Eteri Tutberidze interview on Russian TV

[sclloyd]

'Adult' means what? Alyona is 18y old

Where did you see shaming?
For me actually this outrage is shaming Alina as if being 'mother's girl' is a shame. What's wrong with 'mother's girl' can somebody explain?
Does it have some additional weird connotation in English?

Eteri was implying that the reason Alina didn’t desire to continue competing and therefore wasn’t training as hard (even though she was injured and said she wanted to quit directly after the OG’s) was because her mother moved to Moscow with her and she’s a mothers girl which in English is sort of a petty way to say “someone who can’t grow up”. Like let’s say a university student goes to school an hour away from home and always returns on the weekends to have his mom do his laundry, or someone who is married but still asks his mother for permission to go somewhere— then he would derogatorily be called a mama’s boy.

 

[readernick]

I neither love nor hate Eteri. However, this interview will do nothing to endear her to those critical of her and her methods and it definitely moved me from neutral to more critical. Her negative comments about her students are nothing new. Completely unacceptable but given what she has said before, not shocking. What was shocking to me was the comments she made suggesting Med's weight is what caused the injury she suffered in the Olympic year, which is quite shocking given how thin Med was that year. ( And has always been) She was also willing to admit that Polina Shelepen left her because Eteri was restricting her food. Everything wrong with the culture of skating was present in this interview.

 

[icybear]

I suppose Eteri is at that time of her usual cycle where she feels endangered of being seen as an incompetent coach with 2 of her skaters out of the olympics and 3 olympic spots for her is very uncertain. Therefore another interview throwing all the blame at her students is needed. I'm suprised there is no word on Alena. Even when Daria got injured, they blamed on her training too hard. But absolutely nothing bad on Alena since her injury

 

[alexocfp]

Even if it’s not abusive just the sheer unwillingness of people to admit any faults of their favorites is so dumb. Like the TT choreographer blaming Daria for her injury. Or any other number of issues. It’s seen as a crime to speak good and bad of someone so much so that to speak any bad is equivalent of speaking only bad. Except when the coaches speak poorly of someone in which case “no one ever understands nuance”. It’s exhausting.

I don’t think anyone said she was perfect, nor that she has not made mistakes, but in order to get the results she is getting, you can’t think or act like a fan.

High level sports are cutthroat. And it doesn’t apply to just figure skating.

The skaters are under pressure to perform or else they are replaced. As a coach in that country, she is also under pressure to produce. She can be replaced at any time as well. The fed can decide to stop funding this rink without warning too.

People have no idea the pressure on Eteri. It‘s not easy to be a “must win” coach. Look at the managers at top football clubs that have gotten sacked for draws or placing second. People never take that into account.

In order to get to the top and stay there, sometimes you need to break some eggs and do things that seem excessive or over the top. Nobody has to like or even agree with it, but that‘s just the way it is.

This is a Machiavellian endeavor. It‘s a results based business.
All the “bad” things about Eteri are actually the reason she is a great coach. The ego, the stubbornness, the “my way or else“ attitude, the way she has someone to replace you if you underperform, the way she runs a tight ship and she is the captain and steers it, etc etc.

This isn’t a popularity contest. It’s a race to get medals and be on the top step of the podium.

 

[sclloyd]

I suppose Eteri is at that time of her usual cycle where she feels endangered of being seen as an incompetent coach with 2 of her skaters out of the olympics and 3 olympic spots for her is very uncertain. Therefore another interview throwing all the blame at her students is needed. I'm suprised there is no word on Alena. Even when Daria got injured, they blamed on her training too hard. But absolutely nothing bad on Alena since her injury

Perhaps they learned from the severe backlash they got from Daria.

 

[sclloyd]

I neither love nor hate Eteri. However, this interview will do nothing to endear her to those critical of her and her methods and it definitely moved me from neutral to more critical. Her negative comments about her students are nothing new. Completely unacceptable but given what she has said before, not shocking. What was shocking to me was the comments she made suggesting Med's weight is what caused the injury she suffered in the Olympic year, which is quite shocking given how thin Med was that year. ( And has always been) She was also willing to admit that Polina Shelepen left her because Eteri was restricting her food. Everything wrong with the culture of skating was present in this interview.

I’m the same way. There’s a lot to love about Eteri. She has wildly successful skaters. But she just needs to shut her mouth about her students. There is nothing in the coaching job of success that says “blame career ending injuries on the weight of a skater who is at her lowest weight in public interview”.

Even with Polina you might say yes diet is important and those who can’t adhere to a good diet end up out of the sport but the coach shouldn’t be the one restricting the food. Either they do it of their own volition or they don’t.

Just the fact that anyone says this sort of insane public discussion is necessary to creating good skaters… so freaking dumb. All these skaters are retired too, so the fact she feels the need to rehash their problems is just weird and completely unnecessary.

Can’t wait to see what she’ll have to say of her next OG medalists. Certainly if she doesn’t say it retroactively then they never would’ve won.

 

[Amei]

Does anyone have a link to the latest Eteri interview, and I apologize if it has been posted a million times, but I can’t seem to find it. I want to read the whole thing before I make a judgement or comment.

I believe this is the interview everyone is talking about: https://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/interval/2998871.html#supertop

 

[Scott512]

I’m the same way. There’s a lot to love about Eteri. She has wildly successful skaters. But she just needs to shut her mouth about her students. There is nothing in the coaching job of success that says “blame career ending injuries on the weight of a skater who is at her lowest weight in public interview”.

Even with Polina you might say yes diet is important and those who can’t adhere to a good diet end up out of the sport but the coach shouldn’t be the one restricting the food. Either they do it of their own volition or they don’t.

Just the fact that anyone says this sort of insane public discussion is necessary to creating good skaters… so freaking dumb. All these skaters are retired too, so the fact she feels the need to rehash their problems is just weird and completely unnecessary.

Can’t wait to see what she’ll have to say of her next OG medalists. Certainly if she doesn’t say it retroactively then they never would’ve won.

I agree with this 100%. Just some of her comments are really not needed we don't need to hear her talking about her great skaters of the past in a negative way in any way shape or form because they made her a great coach.

But Adelia says she loves Eteri very much.

Alina won every title before she was 17. No one can blame her for not wanting to work those 12 hour days at the rank anymore ma'am when she was living away from her parents and little sister for a few years. Was it worth it for AZ Was it worth it for AZ? Yes. But was it worth it for the other 100 girls that never made it and did the same thing living away from their family? Nyet!

I am shocked this coach did such an interview right before nationals Europeans and the Olympics.

I will say this and it applies to EG and to any actor or singer or politician or athlete that I've ever liked it's like once I learn more about them I like almost always them less.

 

[Amei]

I thought this part was very interesting

“Dad said: I have one child - a son, girls are not counted. And I wanted to prove that they count. "​

- I think no one has easy ways. Someone might say: oh, is my way so easy? The first thing that angered me and why I wanted to take place was probably laid down when I was 4 years old. Our relatives arrived from Georgia, they were sitting at the table in the kitchen, and someone asked dad: how many children do you have? He says: one son. And I pat on the back on the shoulder: Dad, there are five of us. He's like this: move away. Then I asked: dad, why? He says: the son is Tutberidze's surname, he will continue the race, and you girls do not count. So I always wanted to prove what counts.

Eteri Interview

 

[alexocfp]

I believe this is the interview everyone is talking about: https://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/interval/2998871.html#supertop

It’s actually a great interview. Talks a lot about her childhood and how her dad motivated her because he only wanted boys.

All the other stuff, sure enough, was blown way out of proportion. No, she didn’t “starve” anyone nor take all the credit and none of the blame for her skaters’ successes. But her getting mud flung at her comes with the territory I guess.

 

[Amei]

It’s actually a great interview. Talks a lot about her childhood and how her dad motivated her because he only wanted boys.

All the other stuff, sure enough, was blown way out of proportion. No, she didn’t “starve” anyone nor take all the credit and none of the blame for her skaters’ successes.,

Well I disagree with you there, she did praise Lipnitskaia's powder drink diet back in the 2013 season. But that was 8 years ago, hopefully she learned from that disaster and doesn't condone extreme means of losing/maintaining weight.

 

[alexocfp]

Well I disagree with you there, she did praise Lipnitskaia's powder drink diet back in the 2013 season. But that was 8 years ago, hopefully she learned from that disaster and doesn't condone extreme means of losing/maintaining weight.

Praising her and barring her from eating are 2 different things. Yeah, I know, semantics.

But, as a coach, you don’t want athletes to starve themselves because that is not conducive to top level performances. You need energy to be able to do this. Not eating right will only make your performances worse and lead to fatigue and injury, so it’s not a smart way to go about it.

I am certainly no coach, but if I was I would have a nutritionist and trainer with me always. Get everyone to eat well and have the best fitness you ever saw.

 

[Alex Fedorov]

I watched this interview yesterday, and I see that in the text version it is somewhat truncated and simplified. In addition, I noticed at least one typo, rather strange - as if someone had already tried to automatically translate the text into English, and then immediately made a reverse translation.

I can translate, of course, but it takes a lot of time, which I do not have yet. In addition, during this time, everyone will already read, if not all, then 90% of the interview in parts - because it is already quoted in many places. So I don't know if that makes sense.

Unfortunately, even in the case of an ideal and maximally complete translation, the text does not convey intonation. For example, Eteri speaks about Evgenia Medvedeva with obvious pain in her voice, and this changes a lot in perception. The image of a coach-abuser does not fit well with this.

 

[Draculus]

I agree with this 100%. Just some of her comments are really not needed we don't need to hear her talking about her great skaters of the past in a negative way in any way shape or form because they made her a great coach.

Hmm, but then don't listen to her?
You do not want to listen this, but there are a lot of ppl who want to listen to her, just look at the youtube comments under that interview.
I hope it is not prime time TV that is loudly broadcasting from your neighbor TV?

But instead you going and reading that interview translation (probably via google) and then complaining that you do not need it to hear that. Looks illogical for me.

 

[Draculus]

Eteri was implying that the reason Alina didn’t desire to continue competing and therefore wasn’t training as hard (even though she was injured and said she wanted to quit directly after the OG’s) was because her mother moved to Moscow with her and she’s a mothers girl which in English is sort of a petty way to say “someone who can’t grow up”.

Hmm but Eteri spoke in Russian I suppose?
Still I'm failing to understand what is wrong with it, for me it's just a nice way to say that girl behaves as not fully grown adult (and Alina was not fully grown adult at that time). Kind of cute.

Like let’s say a university student goes to school an hour away from home and always returns on the weekends to have his mom do his laundry, or someone who is married but still asks his mother for permission to go somewhere— then he would derogatorily be called a mama’s boy.

I can see some insult that is supposed to be in 'mama's boy' because in traditional patriarchal culture young men in their teens are not supposed to be cute unfortunately. But it does not work for a girl, for a girl it can be a even compliment (though I doubt that Eteri used it this way).

 

[sclloyd]

Hmm but Eteri spoke in Russian I suppose?
Still I'm failing to understand what is wrong with it, for me it's just a nice way to say that girl behaves as not fully grown adult (and Alina was not fully grown adult at that time). Kind of cute.

I can see some insult that is supposed to be in 'mama's boy' because in traditional patriarchal culture young men in their teens are not supposed to be cute unfortunately. But it does not work for a girl, for a girl it can be a even compliment (though I doubt that Eteri used it this way).

I don't know the exact verbiage in Russian or how it translates exactly. Though she did live in America for a while and does know English well. I was simply responding to the question about whether "mother's girl/mother's boy" has a negative connotation in English, which, at least in America it does.

 

[gsk8]

I can translate, of course, but it takes a lot of time, which I do not have yet. In addition, during this time, everyone will already read, if not all, then 90% of the interview in parts - because it is already quoted in many places. So I don't know if that makes sense.

That would be great to have a translation where everyone can see it Your context would be welcomed!

 

[Alex Fedorov]

I don't know the exact verbiage in Russian or how it translates exactly. Though she did live in America for a while and does know English well. I was simply responding to the question about whether "mother's girl/mother's boy" has a negative connotation in English, which, at least in America it does.

In Russia, "mama's son" is an unambiguously negative characteristic (although we had a real hero, by the name of Mamkin, which can be translated exactly as mama's son). At the same time, "mother's daughter" is just an obedient girl who behaves approximately, helps with housework, and so on.

But Tutberidze, of course, meant that Zagitova succumbed to the bad influence of her mother.

 

[Fluture]

Well I disagree with you there, she did praise Lipnitskaia's powder drink diet back in the 2013 season. But that was 8 years ago, hopefully she learned from that disaster and doesn't condone extreme means of losing/maintaining weight.

She just talked in this interview about Medvedeva having weight problems (=being overweight) in 2017-18 and this causing her stress fracture. Yes, Medvedeva, the one who publicly discussed her disordered eating, weighing 43 kg at the Olympics and having to learn how to not starve herself with a nutritionist after she moved to Canada. Eteri has learned nothing.

 

[Fluture]

That would mean the skaters themselves don’t care about their well being first and foremost, doesn’t it? To WILLINGLY go back on their word and willingly go back to a place where they claim mistreatment means that the boy who cried wolf is at play here.

Why hasn’t anyone that was at the time the Eteri number one left?

Just because a culture of abuse is so normalized doesn‘t make it right. Of course skaters will stay there if it gives them a chance to win medals. To give you a more extreme example: gymnasts stayed with the Karolyis for years! Would you seriously claim that this means there was nothing wrong with their methods? Now, I‘m not saying Eteri‘s group is close to that. Just showing that your argument is a strawman and doesn‘t work.

And neither does the second one, btw. Alena Kostornaya - reigning GPF and Euros Champion, world record holder in the SP and total score and clearly number one after 2019-20 - left her that very off-season.