Ted Barton interviews Eteri Tutberidze | Page 15 | Golden Skate

Ted Barton interviews Eteri Tutberidze

Casual

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Daleman developed eating disorder under Orser too. Her recent Instagram post was troubling.

And this is why any unhealthy statement about nutrition by any respected coach should be called out immediately.

This is a serious problem, and no one gets a pass "because that's our tradition" or "because what about others".

Zero tolerance.
 

Fluture

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What makes you assume they don’t work with professionals and conduct these matters privately? I mean...girls gossip and and such but that doesn’t mean Eteri is calling them out in front of each other. TBH...I’d imagine at a school like Sambo it’s probably easier and more accessible to find and utilize medical staff than to someone like Gracie Gold who was probably in a position where she and her family probably had to pay for and schedule their own appointments with their own doctors via private insurance.

I also found it important to note that Zhenya said any large weight gain OR loss is bad. Kind of says to me they are trying to maintain more than anything. That suggests that the plan is not to crash diet.

Because they were right next to each other and made comments about each other's weight? I know it was said in a "funny, mocking tone" and wasn't too serious but still, that's not a professional way to handle this. And especially because Sambo is such a big training facility, there should be clear statements from Eteri and her students: "We are working with professionals who care about weight and diet and they help us to adjust so that our body is healthy" It would stop many discussions and I think a lot of problems, too. Instead there are comments and interviews being made and documentaries that show clearly that no nutritionist is anywhere near them to take control of that matter.

And obviously the plan is not to crash diet. That would be very, very stupid and I don't think anyone's suggesting that. What's troubling for me is mainly that these girls are going through puberty and they will grow and they will gain weight. That's inevitable, no matter how hard you train. I'm a young woman myself and I had a friend who had a naturally very skinny body type and a fast metabolism AND was involved in professional sports. She still went through puberty and had to adjust her diet. Because that's what happens to everybody. And this is the problem. They're trying to maintain the same weight for years despite the natural changes that should take place. A nutritionist could help them adjust their diet and help them go through these changes in a natural yet healthy way for an athlete. Parents, coaches and athletes themselves just don't have enough knowledge, especially since every person is different.
 

esteticlove

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How much of a difference does the weight make for a lady single skater and for a lady from pairs skating? From my observation, ladies in pair skating look healthier. Especially the ones who have been long competing. Examples: Tanya Volosozhar, Aljona Savchenko, Meghan Duhammel. They probably practice less jumps as a single skater but they do have to perform throw jumps and those have height bigger than any single jump, so therefore the weight impact on the bones should be greater..? Still, those ladies are very muscled. Why is this no standard in ladies skating, referring not only to Russian ladies but overall? Aerodynamics?
 

Sam-Skwantch

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Because they were right next to each other and made comments about each other's weight? I know it was said in a "funny, mocking tone" and wasn't too serious but still, that's not a professional way to handle this.

Eteri wasn’t present though at that point was she? This weighing of each other in front of each other was very common here in the US on sports teams I was on and hear stories about. Heck we’d go hit the gym and weigh in and out right next to each other. I found Zhenya’s comments a little bit along the lines of bullying TBH. I wonder if Eteri addresses it after the show aired.
 

Draculus

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Parents, coaches and athletes themselves just don't have enough knowledge, especially since every person is different.
I doubt that nutritionist has better knowledge than the sportsman himself if he/she wants to have objective data. Especially since every person is different.
 

Lester

Piper and Paul are made of magic dust and unicorns
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Meanings of diet:
1. the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.
2. a special course of food to which one restricts oneself, either to lose weight or for medical reasons.

So "diet" literally means "eating habits". Just saying.

Well it is obvious from the post that I quoted about magical powder and bananas with yoghurt that I used diet to mean "a special course of food to which one restricts oneself, either to lose weight or for medical reasons" but thanks for just saying.

Having (being on) a healthy and purposeful diet is very important for athletes. It’s completely normal for elite athletes of all ages to eat a diet that creates the most optimal condition for their body to operate. It may need tweaked from time to time based on season or upcoming competitions but the key is to use nutrition for utilitarian purposes as opposed to taste. I’ve had dinner with future olympians and believe me...they are mindful of what they consume. Even former Olympians who are no longer competing tend to remain on fairly strict diets. People are creatures of habit after all.

Most athletes want to work with coaches who take interest in this aspect of training. I think my first weigh in was 5th or 6th grade and I was given several pamphlets explaining the types of foods I should eat and avoid. Some even had specific days to avoid specific foods or certain events.

Preseason- Season -Post Season- etc.

Sports nutrition has really gone to a whole new level and coaches will push their kids to embrace it.

I know people don’t care as much about teenage boys doing this stuff but I remember kids bringing a scale to games and in the locker room weighing kids who had bad games and telling them to hit the treadmill by next week. I’m sure the coach heard about it too but I wouldn’t blame him. The competition of sports exists beyond the scope of “the game”.


I’m still unsure what any of this dieting speculation has to do with this interview?

I was specifically talking about regimes meant for quick weight loss. Correct eating habits by default include being mindful of what you put in your body and planning your meals according to your needs, health condition, physical activity level and competition schedule. Which normal people generally do and children are generally taught by their parents to do.
 

NoviceFan

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Eteri wasn’t present though at that point was she? This weighing of each other in front of each other was very common here in the US on sports teams I was on and hear stories about. Heck we’d go hit the gym and weigh in and out right next to each other. I found Zhenya’s comments a little bit along the lines of bullying TBH. I wonder if Eteri addresses it after the show aired.

To absolve the adult and condemn her ward speak volumes.
 

Fluture

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I doubt that nutritionist has better knowledge than the sportsman himself if he/she wants to have objective data. Especially since every person is different.

But that's exactly the job of a nutritionist? To work with the athlete and find out the right approach to their diet individually? It's not that the skater goes there and is being told: "And you eat this and then that and then you'll magically be healthy and happy". This takes some time and the athlete and the parents should certainly have a say in the matter but in the end, yes, they do know better. What do you suggest instead? That 13, 14 year old girls know exactly what to eat to be healthy and have a healthy weight? They're world class athletes but at the same time, they're still children.
 

Casual

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Because they were right next to each other and made comments about each other's weight? I know it was said in a "funny, mocking tone" and wasn't too serious but still, that's not a professional way to handle this. And especially because Sambo is such a big training facility, there should be clear statements from Eteri and her students: "We are working with professionals who care about weight and diet and they help us to adjust so that our body is healthy" It would stop many discussions and I think a lot of problems, too. Instead there are comments and interviews being made and documentaries that show clearly that no nutritionist is anywhere near them to take control of that matter.

Also, healthy attitudes about nutrition from public figures would help many others, because kids idealize these athletes and try to emulate them.

It's not just Yulia who was hurt by the "rah-rah, powdered diet is great for losing weight" nonsense. It's countless others who took Eteri's words as gospel.
 

Sam-Skwantch

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To absolve the adult and condemn her ward speak volumes.

I just go on what I see. I honestly don’t know Eteri’s reaction to this scene one way or the other. I did say earlier that I thought it was a good thing that Zhenya seemed to be advocating maintaining weight as opposed to gaining OR losing. I’m as guilty as Zhenya myself though. I’ve said similar things to people hoping to motivate them and believing they aren’t going to develop an eating disorder based on a little peer influence. I’ve done some mild bullying myself I guess ;)
 

NoviceFan

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OK - but a person who lights the fire is still the arsonist even if she does not stay to see the whole house burn down.


I just go on what I see. I honestly don’t know Eteri’s reaction to this scene one way or the other. I did say earlier that I thought it was a good thing that Zhenya seemed to be advocating gaining weight as opposed to gaining OR losing. I’m as guilty as Zhenya myself though. I’ve said similar things to people hoping to motivate them and believing they aren’t going to develop an eating disorder based on a little peer influence. I’ve done some mild bullying myself I guess ;)
 

Fluture

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I just go on what I see. I honestly don’t know Eteri’s reaction to this scene one way or the other. I did say earlier that I thought it was a good thing that Zhenya seemed to be advocating maintaining weight as opposed to gaining OR losing. I’m as guilty as Zhenya myself though. I’ve said similar things to people hoping to motivate them and believing they aren’t going to develop an eating disorder based on a little peer influence. I’ve done some mild bullying myself I guess ;)

Yeah, and trying to maintain weight when the body is obviously growing and it's only natural to gain some weight, isn't particularly healthy either. Athletes probably go through puberty a bit later than other people with a different lifestyle and there are different cases too because well, everyone's an individuala and everything, but eventually, it will happen in some way for everybody. And trying not to gain or lose weight then will only be frustrating and lead to nothing.

And I didn't bring up Zhenya's comment to show bullying or peer pressure. But it probably takes part in this, too. I brought it up to show the focus that is put on weight there. That they are competing against each other, who's gained less weight. Somebody must have taught them that, no?
 

Sam-Skwantch

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OK - but a person who lights the fire is still the arsonist even if she does not stay to see the whole house burn down.

That’s too philosophical for me. Was this near the end of Zhenya and Eteri’s relationship too? Looked like a rough practice for her and rather emotional. I also wonder if this weigh in scene was filmed before or after the rough practice? Lots of interesting dynamics here to consider for analytical purposes.
 

Fluture

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That’s too philosophical for me. Was this near the end of Zhenya and Eteri’s relationship too? Looked like a rough practice for her and rather emotional. I also wonder if this weigh in scene was filmed before or after the rough practice? Lots of interesting dynamics here to consider for analytical purposes.

I don't know whether that was the question but the whole documentary was filmed in the season before the Olympics. We can see Zhenya practising her River Flows in You SP. The "European Champion 2018" and co. under Alina's name were added afterwards. That's why it could be a bit misleading. But in general, it wasn't near the end of Zhenya's and Eteri's relationship. It was during the successful 2016-17 season, with the second Euros, GPF and Worlds title.
 

Sam-Skwantch

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And I didn't bring up Zhenya's comment to show bullying or peer pressure. But it probably takes part in this, too. I brought it up to show the focus that is put on weight there. That they are competing against each other, who's gained less weight. Somebody must have taught them that, no?

It’s interesting I admit but I can’t speculate on such things with any confidence. From my experience...the coach wasn’t goading us into picking on each other by weighing us. He would use the data to measure performance in relation to our physical conditioning. Other factors too but for this discussion...he never encouraged us to weigh each other with our own personal scale. We just pressured each other as we did with every other aspect of competition and the scale was just a silly way we would pick on whoever had a bad game or practice. I assure we all did it with the intention of actually helping each other though.

Also I’ve always imagined they shoot for weight gain during the off-season and then train harder during the season to maintain.
 

Casual

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I really agree about going with rankings like tennis does. This way the best get to compete as it should be.

I would agree as well - if only we could have unbiased judging which would determine true rankings, (as opposed to "reputational bonus", or "strong federation bonus", or "influential coach", or any other bias, which more often than not inflates and deflates scores unfairly).

As it currently stands, scores are not comparable, and can be easily manipulated to create rankings.
 

Fluture

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It’s interesting I admit but I can’t speculate on such things with any confidence. From my experience...the coach wasn’t goading us into picking on each other by weighing us. He would use the data to measure performance in relation to our physical conditioning. Other factors too but for this discussion...he never encouraged us to weigh each other with our own personal scale. We just pressured each other as we did with every other aspect of competition and the scale was just a silly way we would pick on whoever had a bad game or practice. I assure we all did it with the intention of actually helping each other though.

Yes, that's probably a factor that isn't entirely Eteri's fault. I doubt she can or should control what students talk or say to each other and I doubt she tries to either.

My main argument was mainly that I'd like for Team Eteri to hire a professional nutritionist so that they can just answer all these questions about weight with: "We have someone who knows their stuff and cares about that and works with the students individually to make sure they are healthy. We take this matter very seriously and address it carefully." It would stop all these discussions and actually, I think it would help Eteri and her girls, too. It would take some responsibility away from them. While the girls would still obviously have to make sure to follow what they've decided on to be the diet with the nutritionist, the coaches and parents, too would have a plan for each individual and could act according to that. And if something regarding their body changes, they'd pick it up early enough and make the necessary adjustments.

It just troubles me that these are young girls who are often experiencing pressure with weight anyway (boys do, too, of course, but I don't know as much about the ones Eteri teaches, so that's why my focus is on her female students only. That being said, I know very well that eating disorders and troubles with weight are in no way solely a girls' problem and obviously affect boys, too!) and aren't in the hand of people who know what they're doing to work out with them individually what's best for them. They're rather being left off to deal with this on their own or only with the coaches' and parents' help, who, despite being informed as best as they can, have not studied this and probably also don't have the time or knowledge to work out an individual system for each of them. And especially for a facility as big as Sambo and a coach with so many world class skaters as Eteri.. I judt don't think this is right in any way. I wish this issue would be more addressed. That athletes all over the world could get to work with professionals to make sure they are healthy and don't destroy their body and minds by having the wrong diet...
 

plushyfan

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Your mistake is to explain others through the prism of your own experience.

Unlike Russia, no one cares. There're no TV programs about "we're special and everybody hates us because they're jealous", there're no Presidents gifting Mercedes Benz automobiles to athletes for "defending the honor of the country in Olympics", and there's no centralized taxpayer funding of Olympic sports.

There isn't even a "Ministry of Sport".

In the absence of state-sponsored propaganda, people look at those who spout nonsense about "national jealousy" as if they sprung two heads. People care about individual skaters; and also about fairness in judging, for all, so that the entire sport is elevated. They feel free to route for skaters from any country. They will not bash others based on their nationality - when those others are objectively better, and not just propped up by unfair "bonus" from biased judges.

Think about it. During Olympics, people were enthusiastically routing for skaters from North Korea - but can you imagine people of North Korea (publicly) routing for anybody else but their own national skaters? No, that would have been a "betrayal", by North Korean standards.

It's a very different mindset. Those who keep accusing posters of "jealousy" and "national jealousy" should look into their own hearts.

OMG! Maybe you didn't understand me. I mentioned the "national jealousy" in sport not in general in civil life. I hate it there! I live in a country where my goverment pours lot of foolish nationalism to the people's head. And it works, unfortunately. The "national jealousy" ( my poor english doesn't allow to explain it more or to use other term) is exist and totally natural. Most of the people support their countrymen ( and of course, there are favorites from other countries, too) and if they see they have no new stars, their skaters have no chance will be jealous...and start to criticise the succesfuls. (You don't start to refute this because there are exceptions always)
 

Sam-Skwantch

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My main argument was mainly that I'd like for Team Eteri to hire a professional nutritionist so that they can just answer all these questions about weight with: "We have someone who knows their stuff and cares about that and works with the students individually to make sure they are healthy. We take this matter very seriously and address it carefully." It would stop all these discussions and actually, I think it would help Eteri and her girls, too. It would take some responsibility away from them. While the girls would still obviously have to make sure to follow what they've decided on to be the diet with the nutritionist, the coaches and parents, too would have a plan for each individual and could act according to that. And if something regarding their body changes, they'd pick it up early enough and make the necessary adjustments.

I’m not so sure it would stop the talking honestly ;) I don’t know...first off I assume there are nutritionists on site and they see them and are working with them intermittently. I do hope though and assume these girls have personal physicians who have zero ties to athletics and are monitoring their health and well being. I think that’s where they should seek the advice and treatment of their growth and development. Free of the influence that comes with the world of sports. What they do with that info is on the parent and student. Which risks they take...etc...

It just troubles me that these are young girls who are often experiencing pressure with weight anyway (boys do, too, of course, but I don't know as much about the ones Eteri teaches, so that's why my focus is on her female students only. That being said, I know very well that eating disorders and troubles with weight are in no way solely a girls' problem and obviously affect boys, too!) and aren't in the hand of people who know what they're doing to work out with them individually what's best for them. They're rather being left off to deal with this on their own or only with the coaches' and parents' help, who, despite being informed as best as they can, have not studied this and probably also don't have the time or knowledge to work out an individual system for each of them. And especially for a facility as big as Sambo and a coach with so many world class skaters as Eteri.. I judt don't think this is right in any way. I wish this issue would be more addressed. That athletes all over the world could get to work with professionals to make sure they are healthy and don't destroy their body and minds by having the wrong diet...

It’s a tricky walk here and I doubt many coaches in the US do this or even could do this. Medical information is private and the coaches are going to rely on the students and parents to convey the details of health honestly and figure out how to best deal with it. I’m not sure it’s in the best interest of an athlete to give the coach too much access to this info. That could be very scary too in the wrong hands. To me it’s up to the parents, student and THEN the coach to make decisions on health.
 

moriel

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For me, the main thing I have troubles with, is that it's children we're talking about here. Children who spend the majority of their time away from home and whose parents might not interfere with anything a coach says because they trust them, want success etc. That's why statements like the ones Eteri frequently made, are very problematic to me. It's obvious that it's not only her, I was appalled when I read about Buyanova who said she ordered her student to lose a lot of weight in a short time. I was appalled when I read TAT's comments about weight. It's NOT only Eteri, it's a general problem in this sport. But despite of this, I don't understand the argument "but others do it as well". Yes, they do. Does that make it right? No. Absolutely not.
To my mind, coaches' should not be responsible to weigh their students. They should hire professionals, nutritionists who monitor the children's weight and make sure they are healthy enough to do the daily exercises and training. This should happen in a private way and other students should NOT be present.

https://youtu.be/RY_X-IarHJs?t=858

Scenes like that should not happen.

Evgenia (in a mocking tone): Zagitova, what's up (with your weight)?
Alina: Actually, I lost 500 grams!
What is this? A competition on who weighs the lowest? This is dangerous and not the right way to handle this situation. Athletes should be weighed, I know that it can be dangerous if there's sudden gain or loss. But it should happen in an environment where they feel comfortable, where they can talk about this in a private manner. And the diet should be adjusted by professionals to maintain a healthy weight while also getting all the necessary vitamins and other things needed. Especially for world class athletes like Eteri teaches! This should have happened ages ago. I don't doubt that Eteri and her coaching staff are very informed. They have worked in this field longer than any of us after all. But they're still not professionals and should leave this to people who have studied this and know their stuff. Of course, they need to be informed about the results so that the training can be adjusted accordingly. But that's it. Nothing more than that. Everything else won’t be discussed with her or the other coaches and there certainly should NOT be any scolding about weight.
Alena, Anna and Sasha were on national TV and were asked the question, whether Eteri monitors what they're eating during the holidays. They said no, but they'll be weighed afterwards. For me, that's a very troubling sign. Obviously, Eteri leaves the diet to the children and their parents and only makes sure they don't gain weight. That's not exactly smart. I doubt their parents know exactly what an athlete who's going through puberty as well, should eat. And neither do the skaters either. Like I said, this should be left to professionals, who can help adjust when they go through puberty and co.

I have also frequently seen Evgenia and Yulia being mentioned in here. I'll start with the former:
It's obvious that she's a naturally skinny person. That's just her body type. However, if we look at her now and her in the past, it is very visible that she's gained muscles and as a result of that – obviously, weight as well.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpX7wdRB4Nc/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=cgyzq2rpek33
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/13/18/11/13181146c573e01d186b07fc555c6102.jpg

Look at her thigs primarily. They now look different. She’s still very thin and she’ll always be but her legs now look like they have some muscles on them, like they can withstand the pressure of the jumps and not snap immediately. So, yes, even a person with a fast metabolism can gain muscles and even figure skaters can do that. Evgenia is now working with a nutritionist. I guess it will take her some more time to adjust to the changes they’ve made but I trust that they know what they’re doing and will help her find a diet that is best suited to her individual body type.
I’m also very aware of the fact that the Olympic year was very difficult to Evgenia and Olympics are never a healthy time for any athlete’s body anyway. She probably already trained at 120% and then, adding to that, had to even further intensify her training after the injury because of a lack of time. But if we look at her from season’s prior, she didn’t look any different then.
Yulia? She’s a difficult case. Obviously, the comments Eteri made are pretty concerning but the thing is, we should never blame only the coach when a skater suffers from an ED. There can be many reasons and we’ll never know for sure. I do think that the focus Eteri’s always put on weight was a contributing factor. But I would never go as far as to say that it was solely her fault. Especially since Yulia herself never made such accusations.
The thing is, though, and that’s why people are worrying, that we’ve heard many troubling comments from Eteri students and Eteri herself in the past and still do. I think it would be better if someone interfered and did something about it. If we had her team and other figure skating teams work with nutritionists more instead of relying on coaches and parents who are not educated enough to help their children with their diet, body changes and co. sufficiently, I think we’d have less troubles and discussions about this too. In general, though, I don’t see it as hate to worry and talk about this because it’s obvious that this is a frequent problem in figure skating. And if we have a coach who primarily teaches children, precisely young girls, it is to my mind understandable and only natural that she’ll be brought up more often.

When i studied at school, teachers held to a strict policy of not sharing everybody's grades with everybody. Your grades were always private.
Still, we would find out what each of our buddies scored on a test, and then do all the things that lead to the private grades policy in first place, such as mocking and teasing.

There is literally no way to keep those things entirely private, specially in a place with intense competition and very competitive kids. They will compare themselves.
 
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