Understand your concern. I guess Aliona + Eteri probably know what they are doing and they will slow down a bit if necessary.
Alena Kostornaia
- Thread starter vesperalvioletta
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- Mar 20, 2019
Yes, to me it seems like more of a punishment. And also taking the opportunity to use it as an exhibition. People will be talking about it, and the fact that it was meant to be here 2020-21 FS, will draw eyes. Eteri wouldn't make her perform her Olympic FS at this event.
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2019
The other choice was Eteri rejects her and Aliona is left without a coach, but with a big bill to pay.I'm happy that her coaching situation is settled for now but I still have a lot of worries. It was excepted that Eteri was going to keep her on a tight leash - which could be good for Aliona - but it sounds to me she is in an extremely vulnerable position. She will basically have to do whatever they tell her (like skate through injuries) and they can even kick her out if they like, anytime. If that happens, her dreams for next season are more than likely over.
On the other hand, her goal is to make the Olympics and win, and that takes incredible commitment - I can't even imagine how much - and this is her only chance now. I hope everything will be alright
Leaving her in that position would probably set a precedent, but would ruin Aliona’s career.
Eteri probably did the best she could, given the circumstances. She couldn’t take her back with open arms with 0 conditions, not just because of how they broke up with Aliona, but also because her other students are watching. It matters what they would think, and if this case affects their actions.
the trial period is also there probably to see that Aliona doesn’t do anything impulsive in that timeframe, and proves she’s serious about her intentions to work with Eteri.
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- Mar 16, 2019
BE is a punishment for viewers first and foremost!
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- Feb 27, 2014
I hope so.
This Is a win win situation for EG who is a brilliant strategist. She gets AK back and keeps her from going to Sergei Davydov at CSKA or the Russian snow leopards.
She could re learn her triple axel at either Academy. Now if Aliona gets her triple axel back and becomes a threat to make the Olympic team then that makes EG look very good. I mean I saw headlines that if EG does not take Aliona back that her career is over. Lol!
I'm sure 5 top flight coaches in Russia would love to have this girl as their number one lady. Probably a lot more than 5 to be honest.
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2019
Funnily, not a punishment for me because I would like it.BE is a punishment for viewers first and foremost!
So far I love both Alina and Evgenia's exhibitions, Aliona's "Crown" and Tuktik's "Lovely"!
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2019
Understanding what you need and not just what you want, and asking for it even if it would be painful is part of growing up.
Eteri putting strickt (even apparently unnecessary strickt) rules is stick and carrott and probably part of intentionally pushing Aliona over/above her confort zone. She wants (she always had thinking back about last year) Aliona traning harder that Aliona even thinks it's possible, and Aliona agrees that she needs that push.
It's not easy to admit not being able to motivate youself enough: it requires humility and a painfully honest look in the mirror.
I admire Aliona for saying that candidly instead of some generic BS about how good she worked with ET before and wanting it again despite the past misundestandings.
When I was racing I needed group training because competing with my mates and trying every day to be better than everybody else was my fuel to push futher and stronger while alone I would just settle for a good effort
I'm confident that there is something that both want that Eteri keeps out of reach now to use it like a reward later to show Aliona that the work is paying off.
Of course there is no guarantee it will work, especially regarding jumps.
We can't shame AoP because she had not her 3A back as we could not shame TT before she left for the same reason.
Truth (and warning) is we don't know how hard puberty and growth really impacted her jumping, and there is no way to tell because of the totally unsettling season she had.
I always tought that Eteri gives all herself to each of her girls.
i criticised her acting when someone left, and I will do it again because it can't be condoned especially with minors from an adult that worked with them from a position of authority, but as I wrote when Aliona left it is a cry of pain not simple hatred.
Let's hope ET is in once again with all her heart: we need the witch that instead of trasnforming knights into pigs, transforms ice frogs into ice princesses.
I don't know if my beloved Aliona will make the Olympic team, but she deserves to go for it so strong that she would never look back and think "I did not try enough".
Not enough does not exists with Eteri.
GO ALIONA!
Turn this season pain into power and shine
You're a STAR
Eteri putting strickt (even apparently unnecessary strickt) rules is stick and carrott and probably part of intentionally pushing Aliona over/above her confort zone. She wants (she always had thinking back about last year) Aliona traning harder that Aliona even thinks it's possible, and Aliona agrees that she needs that push.
It's not easy to admit not being able to motivate youself enough: it requires humility and a painfully honest look in the mirror.
I admire Aliona for saying that candidly instead of some generic BS about how good she worked with ET before and wanting it again despite the past misundestandings.
When I was racing I needed group training because competing with my mates and trying every day to be better than everybody else was my fuel to push futher and stronger while alone I would just settle for a good effort
I'm confident that there is something that both want that Eteri keeps out of reach now to use it like a reward later to show Aliona that the work is paying off.
Of course there is no guarantee it will work, especially regarding jumps.
We can't shame AoP because she had not her 3A back as we could not shame TT before she left for the same reason.
Truth (and warning) is we don't know how hard puberty and growth really impacted her jumping, and there is no way to tell because of the totally unsettling season she had.
I always tought that Eteri gives all herself to each of her girls.
i criticised her acting when someone left, and I will do it again because it can't be condoned especially with minors from an adult that worked with them from a position of authority, but as I wrote when Aliona left it is a cry of pain not simple hatred.
Let's hope ET is in once again with all her heart: we need the witch that instead of trasnforming knights into pigs, transforms ice frogs into ice princesses.
I don't know if my beloved Aliona will make the Olympic team, but she deserves to go for it so strong that she would never look back and think "I did not try enough".
Not enough does not exists with Eteri.
GO ALIONA!
Turn this season pain into power and shine
You're a STAR
You are a true fan. I'll only bold-mark the parts I like the most.
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2019
It certainly is smart from Eteri Tutberidze : better having her within her team than against. I do think she will have her 3A back soon, while a whole run-through with it may take what it takes, both because of CoViD and injuries we don't know : these injuries don't seem to affect this jump at least. In fact, unlike Evgenia Medvedeva, her explosivity in jumps doesn't seem lower than last year. Whether she will get this 4S or not, which would make of her a contender for Olympic team next season, is difficult to say, but it is far from being impossible, and I guess Eteri Tutberidze wouldn't want the Ladies Olympic team to have only one of her students.I hope so.
This Is a win win situation for EG who is a brilliant strategist. She gets AK back and keeps her from going to Sergei Davydov at CSKA or the Russian snow leopards.
I mean I saw headlines that if EG does not take Aliona back that her career is over. Lol!
I'm sure 5 top flight coaches in Russia would love to have this girl as their number one lady. Probably a lot more than 5 to be honest.
Yet given her personal investment with each of her students, I guess she had also to fight against the resentment she was probably still feeling, she wouldn't accept a student while having negative feelings towards her.
As to the probation period, it is the same with everybody at TeamTutberidze I think. It is not unfair to submit Alena Kostornaia to such a trial, like any new pupil, welcoming her as an untouchable queen wouldn't have been like her at all, notwithstanding the resentment, and not to speak of the example it would set.
The programs question is different. Of course she will skate to none of her Rozanov short programs (I liked the second very much, and with a better dress it would be fit for Olympics) but the Shae-Lynn Bourne programs... Will she pay for them? Did she ask for the second one, or was it another's initiative? And even if she "repays" them, will she be allowed to skate to them, or is there a clause allowing her to skate to them only as a Plushenko student? In the last case of course, given Lakernik's visit a few days ago, we may expect the Federation to ask Angels of Plushenko to release the second program at least.
But then, comes the "disciplinary" question with TeamTutberidze. Will they allow her to keep it? We know many pros (it will be popular hence may gather better marks, it will cost them less effort during off-season, the Federation seems to support it), one con (other Ladies may feel less well treated while "more deserving") and one potential con (maybe it doesn't show off her strengths and hide her weaknesses like the usual Daniil Gleichengauz program, but does she have a real weakness to hide?) and one potential pro (an exercise to Daniil Gleichengauz, to work with a foreign choreographer). (I should really like Kamila Valieva to have a Shae-Lynn Bourne free program too. With a balletic short by Daniil Gleichengauz, it could make a superb "assortment", but I think the same for Alena Kostornaia).
And I hope the Kostornaia family is not in a dire financial situation now. And that Alena can move to live near the rink during the week, so that she can effectually recover and give all her physical capacity to her training.
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- Joined
- Feb 27, 2014
Yes to all your points and this is a very interesting situation. We just don't know how broken aliona is physically and mentally. I hope she can recover from this very tough season and then Corona virus ruined everything for her. Now she can bounce back but she has to get healthy first.
It's confusing about what programs she will have its confusing about the financial situation and will Alionas mother have to pay anything back to Yana.
We can only wish this young lady good health and a great off season adding into the Olympic season..
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2019
Yeah, and I don’t even think there’s anything wrong with that. For myself, whenever I take language courses or hire myself a fitness coach, I do so not because I can’t learn/exercise on my own, but because I know I will let myself be lazy at times and not put in the work.
If I have a practice scheduled, and I have paid for it, even after a tiring day, I will find time and motivation to prepare for it and attend it. If I didn’t, I would just tell myself - “I’ll do it next time, I’m so tired now”.
So what Aliona was talking about is completely normal and human, there’s nothing to be ashamed of.
It’s something everyone experiences, I’m sure, and it’s not just about motivation: I find it hard to know how hard I can push myself, but my coach knows it better. I might think deadlifting a certain weight is my maximum, but my coach can add more and help me to push my limits.
That’s also the point of having a coach - it should be the person who knows what you’re capable of better than you yourself do.
If she realized that soon enough - it only shows that she learns quickly from making mistakes. She made a costly one, not just financially, but also reputation wise, but nothing’s lost. She can bounce back and give a good fight for that Olympic spot.
It seems in the video she's training with Anna and Kamila, and from another video we knew that Daria, Maiia and Alina are training in another rink or something?
Maybe Eteri is just keeping an eye on her while preparing Anna for WC, but I hope this would work out for Alena anyway.
Maybe Eteri is just keeping an eye on her while preparing Anna for WC, but I hope this would work out for Alena anyway.
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- Nov 12, 2011
Alina said in a recent interview she doesn't train the same time every day due to classes, so she might not have been there.
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- Nov 12, 2011
i think back to the miraculous transformation Aliona had when she first came to Eteri and that gives me so much hope for this time. it's a similar situation and i have a lot of faith in Team Tut to bring her back to form. i think even if she came back in the same consistent form as 2019 with the same technical content she would be a serious contender. RusFed could always trust her to deliver when it counted.
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- Oct 4, 2019
Exactly. She delivered every single time when they needed her to deliver, which imo was her biggest asset last season amongst the quadsters. This incredible consistency cannot be achieved without extreme discipline and hard work. I bet Eteri knows it better than anyone else - she puts 200% effort into fostering and drilling the disciplines into her skaters through day-to-day practice. There's no other secret sauce, just plain hard work that doesn't fail.
Some people, like Nathan Chen, thrive and keep themselves motivated without external pushes or watchful eyes, but I would say it is extremely rare. It must be a painful realization for Aliona that the extra flexibility and comfort she was allowed turned out to do her more harm than good. That said, I think moving to AoP was not a complete waste of effort or time as it looks like so far. If she didn't make that move, she might loose her 3A as well due to puberty and regret why she didn't have the gut to give it a shot. It takes tremendous trials and errors in life, costly or not, to come to realize what works for you and what does not. And for Aliona, it's not absolutely too late.
From my point of view, Aliona didn't lose anything. She's just back to where she once was before all the glories and achievements, where every successful skaters started.
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- Jan 12, 2018
No, it's not unnecessary, it's exactly what she needs. Discipline, hard work and not feeling like she's something special. Time when she could fool around with Rozanov on ice is over.
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- Dec 7, 2019
I totally agree.No, it's not unnecessary, it's exactly what she needs. Discipline, hard work and not feeling like she's something special. Time when she could fool around with Rozanov on ice is over.
That "(even apparently unnecessary strickt)" was meant to reinforce the concept that discipline is what she now wants and need.
So even if we think " this makes no sense! It's just exerting power" we should look at it in a bigger picture of enforcing discipline.
Freedom will come later if phase one worked, when work ethic and trust in the coaches has been rebuilt and to go one step forward the team will need her special individuality to to be the shining light on the top of the building.
The press conference went much better than I'd expected.
Aliona now has a chance to win back public favour if she works hard and climbs back to the top. In fact, this would be a great narrative if she makes it to the Olympics next year. She may be impulsive but no one can deny she has guts.
I think the probation period is reasonable if a little worrying (impressive? How can she be so good while skipping training?
) that requirement 1 even needed to be stated. Requirement 2 where she's must get back the 3A in two months is the stickler though. I hope they just mean landing a clean one in practice and not within a program because otherwise that just sounds like an excuse to kick her out.
On Eteri preventing Aliona from going to another coach, I think Aliona probably wanted to be in an environment she knows for the Olympic year. It would be one last shot for 2022. Perhaps Davydov would be willing to take her in if she fails to get the 3A during probation.
Regarding her health, I really hope AoP has exaggerated the seriousness of those problems. Having now seen more of the footage where she was helped up, it could actually have been a panic attack since it came on quite suddenly. I really hope she gets enough psychological support regardless because the drama has been very public and the is a lot of pressure on Aliona. This is also a good opportunity for Eteri to show that she can work with older and injured skaters so I hope SHE also makes the most of it as it's beneficial for both.
Aliona now has a chance to win back public favour if she works hard and climbs back to the top. In fact, this would be a great narrative if she makes it to the Olympics next year. She may be impulsive but no one can deny she has guts.
I think the probation period is reasonable if a little worrying (impressive? How can she be so good while skipping training?
) that requirement 1 even needed to be stated. Requirement 2 where she's must get back the 3A in two months is the stickler though. I hope they just mean landing a clean one in practice and not within a program because otherwise that just sounds like an excuse to kick her out.On Eteri preventing Aliona from going to another coach, I think Aliona probably wanted to be in an environment she knows for the Olympic year. It would be one last shot for 2022. Perhaps Davydov would be willing to take her in if she fails to get the 3A during probation.
Regarding her health, I really hope AoP has exaggerated the seriousness of those problems. Having now seen more of the footage where she was helped up, it could actually have been a panic attack since it came on quite suddenly. I really hope she gets enough psychological support regardless because the drama has been very public and the is a lot of pressure on Aliona. This is also a good opportunity for Eteri to show that she can work with older and injured skaters so I hope SHE also makes the most of it as it's beneficial for both.
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2014
But people have made Aliona feel like she should be ashamed and I fear it has broken her mentally. Hope she can handle the workload EG going it's right what are the next 2 months because it will be very difficult coming off Corona virus and a slow recovery.
Your point Nuss about being extra motivated and why make sense for everyone in the world and why not also make sense for everyone in the world.
I hope it works out for Alyona in her return to TTI was very excited about it for a few days and then when I heard about these restrictions and probation and the workload for an injured and still recovering figure skater I have some doubts. But the good news is if it doesn't work out at TT AK will have many coaches in Russia and internationally wanting to coach her. I'm talking about Borser, Raffy, Lambiel, Davydov, Snow Leopards, Mishin, Rukavicin and others. This notion that TT is taking in a juvenile delinquent or homeless girl to save her career is starting to piss me off. That's how I took some of the comments from yesterday from EG and articles and fan posts at sports.ru.
If Alyona can get healthy and handle the workload she can get her magic back too.
But that's a big if at this point because I don't know if she's physically ready for the workload.
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- Mar 16, 2019
They mentioned 3A probably because it was a tv interview. A regular viewer has no idea about the training process and nuances of it, but they understand that 3A is something “wow”, so that’s probably why it was mentioned in the first place. Perhaps also to lit a fire under Aliona, so that she has motivation to show up every day and do all what’s asked of her.
Also, regarding injuries, Aliona has not said a word so far, it was only Plushenko+Rudkovskaya+“insider info” repeating it over and over again, and I have a feeling it can potentially be exaggerated in order to shift accountability for Aliona’s results.
That info isn’t even consistent: at one point Plushenko tells her to skip the season, but she was eager to compete, then it says he told her to try 3A and she just didn’t want to. Quite contradictory, imo, which means it might just be more of an excuse on her ex-coaching Team part.
She probably had some injuries, but if Aliona really thought that she isn’t doing well because of injuries, she wouldn’t have made a move this soon. Besides, even at the beginning of the season she mentioned how if she doesn’t want to do a program with jumps, Plushenko doesn’t make her. So looks like the overall approach was pretty relaxed for a skater like Aliona.
Looks to me she thinks that she wasn’t doing well because of her coaching as a primary reason.
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