides Morozov, you don’t see any coaches for Lipnitskaya. Can it be an American? Rafael Arutunian?
-He’s a good coach, and was once coaching Sasha Abt, but he was never able to make a champion before.

What do you think could spark the split between Lipnitskaya and Tutberidze? Could it be just ordinary fatigue, and Lipnitskaya needed to cut the season short?
-She had half a month of full rest. The fact that she had trouble regaining her form – definitely was not the coach’s fault. It was Julia’s doing. Ladies’ figure skating is that way – ups and downs. One day - “I can do everything!” – the next, “Nothing is working.” So no big catastrophe happened, really, no tragedy. Not for Julia Lipnitskaya, nor for Eteri Tutberidze. If they cannot work with each other anywhere, let it be such that they express gratitude to each other and go their separate ways. Being thankful for what was. They already traveled a great journey.

 

[cruzceleste]

^Thank you for the translation.

I don´t see anything wrong with the way he spoke.

He talks very well of Julia, while still pointing out important things she needs to improeve, in her skater and what a new coach will need to provide.

 

[sjid]

Nothing has changed in that aspect, IMO, except that she is falling in competition.
She is doing jumps in practice and then bad at competition. She is doing jumps in the SP and then bad in the L, particularly in the second half of the LP. It is the anxiety and nerves causing that, and her physical form looked poor too. So maybe her conditioning caused the anxiety and she entered into a vicious circle.

thanks, Alba. My thinking was based on that assumption, but I wanted to be sure. "Maybe' is the problem. Yulia doesn't know what is causing this. Sshe can only say, I am afraid. Certainly it is a vicious circle. It is not logical that Eteri is the problem. Quite the contrary. But it seems Eteri will take the fall. That is why I am most concerned for the next turn of the circle.

 

[Alba]

thanks, Alba. My thinking was based on that assumption, but I wanted to be sure. "Maybe' is the problem. Yulia doesn't know what is causing this. Sshe can only say, I am afraid. Certainly it is a vicious circle. It is not logical that Eteri is the problem. Quite the contrary. But it seems Eteri will take the fall. That is why I am most concerned for the next turn of the circle.

Someone on FSU made a comment about this, and I do agree with it. Among other things the user wrote:

"She had an interesting comment after GPF... that she wasn't surprised she made mistakes, but she was expecting to make them in the second half of the program, so she was really shocked to fall on the first double axel (though she did manage a 2ax-3t-2t in the second half of the program)... I thought that was funny/cute, that she thought she would be able to predict exactly where she would make the mistakes. It doesn't work like that.

But it tells me that she knows she's not in shape but that she can do all the jumps."

 

[sjid]

^Thank you for the translation.

I don´t see anything wrong with the way he spoke.

He talks very well of Julia, while still pointing out important things she needs to improeve, in her skater and what a new coach will need to provide.

Here are a few things I see wrong with his attitude.

1. He does not mention the utter confusion over music selection and his refusal to help when desperately needed (Mulan). With the right music this season would have been different.

2. He saved the program, he saved the team, so he says. Problems were all Yulia's temperamental fault. This isn't true, and why does he parade this fabrication in public? It would show no class even if it were true. It seems he does not like Yulia and wants to undermine her. She tells us over and over about press upsetting her, then this. As a part of her team he must know this. Very sensitive man.

3. Yulia lacks this, lacks that, she just has so much to work on. Is this the same Yulia that was first in the Olympics team event, you know, before they started messing with her mind? I'd like to hear him answer.

4. Eteri has tried, but Yulia doesn't listen, she is the rebellious child in the family, she wants Eteri for herself. Has he forgotten that they spent years together, that they speak about each other only with affection, that Eteri has devoted herself out of love and not obligation?

5. No big deal if Eteri and Yulia can't work together anymore. Clearly it is a huge deal nd it could get much bigger. This is his attitude as a coach or team member. No big deal if it doesn't work out. He shifts blame for his failures onto Yulia. This Hollywood cookie-cutter mentality is the opposite of Yulia's sensitive, creative personality. You can be sure he is out of touch with her mental anguish, which he doesn't mention despite it being the biggest deal of all.

6. She doesn't like the grunt work. Now that's unusual. Kindly name someone who does. Yulia is famous for her work ethic, others in Eteri's group say that she inspires them to keep working.

Reading this makes me very angry. I can't imagine anyone less suited to work with Yulia. He wasn't a mistake, he was and still is a curse.

 

[Sandpiper]

Thanks, laybackspinster. With the full translation, Averbukh does sound a bit more reasonable--about Yulia, at least (not sure about the parts on Raphael Arutunian or Morozov ). I don't agree with him on connecting footwork... I think Yulia does that quite well, or at least did last season before her slump.

Any chance Yulia could do Mulan next season? (we need a pleading/puppy eyes icon!)

 

[Alba]

^ That's exactly what I don't like in that interview either sidj. :thumbsup:

She doesn't like the grunt work. Now that's unusual. Kindly name someone who does.

Yeah. It's like saying musicians love studying scales, arpeggios and etudes. :hopelessness:

But I'm glad to hear that without working on it she has those SS. Imagine if she worked on it. She will become better than Chan.

 

[cruzceleste]

1. He does not mention the utter confusion over music selection and his refusal to help when desperately needed (Mulan). With the right music this season would have been different.

Well he is a professional, if he doesn´t want to work with a skater is his prerogative

2. He saved the program, he saved the team, so he says. Problems were all Yulia's temperamental fault. This isn't true, and why does he parade this fabrication in public? It would show no class even if it were true. It seems he does not like Yulia and wants to undermine her. She tells us over and over about press upsetting her, then this. As a part of her team he must know this. Very sensitive man.

Well it seem like his loyalty is with the coach. I don´t think he is describing Julia as you said, he simply made it clear that Julia has thought before of leaving her coach, so it doesn´t surprise him now. He actually speaks very highly og Julia as a sportwoman who is very dedicated as such needs a coach that can give her a lot of time, ans since Eteri has a lot of good skaters can fired none of them.

3. Yulia lacks this, lacks that, she just has so much to work on. Is this the same Yulia that was first in the Olympics team event, you know, before they started messing with her mind? I'd like to hear him answer.

He doesn´t say that Julia lacks something. He describe her as what she is a small skater with little jumps. He saids that Julia needs to work on things, and all great skaters have areas to improve, Julia is not the exception.

4. Eteri has tried, but Yulia doesn't listen, she is the rebellious child in the family, she wants Eteri for herself. Has he forgotten that they spent years together, that they speak about each other only with affection, that Eteri has devoted herself out of love and not obligation?

Well we don´t know, and we only know Julia´s public persona, not how she acts toward her coach. And it doesn´t take much time for a relationship to go sour.

5. No big deal if Eteri and Yulia can't work together anymore. Clearly it is a huge deal nd it could get much bigger. This is his attitude as a coach or team member. No big deal if it doesn't work out. He shifts blame for his failures onto Yulia

I don´t see him blaming her. He saids that sometimes is good for a skater to change coach. No drama here.

6. She doesn't like the grunt work. Now that's unusual. Kindly name someone who does. Yulia is famous for her work ethic, others in Eteri's group say that she inspires them to keep working.

But hw also describe her as a dedicated skater.

I think Julia is a great skater, but putting her in a pedestal isn´t gonna help her. And treating her like a glass doll who can be criticized won´t made her any good. If

I see no drama here, skaters change coach all the time. And if Ilya Averbukh doens´t want to work with Julia anymore is his right.

 

[sjid]

^ That's exactly what I don't like in that interview either sidj. :thumbsup:



Yeah. It's like saying musicians love studying scales, arpeggios and etudes. :hopelessness:

But I'm glad to hear that without working on it she has those SS. Imagine if she worked on it. She will become better than Chan.

You know, Alba, Nietzsche said that making a mistake is bad enough, but the worst thing is that other mistakes follow because of it. He was also clever about confusing cause and effect. This is really getting scary. I hope Yulia's family is protecting her now. If this idiot blabbermouth team member and others like him don't shut up, they will do some real harm. I can only hope that Eteri and Yulia stay together in their small decent world. I can't believe this, imagine being Yulia.

 

[Alba]

Well he is a professional, if he doesn´t want to work with a skater is his prerogative

From what we know it didn't went that way. He was supposed to do the program, but he didn't have time since he was busy with his show.

Well it seem like his loyalty is with the coach. I don´t think he is describing Julia as you said, he simply made it clear that Julia has thought before of leaving her coach, so it doesn´t surprise him now.

Actually here he is telling a lie. That or Eteri and Yulia both lied, because the story they told to the whole world was completely different.

He doesn´t say that Julia lacks something. He describe her as what she is a small skater with little jumps. He saids that Julia needs to work on things, and all great skaters have areas to improve, Julia is not the exception.

Without even entering into a discussion whether he's right or not. I find the timing and the way it's done, through an interview with the media, completely wrong to speak about these issues.
I've never heard choreographers speaking about "their" skaters faults, and deficiencies in the public and with the media. I might've missed them.

I think Julia is a great skater, but putting her in a pedestal isn´t gonna help her. And treating her like a glass doll who can be criticized won´t made her any good.

Yeah. I forgot that the best way to help a skater, in crisis, with whom you work as her/his choreo is speaking about her problems with the media. Right. :sarcasm: I'm sorry, but in my book it's called opportunism.

And if Ilya Averbukh doens´t want to work with Julia anymore is his right.

Fair enough. A pro would make that clear, to their "client" first. But he is not saying that, is he?

 

[sjid]

I see no drama here, skaters change coach all the time. And if Ilya Averbukh doens´t want to work with Julia anymore is his right.

So Ilya doesn't want to work with her? I thought it was Eteri who everyone is getting hysterical about without a shred of fact. Did I miss something? Now Yulia is alone, no Ilya, no Eter. Maybe this has gone too far.

You're needed, Sam. Find us a good video.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

I wonder how good Yulia's SS were during last summer's ice shows. I'm sure he gave the fans a discount or something

While I'm not sure he was particularly mean or unfair to Yulia....I don't like some of his comments about the team in general and its clear to me that he lacks the ability to connect with a skater who is as unique as Yulia. Going forward I hope she's done with him. His loyalty isn't with her.

 

[cruzceleste]

So Ilya doesn't want to work with her? I thought it was Eteri who everyone is getting hysterical about without a shred of fact. Did I miss something? Now Yulia is alone, no Ilya, no Eter. Maybe this has gone too far.

You're needed, Sam. Find us a good video.

Hey you are the one mad because the guy wouldn´t help Julia with Mulan.

And cut the drama, I´m sure Julia has a lot of people behind her.

 

[cruzceleste]

From what we know it didn't went that way. He was supposed to do the program, but he didn't have time since he was busy with his show.

Actually here he is telling a lie. That or Eteri and Yulia both lied, because the story they told to the whole world was completely different.

Without even entering into a discussion whether he's right or not. I find the timing and the way it's done, through an interview with the media, completely wrong to speak about these issues.

I've never heard choreographers speaking about "their" skaters faults, and deficiencies in the public and with the media. I might've missed them.

Yeah. I forgot that the best way to help a skater, in crisis, with whom you work as her/his choreo is speaking about her problems with the media. Right. :sarcasm: I'm sorry, but in my book it's called opportunism.

Fair enough. A pro would make that clear, to their "client" first. But he is not saying that, is he?

1. Again if the guy doesn´t have time, don´t want to is his right.
2.Actually a lot of choreographers and coach do. Tracy Wilson spoke about Yuzuru need it to improeve in SS and interpretation. Also Borser has said that Yuzuru needs to increase his stamina and they didn´t have time to adress the issue before Sochi. I don´t see drama over those comments.
3. He has no obligation to help Julia. He was asked and he talked, not the first time that a person speaks about the problem a sportman/woman is having.

 

[Amei]

Hi fellow GSers,
Here's my translation of the interview with Ilya - can read/understand it relatively well, I think. Native speakers, feel free to correct any mistake.

So besides Morozov, you don’t see any coaches for Lipnitskaya. Can it be an American? Rafael Arutunian?
-He’s a good coach, and was once coaching Sasha Abt, but he was never able to make a champion before..

Didn't Morozov coach shizuka arakawa and Miki Ando to world championships and olympic gold?

 

[shiroKJ]

Didn't Morozov coach shizuka arakawa and Miki Ando to world championships and olympic gold?

I think he was talking about Rafael since he was the one who coach Sasha.

 

[Alba]

1. Again if the guy doesn´t have time, don´t want to is his right.

I don't know if you don't understand something here, or just being stubborn.
No, someone who is supposed to prepare a choreo for you and is engaged should do that. It's not a favor, you are getting paid for it. By the way neither Yulia, or Eteri, accused him of anything. Yulia wanted him and waited for him. Thar was a risk she wanted to take, instead of finding another choreo.

2.Actually a lot of choreographers and coach do. Tracy Wilson spoke about Yuzuru need it to improeve in SS and interpretation. Also Borser has said that Yuzuru needs to increase his stamina and they didn´t have time to adress the issue before Sochi. I don´t see drama over those comments.
3. He has no obligation to help Julia. He was asked and he talked, not the first time that a person speaks about the problem a sportman/woman is having.

I agree. I do not see a drama, or obligations, and I never spoke about obligations or drama.
I spoke about bad timing, bad taste and opportunism! And none of those you mentioned did that.

Obviously we have different views on this, so we can agree to disagree. Not worth to go on in endless discussion about Averbukh.

 

[Meoima]

Oh my God what have I just missed! At this point I still don't think Eteri has done something terrible to Yulia, but yeah she has too many young and dedicated students to care for. I do think Yulia need more attention from the coach. But Morozov?????????????? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! A million NOOOOOOOOOO!

I think Ilya's comments are very bad-timing. He is taking side it seems. I have never liked him in the first place after what he said about Plushy. Poor Yulia, I hope she will never work with him ever again.

 

[cruzceleste]

I don't know if you don't understand something here, or just being stubborn.
No, someone who is supposed to prepare a choreo for you and is engaged should do that. It's not a favor, you are getting paid for it. By the way neither Yulia, or Eteri, accused him of anything. Yulia wanted him and waited for him. Thar was a risk she wanted to take, instead of finding another choreo.

I agree. I do not see a drama, or obligations, and I never spoke about obligations or drama.
I spoke about bad timing, bad taste and opportunism! And none of those you mentioned did that.

Obviously we have different views on this, so we can agree to disagree. Not worth to go on in endless discussion about Averbukh.

Exactly, it he doesn´t want your money if his choice. People in here are like "oh he should have help Julia", o "he is abandoning her", he is a professional that get´s paid, unless he has breach contract he has no obligation whatsoever to Julia. As you said, Julia knew he was bussy, probably should have made the decision of changing choreographer.

And why is he opportunism, is he getting something from this? If he getting paid for the interview? Probably the only thing he is gaining is hate from Julia´s fans.

Look I like Julia, but I don´t see why is the news of her changing her coach so such big disaster? Unless she is going to Morozov I don´t see a problem in changing coach (unless your name is Amodio) or changing choreographer, skaters do it all the time.