B.ESP are probably the most professional/tolerable in regards to English commentary. I generally watch the Spanish or Japanese coverage, since I literally cannot stand the majority of English broadcasted commentary, especially if the commentators are talking over the music and throughout the entire performance...It's the equivalent of watching a film or a ballet, and having a film or dance critic blabbering on loudly and incessantly within your hearing range throughout the entire show.
I feel exactly the same way! I’m so grateful to Britons, Russians and Spaniards for allowing the rest of the world to watch their broadcasts on You Tube for free. (The Japanese, in my experience, do talk too much.)
Because in the end they started to talk and making fun about how Yulia and Evgenia don't salute each other or speak during the warm up and according to Tara you can see that Eteri favorites Evgenia. Now, I understand that a tv anchor would find anything to gossip about but coming from Tara is gross because: a) I don't remember American girls been so friendly with each other so that's kind of hypocrisy coming from them;

b) who's the skater chatting and saluting during the warm up;

c) I don't remember Tara being friendly with Kwan either. :sarcasm:
Exactly. And Lipinski didn’t have to share a rink, let alone a coach, with Kwan. Otherwise it would have been interesting. In general, it looks like the British commentators could give a few lessons to their American colleagues on how to be ladies and gentlemen.
http://www.sovsport.ru/gazeta/article-item/852769
Averbukh just stated in interview that he set Zhenia's LP choreo for Julia last year. They created it soon enough, she tried it, it looked very well, but her mother said "no" to the program. He added: "apparently, being an author of successful Olympic program, my authority was not enough"….
I’ve read that interview with Averbukh. He also said the following: “The program that I created for Yulia Lipnitskaya in the Olympic season had such a resonance that many will remember Yulia and associate her specifically with that program, but from the creative point of view it was much more interesting for me to work with Zhenya. We felt so much in unison that probably for the first time I’m 100% happy with what I’ve managed to create.” In short, Yulia owes her success in seniors, her fame and popularity to his creative genius. It was apparently his choreography, not her performance that made such a lasting impression; so she couldn’t have achieved similar results if some other choreographer had made a program to her chosen music, Schindler’s List, for her. And no matter how many more programs she skates, everybody will forever associate her with that program. In short, without him, she’s nothing. And while he was fundamental to launching her career, work with her was by no means such a creative high for him. Working with her younger training mate who’s just scored 35 points above her in a GP event was much more interesting for him from the creative point of view, because their feelings were so much in unison, i.e. she agreed with everything he said, as opposed to Yulia who dared have her own opinions.
And then there’s more: “It was clear that she (Yulia) has a certain predisposition to gaining weight, and it takes a colossal will and self-awareness to get through it all. So her current problems are understandable. Based on my experience of working with Zhenya I can suppose that she’ll get through the growing up process much easier, because she’s a different kind of person. But undoubtedly Yulia should be supported too – after all we have the example of Elizaveta Tuktamysheva who has gone through this period and became a world champion. I think that everything is in Yulia’s hands. She just has to stop looking for reasons (for her problems) outside – in her coach, in her choreographer, in her training conditions – and find them in herself.” In short, Yulia’s current problems are entirely her fault, because she lacks sufficient will and self-awareness to keep herself from gaining weight during puberty – as Zhenya will – and because she blames him, Tutberidze and her training conditions for her physical problems instead. And, yes, he repeats once more the myth invented by Vaitsehovskaya that Yulia’s mother makes all the decisions regarding her skating.
To sum up, I can only re-address the advice Averbukh offered Yulia to him. Unless he stops looking for reasons for his current problems, such as the skater with whom he’s really achieved his most renowned work not wishing to work with him anymore, in other people and acquires enough will and self-awareness to stop venting his vindictiveness in every interview, no sane skater will want to have anything to do with him in the future.
As for me, I’ve decided that this was the last Averbukh interview I’ve read, on any topic, because after this baloney I just can’t trust him on anything he says.
Tara also said that in practice Eteri favors Evgenia. I don't know if Tara is making things up, but if true this is a case of a coach putting top skaters against each other.
And who told Lipinski that? Tutberidze? Evgenia? Yulia? Dudakov? Personally I can’t think of anyone. And if she could make that up, she could make up that Tutberidze told her that her students don’t get along.
It might have changed. First of all many years have passed since than and she is growing up now in all senses. Second, the rumors last season (after the RN) about her wanting to change coach and then they had that meeting at the Ministry of Sport together with Eteri. We will see though, she maybe very loyal to Eteri and weather the storm.
I’ve read these rumors too, but I don’t believe them. If the issue had been between Yulia and Tutberidze there’d be no reason to involve the Ministry of Sports. The Russian Fed could mediate. There are so many talented athletes in Russia in so many sports that I don’t see Assistant Minister getting involved in such a case. In fact, I’m not even sure the Fed would have minded if Yulia simply wanted to change coaches. Figure skaters do that every season, including prominent ones, and I never heard of the Russian Fed interfering. For instance, this summer Pogorilaya wanted to transfer to TSKA, which she confirmed on her social media. She wasn’t successful and came back to her coach Tsaryova. The Fed didn’t interfere, although, unlike Yulia, Anna had made the team last season and she’s gone through puberty.
I think the issue was really between Yulia and the Fed. She either wanted to try to switch countries or, most likely, to quit the sport altogether, and the Ministry told the Fed in no uncertain terms in front of Yulia and Tutberidze to clean up their act and start acting straight. Once she received the Ministry’s assurance that things like Lakernik’s interview during Nationals, edge calls on wrong jumps and boycott of her coach because she had dared voice her opinion on a sport issue in the press would stop, Yulia reconsidered. I just see no reason for the Ministry to get involved otherwise, or for Yulia to wish to leave Tutberidze otherwise. Incidentally Yulia herself later said in an interview that she had had no such plans.
Anyway, a user on FSU speaking about her jumps said: According to ME, she does very well in practice! I've seen her train a few times and it's no problem at all.
That’s fantastic news!
I need to apologize yet again for an overly long post. I just want to say to everybody who worries about Yulia’s future that, judging from her past interviews, she’s weathered through worse, such as a bad concussion and injuries whose effects came and went, jeopardizing her training schedule. Yulia is healthy now, and puberty is bound to end, and when it does, she’ll be able to develop new reflexes and trust her body again. Also, Yulia is luckier than Tuktanysheva who had to sit out the Olympic season. And I’d also like to thank
Stryke for the information about Tutberidze’s group and
Ajde for an insight on how sports media operate sometimes.
The greatest surprise in Zueva’s interview for me is that the Leningrad program is supposed to be about romance, ships, Scarlet Sails and a girl dreaming on the shore rather than about the blockade during WWII as I had assumed. I wonder if anybody happens to know what the composer had in mind? (I tried googling for it, but failed to find any information.)