Victoria Sinitsina & Nikita Katsalapov

I see there is some foaming at the mouth in the Rostelecom FD thread about the results. Sadly, this means S/K are doing everything right. The moment you get recognized as a threat, the bashing starts. Though before that there was a lot of malicious schadenfreude. I understand why that is in this case to some degree, but the ugliness of it always irks me anyway. Still remember the nastiness of the D/W and V/M rivalry. Not keen to have that back again. Ugh.

Anyway, congrats on a great competition and on their medal here! They were fabulous in the FD in particular. Here's the British Eurosport version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOHT1OP5tUc

I really appreciate what Nicky Slater is doing here, explaining why they are awesome and listing their positive qualities and why this makes such an impact. But also pointing out areas where they need improvement (lack of originality, too open).

Longer interview:


"Russian dance duo Victoria Sinitsina - Nikita Katsalapov won bronze medals of the Moscow Grand Prix "Rostelecom Cup." After rolling the long program the skaters explained that enabled them to make a qualitative leap in the season.

Nikita: Training. Only training. We've had a lot of time to think. In sports angry. In preparation for this season, except as injuries, there were other difficulties, but we tried not to lose time, to listen to the opinion of experts, coaches. Work. And the coaches have a lot of them. All involved in the process. We wanted very much wanted to compete, so we did it.

Turning to the last season, we can say that everything that is done, the better?

Nikita: You can say so. But we do not remember the past year. Fair. For ourselves, we started with a clean slate. And this is our inner conviction. We have drawn conclusions. The findings were, forget about the rest.

What has changed in your work?

Nikita: I give the coach. Completely. Permanently. I do not participate in anything. I was told I was doing. All. I think the only way correctly. And the only way to get results.

Victoria: began to take a different attitude to work.

At the Moscow Grand Prix of any dance you have received the highest marks for technique. It is clear that there is no limit to perfection. But you need to work on?

Nikita: We have a lot of complaints to themselves, including in terms of technology. We are very satisfied with the estimates. But as you already know that you need to correct and urgent.

Vic, which contributed to your transformation?

Victoria: worked a lot on myself, on my body, a lot of dancing. But I have changed not only externally but also internally. I got used to life in America. I have nothing annoying. Learn the language, began to communicate more, I had friends, friends. I felt freer, more peaceful. This is reflected in figure skating.

Are you in a group exercise strong contenders. It motivates?

Victoria: of course. In training, we work very hard. But on our rink all the guys work hard, so you do not want to fall behind. We trust Marina (Zueva), And all she says, do perform. We plow.

At this stage of the Grand Prix were very strong rivals. This is one of the strongest Grand Prix. All the dancers were much more experienced than us. So pleased to have rolled in Moscow well and win the bronze medal. "

http://fsrussia.ru/intervyu/1485-vi...atsalapov-my-polnostyu-doverilis-treneru.html

Some pictures:
http://cs628030.vk.me/v628030167/23b5c/7Ba9NfmEO4o.jpg When Nikita fell and hit his head against the boards
http://cs628030.vk.me/v628030156/26f07/OXihKhE0QI8.jpg Vika and her mum
http://cs627920.vk.me/v627920167/20c2c/jU6RmAPy_YE.jpg Vika and her sister
http://cs631320.vk.me/v631320156/284/CgARjI8sHTc.jpg At the banquet with Radionova

adelia said:

Some pictures:
http://cs628030.vk.me/v628030167/23b5c/7Ba9NfmEO4o.jpg When Nikita fell and hit his head against the boards
http://cs628030.vk.me/v628030156/26f07/OXihKhE0QI8.jpg Vika and her mum
http://cs627920.vk.me/v627920167/20c2c/jU6RmAPy_YE.jpg Vika and her sister
http://cs631320.vk.me/v631320156/284/CgARjI8sHTc.jpg At the banquet with Radionova

Click to expand...

Hard head that one... in more ways than one. I guess he didn't damage himself too much.

Two more pictures from the CoR banquet:
With Adelina: https://www.instagram.com/p/-cNvtKNc7v/?taken-by=victoria_sinitsina
With Ivan Righini: https://www.instagram.com/p/-bdzHWQPQW/

New interview with Zoueva: http://www.sovsport.ru/gazeta/article-item/861085

Some interesting things, a lot of self-promotion, as usual That's why it's very important to have a coach with reputation

Snow63 said:

New interview with Zoueva: http://www.sovsport.ru/gazeta/article-item/861085

Some interesting things, a lot of self-promotion, as usual That's why it's very important to have a coach with reputation

Click to expand...

The self promotion...I must admit I don't understand why people are so against that... I mean, what is a coach supposed to say? "No, I am not actually as good as you say", "my teams are not as talented"??? No, of course not. Plus, she is someone with a reputation, whether we like it or not.

Other teams do self-promotion in other ways... IZ had a cute winter wonderland photo-shoot and went on talk shows etc. Personally, I think it is all great and part of the job. I loved IZ's media stuff, very well done and Zueva has her own style of self-promotion.

In addition, Zueva wasn't totally unrealistic about SK. They still need to improve and work hard.

Also, I want to mention as someone who left her country and moved to the USA, adjusting to life in a different country is no small feat. In addition, adjusting to a different partner and coaching style, it takes time. Since everyone loves an IZ comparison, I will say that IZ did have it easier in that sense. Ruslan did not change coaches, he stayed in an environment where they know each other very well. Lena did not have to adjust to life in another country and she had worked with Kustarova/Alexeeva before, so it is not like she didn't know them at all.

So, yes, I think SK had a harder adjustment than IZ, and it showed. They sucked last year, but now they have their acts together and we'll see how it goes for them.

tvuckic16 said:

The self promotion...I must admit I don't understand why people are so against that... I mean, what is a coach supposed to say? "No, I am not actually as good as you say", "my teams are not as talented"??? No, of course not. Plus, she is someone with a reputation, whether we like it or not.

Other teams do self-promotion in other ways... IZ had a cute winter wonderland photo-shoot and went on talk shows etc. Personally, I think it is all great and part of the job. I loved IZ's media stuff, very well done and Zueva has her own style of self-promotion.

In addition, Zueva wasn't totally unrealistic about SK. They still need to improve and work hard.

Also, I want to mention as someone who left her country and moved to the USA, adjusting to life in a different country is no small feat. In addition, adjusting to a different partner and coaching style, it takes time. Since everyone loves an IZ comparison, I will say that IZ did have it easier in that sense. Ruslan did not change coaches, he stayed in an environment where they know each other very well. Lena did not have to adjust to life in another country and she had worked with Kustarova/Alexeeva before, so it is not like she didn't know them at all.

So, yes, I think SK had a harder adjustment than IZ, and it showed. They sucked last year, but now they have their acts together and we'll see how it goes for them.

Click to expand...

I never said I was against it? Why did you get that impression? I just find it funny, that's all. She knows how to promote her teams, and that's great for them.
By the way, you were the first to bring Elena and Ruslan here, no one said a word about them

Snow63 said:

I never said I was against it? Why did you get that impression? I just find it funny, that's all. She knows how to promote her teams, and that's great for them.
By the way, you were the first to bring Elena and Ruslan here, no one said a word about them

Click to expand...

It can be funny, I agree, but I understand why she is doing it.

As for the IZ comparison, Zueva said something about the hard adjustment in the interview and I wanted to point out that I agree with her that it is a hard adjustment. IZ was the easiest comparison and even though nobody had mentioned it in this thread it is widely mentioned other places (including in the interview), so it seems silly to just ignore the comparison as if it is a taboo subject.

I don't mean it as a criticism of either pair, just that I do agree with Zueva that SK had a harder adjustment.

Vika knew absolutely no English when she first went to the US, and contrary to what people had been saying she wasn't particularly close to Nikita at that point either. Still, he had to translate literally everything for her into Russian. If that's not hard adjustment, then I'm not sure what is.

adelia said:

Vika knew absolutely no English when she first went to the US, and contrary to what people had been saying she wasn't particularly close to Nikita at that point either. Still, he had to translate literally everything for her into Russian. If that's not hard adjustment, then I'm not sure what is.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's true. I can only imagine how hard it was for her.
Does she speak English now? Or at least understands what people say?

Snow63 said:

Yeah, that's true. I can only imagine how hard it was for her.
Does she speak English now? Or at least understands what people say?

Click to expand...

In an interview she said she is learning the language. From what I've seen on her social media, she can construct short simple sentences.

tvuckic16 said:

I don't mean it as a criticism of either pair, just that I do agree with Zueva that SK had a harder adjustment.

Click to expand...

Are you sure? I think changes are easier if you actually want them. Living in a different country can be like starting a new life, all fresh, new and exciting. It can make things a lot easier. (Example: students that didn't do well/got stuck at a certain school/university thrived at another etc.)

psusanne said:

Are you sure? I think changes are easier if you actually want them. Living in a different country can be like starting a new life, all fresh, new and exciting. It can make things a lot easier. (Example: students that didn't do well/got stuck at a certain school/university thrived at another etc.)

Click to expand...

Yeah, I am pretty sure. Many exchange students, like myself, arrived in different countries being really excited. I know I was very excited. But there is such a thing as "culture shock" or at least that is what the exchange student brochure called it... and it was true.

It wasn't the change that was hard, it was the fact that I didn't understand a lot of things about american life.

Even going to a drive through bank was confusing...lol. I didn't have a driver's licence at first, since in cities in Europe people take public transportation, but in a Chicago suburb you couldn't walk anywhere. I basically then couldn't go anywhere unless somebody wanted to take me and there was nothing around that I could walk to. I felt caged and I hated that. I wasn't a minor and was used to a certain amount of freedom to come and go, so the inability to do that drove me nuts at first.

Also, things most americans found funny, I didn't (I still don't get why "A Princess Bride" is a great classic, the movie is awful...lol).

And then the reality of surviving in the US, getting a part-time job while a studied, understanding a W-2, taxes, health care...argh!!! For example, even if your parents pay for your college and you don't actually fill out your own 1040, most american college students know that April 15th is the tax due date. I had no clue...LOL. Also, why do I have to pay first/last month's rent and a deposit for an apartment?

Yeah, I was used to none of that coming from Croatia. Things in Croatia are very different.

So, yeah, I am pretty sure SK had it harder.

I agree with tvuckic16. When I moved to a different country, it was a pretty hard adjustment for me as well and I had a pretty good knowledge of English so I can only imagine how hard it must have been and still be for Vika especially. Sure it seems all new and exciting at first, but the culture clash can hit you pretty hard especially if you don't have family or friends around.

It wasn't my intention to imply that moving to another country without friends and family is easy. And I don't deny that the culture clash can hit you pretty hard (although I haven't experienced it myself, I seem to be immune, but I've seen other people struggle).
But most of the people can handle changes that they wanted for themselves better than changes that were forced on them. And I think that this was really Victoria's chance to live and work in the U.S. at a young age and she took it. Good for her!

psusanne said:

It wasn't my intention to imply that moving to another country without friends and family is easy. And I don't deny that the culture clash can hit you pretty hard (although I haven't experienced it myself, I seem to be immune, but I've seen other people struggle).
But most of the people can handle changes that they wanted for themselves better than changes that were forced on them. And I think that this was really Victoria's chance to live and work in the U.S. at a young age and she took it. Good for her!

Click to expand...

Absolutely. But since the comparison was with IZ, who didn't have to move countries and for Ruslan who didn't even have to switch coaches, I would say Zueva is correct and SK had a more difficult transition.

Yes, one of my main impressions last year and why I was sympathetic towards S/K from the start is Viktoria's situation. I think Nikita handled the split with Elena badly, so the blowback was expected. Though the extreme form of maliciousness and hatred it took was still disturbing to watch and I'm always frustrated with the "taking sides and declaring someone a cartoon villain" mob mentality that crops up in these cases, even though no one knows these people, the circumstances, the reasons etc. and I/K had always been a troubled pair with rumours of problems between them following them around for years. So I found it very hypocritical of some fans to pretend as though they couldn't understand his decision to leave at all because everything had been magical and he'd just destroyed the fairytale.

But he had been in the public eye long enough, he walked away from the I/K partnership right after they won an Olympic medal, so clearly he was determined and wouldn't be swayed away from the decision and was probably to some degree prepared for the consequences and the ensuing shitstorm. Viktoria also left Ruslan and yes, perhaps she handled that badly as well, but I don't think she knew what she was getting herself into. Tbh splitting with Ruslan was a no-brainer, she'd grown too tall for him and IMO they were dull as dishwater as a pair and didn't show all that much promise together. Another partner was on the market and she went for it. But she wasn't used to the public scrutiny like Nikita was. And suddenly she's in the middle of this scandal with everyone accusing and villifying her. That must have been disturbing.

Then add all the other factors: She goes to train in a different country, where she doesn't speak the language. Without friends and family and only with a brand new partner she barely knows. And she's totally dependent on that partner to do all translating for her and basically help her out in getting settled in her new life. So culture shock and then add a brand new coach who probably has a different training approach. It must have been very, very hard. Most of that is true for Nikita as well, apart from the "knew what he was getting himself into" part and the language part. I know it was a situation of their own choosing, but that doesn't lessen the challenges and it explains to a large degree why it took some time for things to fall into place.

tvuckic16 said:

Absolutely. But since the comparison was with IZ, who didn't have to move countries and for Ruslan who didn't even have to switch coaches, I would say Zueva is correct and SK had a more difficult transition.

Click to expand...

Well, Zueva can say that it was difficult for S/K and she knows them because she is their coach, but I doubt she knows anything about I/Z. I wouldn't dare to make a presumption, because I don't know any of them personally. What I know is that Zueva decided to tell the public that it was a difficult transition for S/K now. Maybe she wanted to explain why they didn't have great results last season? Good results in the first season together are very rare anyway, but I can see why she did it. But this tells us nothing about the reality.

It's not like hardship necessarily produces results...

Nikita is just so much better than Ruslan in skills. And in effect I think Zueva is a much more productive coach than Kustarova. Ilinykh is totally in charge in the Kustarova camp. She picked the music for both programs, she invited specialists to work with them, whereas at least Zueva this season successfully packaged S/K into this blue eye princess-and-prince thing she has been raving about for the past year in their SD. She deserves some credit. I'm not in love with S/K yet, but they have a better chance of progressing in my opinion.