- Joined
- Feb 10, 2018
I don’t dispute anything you have said. I will reiterate my previous comment. MOST coaches will not train two athletes who are in direct competition with one another and if they do they will likely not be from the same country. Most famous coaches will have one MAIN athlete in each division and will aim not to disrupt this by accepting others at their level. What happens when juniors come up through the ranks is all up to fate and they themselves may make the decision to switch coaches or in the Eteri example where we can see this example under a microscope the senior skater will eventually leave to find their new spot as the main athlete in that division for another coach. I’m not sharing an opinion here I’m just saying what happens in this sport. The exception being TT having Anna and Alena in direct competition, but how long that will last nobody knows.
So, when either of them leaves, their choice won't be Orser or Plushenko? I'm really relieved.

Now seriously, Rika and Satoko have the same coach,
I see more pairs and ice dancers on the podium or close to it of the last worlds championships having the same team of coaches, chinese pairs, Papadakis/Cizeron and Hubbel/Donohue. And to be honest, Orser also doesn't have just Hanyu in men. Yes, he is the No. 1, though I'm not sure what Brown or Cha Jun-hwan would say on being shifted to some unimportant background. They definitely wanna do the best and wanna being placed as high as possible.
Also, there is not the unlimited supply of the top coaches (or rinks) for every single highly skilled and highly ambitious skater. That's only in movies that the main skater/pair has all the ice only for himself (and I heard many skaters making fun of this film cliché
). And it is only logical that a coach will make an effort of having as much top skaters as possible.



