Mikhail Kolyada | Page 37 | Golden Skate

Mikhail Kolyada

Well, Voronov isn't going to be in the competition. Samohin was a hot mess at the Autumn Classic. Kovtun can do very well but you can never be sure of anything with him, unfortunately, though I wish him all the best. His work ethic has really changed for the better since he got a new coach, but his main problem still remains in the head. Petrov of course doesn't have a quad. And, same as you, I don't know anything about where Chan is at. And then there is Chen. But regardless, Misha's main task will be overcoming his own demons, so to speak - whatever psychological hangups he mentioned that are weighing him down.

Changing & chopping the programs didn't do any good I guess and adding 4S and more pressure to stay at least same level or better than last season...
I noticed that a JP for Stanislava is on this weekend too - I wonder who Valentina will be with - Mika probably?
 
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Changing & chopping the programs didn't do any good I guess and adding 4S and more pressure to stay at least same level or better than last season...
I noticed that a JP for Stanislava is on this weekend too - I wonder who Valentina will be with - Mika probably?
Valentina always goes with Misha. Poor Stasya must feel abandoned at times when she's left without a coach, especially if it's for more than a few days. But of course Misha is special for Valentina quite apart from being her best student, I remember her saying that he is virtually like another son to her (she has two but they don't skate).
 
https://vk.com/video-48976701_456239191

A short video from VK about some skater kids Misha came to talk to. I have just translated Misha's words:

[walking down the corridor:] “Whatever you do, you need to do it so that the practice session goes well.”

[next to the window:] “My coach has a very important role in my life, I’ll find it hard to manage without her. She is like a second mother, I probably would have given up a long time ago if it wasn’t for her.”

[on the stage:] “Sport develops character. It doesn’t matter if it’s figure skating or something else. It’s discipline.”

A girl asks how to make every practice session effective.

Misha: “You need to get to love what you do. And then it’s not important what mood you are in, good or bad – you will still come to your practice session and work.”

A boy asks what emotions Misha feels when he jumps a quad.

Misha: “When you’ll jump a quad you’ll understand me. It’s a real rush. When you are flying well, evenly, everything is perfect… It’s a wonderful feeling. I can’t really explain it to you in words. You need to experience it for yourself.”
 
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Thank you very much for that! Mika has really nice voice :luv17: The only thing I understood from whole video was a girl saying "starszy brat" (that's how we write it in Polish) :laugh:
Yes, the girl says "my older brother always helps me". The video is the kids talking about the role of figure skating in their lives.
 
Valentina always goes with Misha. Poor Stasya must feel abandoned at times when she's left without a coach, especially if it's for more than a few days. But of course Misha is special for Valentina quite apart from being her best student, I remember her saying that he is virtually like another son to her (she has two but they don't skate).

Poor Valentina that she cannot split herself and being at Finland and Germany at the same time. And I think she really did like mother for Mika in figure skating. Because mothers take their helpless babies and pationatly teach them everything - how to sit, to speak, to take a spoon, to walk, and so on. And she was like this in the figure skating - teached him since he was helpless little kid every move, every step, every single spin, every single jump. I think Mika couldn't imagine his past, present and future in figure skating without her.
Anyway, best luck to Valentina and her two best students this week!
 
https://vk.com/video-48976701_456239191

A short video from VK about some skater kids Misha came to talk to. I have just translated Misha's words:
Misha: “When you’ll jump a quad you’ll understand me. It’s a real rush. When you are flying well, evenly, everything is perfect… It’s a wonderful feeling. I can’t really explain it to you in words. You need to experience it for yourself.”

Thanks a lot for posting this! I just love the way Mika talks about jumping, that feeling of flying... I get an impression that for many skaters jumps are something they fight and work on, but for Mika it is so natural. I remember someone's account of watching him practice in Boston: 'he is like a creature who belongs to the air' :luv17:

As far as Misha's team is concerned, they are simply not used to operating at this level and would have done well with a bit of outside advice (early on, not of the "throwing out an SP two weeks before the test skates" variety).
Yes I think so too but I was hoping that those 2 weeks they spent with Mozer group in NY and whole Boston experience would help a lot. I remember some footage of Valentina having a lively conversation with Rafael Arutunian at Worlds too. But I guess Rome was not built in a day...

There are some practice reports on FSO - Mika did a great 4t-3T, 1A and 3Lt in a run-through of his sp
The draw is today anyone knows how are groups split?
 
Mika will be skating 4th in the last group straight after Maxim. Maxim's starting number is 13th - hope he is not superstitious - I am ha ha

Good luck Mika!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :clap:
 
Mika will be skating 4th in the last group straight after Maxim. Maxim's starting number is 13th - hope he is not superstitious - I am ha ha

Good luck Mika!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :clap:

Well, I believe that number 13 and black cats brings luck :biggrin:
 
Well, I believe that number 13 and black cats brings luck :biggrin:

Cats are alright but 13 is not! After a car accident, botched surgery and lots of other smaller calamities I wish I could stay in bed on 13th but have to go to work if it falls on a workday:(
 
Mika will be skating 4th in the last group straight after Maxim. Maxim's starting number is 13th - hope he is not superstitious - I am ha ha

Good luck Mika!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :clap:
Yes, good luck! :cheer: The SP tomorrow shouldn't present too much of a problem (knock on wood), it's his FS I am worried about. I hope he finally does the 4S because my nerves will not survive another wave of doomsday pronouncements. :dbana:

Thanks a lot for posting this! I just love the way Mika talks about jumping, that feeling of flying... I get an impression that for many skaters jumps are something they fight and work on, but for Mika it is so natural. I remember someone's account of watching him practice in Boston: 'he is like a creature who belongs to the air' :luv17:
I wish that meant that jumps came with a bird's ease to him but alas it isn't so. He can certainly make them look that way, but after a lot of work and trial and error. It took him at least two seasons to get his 3A right, and his 3Lo still starts causing problems the moment he takes his attention off it (happened last season too, but they fixed it afterwards). And I am pretty certain his 4T didn't get so much better over the mid-season by magic.
 
Yes I think so too but I was hoping that those 2 weeks they spent with Mozer group in NY and whole Boston experience would help a lot. I remember some footage of Valentina having a lively conversation with Rafael Arutunian at Worlds too. But I guess Rome was not built in a day...
Somebody on FSO, I think, gave a timely reminder that before we complain about the things Misha and his team don't do, we have to pause and think what they can afford financially and what the Fed is prepared to pay for. Nobody on that team is rich and I seriously doubt the Fed gave Misha a blank cheque. They probably have to limit themselves to the budget end of things for now. Which, for instance, means no big-name choreographers from abroad. They could probably have gone with someone like Misha Ge, who was in SPb anyway in the mid-season. And we'll have to see how the situation changes by next season.
 
So I gather they decided to change the FS layout to a safer one at the last minute and botched it? Only yesterday I was thinking that Misha keeps skating like he is afraid of taking any risks and it's proving counter-productive. Now it got to the point of losing the ability to count... Sigh. This "better not to try at all than try and fail" attitude is just not leading anywhere good, not to mention being totally unlike Misha. And anyway, removing a 3Lz with Misha's near-perfect lutzes is a bad idea, so two 4T isn't a good long-term strategy. According to people at the Academy, there is nothing wrong with Misha's physical shape, so it has to be primarily mental. He doesn't even look like he wants to go out there and skate any more, and this is very worrying.
 
A new interview with Misha:

http://fsrussia.ru/news/2460-mikhail-kolyada-pro-tseli-na-sezon-govorit-ne-budu-nado-prosto-khorosho-vystupat.html

Summary: This was a preparatory start for the new season, there were mistakes that they are going to work on. He mentions a lack of self-confidence that's plagued him for a few years. He is trying not to think of the last season, as each season starts anew. In his LP he depicts a wandering performer with a complicated life history, and he feels that the program suits his temperament. They are not planning to change the programs, just work on what's already there. Preparing for the season went well, there was a focus on general fitness, but it's evidently not enough, so they will put more effort into increasing his stamina. They are also paying a lot of attention to psychological preparation. He hopes it'll help.
He doesn't want to discuss the goals for this season and says that he just needs to skate well.
 
Misha has great fans :love: some Chinese fans have just found their way to Misha's VK group and are suggesting new jump layouts, people on FSO are offering to pay for a new FS costume, someone on Facebook offered to talk to Averbukh on his behalf, and someone is even prepared to help him look for a sponsor.

In other news: Misha's new SP that didn't pass muster was set to The Last Airbender soundtrack by James Newton Howard. According to Misha, before the SP run-through at the Finlandia Trophy they announced it by mistake.
 
Thank you vorravorra for all the news - I hope that fan support is making Mika happy. He deserves it :love:
(I'm not sure I'd personally want him to work with Averbukh though... no, scratch that, I wouldn't want that. But it's nevertheless lovely a fan suggested to talk to him on Mikas behalf :) )

The Last Airbender OST has some pretty nice pieces IMO (Flow like water for example). Obviously this still doesn't tell us which exact songs Mika had chosen, but it sounds like a way better contrast to his new LP than his old SP. Ugh. I'll never be over this. Rus fed :bang::bang::bang:
 
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