Mikhail Kolyada

[SnowWhite]

On a nicer note, did anyone here end up sending music suggestions to that email that was shared?

 

[Ulrica]

On a nicer note, did anyone here end up sending music suggestions to that email that was shared?

Yep! I sent him these;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnlaCenlNHk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JktNRlNTfMs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2hZNIRG80Y

 

[coldblueeyes]

I wish Russian media would follow your motto. Mika himself is keeping very quiet, giving no interviews, no updates on social media but looking at Russian sources you would never guess. Kolyada's name is everywhere, everyone has an opinion of him (unfavourable invariably) everyone has an explanation of his failures and advice how to better himself etc etc etc. Plushenko however hit a new low, while talking about Russian boys in general in his last interview, how he used to catch them, hmm, admiring themselves in the mirror instead of killing themselves at the rink -one might assume he was talking about the boys at his own academia but no, when asked by the journalist who he had in mind, he promptly replied - Kolyada
So in addition to being not a fighter, lazy, not wanting to leave his comfort zone etc etc ... he is Narcissus now

I'm mostly refraining from talking about Plushenko, because his ubers came after me when I barely mentioned his name. He's doing a very fine job of smearing his own name in the russian media. He's a very fine man when he's not talking, that's for sure. I wouldn't care much about opinions, though. Everyone and their mother already expressed their own at this point.

 

[Tatjana]

My colleague Olga Ermolina recently was in St. Petersburg and among others, interviewed Misha. The interview should come up soon on the Federation website www.fsrussia.ru. Misha picked his free skating music (but I don't know if he shared it in this interview).

 

[coldblueeyes]

Great to have some new info, hopefully Misha is on the right track to have a good time off and then come back in better form next season! Thanks Tatjana!

 

[Tutto]

The interview!
https://fsrussia.ru/intervyu/4385-m...haplin-dlya-korotkoj-ishchem-muzyku.html?sl=1

oh Chaplin - I don't know with two programs still fresh in memory is it a good choice? At the same time his EX showed that he is sooo in his element there! And he can save on the costume ha ha :luv17:

 

[coldblueeyes]

People are going to say whatever they want to say, no matter what he does. I'm all in the camp 'let Misha do what he wants and be happy'. I think this can be a good choice of theme for a light program, which is what he wanted.

 

[coldblueeyes]

Oh, wow, Misha spent ten days in the hospital? Also, pretty much confirmed that he's staying with Valentina, but said clearly that there were 'extenuating factors' that might have been at play behind the scenes, though he's also not keen on a radical change anyway. On another note, apparently the difficulty will make a comeback, so no more watered down layouts(?).

Hopefully, we can see him in better form, no way to compete three or more quads with the kind of stamina he had this season.

 

[Tutto]

Oh, wow, Misha spent ten days in the hospital? Also, pretty much confirmed that he's staying with Valentina, but said clearly that there were 'extenuating factors' that might have been at play behind the scenes, though he's also not keen on a radical change anyway. On another note, apparently the difficulty will make a comeback, so no more watered down layouts(?).

Hopefully, we can see him in better form, no way to compete three or more quads with the kind of stamina he had this season.

I have very mixed feelings about all this, on one hand he is right in saying that whatever it is that prevents him to deliver consistently in competition is in his head and ultimately it is up to him to find that strength within himself to overcome these issues. The coach, the psychologist only can do that much but it is a skater who has to come out on the ice and perform. On the other hand it is kinda of sad that he hasn't got someone with a wealth of experience on his side, not someone like Valentina who is on a learning curve as much as Mika is but someone who's been there done that...
The most upsetting thing is the account of his hospital stay. I don't want to sound all doom and gloom but I am not sure his condition is compatible with competing at that level. He will be okay for a while but sinusitis will keep coming back and stabbing him in the back at the worst possible moment as it already happened this season - RN, WTT. He has to plan his season very carefully keeping in mind that his stamina is not what is used to be and probably never will be (at least until he competes)
In the light of his health problems Chaplin does not bother me that much tbh

 

[cathlen]

Good that he's working with psychologist. Sometimes people with different perspective make better observations, and he was surround with people from FS world only. I don't mind him doing Charlie Chaplin, as long as the program will be good.

 

[Tutto]

I wonder what to make of their decision to bring back 4lz and drop the sal again - don't think he would try to keep both?

 

[coldblueeyes]

On the other hand it is kinda of sad that he hasn't got someone with a wealth of experience on his side, not someone like Valentina who is on a learning curve as much as Mika is but someone who's been there done that...

But you did see what he said about radical changes, and how there wasn't even a point in talking about making the change. I wonder what happened behind the scenes for him to be so sure now to say that he's staying with Valentina. Also, he said it himself, the biggest problem of all is him. The people he worked with have given him a lot of things to think about, but ultimately is on his hands, and I don't know how I feel about him taking most of the responsibility, but he seems sure of himself, so it is what it is.

 

[coldblueeyes]

I wonder what to make of their decision to bring back 4lz and drop the sal again - don't think he would try to keep both?

Did he say he was dropping the salchow? I only read about doing the lutz again.

 

[Tutto]

Did he say he was dropping the salchow? I only read about doing the lutz again.

just my conjecture - I don't believe he would try to do both

TBH if it was not for the strain it puts on his back, 4lz makes more sense at least its BV is 11.50 as opposed to 9.50 for 4T and 9.70 for 4sal, so even with a fall he would score more than with the sal

 

[Tutto]

But you did see what he said about radical changes, and how there wasn't even a point in talking about making the change. I wonder what happened behind the scenes for him to be so sure now to say that he's staying with Valentina. Also, he said it himself, the biggest problem of all is him. The people he worked with have given him a lot of things to think about, but ultimately is on his hands, and I don't know how I feel about him taking most of the responsibility, but he seems sure of himself, so it is what it is.

Firstly, his illness has changed everything. Imagine him going to USA and falling ill 3 -4 times a year not just unwell but requiring hospitalisation? Yes there would be an insurance covering medical expenses but it could be limited, expensive etc All in all to deal with a chronic illness on the top of adapting to a new country is a tough ask.
Secondly, RusFed not seeing him as an disputed Russian No1 anymore, no way they would pay all his expenses abroad and with his past season the way it was there is not enough even for outside choreo let alone training abroad.
So that puts the lid on the matter I think. It is not the end of the world - Slutskaya got many titles with her only coach... and many others didn't despite several coaching changes.
I want to believe that he has been growing as a competitor this past season as bad as it turned out to be there were signs that he is more in control of his nerves and I like his new motto - 'I am here to do my job'

 

[QueenOfTheRoad]

I am disappointed.

Now i am just expecting for him to choose some tango of Piazzolla for the short to make the image complete.

Sigh....

 

[Tatjana]

I was hoping Misha would change coaches, because sometimes it is good to leave your comfort zone and have a "fresh" start. On the other hand of course, there are skaters who stayed with their coach their whole career and it didn't hurt them - Irina Slutskaya as mentioned and I also remember Brian Boitano. Interestingly enough, their coaches never had any other students that had the same level of success before or after.
I don't think that Valentina Chebotareva is a bad coach, but as others said Misha is her first student at this level and it is really a different story when you are competing for the World and/or European podium. I sometimes feel she is lacking confidence and that translates to her top students, Misha and Stasia, who both struggle with nerves in competition.
I agree with Misha that he himself is the one who has to be able to learn how to deal with nervousness and loss of focus (I actually believe that is also part of the problem), but there is improvement (with some setbacks). This season is obviously hard to judge with all the health problems being in the way. However, I am hopeful that he has healed now and will be fine. Maybe some of you remember Alexander Abt. He suffered from a bad sinus infection in 2001 and competed at Europeans. He was very ill, too. The next season he came back strong to win silver at the 2002 Europeans (actually he should have beaten Alexei Yagudin in that event) and placed 5th at the Olympic Games. He again skated really well.
I'm happy Misha wants to bring back the 4Lz to competition. To me the 4Lz seemed more consistent than the 4S when he did both in the Olympic season, based on the practices I've seen. He dropped the Salchow then after Europeans I guess, but he kept the Lutz. Not that he landed a really clean one in competition after Cup of China, but still I thought that this is a better jump for him than the Salchow.

I don't mind Misha doing a Charlie Chaplin program. I think this will suit him very well, it is something he feels comfortable with and he enjoys. I also liked this gala program. But isn't it funny that he keeps saying he doesn't want to skate to "overused music" and then picks "Carmen" and now "Charlie Chaplin"? I also thought it was funny that he now chose to announce the music early, so nobody else would pick it. When I met him last year in May, he revealed his free skating music to me, but I had to promise I wouldn't publish it anywhere. And I actually said, why keeping it secret, and not announcing it so others don't take the same music? We all know what happened ... (and Misha even for exact that reason announced the music now).

 

[coldblueeyes]

I think Misha kind of defies expectations and it's hard to compare his success to someone else, he proves again and again that we can't really expect the same results from different people. I'm fine with his current situation, to be quite honest, we'd have a better idea of his form if he weren't so unstable, so maybe next season we can see where he managed to improve from the Olympic season. He could very well stay with his quad toes and fight for a top 5 finish at most, but it's clear he won't be happy with that. With more guys doing more quads, he needs his best jumps to work, especially if he doesn't want to keep those iffy layouts he had this year.

 

[chanchan]

Glad to hear Misha bring back the 4Lz, too. But Misha needs precise jump techniques help. The nerve does affect whether or not the jump succeed in competition. However, I think the success rate of quads in practice affects more. It even affects the nerve in the competition. Misha can be more confident if he has "really" consisitent 4lz in practice.

 

[Fanou]

The interview!
https://fsrussia.ru/intervyu/4385-m...haplin-dlya-korotkoj-ishchem-muzyku.html?sl=1

oh Chaplin - I don't know with two programs still fresh in memory is it a good choice? At the same time his EX showed that he is sooo in his element there! And he can save on the costume ha ha :luv17:

I can understand why he wants to keep the costume... It's really a very nice costume !