Przystań dla miłośników łyżwiarstwa figurowego

Nie zgadzam się, że choreografia zyskała na zmianie systemu oceniania. Zyskali łyżwiarze, którzy są sprawiedliwej oceniani, ale nie choreografia. Niestety większość osób nie docenia tego co było wcześniej. Jest to naturalne z psychologicznego punktu widzenia. Zresztą już na tym forum kilka osób się przyznało, że nie ma nawet ochoty oglądać programów sprzed lat, zatem trudno, żeby potrafiły je docenić.

Lotte, wspominasz, że nie wiedziałaś, że "Moonlight Sonata" G/G to hołd dla kobiety jako matki ludzkości. Ja też tego nie zgadłabym, oglądając program. Ale nie uważam, że to jest istotne. Każdy może odbierać dany program po swojemu i nie musimy znać intencji choreografa, żeby docenić efekt. Torvill i Dean, tańcząc Bolero, opowiadali też pewną historię. Ale wspomnieli, że stworzyli ją dla samych siebie, a widzowie mają prawo widzieć w tańcu coś innego.

Zawsze łyżwiarstwo (szczególnie konkurencja panów) była sportem dla atletów. To, że elementy techniczne idą naprzód i ciągle poprzeczka jest podnoszona to normalna kolej rzeczy.

She was left without a partner at the beginning of April, after becoming a Junior World Champion, winning a gold and a bronze medal at the Olympics with the previous partner: Nikita Katsalapov preferred to continue his career with another skater. She took it hard. Yet a month later Ilinyh said `I've been a girl who fights for Nikita for too long. It's over. I should move on to the next stage of my life. And not do unnecessary and redundant steps in that stage'

Just before she left for a 10 days vacation we met in Moscow.

EV: I'd like to start from the times you were training in the USA. How did you get there at the first place?
EI: I don't remember. Perhaps through some acquaintances. I was left without a partner - Nikita decided to skate with another girl. I.e. the situation after the worlds was not new. It already happened 7 years ago.

EV: You just said you didn't remember
EI: I don't remember how I ended up in the USA. I do remember parting with Nikita quite well. I took it very badly even though I was just 13.

EV: For how long were you skating together?
EI: At first we were just training in the same group under Natalia Dubinskaya - as two single skaters. Then our mothers decided we should switch to the ice dance. Or at least try - Nikita's jumps were not particularly good. It happened just when Lobacheva/Averbukh opened their school.
Nikita always stood out. Everyone were looking at him. He was great. Hence I had no hesitations whether to skate with him or not. That how it all began. I was not jumping anymore, but gliding, learning to skate with a partner... it was awesome.

EV: Who was working with you mainly - Lobacheva or Averbukh?
EI: Ilya choreographer our first programmes. I remember it well since working with him was so interesting. Unfortunately Averbukh couldn't be on the ice every day - he was just starting his new project. But his every appearance on the ice was a huge thing. Every time we would learn an incredible amount of new things. And then Nikita decided to leave.

EV: Without a notification?
EI: We were fighting all the time about little silly things. As two kids. Nikita thought I was not a good enough partner, that I was too young, that he had to waste too much time on me. It was really silly.
* * *

EV: Who did you go to the USA with?
EI: With my grandmother. Mother had to stay home and work so we would have enough money to live. We rented a flat, grandma learned to drive a car. Igor and Marina (Spilband and Zueva) had a Russian guy in the group, we tried out, but it didn't work. So I started skating alone again.
At that moment they had a big seniors group with Belbin/Aghosto, Virtue/Moir, Davis/White, Chock and her previous partner, Shibotanis... I was one of the youngest, yet both Igor and Marina found time for me every day. They had a unique schedule with lots of things: shape, choreography, flexibility, ice time with one coach, then with the other, then with the spinning coach, the lifts coach...

EV: Who was funding all that?
EI: We were. It was hard, but it was worth it. I think I gained a great knowledge

EV: Did you mind being in the USA surrounded by all the things and not having enough money to get all you wanted?
EI: I was used to live modestly since I was a kid. I was born in Kazakhstan, my parents divorced when I was 2. My mother is a very strong minded person and she was not able to forgive my father's betrayal. She left him. So we were never really well off. Now I sometimes get to communicate with very wealthy people and I see they really don't get it how can you live when you don't have enough money. I never felt as if things were missing in my life. I loved skating, dancing, ballet classes, spending time with Igor and Marina. Can it be compared to the possibility to buy some stupid cloths?
My mom loves telling everyone how I never asked her for anything. Even when we went shopping together. I really never asked for things, but somehow mom was always able to read my mind: when I really wanted a toy that toy magically appeared.
As for the going out and stuff in the USA - I never had time for that. We lived in a nice house, had a car. What else could we ask for?

EV: Was it scary when your grandmother started driving?
EI: She kept telling she never would. Once we saw a very old lady, probably in her 90s all shaky, full of wrinkles, with crutches stumbling to her huge Lexus, getting in and driving away. I said `Gran, come on! You are young, gorgeous, can do anything and afraid of some stupid car?'. And then she started driving
Before the Sochi Olympics I brought my grandmother to the USA - I knew she really wanted to come. We spent a week together and it was a revelation. We never really talked to each other. I never thought I had anything to talk to my grandmother about. At her last day in the USA I took her to a Russian restaurant and we spent a couple of hours just talking. I learned so much. About myself as well.
After that conversation I was thinking: how is it? I always had great relationship with my mother and grandmother, but most of our conversation was just so casual.

EV: Did you learn the language fast?
EI: Yes. I was studying English since I was 6 in Moscow, but it was not the American English. When I found myself in an environment where the `How are you' replaced with the `What's up' it was confusing first. I would understand what they meant, but I couldn't figure what to answer.
Everyone were helpful. They corrected me, suggested the right words, so I began communication quite fast.
* * *

EV: What did you feel when Katsalapov offered to skate together again?
EI: Huge happiness. By then I was thinking for a while it's great studying with the best coaches is nice. But when everyone has a pair, dance and even compete, at some point it felt uncomfortable. I told Spilband I was going back, he understood and supported me. Igor was the first to say Nikita and I were made for each other. It was even before we parted. Back then he immediately said `Go. It's your destiny'.
Though when I came to Moscow I learned Nikita hadn't decided anything yet. A kind of a casting was set up, with a lot of girls. He would skate with each of us one after the other.
In the end things worked out, we choreographed the programmes and the first year together was a success - we became 4th in the Nationals. There were even talks about sending us to the Junior worlds and not Russia n.3. Later the coaches decided not to send us and a year later we won the Junior worlds.
That time was full of changes. Those who saw us skating on the juniors level said we should be sent as Russia n.3 to the Olympics in Vancouver. Indeed the judging was in our favour - we received level 4 for all the elements. Still, despite all our progress we were still kids. Not even mentioning how different the junior programmes are from the senior. So when we switched to the seniors and placed not quite where we expected I started thinking: what is wrong?
It is when I began to understand that even Spilband/Zueva pairs are not necessarily more talented, but work so hard for so many years. I remember Meryl mentioning during one of the competitions she've been skating together with Charlie for 16 years. I was under an impression for the whole day. I even recalled the photo they had in Detroit Skating Club with Meryl and Charlie in a pair, smiling missing their front teeth...
And there were Nikita and I. So yes, we had some nice programmes during the two seasons, some nice lifts. But it is not what makes the skaters a champion. It's some obvious stuff, but we needed several years to understand it, gain the experience and make all the mistakes we made.

EV: Were there many mistakes?
EI: It was enough. I don't mind that. You can tell all you want you should learn from the other's mistakes, but in the end you don't really. I.e. you have to get a cold yourself to learn you should put a scarf on after the practice. The same about the food and other things.
I think the judges also make a difference between those who grew up and progressed over the years in front of their eyes and those who just popped out, even if they are talented.
So objectively, our partnership with Nikita became real only this season. During the summer we had that amazing unity. We learned new lifts, we were working great, we understood each other without the words. It's that feeling of the partner that was the strongest - that all we gained was done together. Hence what happened in March is so painful.

EV: Were there any hints for the break up?
EI: No. I remember my feelings 3 days after the Olympics when we came back to Moscow and came to the first practice. It felt like flying! It was not about the medals, but about all that was invested in us for years - the hard work, styles, dances, acting - all started to work. We didn't even have to speak to each other -we would just look to each other and do some mind blowing edges, saw our feelings were the same. It was so much fun! We didn't even need the coach at that point.

And then the day before departing to Japan I learned Nikita tried out with another partner. I was shocked.

* * *
EV: Had your relationship with the coach and the partner change at that moment?
EI: Surprisingly no. Everyone acted as if nothing happened. I didn't tell anyone I knew what was going on. I was afraid.

EV: Of what?
EI: Guess deep down I was hoping against all hope it wasn't true. And then that article showed in the internet. The night before the short dance.
I called our coach Morozov immediately and told him I didn't want to skate. Then I called the federation. In the end they convinced me the article was not true, and was perhaps written in order to influence our skating and I must skate.

EV: But you knew it was real
EI: Yes. What I didn't understand was why things had to be done so unprofessionally - setting a try out behind my back before the beginning of the championship? I don't want to use the word `betrayal' here. It's Nikita's life and his decision. But professionally - we should had won that championship. It was what we should had set our minds on - the odds were high. Throughout our career I never blamed Nikita on anything, but it was just one case where he was to blame for the failure at that championship. I still can't understand his reasons.

EV: Your previous coach said announced before the Olympics he doesn't plan staying in Russia. Did you discuss your future with him?
EI: No. During the Olympic season we were too busy and too focused so we didn't have time on any other conversation. I think it's the reason we were so ready for the Europeans and the Games and the Worlds. The news about the other partner shook me quite badly. I didn't understand why were we going to Japan. What did it matter whether we compete at the Worlds or not?

EV: You were not motivated by a possible win?
EI: After 2 Olympic medals? Not at all.

* * *

EV: I know when you skated with Katsalapov in Zhulins' group your partner was in a very unpleasant situation and the coach helped him. After that Nikita said he'll be grateful to Zhulin for the rest of his life and would never betray him
EI: Right

EV: And yet a couple of months later you switched to Morozov. How did it happen? Was it your parents' decision?
EI: The parents had their role in the decision, of course, but it would be wrong to blame them. Nikita and I were old enough to take responsibility for our actions. It was a decision that was made. By us as well.
As for me I'm still very grateful to Zhulin and for everything he did for our pair. It was with him we won the Junior Worlds, he was the coach who took us to the seniors level. I was very close to him and it was very hard parting with him.
Zhulin was one of the very few people I carry a small icon with me to the competitions and I try putting it on the boards during the competitions. At some competition it was impossible. I was so down, almost crying. Sasha silently took the icon from me and put it in his shirt pocket. We won that competition and from then he became the keeper of my mascot. Every time he would put the icon in his pocket before the competition I felt safe. I will be grateful for the rest of my life for that feeling he gave me.

EV: How did you react when in 2010 the rumours of a break up sprang and that Katsalapov could pair with Yana Khokhlova? Were you affected by the rumours?
EI: You bet. I remember in the worlds in Turino I came to the mixed zone after the short dance and instead of asking me about the skate I was asked `Is it true next season your partner will be skating with Khokhlova?'
I remember thinking `Why don't you let us skate the free dance first and then ask such things?'. It was far from pleasant. After all we were skating for quite a while by then and gained something. Of course as you progress your goals become higher and higher and you really think your partner is on the same page.

EV: You are talking so emotionally now about skating with Katsalapov that I can't help thinking should the ex partner come back again you will forget everything and go back to him.
EI: I'm very sorry we parted after all we've been through together, especially since we talked so much about our future after Sochi. That 2 best pairs are going to retire, that we finally reached the level on which we can set any goals. We had lots of plans. Now I just think our journey together in the sport came to an end.
I'm thrilled to join Kustarova's group. Lena made a great impression on me before the Olympics when we spent a short time working with her. Nikita and I needed some help since Morozov left to some competition. Kustarova was the person to provide that help. She didn't have to - she could just stand near the border and throw some remarks. We were someone else's pair, yet she worked with us as if we were her kids. The progress of that work was beyond any expectation.

EV: Did Morozov mind when he came back?
EI: He was the one to ask Kustarova to look out for us. Kolia is a huge fun of his profession. He can work around the clock. He sharpens the blades himself, chooses and cuts the music, gives costumes advice and choreographes the programmes. On the other hand I think you have to understand: when you are trying to do all those things there always will be better professionals in each department. Especially when it's about something very focused. I always loved having an opportunity to learn from different people.

At the same time Morozov is a great psychologist. He is not always working in a traditional way, but it is all set to a certain result and he gets there. Hence at some point I stopped minding he can change his mind several times a day, that sometimes he would do things I totally fail to understand....

* * *

EV: Were you jealous when your mother adopted a child?
EI: Not at all. It was a sudden decision. I.e. it was not planned in advance. For 2 years my mother and her friends would attend the orphanages every weekend. Their main goal was not only to help the kids with the money, but help them in life. For example there was a kid who loved cooking. He is learning to become a chief now. I.e. he'll have a wonderful profession. They were teaching girls some girls stuff like how to make soap, how to make beauty masks etc.
I started thinking sooner or later there will be an adopted kid in the family. It made sense. I didn't mind that at all. I told my mother: we might as well be a bit more limited, but the kid will be so much better off with us than in an orphanage. This is how I gained a 2y.o brother. He is 6 now.

EV: Does he skate?
EI: Oh... I wanted him to play hockey so badly... but he is not at all. Once I came to a practice. The coach threw the pack and everyone chased it. He didnt' even leave the border. I jumped down, started asking him why is he not running. He glanced at me as an adult and said `why running? where? have you seen how many people are there?'

EV: How did your family take the new partner?
EI: Mom attended our first practice with Ruslan. I was afraid to hear what she would say - if she dislikes something about my skating she never keeps it to herself. I was trying very hard. At some point I saw her glance and saw her nodding. It meant a lot to me. I felt confident on the spot.

EV: Have you started working on the new programmes?
EI: In general

EV: But you have decided on the choreographer?
EI: Not yet. I do have an idea what kind of programme I'd like to skate. I also understand getting where we want will be hard.

EV: Does the Olympic gold medal make you feel your life is accomplished, despite how things will go with the new partner?
EI: It gives a confidence. But the medal is also a commitment. You can't working less hard now. But I don't have a feeling I reached all my goals in figure skating yet.

EV: You worked most of your life with the male coaches. Now you have two female coaches.
EI: I love it! I missed it so much! The male coaches usually give lots of attention to the male partner - that is what they are used to and know better. This is why the male partners progress better in such partnerships.

EV: You are the leader of the pair right now. How does it go together with the usual role of the leader being male?
EI: At this point of our work we understand I'm more experienced. Though my female experience tells me I shouldn't press on the partner too much whether it's about the life, sport or business.

Też nie chciałabym wyjść na taką, która potępia całkowicie dzisiejszą choreografię. Jest wiele programów, które są świetne, ale duża ich według mnie jest po prostu nudniejsza niż te tworzone za systemu 6.0.

Już w dyskusji nad systemem COP wspomniałam, że ten system oceniania szczególnie negatywnie wpłynął na tańce, które są teraz do siebie zbyt podobne. Podam taki drobny przykład. W każdym tańcu para robi twizzle. Na pewno jest łatwo zauważyć sędziom błąd w takich twizzlach, ale ile tych twizzli można oglądać. W każdym tańcu widzimy a to twizzle z rączkami z boku, a to twizzle z rączkami u góry. W pewnym momencie można mieć już przesyt.

Tatuś Williams postanowił, że zrobi z córek tenisistki po tym jak zobaczył kwotę na czeku zwycięzcy turnieju Wielkiego Szlema. Chyba ani Venus ani Sereny nie było jeszcze na świecie...

Skoro już mowa o patologiach to przypomniała mi się patola z Nadią Comaneci. Nie wiem czy czegoś nie pokręciłam, ale coś mi się kiedyś obiło, że syn Nicolae Caucescu ją zgwałcił. Proszę wyprowadzić mnie z błędu jeżeli to bzdura.