“I couldn’t even imagine such a thing”: Buyanova about Danielyan’s silver at the European Championship, its resemblance to Fernandez and a busy schedule

"He looked at everyone with wide eyes."

- Do not you find that in the free program, Arthur Danielyan strongly resembled young Javier Fernandez?

- In Graz, they tell me about this from all sides, although I myself have never associated Arthur with Xavi. But she began to look at him with a slightly different look. Indeed, there is a certain similarity. But this is not because we intentionally copy someone. Arthur is very soft and ductile by nature, like Fernandez. So far, in comparison with the Spaniard, he loses, because he has not learned to ride freely, it feels a bit constricted. I hope this will pass with age. In Arthur, as in Javier, a lot of humor, internal irony, he is able to perfectly convey grotesque characters. In fact, we tried to emphasize precisely these features. They tried at the beginning of the season to do something more courageous, rather than gaming, but in time they abandoned such an idea. We believe that we did the right thing.

- Did you expect your ward to win a medal at the debut European Championship?

- I couldn’t even imagine - after all, our team has two very experienced athletes, much more experienced than Arthur. It is annoying that in a free program there was a fall from a fairly elementary jump. Apparently, he laid out too much on the fours.

This is just a lack of experience: one cannot make such mistakes when fighting for a medal. Despite this, I really liked how Arthur set himself up for a performance, how he did warm-ups, training. In it, it seems to me, the inner sports spirit still begins to manifest and grow, it’s great when the athlete has confidence.

- Excitement before the debut somehow manifested?

- Arthur came to Graz with a great desire to speak. He is a big fan of figure skating in the broadest sense of the word. He knows everyone, watches all performances, watches what is happening. If we talk about the nature of Danielyan, one feels a great internal intelligence in him, which sometimes greatly interferes with an athlete in relation to sports. I hope that the result that we were able to show will only inspire Arthur in the future.

- What was the most difficult for you, as a coach, in this championship?

- There were many nuances, but I would not call them complicated. When an athlete first breaks into such a level, it is always easier for him than when he performs a second or third time. Therefore, I set Arthur to the point that competitions should become a kind of holiday for him, where you can afford the flight of the soul without looking at circumstances. In itself, this is not an easy test for a newcomer - to be among those whom you previously saw mostly in video recordings. And, of course, he looked at everyone with wide eyes.

“Arthur still has some problems with his legs.”

- When Danielyan selected for the European Championship, there was talk that you might prefer the student to spend the season in juniors.

- So Arthur will perform in juniors - we do not intend to refuse the junior world championship.

- In this connection, another question will surely be raised: does Danielyan need to go to the adult world championship in Montreal as well? Will the load be great?

- I didn’t think about this topic at all, my emotions are overwhelming. I'll think about it tomorrow, as the heroine of the famous novel said. We will certainly discuss all this with the leadership of the figure skating federation, but the priority plans are for the Russian championship and the selection for the junior championship.

- Does a person who has won the silver medal of the adult European Championship have to prove that he is worthy to represent the country at the junior world championships and be selected to the team on a common basis?

- These are the rules. I am not yet ready to predict how things will turn out in the future. I will say more: before the start of the European Championships, we discussed with the leadership of the team that both I and Arthur would return to Moscow immediately after the men's competitions in order to have more time to prepare for the next start. Now it turns out that these plans will also have to be changed, since in Graz Arthur will have to participate in demonstrations.

He started this season quite early in May. Then, like everyone else, we had problems with our boots. Therefore, it would be nice to be able to at least a little rest and recover. But now it depends not only on our desire.

- Could you decipher the phrase about shoes? What does it mean, like everyone else?

- Well, since the summer, after all, have many shoes broken? This is not normal, of course, but it is a given. So there are enough worries. Arthur still has some problems with his legs. We counted on a pause after the European Championship in order to be able to change shoes, to heal his legs. I really do not want to let the problems become chronic. The legs on the feet in this regard are very dangerous: they need to be treated, but it is extremely difficult when training is followed continuously.

- Would you like to be able to release Danielyan from the selection for the junior championship in order to save strength?

- If we are given such an opportunity, then we will most likely really refuse this start.