I agree with you regarding the involvment of the family as a tricky material to be exposed in a public interview, from an Asian point of view. If you all remember Yuna-Borser split the last straw was Borser hinting at Yuna's mum involvment and influence and her calling it over in defense of her mum. I don't think that Rafael should have put that in the press or maybe he put that in the press because there are already voices of a split all around and he uses this as a defense. And all in all, I don't particularly appreciate Rafael approach nor his "now or never-big hardware approach" towards Nathan. Much prefer someone like Borser.
On the other hand, I truly hope in another SP from Shae (also JButtle would be interesting to see) and I truly crave to see him paired with Tom Dickson. If Nathan manages to improve in the PCS area, funny thing is that Dickson major dream is to find a good skater for a LP on Rites of Spring...I would have love Daisuke do this but I would not mind an improved Nathan at all, plus he should already be partly familiar with it.
I happen to think Rafael's interview is not him complaining but his journey to coach an once in a lifetime prodigy and just his
feelings overall, the appreciation, the pride, and the frustration.... I think it's not inappropriate for him to reveal what's on
his mind when being interviewed (he didn't initiate the interview himself) after the overwhelming Olympics.
And the "now or never-big hardware approach" towards Nathan was for the majestic Olympics. It's Nathan's lifetime dream and
that approach had been proved to be successful by Nathan's FS score. At the end of the interview, Rafael praised Aljona Savchenko's
achievements and longevity and the last things he said in the interview is "(Aljona) Set an example for people like Nathan. Being an
athlete is not a profession it's a philosophy". By saying that, I don't believe that Rafael is that kind of coaches that trade injuries for
quick success.
By the way, I also don't think Nathan is a brat or is arrogant just because he didn't always listen to his coach.
BUT, logically, he skated in his old FS costume at the TE because maybe new costumes weren't yet ready. Maybe it even took ALL THAT time after NATIONALS to create, ahem, THIS.
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