Mikhail Kolyada | Page 186 | Golden Skate

Mikhail Kolyada

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: for all of your thoughtful posts today. I can’t stop thinking about what happened, and you’re all helping me to put things into perspective and process my own feelings. What’s comforting to me is that the layout they went with is a positive sign of his training and confidence. Also the fact that Misha seems to be taking what happened in stride (e.g., his statement that the sal was pretty good but had a technical issue) and showing a sense of humor, assuring everyone *my hand is ok, I’ll live* :) Since it was a freak mistake (he had all but completed the axel for heavens sake) that derailed the program, this may make him more determined than ever to show what he can do. Hopefully the stars will align better next time.

Even though his hand/arm isn’t broken, it’s probably still going to affect his training for a week or more, depending on severity of the injury. That doesn’t leave much time until the Cup final (if he’s planning to do it).
 
A lot of people are actually very angry that he didn't go for a simpler layout and are comparing it to the Olympic team SP, but there was an injury this time which people seem to be completely discounting. There is no reason to think he wouldn't have at least got a score that would have landed him third without it, it would have been enough to produce a FS he was regularly producing in the first half of the season, not good but not a complete meltdown. And to go back to the Olympics, the more Misha talks about his state at the time the less likely it seems he would have produced a good SP with any layout. It's not like he can't bomb a one-quad SP. It may have been better but nobody could be certain including Misha himself.
 
And another thing I know I am like a broken record on this one but why not do a most reliable jump first - 3lz? Just to get a bit of a confidence boost. I wish Stanislava would do her 2A first in a SP, most likely it will fine and if not at least the point loss is minimal compared to a combination
It is things like that that drive me mad about their team - why not try a different approach, both Mika and Stasya can work with a psychologist all the hours of the day but nothing will ever change the fact that they are not good competitors and one just have to accept and adapt the strategy to that fact.
Stanislava did her 2A first in the SP and moved the combo to later in the program last season, it didn't work, she kept underrotating it. They had to go back to putting the combo first. Moving harder elements down the layout when you are more tired has a downside. It seems 3Lz+3T is an element that she can only do well on fresh legs.
 
A lot of people are actually very angry that he didn't go for a simpler layout and are comparing it to the Olympic team SP, but there was an injury this time which people seem to be completely discounting. There is no reason to think he wouldn't have at least got a score that would have landed him third without it, it would have been enough to produce a FS he was regularly producing in the first half of the season, not good but not a complete meltdown. And to go back to the Olympics, the more Misha talks about his state at the time the less likely it seems he would have produced a good SP with any layout. It's not like he can't bomb a one-quad SP. It may have been better but nobody could be certain including Misha himself.

I think if he wasn't injured in the second half of the program, he could've done enough to fight for the gold, but it just wasn't supposed to be like that--but then, at this point, I'm pretty sure people just want a reason to criticize him, and of course, Misha gives them a little bit, haha. For those that are not following his career closely, it seems like they don't really think about what he had to go through in the Olympics, and that certainly is still playing a big part in his state now.
 
Stanislava did her 2A first in the SP and moved the combo to later in the program last season, it didn't work, she kept underrotating it. They had to go back to putting the combo first. Moving harder elements down the layout when you are more tired has a downside. It seems 3Lz+3T is an element that she can only do well on fresh legs.

Just to add on this, I don't know if the concept of getting your legs under with an easier jump really applies to all skaters. Jason Brown did it a few seasons ago in the FS, but even he moved on from that, because you just can't waste energy on an easier jump when you have a lot of harder ones in the program. And if you think on Misha's layout for Euros, five of his jumping passes were quads or axel combos, and add the triple loop, which he moved to the first half, there's not really that much wiggle room for the rest.
At Nats his layout was seriously watered down compared to now, so it's understandable that he would be able to put an easier jump first.
 
Is his wrist alright? I feel very sorry for what happened during his free skate at the Euro;;;
Rest well and heal fully, Misha... We very much look forward to seeing YOU at the Worlds in Japan.
 
Is his wrist alright? I feel very sorry for what happened during his free skate at the Euro;;;
Rest well and heal fully, Misha... We very much look forward to seeing YOU at the Worlds in Japan.

His wrist is OK. No fracture :)

Tatjana posted some comments on FSU:

Mikhail has been working with a sports psychologist for a while, since he was a teenager AFAIR. I don't think it's always nerves that lead to these implosions. Overall I would say his nerves have improved. In the fall (during the Grand Prix season) he was sick, which affected his condition. Actually at Europeans he looked very composed and ready (he proved it in the short) In the free, I think the weird fall on the 3A where he injured the wrist triggered the following errors. I still wonder how that fall happened. At least the wrist is not broken, it's a bad strain and contusion, although the doctors put the whole arm in a cast.

I’m glad to hear his nerves have improved, at least according to somebody who has been following his career for a while and seems to know him fairly well. It makes me more optimistic about Worlds and next season.

She doesn’t know about entries for future competitions.
 
Regarding the title at Euros, could he have won with two 4ts? He could have won with one quad and a fall on another, if we go by his skate at Nepela, but Misha wanted to do his best to secure the title, and that was not playing safe. How would he know that Javi wouldn't score twenty points more than he did? It was impossible to know before the competition, so for me it seems like he wanted to lay all cards on the table. It didn't work out, unfortunately. But I'm pretty sure had he gone the safest route and ended up falling behind in the same way, or maybe just landing himself back again on the third place, his situation wouldn't change that much.

And I know that analyzing scores and protocols is really enticing, I do that all the time, which is why I keep dreaming about the 200+ point free skate he could have had this time.

Well, I am no expert but I predicted Javi's score pretty accurate based on: 1) the fact he has only 2-3 weeks of training for Euros 2) the way he skated his SP
I knew he would put out a good fight but also that he wasn't in his 200+ form far from it, so a score of appr 175 was a reasonable assumption, plus that 9 points of a lead Mika had going into LP, it was not a rocket science really to figure out what Mika needed to win. 4sal was a mistake, everyone on forums was talking about it but they still went for it even after the unfortunate draw for LP. Even after the warm-up when he started making mistakes on 4sal and lost his confidence, there still was time to change things round. Maybe he felt he could not because he already announced a 3 quad LP to the media -another mistake oh..
BTW I looked at that fall on 3A from a different angle and I changed my mind again, the jump was tilted forward from the start, I'd sake his confidence was going at that point after the fall on 4sal and missing on adding 3T to 4T.
 
His wrist is OK. No fracture :)

Tatjana posted some comments on FSU:



I’m glad to hear his nerves have improved, at least according to somebody who has been following his career for a while and seems to know him fairly well. It makes me more optimistic about Worlds and next season.

She doesn’t know about entries for future competitions.

Many thanks for this info, it is serious enough then if the whole arm in the cast, I wonder how long he will have to be off training?
I hope Tatjana will visit us here too - and many thanks in advance!
 
Well, no fracture and OK are not the same thing strictly speaking. It's good that they are treating it seriously though and used a cast.
 
Many thanks for this info, it is serious enough then if the whole arm in the cast, I wonder how long he will have to be off training?
I hope Tatjana will visit us here too - and many thanks in advance!

Well, no fracture and OK are not the same thing strictly speaking. It's good that they are treating it seriously though and used a cast.

Hard to tell, but his arm doesn’t seem to be in any cast in this video

https://m.vk.com/video-24618099_456239918?list=d5cb905a17019ebd55&from=wall-24618099_42871

ETA yeah, definitely not in a cast

https://twitter.com/pennyrealdeal/status/1089904859929853952?s=21
 
Maybe sometime people will stop demanding Misha get a psychologist and accusing his team of never thinking of it/stubbornly refusing to consider it. How many times does it need to be repeated he has a psychologist? Has had more than one over the years?
 
Maybe sometime people will stop demanding Misha get a psychologist and accusing his team of never thinking of it/stubbornly refusing to consider it. How many times does it need to be repeated he has a psychologist? Has had more than one over the years?

People also should realize that he won't suddenly start to land his jumps because he's been seeing a psychologist for X-number of months/years.
 
People also should realize that he won't suddenly start to land his jumps because he's been seeing a psychologist for X-number of months/years.
Psychologists sometimes can be miracle workers but not often. Especially if it's not one narrow issue that is a problem. Misha doesn't have a competition phobia like some have a phobia of public speaking. He has a labile nervous system and is hyperresponsible and it will never be easy.
 
https://www.sport-express.ru/figure...py-stanislava-konstantinova-intervyu-1505893/

Stanislava gave an interview where she talked a little bit about VM:

Being a strict coach doesn't mean that the coach will scold an adult in front of everyone. I am grateful to Valentina Mikhailovna Chebotareva for the fact that she treats us as adults. Of course, we always analyze our mistakes, but it happens only between us and is never taken out on display. The fact that she doesn't show negative emotions publicly, doesn't automatically mean that she is a soft coach. There is always an on-going dialogue during practices, but at the same time she keeps me in tight rein. She never gets personal, doesn't insult us. And always finds words to motivate you, not to oppress.

Even if it wasn't a question of honor for Mikhail, I really can't see him training with anybody else.
 
I randomly started to like Konstantinova this season. Well, my friend ironically stans her so maybe that's why, but she's also not really a bad skater overall.
 
Well, no fracture and OK are not the same thing strictly speaking. It's good that they are treating it seriously though and used a cast.

A muscle/ligament strain can sometimes be more difficult to heal than a bone fracture so I do hope Mika takes this serious
 
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