Well, at least nobody is slagging off Artem K for not doing well, I think splatfests by boys are generally more tolerated (kind of sexist really...). With the girls there is just a very psychologically unhealthy attitude from the media - they condemn a girl's entire future career based on a couple of events - boys can have a manky season due to injury or growth, or choose to peak later in the season, yet generally don't face the same vitriol. Sasha is kind of like Misha Kolyada in that her consistency issue is mainly psychological - as soon as that part clicks then her trajectory can only go up. The most important thing is not to let her confidence be undermined by the toxic media environment, or their predictions of failure will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
PS I do think she was slightly injured, or at least pretty worn out after the Kazan Russian Cup stage just a week ago.
PS I do think she was slightly injured, or at least pretty worn out after the Kazan Russian Cup stage just a week ago.
Mishin stuck by Liza Tuk when she went through a nadir for a few years after her world champ win. I think he totally understands, and as long as Plushy shows that same patience and belief in Sasha then Mishin won't be disappointed. His attitude is fundamentally different from the Moscow pressure cooker where skaters who don't succeeds are often quickly ditched by coaches and have to either retire/switch coaches/get stupidly avoidable overuse injuries trying to keep up with the competition by brute force. I wonder if Plushy, Sasha, Mishin and Liza could sit down and have a chat about sports psychology and resilience - Sasha could learn some valuable tips from them.And perhaps worst of all... Professor Mishin being horribly disappointed in Plushy