Mikhail Kolyada: 'I opened up some reserves’

gsk8 · Dec 31, 2018

Kolyada had come down with sinusitis on the right side this past summer and underwent treatment, but apparently never quite fully recovered as it surfaced again just before nationals. On the Thursday evening practice at home in St. Petersburg, exactly a week before the Men’s Short Program in Saransk, Kolyada suddenly felt unwell. He went home, hoping to feel better soon. Instead, it became much worse.

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Here's wishing him a healthy and successful season moving forward! :pray:

hanyuufan5 · Dec 31, 2018

‘it is better to try and to regret than to regret not to have tried,'”

:agree:

Congratulations, Mikhail! I'll be praying for your full recovery!

rachno2 · Dec 31, 2018

Thank you for the article! I still can’t believe he skated the free, let alone skated a near-clean performance. I hope he doesn’t push himself too hard for Europeans—a three-quad FS seems a bit much, but I’m trying to be a more patient and understanding fan in 2019 :laugh:

Looking forward to another fun and campy exhibition program, à la Baba Yaga

Lechat · Dec 31, 2018

Good job Misha. I understand now why he was out of breath and on the verge of collapsing after the free. I didn’t know he went through many painful situation, especially taking two flights when you got sick :shocked:

Lester · Dec 31, 2018

Poor Mikhail

A lot of these skaters seem to be sick or injured most of the time so I feel bad now about pointing out their inconsistencies.

dorispulaski · Dec 31, 2018

I hope he continues to heal, and has a great pair of performances at Europeans!

With such painful physical distractions, he did not have head space to overthink competing at Nationals; maybe a good thing, ultimately, since he has settled on an FS layout that he can do consistently and comfortably!

skylark · Dec 31, 2018

He feels that he learned something new about himself. “I opened up some reserves in myself,” he said. “I just knew what I had to do and I did it and that’s it.”

This is one of the most interesting quotes in the article. I've heard many skaters frame their most successful skates in a similar way. Not always because of pain or sickness ... for instance, Katarina Witt liked to know what she had to do to win, and did it. For others, the cause or reason was different.

I'm sorry Mikhail had to go through so much pain. But what he learned could be a turning point for him. Heal well, and all best at Euros, Mikhail!

ancientpeas · Dec 31, 2018

Good luck moving forward Mikhail! Knock em dead at Euros.

Mohacz · Jan 1, 2019

Oh, each time I see a black and white photo of someone among a bunch of usually colourful ones, my first thought is that this person has died. The first time it happened to me in GS Forum was a few months ago with a black and white photo of Mishin accompanying his interview. I don't know if it's the same in other cultures, but since I am quite accustomed to the tradition of removing colour from the press photos of the deceased persons, my first impression at seeing black and white photos in places with almost always colourful photos is the following reaction: "Oh my God. Has he/she died?"

And as regards Kolyada, I wish him full recovery and great performance at the Europeans.

plushyfan · Jan 1, 2019

Great job, Misha! :thumbsup:

QueenOfTheRoad · Jan 1, 2019

Wow, really happy that he did the FS till the end without collapsing in the middle. I was worried especially about the spins, as they take longer and put a lot of pressure on the head. I saw recently some pictures of his FS at Rostelecom GP and his face looks so bruised and black between eyes and nose that it was clear that something is very wrong with him.

Wish him best of luck to get back his health, this is the most important good a person has. Stay wise and strong and hear your doctors, Mika!

Heleng · Jan 2, 2019

Thanks so much for the article GS! Learning more of the details gives me an even greater appreciation for how Mikhail was able to hold it together as much as he did. Fingers crossed that he has a healthy and successful second half of his season!

Arriba627 · Jan 3, 2019

Wow, he is a warrior! So many of these conditions can throw your equilibrium off, and he still managed to fight through it. Wishing him all the best for Europeans, and looking forward to seeing his Carmen again.

Casual · Jan 3, 2019

Arriba627 said:
Wow, he is a warrior! So many of these conditions can throw your equilibrium off, and he still managed to fight through it. Wishing him all the best for Europeans, and looking forward to seeing his Carmen again.

He shouldn't have competed. His coaches should have stopped him. JMHO

Tatjana · Jan 3, 2019

Casual said:
He shouldn't have competed. His coaches should have stopped him. JMHO

You know, I was worried about that, too. I spoke to one doctor and he said it is okay for Mikhail to compete and that it is not dangerous. Mikhail himself told me he would not compete if it means putting his health at risk. At German Nationals we had a junior ice dancer who also competed with sinusitis and the doctors were fine with that. The ice dancer, Maximilian Pfisterer, too, felt dizzy (especially doing twizzles), but pushed through. So it was certainly challenging for these skaters to compete and they felt quite bad during and after their performances, but apparently it wasn't dangerous for them. Then I think it is okay if they want to compete themselves, as long as they are not pressured into competing by their coaches or someone else.

champagnerain · Jan 3, 2019

“There, to be honest, my conscience was starting to fade away,” recalled the 23-year-old. “I don’t even remember a lot how all that happened.”

Is this meant to say "consciousness"? Or was he just losing his sense of morality halfway through the free program?

(Is there a Russian version of this to check?)

In all seriousness, I actually feel a little better after reading this, knowing that he did at least consult with his doctors and was willing to withdraw before the FS if necessary. I understand why he felt as though he had to skate, but I wish he hadn't felt that pressure.

Tatjana · Jan 3, 2019

champagnerain said:
Is this meant to say "consciousness"? Or was he just losing his sense of morality halfway through the free program? (Is there a Russian version of this to check?)

In all seriousness, I actually feel a little better after reading this, knowing that he did at least consult with his doctors and was willing to withdraw before the FS if necessary. I understand why he felt as though he had to skate, but I wish he hadn't felt that pressure.

In Russian he said: у меня сознание уже потихоньку начало отключаться
сознание translates as consciousness.
Conscience is a typo. Thank you for pointing it out.

champagnerain · Jan 3, 2019

Tatjana said:
In Russian he said: у меня сознание уже потихоньку начало отключаться
сознание translates as consciousness.
Conscience is a typo. Thank you for pointing it out.

No problem, and I hope I didn't come across too harsh - I just think it was a slightly amusing typo! I understand translating is hard and sometimes mistakes fall through the cracks. I've done my fair share of translating through the years and I'm sure I've made some mistakes I didn't catch as well. :biggrin:

Casual · Jan 4, 2019

Reading that interview was hard. I can't help but empathize with his pain.

It's such a stark reminder of the sacrifices skaters make in order to reach and stay at higher levels.

Lester · Jan 5, 2019

Tatjana said:
You know, I was worried about that, too. I spoke to one doctor and he said it is okay for Mikhail to compete and that it is not dangerous. Mikhail himself told me he would not compete if it means putting his health at risk. At German Nationals we had a junior ice dancer who also competed with sinusitis and the doctors were fine with that. The ice dancer, Maximilian Pfisterer, too, felt dizzy (especially doing twizzles), but pushed through. So it was certainly challenging for these skaters to compete and they felt quite bad during and after their performances, but apparently it wasn't dangerous for them. Then I think it is okay if they want to compete themselves, as long as they are not pressured into competing by their coaches or someone else.

I don't think that skating with sinusitis is that dangerous too. It's certainly wildly unpleasant and difficult though.

Mikhail Kolyada: 'I opened up some reserves’

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