Mikhail Kolyada | Page 60 | Golden Skate

Mikhail Kolyada

:(... but, it can't be helped. I just hope he isn't injured or anything like that, but that he really just WDed because he felt it wasn't working out, so why bother.
The interfering from the RusFed is really annoying, but at the end, specualtion of what could have been won't help Mika, he has to learn to deal with that as it won't go away (I really doubt the RusFed will learn that lesson by now, I mean, look at Artur and Max before Mika...). There might also be other facotrs involved, the term 'sophomore slump' doesn't exist for nothing. It's always difficult to live up to a great season. In that sense, I'm relatively happy he is struggeling this season and not in the Olympic season (of course not struggling at all would be better, but that's just not always realistic). Whatever it is that is causing him problems, he has the chance to work on it and let it not affect him next season (or at least, affect him less). I'm still hoping for him to get it together for WC, but at this point, I don't know what to expect. No matter what he does though, I remain optimistic that him and his team will be stronger again next season, when the first round of all that new pressure is over.
Although on a selfish note, I would have loved the Russian men to get a 3rd spot for the Olympics. But that is a very, very tall order anway.
He withdrew from Russian Cup in February due to back pain and ongoing therapy treatment, he was still training minus quads. So either his injury didn't heal or the issue is mental I don't know. I re-watched the SP video available on his VK page and it looks to me like it is not physical - he had a nice elevation on the jumps but it is like after falling on the first element 4T he gave up completely and was just going through the motions. Something obviously very much off but what?
Exactly my thoughts - at least all this happening this season and not the next one!!!


I think RusFed deserves golden medal in destroying young, promising talents with high expectations. I hope that Mika will overcome just like Maxim did. To be honest I'm afraid that Mikhail might WD from Worlds as well. He didn't menage to fix his issues since Europeans and Worlds are in 4 weeks.
Yeah I would give them Olympic Gold no hesitation:laugh:
But did Maxim overcome really - okay there are glimpses of light but we know more after Helsinki, and how many years he already been struggling?
I am wondering about Worlds too but I doubt the withdrawal is an option (unless there is a serious injury) who RusFed would sent to fight for Olympic spots? A healthy Mika with two 4Ts in a LP, a jump which became so reliable by the end of last season could easily earn these 2 spots, now with an elusive lutz and a possible injury it does not look like very probable. They really are good at shooting themselves in the foot..
And Worlds are in practically 3 weeks not 4 ...sigh...

On the positive note I like Mika's new haircut - he got rid of that fringe - looks good!
 
Yeah I would give them Olympic Gold no hesitation:laugh:
But did Maxim overcome really - okay there are glimpses of light but we know more after Helsinki, and how many years he already been struggling?
I am wondering about Worlds too but I doubt the withdrawal is an option (unless there is a serious injury) who RusFed would sent to fight for Olympic spots? A healthy Mika with two 4Ts in a LP, a jump which became so reliable by the end of last season could easily earn these 2 spots, now with an elusive lutz and a possible injury it does not look like very probable. They really are good at shooting themselves in the foot..
And Worlds are in practically 3 weeks not 4 ...sigh...

On the positive note I like Mika's new haircut - he got rid of that fringe - looks good!

Maxim skated 2 great programs at Europeans and he confirmed that his work with psychologist is effective. When I compared last year Kovtun and this year Kovtun it was really enormous change in behaviour. He was no longer apathetic off ice and he got back his energy and a little bit of arrogance. Maybe Misha needs this kind of help too. When I saw him so distressed in Ostrava it broke my heart ;( I believe his problem is more mental thing than physical. Of course back injury influences his performances but it's not the main reason of his struggle
 
He withdrew from Russian Cup in February due to back pain and ongoing therapy treatment, he was still training minus quads. So either his injury didn't heal or the issue is mental I don't know. I re-watched the SP video available on his VK page and it looks to me like it is not physical - he had a nice elevation on the jumps but it is like after falling on the first element 4T he gave up completely and was just going through the motions. Something obviously very much off but what?
Exactly my thoughts - at least all this happening this season and not the next one!!!

That would be the most important part for me. I'm fine with him messing up (even if I know he won't be happy with it), but it's really important that he looks out for his health. He's still young and will have many good years ahead of him, so he gotta make sure he can be physically his best in those years :yes:

As for Maxim - I think the question is if he really learned to manage the pressure, or if he's 'just benefiting' from Mika now having the most of it. I don't want to undersell Maxim, he's doing very well this season and I hope he can continue like that, but I think it's still an open question how he would react if he would have the main attention of the Russian fed again.
 
Mika withdrew from LP at St Petersburg's Championships :(
Was it planned to skate only SP or they realised he was not ready to compete - is unknown but it does not look good. One thing is clear it is not an easy season for Mika and mostly due to Russian Fed' interference - axing SP he loved was bad enough, pressing to do more quads than he was ready for was a way worse, I hope they are 'happy' now. Everything could have been different if MIka & his team were left alone to do things their own way :bang:
All kudos to Mika that he is somehow managing nevertheless to get some impressive results this season - after all he is the Russian Champ and Euro medallist!
Hope and pray all still be well...but feeling very worried truth to be told...

Axing of SP?! What SP did he skate in Sankt Petersburg therefore?

"Circus" is awesome, why?!
 
Axing of SP?! What SP did he skate in Sankt Petersburg therefore?

"Circus" is awesome, why?!

At the beginning of the season, the Rus fed axed his Last Airbender SP, and made him to back to last year's.
 
While waiting impatiently for any news, I looked at the last interview which I promised to translate and never did, ouch:
http://www.fsrussia.ru/intervyu/2852-mikhail-kolyada-ne-lyublyu-toropitsya.html

A couple of things I thought were interesting:

'What training conditions at your club?
Ideal. 1 hour 15min in the morning & evening. The breaks between practices allow to get home to rest. From a medical help view all is good, massage, medication no problem. If required a first aid available on the spot. In the winter we go to training camp in Finland to the Olympic base.

Did you have a discussion with your coach after the Euros?
Not in Ostrava. After the short I saw she was upset but after the competition was okay she was glad I got on the podium. That medal was more important to her than myself. She works so hard.'

So Mika has only 2.5 hours a day of ice time and thinks it is ideal. I had an idea that top skaters would practice at least 4 -5 hours a day. I do realise that not all the time is spent on the ice - there is off-ice training and choreo classes but for example I read recently that Medvedeva spends 5-6 hours a day on the ice (can't vouch for this info though). What do you think guys. I am actually against excessive training, I think the quality should prevail over quantity. But 2.5 hours kinda feels a bit ... insufficient... at this level

And also it feels that he really worries a way too much about how his results affect other people, his coach most of all but I am sure there are others. I always thought that Mika is a very laid back person but beginning to think he is too responsible actually which can explain how relatively quickly he began to show signs of cracking under pressure.
I re-watched his programs at CoR in 2015 - his debut and I nearly cried over how carefree & confident he looked then. The price of success...
 
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So Mika has only 2.5 hours a day of ice time and thinks it is ideal. I had an idea that top skaters would practice at least 4 -5 hours a day. I do realise that not all the time is spent on the ice - there is off-ice training and choreo classes but for example I read recently that Medvedeva spends 5-6 hours a day on the ice (can't vouch for this info though). What do you think guys. I am actually against excessive training, I think the quality should prevail over quantity. But 2.5 hours kinda feels a bit ... insufficient... at this level

It's disturbing too. But he mentioned massages and therapy so maybe shortened time on ice has something to do with his recent back issues. But if it's the case when he is 100% healthy it's huge disadvantage.
 
While waiting impatiently for any news, I looked at the last interview which I promised to translate and never did, ouch:
http://www.fsrussia.ru/intervyu/2852-mikhail-kolyada-ne-lyublyu-toropitsya.html

A couple of things I thought were interesting:

'What training conditions at your club?
Ideal. 1 hour 15min in the morning & evening. The breaks between practices allow to get home to rest. From a medical help view all is good, massage, medication no problem. If required a first aid available on the spot. In the winter we go to training camp in Finland to the Olympic base.

Did you have a discussion with your coach after the Euros?
Not in Ostrava. After the short I saw she was upset but after the competition was okay she was glad I got on the podium. That medal was more important to her than myself. She works so hard.'

So Mika has only 2.5 hours a day of ice time and thinks it is ideal. I had an idea that top skaters would practice at least 4 -5 hours a day. I do realise that not all the time is spent on the ice - there is off-ice training and choreo classes but for example I read recently that Medvedeva spends 5-6 hours a day on the ice (can't vouch for this info though). What do you think guys. I am actually against excessive training, I think the quality should prevail over quantity. But 2.5 hours kinda feels a bit ... insufficient... at this level

And also it feels that he really worries a way too much about how his results affect other people, his coach most of all but I am sure there are others. I always thought that Mika is a very laid back person but beginning to think he is too responsible actually which can explain how relatively quickly he began to show signs of cracking under pressure.
I re-watched his programs at CoR in 2015 - his debut and I nearly cried over how carefree & confident he looked then. The price of success...

His ISU Bio states that he trains 28 hours per week in high season and 32 in low season, which I think is about average. It probably includes off ice training, but so does others skaters, so I don't really see a problem if that's what works for him. I think most skaters train 2 x 1,5 h. But I don't really know. :shrug:
 
His ISU Bio states that he trains 28 hours per week in high season and 32 in low season, which I think is about average. It probably includes off ice training, but so does others skaters, so I don't really see a problem if that's what works for him. I think most skaters train 2 x 1,5 h. But I don't really know. :shrug:

It's disturbing too. But he mentioned massages and therapy so maybe shortened time on ice has something to do with his recent back issues. But if it's the case when he is 100% healthy it's huge disadvantage.
I am certain he meant that as a regular routine. And there was info before that the reason they go to Finland in January is that their rink in St Petersburg is open to the public during holidays and they can't get any ice time at all. The fact that this interview was organised by the Rus Fed implies to me that Mika had to be 'politically correct' and preferred to praise his training conditions... I also suspect one of the reasons he did so well in Boston was that they were training with Mozer group for 2 weeks in NY and maybe had more ice time there than at home. Pure speculations on my part of course
 
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I am certain he meant that as a regular routine. And there was info before that the reason they go to Finland in January is that their rink in St Petersburg is open to the public during holidays and they can't get any ice time at all. The fact that this interview was organised by the Rus Fed implies to me that Mika had to be 'politically correct' and preferred to praise his training conditions... I also suspect one of the reasons he did so well in Boston was that they were training with Mozer group for 2 weeks in NY and maybe had more ice time there than at home. Pure speculations on my part of course

Oh, I'm sure being two weeks prior to WC last year has helped him to get used to ice etc. I'm not sure how much time on the ice they got though. After all, the icerink wasn't only for their use. But I'm not even the least worried about his ice time. I'm more worried about his back, I hope everything's okay now.
 
Oh, I'm sure being two weeks prior to WC last year has helped him to get used to ice etc. I'm not sure how much time on the ice they got though. After all, the icerink wasn't only for their use. But I'm not even the least worried about his ice time. I'm more worried about his back, I hope everything's okay now.

I hope so too! And the fact that Mika is confirmed on the Worlds team means (hopefully) the injury is not serious. But no news of any kind from Mika's camp is worrying. 20 days to go, men's short in on Thursday the 30th and the long on Saturday the 1st -April's Fool just like the last year ha ha
 
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