Mikhail Kolyada

[vorravorra]

I honestly think that at this stage it doesn't matter what he says the media will not be treating him any differently, the Oly Team SP will be attached to him forever And the very fact that there isn't anyone better drives them mad as RusFed & media have to put up with him whereas they would rather drop him like a hot potato if or when someone better comes along

I wonder if it is my imagination or the deluge of comments from everyone who is anyone in Russian FS on Mika's CoR performance was not quite as bad as I expected. If so I only could think of one reason - his health problems were made known to the RusFed?

And then "someone better" will get the same treatment once he shows he is not always perfect. I wish they would stop expecting each up and comer to be Yagudin and Plushenko in one at a time when figure skating has changed so much.

Seriously, there have been suggestions of taking away Misha's spot on the team, salary, prize money and not allowing him to compete so he "thinks about his behaviour" :whack: Not after the Olympics, but after CoR of all things.

 

[vorravorra]

TAT should be forbidden from FS full stop

BUT I noticed that we here keep jinxing him- we talked about how stellar his 3lz - he messed it up, we 'celebrated' no pops on his 3As this season - here we go:a pop in each program at CoR ???

As Valentina is with Stanislava I just hope someone had a sense to lock Mika at home or even better check him into a hospital

I am pretty sure he would have made those mistake regardless of what we'd have said here. He doesn't read the forum. TAT on the other hand has an actual direct effect on skaters. Why oh why was she allowed to come to the competition with Maxim?.. Maxim needs TAT like he needs another hole in the head, he has enough on his plate as it is without pressure and lectures from her. I am not saying she is evil but for a skater like Maxim she is contraindicated.

 

[Tutto]

Oh dear just read about poor Maxim ...

Well this weekend two more gentlemen will have a chance to make a claim on Mika's 'throne' - we shall see...

 

[Tatjana]

Seriously, there have been suggestions of taking away Misha's spot on the team, salary, prize money and not allowing him to compete so he "thinks about his behaviour" :whack: Not after the Olympics, but after CoR of all things.

What exactly do "they" (Federation?) criticize about Mikhail's behaviour? He seems to be practising well from what I've seen. I was at the two Challenger events, the two Grand Prix and at the Russian test skates. I don't think he could be blamed for not working hard enough.

I also don't think that he is severely ill. He was coughing a lot in Bratislava, but it's been a lot better since.

I can understand the frustration of the Russian Fed, though. There are not many skaters with the same potential - not in Russia and not in other countries. He still is Russia's best bet. Sergei Voronov, Alexander Samarin, Andrei Lazukin, Maxim Kovtun will never get the same component scores even if they skate clean. Dmitri Aliev is the one that comes closest potential-wise, but his spins, overall skating skills and quality of jumps are still not as good, at least not yet.

Mikhail is very well aware of his issues and he is working to solve them. He said to me in Moscow he knows exactly what he has to do now.

 

[coldblueeyes]

Mikhail is very well aware of his issues and he is working to solve them. He said to me in Moscow he knows exactly what he has to do now.

It's what transpired in his interviews after the FS, so maybe now they know where to go from here.

Regarding the other bit about the expectations - there comes a point when it doesn't really help to have all that you have to live up to thrown in your face. TAT among other strong voices in FS painted a target on his back, and they've been throwing darts at him ever since. I don't think he should be protected from any kind of pressure, that's just silly, but if another coach that train in another country has to come to Misha's defense, I can only imagine what goes behind the scenes.

 

[rachno2]

What exactly do "they" (Federation?) criticize about Mikhail's behaviour? He seems to be practising well from what I've seen. I was at the two Challenger events, the two Grand Prix and at the Russian test skates. I don't think he could be blamed for not working hard enough.

I also don't think that he is severely ill. He was coughing a lot in Bratislava, but it's been a lot better since.

I can understand the frustration of the Russian Fed, though. There are not many skaters with the same potential - not in Russia and not in other countries. He still is Russia's best bet. Sergei Voronov, Alexander Samarin, Andrei Lazukin, Maxim Kovtun will never get the same component scores even if they skate clean. Dmitri Aliev is the one that comes closest potential-wise, but his spins, overall skating skills and quality of jumps are still not as good, at least not yet.

Mikhail is very well aware of his issues and he is working to solve them. He said to me in Moscow he knows exactly what he has to do now.

I was hoping we would hear from you. Thank you for your insight!

I think the speculations about removing him from the team is just Russian forum gossip. Like Tutto said, the criticism following CoR has been surprisingly muted. In fact, the feeling I’m getting is more of frustration because they realize how special he is, whereas last season it felt more like outright condemnation. Even Tarasova has been controlling herself. But there is no way of knowing what goes on behind the scenes, of course.

I’m glad to hear he doesn’t come off as seriously ill in person, but the heavy breathing/loss of coordination/runny nose is hard to ignore :/ I still fear we might not see him skate again this season, or else have to witness a painful Russian Nationals (please no!)

 

[vorravorra]

What exactly do "they" (Federation?) criticize about Mikhail's behaviour? He seems to be practising well from what I've seen. I was at the two Challenger events, the two Grand Prix and at the Russian test skates. I don't think he could be blamed for not working hard enough.

I also don't think that he is severely ill. He was coughing a lot in Bratislava, but it's been a lot better since.

I can understand the frustration of the Russian Fed, though. There are not many skaters with the same potential - not in Russia and not in other countries. He still is Russia's best bet. Sergei Voronov, Alexander Samarin, Andrei Lazukin, Maxim Kovtun will never get the same component scores even if they skate clean. Dmitri Aliev is the one that comes closest potential-wise, but his spins, overall skating skills and quality of jumps are still not as good, at least not yet.

Mikhail is very well aware of his issues and he is working to solve them. He said to me in Moscow he knows exactly what he has to do now.

I hope he is not severely ill but even a moderate but chronic illness would sap your strength. There are certain physical issues Misha simply didn't have before. Coordination problems and barely being able to finish free skates while badly out of breath are two most noticeable. Stamina used to be Misha's strength, now it's gone.

 

[vorravorra]

Last season CoR was the first GP, and Misha did three quads, two 3As and everything else without pops. Three combos in the second half, including 4T+3T. I think he'd need emergency medical help well before the end of that free skate now. Yes, that form was too much too soon as it turned out, but I don't like how far in the other direction it's gone this season.

 

[Tatjana]

I hope he is not severely ill but even a moderate but chronic illness would sap your strength. There are certain physical issues Misha simply didn't have before. Coordination problems and barely being able to finish free skates while badly out of breath are two most noticeable. Stamina used to be Misha's strength, now it's gone.

He was exhausted after the free, that's right. But when I asked him if he he didn't have enough physical strength he said no. (Obviously, maybe he just doesn't want to say something about it). In general he and others have said that the four minutes free skating is a lot harder, because there are no "breathing spots" left. Actually, Misha said it when talking to journalists in the mixed zone following the free skating - he said you can rest only after you hit your final pose. Also, in competition nerves and adrenalin take away from your strength, too. I haven't seen Misha doing full-run throughs in practice at home, so I don't know if he is out of breath the same way.
The long-lasting cold he got after coming back from California has been a lot better already at Finlandia Trophy. When I talked to him in Helsinki and now in Moscow he didn't cough or had a running nose. The running nose seems to be a problem when he is on the ice and not just for him, you see many skaters wiping their nose repeatedly during practice.

Now the focus is obviously on the preparation for Nationals. He knows he can't mess up there. He might do another competition before, he said. IMHO, not qualifying for the Grand Prix Final has its minuses (mostly undermining his standing in Russia), but also its plusses (it means one less long and exhausting trip and one less stressful competition).

 

[vorravorra]

Misha said he got sinusitis after coming back from California, not a cold?.. I am happy he is better now but sinusitis has a nasty habit of becoming chronic and recurring. And in no way is it normal for colds to last for months.

 

[rachno2]

He might do another competition before, he said.

Ugh, I’m torn on this. On the one hand, I want him to have positive momentum going into nationals, but on the other I can’t help but think that competing too much and not resting enough is what got him in this mess in the first place.

 

[Tatjana]

Misha said he got sinusitis after coming back from California, not a cold?.. I am happy he is better now but sinusitis has a nasty habit of becoming chronic and recurring. And in no way is it normal for colds to last for months.

It was for sure not just a cold, because he had to take antibiotics, probably yes, sinusitis, I don't remember now what he said exactly.

As for competing too much - he said himself he needs to compete more. I don't think he would say that or his coach would support that if he was dealing with serious health issues. If a skater tends to make mistakes in competition because of nerves I think the best solution is indeed to compete more in order to get used to the stress. Eventually the secret of consistency is to let just the body do its job, automatically. Just do what you can do in practice, switch off your mind. That's said easily, but hard to do.

Interestingly, there are other skaters that are completely the opposite - the need the adrenalin and competition stress in order to perform well. They can be terrible in practice and then they go out and nail everything. Alexei Yagudin was one of those for example. And others are great in practice and falter in competition. However, Misha has produced clean performances and skated very well in competition. So he can do it.

 

[rachno2]

I never knew a generic Instagram post could be so reassuring. And the comments are so supportive
https://www.instagram.com/p/BqdH1oqFyhe/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=guujr749kk17

I also like how he updated his bio to reflect all of his achievements. I see you, Misha

 

[Flyflybutterfly]

Ha ha why should I get angry? My son, who is just a few years older, jokes that I care more about Mika than him
I am a bit angry with myself though, the only other skater I was so emotionally invested was Sasha Cohen, after she retired I made a promise of never going that road again and kept my word for nearly 10 years (a few skaters made it very difficult though - e.g Caro & Tatsuki) until I saw Mika at CoR 2015!
But my nerves are not what they used to be, so I need to step back a little I think for the sake of MY mental health ha ha

Those toys Mika got from fans are awesome, especially the bull and the bear in handmade toreo costume :thumbsup:

There is also a lovely story on Mika's VK about his namesake, Kolyada, who is a playwright and actually a very distant cousin or something of Mika - they never met though. He is a big fan and send some lovely presents to Mika, also his theatre is coming to SPB in February and they even might meet in person. The original source:
https://www.oblgazeta.ru/sport/figure-skating/40595/

Ha, ha this is funny! Yes I also read about that story, really nice!.

When I wrote about his answer to press and how he shoul answer to them, perhaps i didn't express correctly what I wanted to say. I'm not english native speaker and sometime it's difficult for me to find the correct words to say what I want to say. Uf! Probably he only needs a touch of diplomacy.

So, so nice to have Tatjana among us, Thanks a lot for sharing all this information!!!! I do like to hear he told you that he knows what to do.

 

[vorravorra]

It was for sure not just a cold, because he had to take antibiotics, probably yes, sinusitis, I don't remember now what he said exactly.

As for competing too much - he said himself he needs to compete more. I don't think he would say that or his coach would support that if he was dealing with serious health issues. If a skater tends to make mistakes in competition because of nerves I think the best solution is indeed to compete more in order to get used to the stress. Eventually the secret of consistency is to let just the body do its job, automatically. Just do what you can do in practice, switch off your mind. That's said easily, but hard to do.

Interestingly, there are other skaters that are completely the opposite - the need the adrenalin and competition stress in order to perform well. They can be terrible in practice and then they go out and nail everything. Alexei Yagudin was one of those for example. And others are great in practice and falter in competition. However, Misha has produced clean performances and skated very well in competition. So he can do it.

Last season Misha competed a lot, it didn't exactly help. Competing more may be good for the nerves to an extent but it is also exhausting even if you are not sick. And if you keep competing badly those patterns just get ingrained. I am not very happy that they didn't take time out for proper treatment of Misha's sinusitis and recovery (seriously, the Challengers were that important???). It's not normal to be sick for two months just waiting for it to maybe go away. And we've seen exactly how well it worked out, they sure were in their best shape for the GP hwell:

 

[vorravorra]

I never knew a generic Instagram post could be so reassuring. �� And the comments are so supportive
https://www.instagram.com/p/BqdH1oqFyhe/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=guujr749kk17

I also like how he updated his bio to reflect all of his achievements. I see you, Misha ������

Somebody is translating Misha's posts, his English isn't good enough. All these changes make me curious if Misha finally got someone to look after his social media. And what cooperation is he after, exactly?

 

[rachno2]

Somebody is translating Misha's posts, his English isn't good enough. All these changes make me curious if Misha finally got someone to look after his social media. And what cooperation is he after, exactly?

Oh, I could see it was translated by an outside party, and the new bio is totally the work of a professional team.

He always seems to be lurking on IG liking posts, so I think he still personally uses it.

 

[coldblueeyes]

I really hope they've got the hang of what needs to be done for Nats. I'm actually more worried about the SP for now because his FS scores are okay-ish for RN levels, but he needs that high 90s score to be in contention.

 

[coldblueeyes]

Somebody is translating Misha's posts, his English isn't good enough. All these changes make me curious if Misha finally got someone to look after his social media. And what cooperation is he after, exactly?

That surprised me too. Is he looking to cooperate as a coach/instructor, doing campaigns/model/selling stuff, or perhaps shows? Maybe he wants to cash in some money--get your theories out! Maybe he'd like to be able to fund some of his trainings outside of Russia, too.

 

[rachno2]

I mean, he looks better than ever (the one solace in this hellscape of a season). Start modeling, Misha! Get that ₽₽₽₽₽