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Interview with Nina Mozer about coaching the pairs, Medvedeva leaving Eteri, and the Chinese team at the 2022 Olympics
https://youtu.be/HTfkpeuOsjk
- Let me, as a layman in figure skating, ask, did you take a break from coaching? Should we expect you back any time soon?
- You see, coach's work consists of several components. There a coaches who work at the rink side all the time, what I did for 8 years. Well, I did it for much longer, but now I'm talking about the top level. And in October at the beginning of the Olympic season I announced that I'm going to take a break. I'm really tired, completely exhausted, because I worked with 3 leading pairs over 2 Olympic periods, I had the whole main roster of the national team. It really wore me out, and I need some rest, I need to want to come back again to the rink side, because I would need to live there. Each morning a normal person thinks about his family and its needs, but you can only think about the troubles, about the training, whether everything is OK with athletes' mental state. It wears you and leads you to inner emptiness. So I retired from active coaching. I still help my guys, I work with two pairs, but I only oversee their training. I'm here with Tarasova and Morozov, but they are working amazingly with Maxim Trankov. I'm very glad that they get along well, and I hope in this season they could fight for the gold at the World championships. Before that, I was with Natasha and Sasha in Italy, I worked with them for a while. I mean, I don't work from dawn to dusk, I just stay with them sometimes and help them, since we have worked together for a long time.
- Will there be a new age restriction - 17 years or something?
- No, they tried to pass it at the last congress, but it was declined, and it won't happen any time soon. This proposal had its advantages and disadvantages. I agree with Eteri Tutberidze, she told to a journalist when the whole discussion started, when the Americans - Tara Lipinski at the age of 15, Sarah Huges, Sasha Cohen - were medalling at the Olympics, were champions - Michelle Kwan too - no one was thinking of age restrictions. Now it so happened that the Russians became stronger in this discipline, and the whole initiative was started.
- Same as in synchronized swimming - once we started dominating, some new rules were instantly introduced.
- It's a world tendency - when someone excels in something, others try to stop it, make obstacles. We successfully fight them, so the stronger wins anyway.
- Tutberidze is a genius, I admire her and her work, but the fact that several students left her - is it good or bad? Will it be better for them now?
- Let me tell you one simple thing. When Eteri won the gold and the silver, I remembered that I had the same situation after the Olympics in Sochi. I knew for sure, now is the most difficult period for her. While you still strive for victory, while you do it for the first time, you just follow your path towards the goal. But once you have it done, people start treating you differently, with more attention, some negativity appears, every your mistake, every fail is treated as a catastrophe. Eteri has at least 15 athletes who deserve medals and victories. Of course, it was painful to have Zhenya Medvedeva left, she worked with her for 11 years, but the other girls for various reasons weren't the leaders. It was exaggerated by journalists, they started provoking people, it's sometimes better to ignore some things, rather than inciting a conflict. I think at some point Zhenya herself read too much of it. I had the same situation with Zhenya Tarasova this year, after her short program she read that she can become the Olympic champion tomorrow, only one step left. It affected her so much that she couldn't focus in the first minutes on the ice. I learned this from my own experience this year. All this hype never helps. Having worked for so many years, an athlete must focus on his work, but when this information leaks to him, it makes him think about unnecessary things. Sometimes it's just cruel towards these people, we live on the rink, we prepare, we work hard. Journalists may not have any malice, but they bring too much attention, so all this happens. Eteri has many students - apparently, there was no place for some of those who left, they weren't in the front row of the training process of Eteri Tutberidze.
- What will be the most difficult now for Evgenia Medvedeva? As you said, 11 years, the second mom. Now she has a new period in her life, could she retain what she has?
- I think nothing too difficult or tragic happened to Zhenya. We all change our lives at some point, right? We leave someone, divorce, get new friends, why make a problem from this? Of course, changes are difficult, but we should treat them realistically, Zhenya should.
- How can you take it easy, leaving the greatest coach, it's like leaving Tikhonov in hockey.
- You know, she left to another greatest coach, who has done much more in figure skating. Excuse me, but Brian Orser is a world star with the greatest athletes from many countries. Zhenya didn't leave to nowhere, she went to another distinguished specialist. She will learn something new in figure skating, she will get new opportunities, discover a new figure skating, because each coach has his own piece of knowledge which he shares with his students. Today it's some students, tomorrow it will be others. When I only started working, they told me, "just wait, it will be as a factory". I couldn't comprehend it then, because I only had my first students. Now I can say, it's not quite a factory, but once we have done some job, won some medals, we should just let it go. If an athlete went to another specialist - good luck, let him succeed, let him shine in a new way and win more medals, and everything will be fine. Don't overdramatize it. It may be painful for Eteri, leaving a student with whom she lived every day, who was the second daughter to her, but it will pass too, new students will come, they did already, then more students. Such is life. School teachers do the same heroic work, but they don't get medals and fame, it's a usual situation in our life, I don't find anything extraordinary in it. It's always been so to everyone, great coaches had students leaving and coming, nothing unexpected in this. We just pay close attention to it because it's happening now to our contemporaries. After all, such is life, I guess.
- The last question. You mentioned how the Chinese prepare for the Olympics. I personally worked at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, it was the best after Sochi among all 7 Olympics I've been at. At its time Beijing was absolutely the best, absolutely fantastic, only Sochi could beat it in terms of organization. What should we expect in 2022 in Beijing, China's Winter Olympics? Will it be something even more astonishing?
- Let me give an example from figure skating. We work with prominent choreographers from many countries - if you want the best for your best athletes, you ask the best choreographers. I will not tell specific names, but last year we approached one such choreographer. At first, she was in doubt, but later she said she now works with the Chinese, I was later told that it's because they pay 1.5 times more than anyone else. They have financial resources that override many other aspects, and they have enough resources for organizing such Olympics. The tendency is to show something more each time. I saw pictures and videos from there, and I realize that even the things they already have now are unique. They have very strong contenders in my discipline, pair skating - I just sat and thought, "How it's possible to compete with them? It's OK now, but what then, at the Olympics?" It was the same in Sochi where everything was done for us, now China does everything for the Chinese. It's obvious that China will hold the Olympics well, unless something political happens; they have money, territory, some their own rules, experience. In 2020 they will also hold their own games, by that time they will already have many things done and tested. They have outstanding science, outstanding medicine, and where they can get some medal, they will do everything to win.
- If I recall correctly, in 2008 they won 51 gold medals, completely dominated over the Americans.
- I don't want to make predictions, but they will try to repeat it, and they are able to do it. Everything comes from opportunities. As a specialist, you know how the things should be done, but when you start, as it was recently, you realize that you lack this and that. But this is still your duty. People think you have everything, but you lack some specialists, some opportunities, you ask people to have things done otherwise, in a better way, but they respond - No, that's how we always do it. - But it doesn't work! - No, that's our ways. The Chinese have everything in their way and done well. And of course, they invite many prominent specialists in different sports, and they send their athletes to the places where the best in the world are trained - biathlon, skiing and everything else. They distributed them around the world. You can't see it from aside, but I have friends in many sports and I often see it. They have the best. Brian Orser will now coach China's top single man. We can't be sure he isn't the next Hanyu - he too has all the abilities, and now he will get certain polish and beauty. And he is a big threat for the contenders too, and a threat for the participants in the team event.
- Thank you so much, it's always interesting to talk to you.
https://youtu.be/HTfkpeuOsjk
- Let me, as a layman in figure skating, ask, did you take a break from coaching? Should we expect you back any time soon?
- You see, coach's work consists of several components. There a coaches who work at the rink side all the time, what I did for 8 years. Well, I did it for much longer, but now I'm talking about the top level. And in October at the beginning of the Olympic season I announced that I'm going to take a break. I'm really tired, completely exhausted, because I worked with 3 leading pairs over 2 Olympic periods, I had the whole main roster of the national team. It really wore me out, and I need some rest, I need to want to come back again to the rink side, because I would need to live there. Each morning a normal person thinks about his family and its needs, but you can only think about the troubles, about the training, whether everything is OK with athletes' mental state. It wears you and leads you to inner emptiness. So I retired from active coaching. I still help my guys, I work with two pairs, but I only oversee their training. I'm here with Tarasova and Morozov, but they are working amazingly with Maxim Trankov. I'm very glad that they get along well, and I hope in this season they could fight for the gold at the World championships. Before that, I was with Natasha and Sasha in Italy, I worked with them for a while. I mean, I don't work from dawn to dusk, I just stay with them sometimes and help them, since we have worked together for a long time.
- Will there be a new age restriction - 17 years or something?
- No, they tried to pass it at the last congress, but it was declined, and it won't happen any time soon. This proposal had its advantages and disadvantages. I agree with Eteri Tutberidze, she told to a journalist when the whole discussion started, when the Americans - Tara Lipinski at the age of 15, Sarah Huges, Sasha Cohen - were medalling at the Olympics, were champions - Michelle Kwan too - no one was thinking of age restrictions. Now it so happened that the Russians became stronger in this discipline, and the whole initiative was started.
- Same as in synchronized swimming - once we started dominating, some new rules were instantly introduced.
- It's a world tendency - when someone excels in something, others try to stop it, make obstacles. We successfully fight them, so the stronger wins anyway.
- Tutberidze is a genius, I admire her and her work, but the fact that several students left her - is it good or bad? Will it be better for them now?
- Let me tell you one simple thing. When Eteri won the gold and the silver, I remembered that I had the same situation after the Olympics in Sochi. I knew for sure, now is the most difficult period for her. While you still strive for victory, while you do it for the first time, you just follow your path towards the goal. But once you have it done, people start treating you differently, with more attention, some negativity appears, every your mistake, every fail is treated as a catastrophe. Eteri has at least 15 athletes who deserve medals and victories. Of course, it was painful to have Zhenya Medvedeva left, she worked with her for 11 years, but the other girls for various reasons weren't the leaders. It was exaggerated by journalists, they started provoking people, it's sometimes better to ignore some things, rather than inciting a conflict. I think at some point Zhenya herself read too much of it. I had the same situation with Zhenya Tarasova this year, after her short program she read that she can become the Olympic champion tomorrow, only one step left. It affected her so much that she couldn't focus in the first minutes on the ice. I learned this from my own experience this year. All this hype never helps. Having worked for so many years, an athlete must focus on his work, but when this information leaks to him, it makes him think about unnecessary things. Sometimes it's just cruel towards these people, we live on the rink, we prepare, we work hard. Journalists may not have any malice, but they bring too much attention, so all this happens. Eteri has many students - apparently, there was no place for some of those who left, they weren't in the front row of the training process of Eteri Tutberidze.
- What will be the most difficult now for Evgenia Medvedeva? As you said, 11 years, the second mom. Now she has a new period in her life, could she retain what she has?
- I think nothing too difficult or tragic happened to Zhenya. We all change our lives at some point, right? We leave someone, divorce, get new friends, why make a problem from this? Of course, changes are difficult, but we should treat them realistically, Zhenya should.
- How can you take it easy, leaving the greatest coach, it's like leaving Tikhonov in hockey.
- You know, she left to another greatest coach, who has done much more in figure skating. Excuse me, but Brian Orser is a world star with the greatest athletes from many countries. Zhenya didn't leave to nowhere, she went to another distinguished specialist. She will learn something new in figure skating, she will get new opportunities, discover a new figure skating, because each coach has his own piece of knowledge which he shares with his students. Today it's some students, tomorrow it will be others. When I only started working, they told me, "just wait, it will be as a factory". I couldn't comprehend it then, because I only had my first students. Now I can say, it's not quite a factory, but once we have done some job, won some medals, we should just let it go. If an athlete went to another specialist - good luck, let him succeed, let him shine in a new way and win more medals, and everything will be fine. Don't overdramatize it. It may be painful for Eteri, leaving a student with whom she lived every day, who was the second daughter to her, but it will pass too, new students will come, they did already, then more students. Such is life. School teachers do the same heroic work, but they don't get medals and fame, it's a usual situation in our life, I don't find anything extraordinary in it. It's always been so to everyone, great coaches had students leaving and coming, nothing unexpected in this. We just pay close attention to it because it's happening now to our contemporaries. After all, such is life, I guess.
- The last question. You mentioned how the Chinese prepare for the Olympics. I personally worked at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, it was the best after Sochi among all 7 Olympics I've been at. At its time Beijing was absolutely the best, absolutely fantastic, only Sochi could beat it in terms of organization. What should we expect in 2022 in Beijing, China's Winter Olympics? Will it be something even more astonishing?
- Let me give an example from figure skating. We work with prominent choreographers from many countries - if you want the best for your best athletes, you ask the best choreographers. I will not tell specific names, but last year we approached one such choreographer. At first, she was in doubt, but later she said she now works with the Chinese, I was later told that it's because they pay 1.5 times more than anyone else. They have financial resources that override many other aspects, and they have enough resources for organizing such Olympics. The tendency is to show something more each time. I saw pictures and videos from there, and I realize that even the things they already have now are unique. They have very strong contenders in my discipline, pair skating - I just sat and thought, "How it's possible to compete with them? It's OK now, but what then, at the Olympics?" It was the same in Sochi where everything was done for us, now China does everything for the Chinese. It's obvious that China will hold the Olympics well, unless something political happens; they have money, territory, some their own rules, experience. In 2020 they will also hold their own games, by that time they will already have many things done and tested. They have outstanding science, outstanding medicine, and where they can get some medal, they will do everything to win.
- If I recall correctly, in 2008 they won 51 gold medals, completely dominated over the Americans.
- I don't want to make predictions, but they will try to repeat it, and they are able to do it. Everything comes from opportunities. As a specialist, you know how the things should be done, but when you start, as it was recently, you realize that you lack this and that. But this is still your duty. People think you have everything, but you lack some specialists, some opportunities, you ask people to have things done otherwise, in a better way, but they respond - No, that's how we always do it. - But it doesn't work! - No, that's our ways. The Chinese have everything in their way and done well. And of course, they invite many prominent specialists in different sports, and they send their athletes to the places where the best in the world are trained - biathlon, skiing and everything else. They distributed them around the world. You can't see it from aside, but I have friends in many sports and I often see it. They have the best. Brian Orser will now coach China's top single man. We can't be sure he isn't the next Hanyu - he too has all the abilities, and now he will get certain polish and beauty. And he is a big threat for the contenders too, and a threat for the participants in the team event.
- Thank you so much, it's always interesting to talk to you.
