Anastasia Tarakanova

[Happy Skates]

Her birthday video is posted now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kez9pN7R7Lc
And she even had training on her birthday, but was presented with a cake and candles at the rink which she and her skater friends probably devoured with pleasure ;-)
Is Anastasiya training at Snow Leopards on Sundays with Shabotova etc?

Maybe she's moved back to Panova :shocked:? I don't know why she would be there for one day omg, has AOP posted anything for her birthday?

 

[Edwin]

Maybe she's moved back to Panova :shocked:? I don't know why she would be there for one day omg, has AOP posted anything for her birthday?

Well, since we don't know where this video was taken, we cannot be certain. It could be for purely practical reasons as Plyushchenko's Angels had a big pre junior competition this weekend and all trainers were probably occupied there.
And if Sundays is only OFP , i.e. 2 hours of physical exercise, general dance class or whatever, the skaters could just congregate at any rink conveniently located near a Metro station or something? One could assume the physical exercise and dance trainers might practice in rotation at many rinks in Moscow so both parties know each other well enough to work to the general plan and address each skater's particular needs. I assume everyone of them keeps a training diary and has it marked off after each lesson.

If Anastasiya is the only skater in her rank, age and level at Plyushchenko's, she'd be very lonely and without competitive drive in her lessons there.
It could even be Tarakanova is delegated out to Snow Leopards rink to have her trainings there amongst the girls her age, with the young Plyushchenko coaches i've seen with Anastasiya at RUS Nats joining Anastasiya there. There is no need for her to train in complete secrecy yet. Good company, good atmosphere, good fellow competitors are to the benefits of everybody involved.

I'd like to see Anastasiya do well and deliver to her maximum potential and being the lone elite skater at Plyushchenko's will do her no good in the long run.

 

[tempo]

I don't know where that took place, but all the girls from the end of the video (Anastasia Shabotova, Anastasia Zinina and Anna Frolova) are from team Panova.

 

[Jeanie19]

Happy Birthday!

 

[Elucidus]

https://streamable.com/jugi8
alternative music video

 

[Edwin]

From 2014, a visit to Snow Leopards, mainly concentrating on Mariya Sotskova, but there are photos with Anastasiya too: https://mihsersh.livejournal.com/211948.html
From 2017, a day of training under Panova: https://fotki.yandex.ru/users/mihsersh/album/544997

Searching these sources for confirmation as to Anastasiya's training rink at the moment. I still think she could belong to Plyushchenko's Angels by FFKKR administration, but for practical purposes trains with the Snow Leopards skaters.

 

[Thomasew]

Well, .. I'm not sure if it means anything, .. but, it looks like AngelsofPlushenko has stopped following Anastasia on Instagram , .. although she still follows them.

If she has left, .. I'm going to miss all the little Instagram clips of her training etc..

I wonder what happened, .. as, last week, she seemed to be learning new choreography etc..

 

[SkateSkates]

https://rsport.ria.ru/20190415/1552708078.html

 

[Edwin]

Alas, and it won’t do her future chances any good.

We’ll have to wait and see if Anastasiya is better off at Snow Leopards. She needs to make up her mind quick about figure skating, or pursue other goals in life if FFKKR looses patience with her.

Hate to see her leave FS, for she is a special performer when ‘on’.

 

[Fluture]

https://rsport.ria.ru/20190415/1552708078.html

Not a nice move from Plushenko to reveal all that...

I hope she will be happy with Panova. She was her first coach, so hopefully the transition will be easier. I wish her all the best.

 

[Thomasew]

Not a nice move from Plushenko to reveal all that...

I would agree with that completely, .. and it shows a distinct lack of maturity and discretion on his part.

If there's one thing that I've come to learn about Plushenko, .. is that Plushenko cares about Plushenko.

For him to mouth off like that, .. even if it's true, .. was really uncalled for. All he had to say was, .. that they had parted ways.

I don't doubt that Anastasia could get emotional, especially if she is struggling with some aspect of her skating, but, I think most young skaters would do that, as I'm sure it can get incredibly frustrating.

However, I did notice in some of the most recent instagram clips, .. that she seemed to be skating amongst dozens of kids and other skaters, .. and had to continuously avoid them.

Perhaps, that is what was frustrating her, .. that the training conditions were not ideal. I remember thinking to myself over the last couple of weeks, .. that perhaps she needs a more professional training environment.

Anastasia has incredible potential, .. and perhaps she needs a 'less crazy' environment in which to fulfill that potential.

Anyway, a lot of speculation on my part, .. but I don't think she is totally to blame, .. as Plushenko suggests.

I wish her all the best, .. she is, by far, .. the skater I love to watch most. Her Power, Speed and Passion across the Ice, .. is unsurpassed.


Cheers

 

[Edwin]

Not a nice move from Plushenko to reveal all that...

I hope she will be happy with Panova. She was her first coach, so hopefully the transition will be easier. I wish her all the best.

I disagree. This article from a reputed press agency had Plyushchenko revealing the honest truth, no dirty laundry was hung out. They worked on the issues together, had Tarakanova's parents involved and made the decision to split in unison I'd think. Those issues are serious enough in any educational situation, and with Anastasiya being the leader of the PA skaters, she has to be the example, to maintain composure, not throw temper tantrums repeatedly.

It might be the eye opener Anastasiya needs to fathom her own motivation, think about her chances and how to improve them, perhaps try to work on channeling her emotions towards the higher goal. She is still so young, so promising, no need for her to think she is wasted.

Besides, better the truth out in the open from the program director himself than having to endure all the endless gossip on those awful Russian message boards and sports tabloid where the vitriol flows freely and where they will have a field day destroying Anastasiya, Plyushchenko and whoever else that rotten lot wants to drown in their bile.

She won't have to deal with the gossip, the truth is out, and she seemed to be very welcome at Snow Leopards where the other skaters created a small birthday celebration. Perhaps they all knew the truth already, and none of them, Anastasiya included spilled the secret. And that is good to think about too.

Now we must wait how Panova and her staff will work with Anastasiya, give her a clean slate to start working together these final months of the season and with full optimism in the next.

 

[Fluture]

I disagree. This article from a reputed press agency had Plyushchenko revealing the honest truth, no dirty laundry was hung out. They worked on the issues together, had Tarakanova's parents involved and made the decision to split in unison I'd think. Those issues are serious enough in any educational situation, and with Anastasiya being the leader of the PA skaters, she has to be the example, to maintain composure, not throw temper tantrums repeatedly.

It might be the eye opener Anastasiya needs to fathom her own motivation, think about her chances and how to improve them, perhaps try to work on channeling her emotions towards the higher goal. She is still so young, so promising, no need for her to think she is wasted.

Besides, better the truth out in the open from the program director himself than having to endure all the endless gossip on those awful Russian message boards and sports tabloid where the vitriol flows freely and where they will have a field day destroying Anastasiya, Plyushchenko and whoever else that rotten lot wants to drown in their bile.

She won't have to deal with the gossip, the truth is out, and she seemed to be very welcome at Snow Leopards where the other skaters created a small birthday celebration. Perhaps they all knew the truth already, and none of them, Anastasiya included spilled the secret. And that is good to think about too.

Now we must wait how Panova and her staff will work with Anastasiya, give her a clean slate to start working together these final months of the season and with full optimism in the next.

There was absolutely no reason to reveal her personal struggles. She is a young girl, and her anxiety issues don‘t belong in the media at all. It is right that Plushenko had to share that they‘d parted ways but there is a different way to do that. Just say that there were issues with communication, they decided that it‘s best for her if she goes back to her old coach and that he wishes her good luck. All those details about her private life and mental situation will only fuel the gossips more. It would have been enough to state the situation in a calm, factual and objective way. The public doesn‘t need to know all the details of a coaching change or the disagreements and problems that went with it.

“Those issues are serious enough in any educational situation, and with Anastasiya being the leader of the PA skaters, she has to be the example, to maintain composure, not throw temper tantrums repeatedly.“

Excuse me, but Anastasia is a, barely 15 year old, child. She is not an adult and her so called “temper tantrums“ might just be a young girl overwhelmed with the situation and scared of learning quads and 3A. Whatever it might be, it is simply not reasonable to expect composure from a teenager in the midst of puberty in every situation. Even if she is a professional athlete, she is still human and going through all the changes that are normal. So, no, she does not always have to maintain composure, not at all. She’s not a robot. And for Plushenko to spill all this and make her look like a spoiled, over-emotional child is simply not right. Frankly, I am disappointed by the way he handled the situation and disappointed that some really think that the personal struggles with anxiety of a young girl belong in the media and constitute as “revealing the honest truth“.

Nevertheless, I wish good luck to Nastya and hope she will be able to prepare for the next season in a calm way. She is talented skater and a nice girl with a competitive spirit and she deserves only the best.

 

[Edwin]

Russian sports systems don't treat 14-15 year olds as children. FFKKR sponsors the skaters with large sums of money, they demand a serious attitude. One fit or lapse is OK, a period of lesser motivation probably isn't held against you either, but repeatedly disrupting the training process while you are being taught new elements is not tolerated.

But I do agree with the possibility that PA might not be the best rink for a skater like Tarakanova who does seem to wear her heart on her sleeve often.

Anastsiya needs company, emotional sparring partners off the ice, perhaps someone to yell at, a shoulder to cry on in the changing room, i.e. friends her own age. PA is only small, they might not have the time or resources to deal with these kind of problems, and Plyushchenko himself I don't consider a specialist in this field of expertise. With Plyushchenko hardly ever around, Ivanova, Kseniya Semyonova was in charge. She is very young herself still, born 1985, so perhaps not the figure of authority needed to deal with a moody teenager?

There must have been the same kind attitude/motivation issues before with Tarakanova leaving Snow Leopards, leaving Khrustalniy.

You might not agree, but this is the natural process of separating the chaff from the corn, only the strongest will prevail.

I sincerely hope Anastasiya will pull herself around and prove next season she has mastered her fears and come out a little sadder, but wiser and much stronger.

And I do stick with my conclusion: better the honest truth out in the open at the earliest than having to endure all that gossip and negative speculation that will nag at you and do your reputation much worse in the end.

 

[Coryocris]

and with Anastasiya being the leader of the PA skaters, she has to be the example, to maintain composure, not throw temper tantrums repeatedly.

She's 15! She doesn't have to be the example of nothing besides her own hapiness.

And this may sound crazy, but I've always felt a strange connection to her... like seeing myself again at 15 and knowing that she has anxiety struggles only want me to go there and give her the biggest hug and tell her that everything is allright. I know how she must feel now and I hope she knows that this "interview" doesn't define what she is, but the "tantrums" of a grown man with and ego the size of Russia.

 

[Azikin]

Happy birthday and good luck in the new group, Nastya! I believe this may be a good decision, to train with some more girls of similar age and abilities.. at least for one more year when she's still a junior.. then we'll see..

 

[Fluture]

You might not agree, but this is the natural process of separating the chaff from the corn, only the strongest will prevail.

I sincerely hope Anastasiya will pull herself around and prove next season she has mastered her fears and come out a little sadder, but wiser and much stronger.

And I do stick with my conclusion: better the honest truth out in the open at the earliest than having to endure all that gossip and negative speculation that will nag at you and do your reputation much worse in the end.

Yes, only the strongest will prevail. But being the strongest doesn‘t mean that you can‘t suffer. Or have bad days and cry and scream and think about quitting. What matters is that you pick yourself up, get up and try again. Which Nastya did and does, or otherwise she would not be in this sport anymore. So, to act as if Nastya‘s struggles meant she was “not strong enough“ for this sport, is just cruel and not true at all. I don‘t know how her career will unfold, no one knows. But if she really wants this, she will get it. And hopefully with coaches who support her as a human being and accept that sometimes, she is not the superhuman athlete she appears to be but just Nastya, just a girl of 15 years who‘s going through a difficult time and needs support and help.

About the second part: You‘re entitled to have your own opinion. But in the end, no one knows what “the honest truth“ really is. In the end, we don‘t know how bad Nastya‘s situation really was, we don‘t know whether Plushenko exaggerated or not. We only have his word. And that‘s a problem in itself. The biggest problem however, is, that mental struggles aren‘t something that belong to the public. They are a highly sensitive topic, not like having a broken bone, and demand care. Especially with a 15 year old teenager who’s going through a difficult period of her life already. And now that Plushenko talked about her like that, the gossip will be worse. To believe that this statement somehow prevented gossip from being spread, is frankly not very wise. The whole gossip could maybe have been prevented (in reality, it will never be stopped completely but can only be kept at a minimum) had Plushenko just made a general statement.

Some things should be kept private because they don‘t belong in the media. Mental struggles, anxiety problems... the only one who should be allowed to share them is Nastya and only if she herself wants to. No one else has the right to do that! What Plushenko did wasn‘t only not professional but cruel as well. She is 15 and even if she wasn‘t, even if she was an adult... her mental state is no one else‘s business unless she wants to talk about it. I hope she gets support and isn’t only told to “get over it because she gets paid by rusfed.“ Because an attitude like this is highly dangerous and might make the issue worse.

 

[Edwin]

Our sensitivity is different from the general Russian definition.

Even if Plyushchenko had used general terms, the truth would be out sooner or later, and probably would have been told in wording and meaning a lot worse. The gossip never stops.
I am waiting for the Eloy Snegovik to spill his vitriol on the matter and the other likewise rotten Youtube channels revealing their 'truth'.

Anastasiya herself seemed unphased in her birthday celebrations yesterday and the other skaters behaved absolutely normal around her.

 

[PiggytailProdigy]

This is Nastya's fanfest after all, I hope it sticks to supporting her. All the best to Plushenko as well!

 

[LRK]

Yes, I will miss all those little training videos of Nastya as well - but all the best to her in her new/old training environment, and hope it all works out for the best.