About the exchange of experience with other coaches and the search for motivation in the absence of international competitions - in an interview with TASS

Figure skating coach Eteri Tutberidze in an interview with TASS assessed the ending season, spoke about the state of the athletes of her group and work with the Italian Daniel Grassl.

— Eteri Georgievna, the season is almost over. Psychologically, was it difficult to readjust to a format closed from international starts?

- We, coaches-teachers, understand that our athletes look up to us. It's like in a family – if something happens, the child always looks at the parent's reaction to understand how scary it is. Of course, our attitude to business tries to maintain the level of motivation, not to show that we are deprived of something, and continue to work.

Now there is a lot of talk about the problems of motivation in athletes, but it is not easy for coaches. Subjective things, psychological pressure do not add joy - a lot of dirt is poured into our team. In such an environment, it is not easy to create masterpieces. But we are like a family – we live and experience it together, together we take responsibility, we help the athlete if he has a desire to be in sports. We didn't abandon anyone.

- For young athletes, perhaps, it is still a little easier in this regard?

- Sonya Akatyeva and Adelia Petrosyan are not yet spoiled by international starts, each of them had only two stages of the Grand Prix. But with Kamila Valieva is a completely different story. When you repeatedly go to international competitions - the stages of the Grand Prix, the European Championships, the Olympics, the attitude to domestic starts is a little different. Only with the championship of Russia a separate story is the qualifying competitions.

It's been incredibly tough for Camila this season.

- All things considered, yes. And none of us know what's going to happen next. Maybe it will be even harder. But we were able to keep it at the proper level, we kept the elements of ultra-si (jumps of increased complexity - TASS), and she showed her quadruple toe loops in the final of the Russian Grand Prix at its best. I went to all the starts and became the first in terms of rating. Thank God.

- After the rental in St. Petersburg, she said that it was very difficult for her to ride. That memories of the pre-Olympic championships have become a lump. And even after the release of the free program, all this was visible to the naked eye.

After a six-minute warm-up of a short one, something came over her. She came out and cried, "I can't ride here." We tried to reconfigure it as best we could. In general, it was much better prepared than we were able to show in the end. Well, who better than me to know that constant pressure cannot become part of the habit. And let's not talk about that anymore.

- Then I propose to move on to the results of the final Grand Prix tournament. What tasks did you set for this tournament for the champion of Russia Sofia Akatyeva and now the winner of the Grand Prix Adelia Petrosyan?

- They had a task to try to roll out new complicated content. We put two triple axels in the first half and moved the second quadruple toe loop into the second. But it began to grow a little, and when this happens, the functionality goes to zero, the body and muscles do not have time, the lungs and heart are still small. We thought to lighten the programs a little, but psychologically it would be a step backwards.

How did Sonia move fourth place?

- In a calm working mode - there were many mistakes. But in general, I want to say that I do not see the point in moaning about the results from start to start. I have not been to Perm, but I have heard, for example, discontent that Sofia Muravyeva should have won against Elizaveta Tuktamysheva. These athletes have the same content, but Lisa for so many years, of course, is more component, which means that it is only more difficult to beat her with content.

And so scandal after scandal – they were deprived there, they were sued here. This was very annoying during the season and distracted from the competitive mood. The unfairness of refereeing and we sometimes had enough, but our team never allowed itself to discuss the results of the competition. I think it's a matter of upbringing and permissiveness.

- Then I will not ask you to comment on the points of your athletes and return to the results of the Grand Prix. At a press conference after the victory, 15-year-old Adelia Petrosyan said the phrase: "I went to her for a very long time," which made some smile.

- But it's true. It was somehow underestimated in components, because it is small. Not by age, by height, petit ("small" in French - TASS). For the Grand Prix final, we set the task of doing a flip and axel in the second half.

Her short program is very successful, it really worked out. I thought at the beginning of the season that she deserved higher scores. Everything coincided - Adele herself, and costumes, and skating. I know if it skates decently, it will gradually work its components. Skate beautifully, jump better and more stable. And in training, show that you are worthy of high scores.

- And emotional. Is that a plus or a minus for progress?

- So far, that hasn't helped.

- Have you already discussed the programs for the next season?

- As long as she wants "sambu and mamba", "something fun". See. She is very talented, but emotions really do not allow her to put the content that she could do. For now, we are waiting for us to fully assemble what we have now. She collects all quads separately.

- For a long time, nothing was heard about Dasha Usacheva.

"We tried to restore Dasha for a very long time, but she began to jump, and the pain returned. Perhaps this is a psychological moment, phantom pains. Each time I sent her back to the FMBA to consult, to be examined. She was with a variety of specialists, including in Germany with Christian Schneider. It has come to the point that doctors no longer see the reasons for the problems, and she still hurts. I'm not a doctor, it's hard for me to say what it is. But she can't jump.

- According to her content during the two pre-Olympic seasons, there is a feeling that the problem has been with her for more than a year. Maybe I'm wrong.

- In fact, Dasha has already come to us with this problem. The last two or three years, as soon as they came to the training camp in Novogorsk and the loads began after the break, chronic pain appeared. We began to be treated, reduced the load and so, gradually, very carefully entered from season to season. Therefore, we simply did not have time to work on the elements of ultra-si, and we were afraid that this would exacerbate her problem. Of course, we always took care of her, Dasha was under the supervision of doctors. Well, last season traditionally began in the same way, only usually the pain by the beginning of the season went away. This time, the pain in her hip continued to bother her.

So maybe she shouldn't have gone to Japan for that ill-fated Grand Prix? Although, as I remember, Sasha Trusova withdrew from him then, and this to some extent increased Daria's chances?

- Of course, it was the Olympic season, and Dasha really wanted to use her chance. Two days before we left, we had a conversation with Daria's mother, an athlete and doctors. I was strongly opposed to the trip to this start, because visually through her movements it seemed to me that the pain had intensified. In this conversation, Dasha's mother insisted on her participation, and Daria herself cried and asked to leave her a chance and not to withdraw from the start. Her main argument was that the doctors would be there, that she would try to take care. She didn't even practice until that first six-minute warm-up. Everyone saw how it ended. We, for our part, always try to give the athlete the maximum chance, but this time I myself regretted that I did not insist on a complete withdrawal.

Only recently, in a casual conversation, doctors learned that her older sister, who was also engaged in figure skating, finished exactly because of the same injury. Perhaps, if we had known about this earlier, we could have dealt with this problem differently. But there's nothing to change here.

- There was information that she wants to try herself in dancing.

She tried to pair up with dancer Dario Chirisano, but she needs to look for someone with whom she will calmly study. And Darijo needs a ready-made partner, with whom you can already go out and compete. Dasha believes that she will succeed in dancing. We need to try to move on.

- And Maya lame? It seems to have recovered, and then disappeared from sight again.

-- Restored shape, quadruple, and then a terrible arm injury. From the initial pose of the short program, she made one push, tripped, caught the tooth with her left hand, missed the ice, and the tooth rested on her hand. It ended very badly, there was a lot of blood loss, convulsions. She was taken away by ambulance, then there was an operation. And not immediately, the doctors postponed her for a day to invite a special neurosurgeon, so complex was this injury.

It took us a very long time to come back from all this - we took a long time to remove the cast, it took a long time to develop the arm, Maya could not lift it even 45 degrees from the thigh. During this time, unfortunately, the weight went up. But she came out and started skating. It is impossible to fight both loads and weight at the same time - this is dangerous for the back. Now she does not jump yet, she rides in a corset, now because of a back problem. It so happens that Maya is sent trial after test.

- It is not easy for Dani Samsonov to develop a path in sports. Everyone remembers him well as a baby who was barely visible from behind the sideboard, and now he is 17 years old.

"He was recovering heavily from surgery on one of his knees. But as soon as I went to the competition, I began to worry about the second. He was also operated on. Danya's rehabilitation process has already passed, and is now being restored. We have already returned all the triplets, and I really hope that we will be able to perform a miracle with him and reach a decent competitive level.

- A high-profile topic of the season was the arrival in Khrustalny?(a branch of the Sambo-70 school, where Tutberidze's group is engaged - TASS)?of the Italian Daniel Grassl.

"He's been reaching out to us for a long time. About two years ago I wanted to come here with a coach, but I was not ready to share my experience with another specialist. Then we met him again, it was in Boston, where he trained. The guy is good, he is in search, and we must give him credit - it was quite difficult for him to go here, to another country. We try to help him in any way we can.

- It was not easy for him at the European Championships because of the increased attention.

- I would even say "anti-attention". Daniel at one point really became depressed from endless criticism.

- Grassl is here for a long time?

- I can't guess yet, we didn't make long plans. He trains, works, prepares for the World Cup.

— You did not want to share your experience with Daniel's coach, but at the same time, many athletes from abroad have trained and are training in your team.

— I have always been very closed in terms of exchanging experience with other specialists. This has only happened a few times. When I took Sergey Viktorovich Dudakov to the team and when Daniil Markovich Gleichengauz came to us. And we became one team. Yes, I am jealous of sharing my experience with other professionals. But we have really trained and are training, including athletes competing for other countries. Liza Tursynbayeva played for Kazakhstan, but she was as dear to us as everyone else. Maurice Kvitelashvili and Nika Yegatadze have been skating all our lives.

- Just a couple of days ago, information about a new project was published on the Web - a series of master classes abroad with your participation. The news caused different opinions.

- That's what we're talking about right now. We are artificially deprived of the opportunity to work at the international level, and suddenly there is a chance to do something new. Let it be through master classes, why not? I think it's about time.

The idea, as far as I know, belongs to Alexander Rafailovich Lakernik (former vice-president of the International Skating Union – TASS), and this is a private project with private funds. Our team was entrusted to conduct the first series of master classes, the next ones will be led by other specialists. I think that to some extent this is a way out not only for Russian, but for the whole figure skating. We must try to move forward in any situation.?

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