2020-21 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[Amei]

I am divided on the subject. On one hand, Aliona and/or her mom broke the contract. Bad. On the other - what Plush's wife said was not generous, to put it politely. Would you expect an adult, who is licensed to train and take care of underaged athletes to say something like: "We loved to have Aliona with us. She decided to move on and we respect her decision"? Instead, it was like: "It was hard to take care of an athlete with health problems"

Well my stance for days has been that the Plushenko's/AoP are rightfully owed the money due to Kostornaia breaking their contractual agreement, they aren't necessarily handling it the best PR-wise though. And I don't know if Plushenko's wife is trained or licensed to care for athletes but I doubt she's doing any training of the athletes, my impression is that she handles the business side of things

 

[Fantik]

Well my stance for days has been that the Plushenko's/AoP are rightfully owed the money due to Kostornaia breaking their contractual agreement, they aren't necessarily handling it the best PR-wise though. And I don't know if Plushenko's wife is trained or licensed to care for athletes but I doubt she's doing any training of the athletes, my impression is that she handles the business side of things

I get it. But don't you think that it is cruel to have kept stressing Aliona's health problems, whether they truly exist or not? I realize that Russia might not have Health Privacy Rules protection laws. Nevertheless, it was not up to the bookkeeper of AoP to speak so freely of Aliona's health
Does it make sense?

 

[silveruskate]

And then to have AoP sources briefing against her as well. Plushie's first comment was all that was necessary....so close yet so far.

 

[Lechat]

I get it. But don't you think that it is cruel to have kept stressing Aliona's health problem, whether they truly exist or not? I realize that Russia might not have Health Privacy Rules protection laws. Nevertheless, it was not up to the bookkeeper of AoP to speak so freely of Aliona's health
Does it make sense?

Well Alena missed 3 events. I don´t think they chose deliberately to not make her compete since it means less money and it’s also a loss for them.

Now we will see if Alena can cope with her training or if her health is in the way.

 

[Fantik]

Well Alena missed 3 events. I don´t think they chose deliberately to not make her compete since it means less money and it’s also a loss for them.

Now we will see if Alena can cope with her training or if her health is in the way.

You don't get it, I am afraid. AoP had no moral right to publicly disclose and/or discuss Aliona's health. In many countries it would have been illegal.

 

[readernick]

You don't get it, I am afraid. AoP had no moral right to publicly disclose and/or discuss Aliona's health. In many countries it would have been illegal.

In many countries, it is illegal for a doctor or medical professional to disclose private health information. It isn't illegal for me to discuss my friend's health with others. If someone has voluntarily told you ( a non medical professional) about their health problems they can't expect privacy. It may not be classy (I don't think any of the coaches involved in this are classy on either side / except maybe Sergei D. who never says anything... Silence is Golden) but it isn't close to illegal. I am far more worried about Aliona trying to quickly regain her 3A while unhealthy than someone mentioning she isn't healthy. It was clear to everyone watching she hasn't been at peak physical condition this whole year.

About the payment, Aliona chose to leave Sambo 70 after the transfer deadline. As a result, AOP received no funding from the Russian federation for her training or expenses. As far as I understand, they have a system similar to the North American system where initial cost and training are paid for by the skater and the skater gets to keep all money earned, as opposed to the normal Russian system where the skater doesn't pay the initial costs but the coach takes a large portion of their winnings/ sponsorships. Both systems are fine and offer different benefits and risks for skaters, so it isn't immoral for Plushenko to ask Aliona to pay for the expenses/ coaching she received from his school. That is just a basic exchange of services. None of us know how much she owes but if her mom agreed to pay then she should do so... It would be generous if AoP waved that fee but it wouldn't be a good business decision.

 

[alexocfp]

“And Elizabeth Nugumanova got another gift. She became an ambassador for an official Mercedes dealer in St. Petersburg and received one of the brand's cars, the price of which is estimated at about 5.5 million rubles.”

Проект Медведевой, машина в подарок Нугумановой и ответ Губерниеву от Ягудина: что обсуждают в мире фигурного катания

Евгения Медведева стала куратором проекта, приуроченного к Международному женскому дню, а Елизавета Туктамышева выразила желание выйти на лёд под песню Ирины Аллегровой «Императрица». Алина Загитова получила картину на годовщину олимпийской победы, а Александра Трусова похвасталась новым...

russian.rt.com

That‘s a nice score.

 

[Amei]

I get it. But don't you think that it is cruel to have kept stressing Aliona's health problems, whether they truly exist or not? I realize that Russia might not have Health Privacy Rules protection laws. Nevertheless, it was not up to the bookkeeper of AoP to speak so freely of Aliona's health
Does it make sense?

You don't get it, I am afraid. AoP had no moral right to publicly disclose and/or discuss Aliona's health. In many countries it would have been illegal.

what's moral and what's legal are not one in the same. Regarding talking about a skater's health - Plushenko's wife isn't doing anything ground-breaking, there have been other skaters that left other Russian coaches and the coach came out speaking of their medical problems. Additionally in defense of what they are doing PR-wise, his school especially at the senior level is still quite new and establishing that they can get good results; Kostornaia came to them as European champ and a favorite for being World champion last year and now she couldn't even make the team and didn't look like a skater that would be able to contend for the Olympic team - I can understand why they would want to emphasize she was injured and ill with them to explain away the decline in her skating.

 

[Amei]

“And Elizabeth Nugumanova got another gift. She became an ambassador for an official Mercedes dealer in St. Petersburg and received one of the brand's cars, the price of which is estimated at about 5.5 million rubles.”

Проект Медведевой, машина в подарок Нугумановой и ответ Губерниеву от Ягудина: что обсуждают в мире фигурного катания

Евгения Медведева стала куратором проекта, приуроченного к Международному женскому дню, а Елизавета Туктамышева выразила желание выйти на лёд под песню Ирины Аллегровой «Императрица». Алина Загитова получила картину на годовщину олимпийской победы, а Александра Трусова похвасталась новым...

russian.rt.com

That‘s a nice score.

And this is probably part of the reason why Russian b-team skaters that will likely never see the light of day for significant senior international competitions don't transfer to another country.

 

[alexocfp]

And this is probably part of the reason why Russian b-team skaters that will likely never see the light of day for significant senior international competitions don't transfer to another country.

If the ”b team” gets 75,000 dollar Mercedes as gifts, I can’t imagine what the “a team“ gets.

For a free car, I don’t want to see the light of day either. Haha

 

[Dawn825]

I think one reason why Unstoppable was really well-liked by everyone (I think it has millions of views on Youtube, far more than any of her competitive programs, though part of that owes to the Youtube algorithm boosting that video) was because it really struck the middle ground between upbeat/fun and dramatic/bad-ss.

I wonder if lyrics are helpful for a skater like Sasha, to fill in a bit of the emotion and drama.

Also, since she's the Queen of Quads, and will probably go for a five quads free... why not skate to The Queen's Gambit ? Wouldn't that be absolutely epic ?

For the character reference I'd rather see Kostornaia skate to it. She'd have that stare-down thing nailed

 

[Dawn825]

Камила Валиева – La Personne

translate.google.com

Kamila's interview, for anyone who hasn't already read it.

 

[TripleAxelQueens3]

I feel like a Tutberidze girls might skate to the Queen's Gambit Soundtrack, and I'd honestly be totally okay with that. I can see all of them with the music honestly. Sasha too. I mean she is the Queen of Quads after all.

 

[Tonight's the Night]

Камила Валиева – La Personne

translate.google.com

Kamila's interview, for anyone who hasn't already read it.

I said things like this all the time when I was fourteen:

"Different music is always born inside. It depends on the mood, on the people around, on the pictures of nature before the eyes, on the feeling of joy, sadness or absolute happiness, on the silence outside the window, from the moon in the night sky, from a rainbow, from falling snowflakes or raindrops, from the aroma of coffee, from the smile of Eteri Georgievna, from the jokes of Daniil Markovich, from the voice of Sergei Viktorovich, from the applause of the audience, from the sinking of the heart before going to the start, from the creak of ice under the blade of the skate..."

 

[Lana05]

Aliona against everyone

 

[JazzUp]

It might be becuase of the house. It couldn’t have been cheap to build. That’s the only legitimate reason.....

Plyushenko didn't build the houses, they were already on the land he acquired (there was a long-drawn court case involving them and the pics were all over the net several years ago); he just refurbished them.

 

[starlight97]

Камила Валиева – La Personne

translate.google.com

Kamila's interview, for anyone who hasn't already read it.

I honestly have a very hard time believing that Kamila actually said exactly what is written there.
The general essence sure, but come on, the magazine people must have paraphrased and written out her answers to make them fit well into this art theme.

If this 14yo girl actually talks like this - get out of the rink Kamila and enter an ivy league school right now please

 

[DizzyFrenchie]

In figure skating rumors that I read that are typically came true it is 4.100.000 rubles. Not as much as 500.000$ of course but still a lot.
It includes rent for a cottage, training fees, choreography, costumes and healing

I don't know if it is true, but at least it is plausible.
If it is true, I feel it means Angels of Plushenko took advantage of her situation when she left TeamTutberidze, to make her mum sign a contract with excessive fees.
I should have rather expected something in the 20.000$, half for the coaching, half for the Shae-Lynn Bourne programs, dresses and medical treatment (which was not that optimal, from what we've seen, maybe State doctors would have done the same or better).
And if it is true, then maybe it won't shed a favourable light on Angels of Plushenko. There have already been articles in Russian newspapers stating that his official rates were expensive (I didn't think so) but if it is such a rip-off at the end in reality, parents may be reluctant to send their children to this school.
I understand there is a non-disclosure agreement, but if the bill was way lower in reality, I think Evgeny Plushenko should ask Alena Kostornaia and her mother permission to state publicly that the rumour is unfounded, that the real bill amounted to "much lower" and that no more would be disclosed.

@silveruskate
There is also a 13% tax flat-rate (unless my information is outdated).

 

[LiamForeman]

Aliona against everyone

"I, Aliona"???

 

[Arbitrary]

"I, Aliona"???

The famous movie "I, Tonya" was translated to russian as "Tonya against everyone".