Evgenia Medvedeva returns to Eteri Tutberidze

[TallyT]

I'm so unimpressed with TAT right now.

Of course, we don't have to like or be impressed with them or their doings; personally I think all three women in this penny dreadful have been... well, dreadful, but then that seems to be a plus in the shark-infested RusFed waters and I doubt anyone there would care what folk like nonRus me think even if they knew who we were.

TAT and Tut don't need fans' love. Medvedeva does as long as she's skating/wants sponsors, but she is almost certain to keep enough of it.

Elite competitors - even the most beloved and admired - and the people around them are so often way less 'nice' and 'good' that their PR says or fans want to think and that's... well, the way it is. The proof of the pudding will be in if it works and gets Med to 2022. I very much doubt it.

 

[Amei]

I totally agree. I think this thing happened BECAUSE of Test Skates. RusFed probably gave her an ultimatum, they are funding her after all. And she technically belongs to Eteri anyway funding wise, so CSKA and Buianova for example was not an option. Flanker explained it well earlier, this might just be a temporary solution. She might (and probably) will change coach again after this strange season.

But if so, if RusFed "ordered" Eteri to take Zhenya back, it is kind of an awkward situation...

She doesn't "belong" to Eteri, she has been a skater for Sambo while being coached by Orser; there are other coaches at Sambo - Anna Pogorilaya is/was technically a skater for Sambo-70 but wasn't coached by Eteri.

 

[guisadop]

?

OP said

So during the downtime of the GS forum Zhenya announced the most unexpected news that she is back to training with Eteri. What are your thoughts on this development?

Edit: Some links for more background info:
Report from Olympic Channel
Interview with Brian Orser from NBC
Eteri's Insta, comment from Eteri: "No big promises. We just work." Comment from Zhenya: "It is good when everything is good. We will work hard and it's great."

and I'm just disappointed. I didn't think this would happen in a million years.

 

[Amei]

They can force you to go to the Olympics for sure.

What's the story behind this comment?

 

[Skatesocs]

Oh the conspiracy theories regarding our transition date The date to move the forum was set in place weeks ago according to various working schedules. News wasn't going to change that

That's of course what you would say.

 

[TallyT]

Of course it's a conspiracy.... by them. TAT's been watching yoooouuuuuu........

 

[anonymoose_au]

Of course, we don't have to like or be impressed with them or their doings; personally I think all three women in this penny dreadful have been... well, dreadful, but then that seems to be a plus in the shark-infested RusFed waters and I doubt anyone there would care what folk like nonRus me think even if they knew who we were.

TAT's behaviour is definitely the worst, she is - if I may say so - a treacherous snake. She was singing Brian O's praises for the past two years, but suddenly he's not good enough? Eteri's no genius coach, but now she's the only one who can coach Med? I call BS. Clearly she enjoys having power over skaters and coaches alike!

What's especially galling to me is people were making all sorts of snide comments about Plushy having some *sekrit special* influence with the Fed, bur clearly it's TAT.

I hope one day all this manipulation blows up in her face, she deserves it!

 

[Ophelia]

Say what you want about Tarasova - I will never forget how she smacked Yagudin last year during her spat with Tutberidze and made him backtrack a thousand miles and issue a grovelling apology to her on IG .

 

[eliana]

I agree. I think this will be the easiest cup and even a watered down version , she would place at least 5th. Plus the audience would be thrilled to see her with Eteri.

I agree. I think this will be the easiest cup and even a watered down version , she would place at least 5th. Plus the audience would be thrilled to see her with Eteri.

Evgenia needs to qualify and she will, no matter if she is not prepared enough. It brings many spectators to the competition and the federation cannot afford to lose them

 

[Ophelia]

Unrelated: Did GS move to same servers as FSU? The UX and layout is the same now.

 

[yume]

TAT was throwing more than shade on Eteri these last two years. Calling her incompetent with adults. Suddenly, Eteri is the only one who can coach Medvedeva.
The level of hypocrisy in this sport, especially in Russia, is high.

 

[iluvtodd]

Wow! I didn't see this change coming!

 

[TallyT]

Wow! I didn't see this change coming!

I think had anyone seen and predicted such a thing, we would have all suggested they lie down with a cool cloth on their brow till the brain fever went away....

 

[plushyfan]

I was surprised yesterday . But I don' care about this deicision today. I just want Evgenia to see in good shape and happily.. That's all.
The
Bobrova's opinion: https://www.sports.ru/figure-skating/1089123882.html

There is more things in her words as we can we read....

 

[kolyadafan2002]

Unrelated: Did GS move to same servers as FSU? The UX and layout is the same now.

GS may or may not have moved their servers - this wasn't the big change. The big change was changing the forum software (the coding) on the servers. I would not be surprised if FSU used xenforo - it's pretty popular softwarr

 

[lappo]

Did Medvedeva find a new species of flower and named it after Eteri?
Jokes aside, Eteri has been more magnanimous than I thought or than I would have been in her place; maybe to send a message to Alena and Sasha that prodigal daughters are well accepted?

 

[Shayuki]

Did Medvedeva find a new species of flower and named it after Eteri?
Jokes aside, Eteri has been more magnanimous than I thought or than I would have been in her place; maybe to send a message to Alena and Sasha that prodigal daughters are well accepted?

Or maybe she just isn't as bad as some people would like to have you believe. Even Tsurskaya just straight up left her without proper procedure and now she's a coach for Tutberidze.

Honestly it's pretty ridiculous how people always make up explanations that make Eteri look as bad as possible.

 

[macy]

Or maybe she just isn't as bad as some people would like to have you believe. Even Tsurskaya just straight up left her without proper procedure and now she's a coach for Tutberidze.

Honestly it's pretty ridiculous how people always make up explanations that make Eteri look as bad as possible.

to be fair Eteri hasn't done herself any favors bashing students and playing the victim every time someone leaves her instead of taking the high road. i used to think a lot of Eteri until i saw this become a pattern. it's toxic behavior.

 

[[email protected]]

I think had anyone seen and predicted such a thing, we would have all suggested they lie down with a cool cloth on their brow till the brain fever went away....

The search of old messages works better with the new engine so that I bothered to browse through my posts here 2 years ago. I feel even stronger now about what I wrote back then:

"As for Medvedeva, so far everything is quite depressing for me. Hope about some miracle. That is what's left. She was a superstar - one and only. So far she is a shade of her former self. Once again, let's hope that she will make it up. Hope dies last.

Why I bother to write all this? Maybe because I used to be "Medvedeva's uber", because I enjoyed her skating, I wanted her to win OGM and I feel for her. May be because for me it's the embodiment of hypocrisy to speak now about improvements in her skating. Some people and not only fans already boasted those. Improvements? Give me a break. Her pcs show what judges think about improvements in her skating - downfall in all categories, all of them. Let's not pretend that something is there when it's not.

Some years ago on GS there was a huge wave of criticism towards Medvedeva from non-Russians mostly North Americans. There was a weekly fresh thread about her "issues". Now, suddenly non-Russians (I cannot say the same ones or not) have become very supportive when her skating has deteriorated. They find non-existing improvements, they say that she has better programs, they talk "long-term". I say, this is nonsense. No matter what the reasons are she and her programs so far are just a shadow of her former self. And judges see it giving her low scores that she never received before.

I am sure that the team's "she is on the right track" will put the blinders. No, no, no, no. She is not on the right track. Just look at her face and the face of Borser in K&C. Those are not faces of people who are on the right track. She has to ask for Eteri's forgiveness as soon as possible…."

 

[MalAssada]

While I am surprised Evgenia chose Eteri (my bet was Davydov), I expected a coaching change. I even thought about commenting it on the Test Skates thread, but figured I better not seeing as the transfer window had closed. Apparently not.

My thoughts were mainly financial: I presume Medvedeva is still paying rent wherever she lives in Toronto due to the furniture, etc. That rent can't be cheap. Orser isn't cheap either, and while I don't have any experience as a skater, I noticed a drop in quality from online lectures compared to the live thing. Besides, in skating there's the physical contact needed to correct positions.

Seeing as I am a skater fan, and not a coaching fan (I like a skater regardless of who is coaching them), I wish Medvedeva all the best. Gotta admit I'm quite curious to see how this will turn out.