I found this a very interesting interview, although I sometimes found it hard to understand Raf, and even listening closely I think I missed some things. That said, I came away with a surprisingly positive impression.
Some things that struck me:
In the past, he was very competitive (as a coach). He never expected to produce World medalists. Now that he has, his focus has shifted more to helping / giving back / making sport better.
The new Anaheim Ducks practice facility will have four rinks, and one will be completely dedicated to figure skating. He hopes to establish an academy there. His vision is that coaches will come with their skaters; he will give them new ideas and then have coaches first work with his (Raf’s) students; after that they will work with their own skaters (while still at the academy) to try to apply those techniques and discuss how it is working. He thinks that’s a better approach then just him working directly with the students without the coach being there.
He enjoyed having Kolyada there and it was fun to watch him and Nathan together. He thinks Kolyada may have picked up a few ideas. He thinks it will not be easy for Kolyada to return periodically - in Russia they don’t have as many private sponsors so it would probably be hard for him to afford.
He thinks ISU rule changes should be implemented more slowly so that coaches have time to make appropriate adjustments. I think he would like four years between adoption and implementation of new rules - for example, if they are going to heavily penalize a flutz, fixing that takes time.
Asked about the new crop of Russian girls who do quads, he basically thinks the ISU and doctors should step in and say that it’s dangerous for young skaters to pound their bodies like this because they aren’t fully developed and they can damage cartilage and growth plates and hips. He did not discuss Nathan’s injuries so I’m not sure how much that informed his opinion.
He thinks that becoming World champion has changed Nathan (positively) and that he may have learned a lesson at the Olympics about continually changing jumps at last minute. Raf wishes he could dictate but he can only suggest. He’s not sure how the long distance coaching relationship with Nathan will work - they’ll take it step by step, but he thinks Nathan is very professional / knows how to practice. They may use Skype sometimes. It sounded like at the moment Nathan isn’t interested in working with a coach near Yale.
He thinks Gracie is a beautiful girl and great jumper and can return if she really wants to but because she took a long time off it will take time for her to get back - it will not be quick.
He think Med made a great choice going to Orser - he thinks she moved because she saw in her prior coaching situation she would be getting less attention and support, that whether she can reach her goal (Olympics) is open to question but Brian is the perfect coach to encourage and support her.
He loves Hanyu, thinks he’s a wonderful jumper.
He thinks Mariah is making progress and can be competitive within the US; beyond that they’ll see what she can do.
He thinks Ashley lost motivation after winning her World medal. He misses Adam and Ashley a lot; they’re both busy now but he thinks they will eventually return to the rink and work with him. I got the impression he meant as coaches rather that they would be continuing as competitors. But I could be wrong.
Regarding Jason he had very brief comments- he thinks he can get quad, he has no problem with jumping or rotation, just needs correct information. I got the feeling Raf was being a bit diplomatic here and did not want to criticize Kori, but again, that’s just my impression.
That’s all I was able to retain! It’s definitely worth listening to.
