The dispute between Yagudin and Plushenko, Zueva’s accusations against Zhuk and the attack on Carrigan: high-profile conflicts in figure skating

Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan

One of the most high-profile conflicts in the history of figure skating can rightfully be considered the confrontation between American figure skaters Tony Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, which culminated in the 1994 Olympic Games. In their case, words were few - differences between the girls led to the attack.

Two athletes competed for a long time. Harding in the early 1990s was considered one of the innovators of figure skating due to the performance of the triple axel, but at the same time she was also a rather unstable athlete, who often broke her performances. Kerrigan managed to win several medals at international starts during her career and by 1994 was considered one of the best US figure skaters, who had to qualify for the Olympic team at the national championship without problems.

But Kerrigan failed to speak at the national championship - a day before the competition after training, she was attacked. A man watched the athlete and hit her on the right leg with a telescopic baton, after which he disappeared in a car with an accomplice. Kerrigan avoided a fracture, but was forced to withdraw from the competition. Harding won without any problems and headed the national team.

But even before the start of the Olympics, it became known that the attack was carried out by Shane Stent, who was hired for this by ex-husband Harding Jeff Gillouli and bodyguard Sean Ekardt. They intended to disable Kerrigan and decided to break her leg so that the skater could not take part in the Olympics.

Harding initially strongly denied her role in the attack on Kerrigan, but soon admitted that she was aware of the impending crime. She was found guilty of conspiring to prevent the prosecution of those who attacked Kerrigan. Harding was sentenced to three years probation and paid a fine of $ 160 thousand. She was deprived of the title of US champion, but still went to the Olympics, despite the incredible hype in the press. There she was overtaken by karma - Harding took only eighth place due to a broken lace, and Kerrigan who managed to recover won silver.

Alexey Yagudin and Evgeni Plushenko

The end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s in Russian figure skating was marked by a conflict between Alexei Yagudin and Evgeni Plushenko. The two best skaters of not only the country, but also the world did not get along together in the training group of Alexei Mishin, which was the reason for their high-profile disagreements that made noise until the 2002 Olympics.

Yagudin began to study under the direction of Mishin, when his main star was still Alexei Urmanov. Following him, the younger Plushenko also came to the group, whom the coach began to consider as the heir to the Olympic champion. This version was followed by Yagudin.

“For a long time I racked my brains over why Mishin constantly sends Alexei and me to the same competitions. Why does he not give me a chance to get out of the shadow of my older comrade? Finally, it dawned on me: Mishin wanted me to constantly lose to Alexei. If I had won in his absence, this would have allowed me to declare myself loudly and partially level out the achievements of Urmanov. While I was trying to break out of this vicious circle, Plushenko played in other tournaments, won them and gained strength. I admit, even then Mishin saw in Zhenya his new favorite, ”wrote Yagudin in his autobiography.

Yagudin's dissatisfaction with his position grew throughout the whole season 1997/98. He won the European Championship, but through friends he found out that Mishin allegedly regretted his victory - he wanted Plushenko to get the gold. At the Olympics, Yagudin was only fifth due to illness and did not receive the right words of support from the coach. The real explosion was the news that Plushenko entered the national team for the World Cup instead of Yagudin, and a letter in defense of the latter was signed by many experts, except for his own mentor.

Yagudin still got to the competition and won them, after which he firmly decided to change the situation. His new coach was Tatyana Tarasova. The next four years, Plushenko often beat his former classmate, which only strengthened their antagonism. However, the Olympics in Salt Lake City remained with Yagudin. The skater did not hide his joy from the rival's fall in the short program, which he himself performed flawlessly, and won gold in front of the former coach.

Stanislav Zhuk and Marina Zueva

For Soviet figure skating enthusiasts, coach Stanislav Zhuk was a huge figure. He not only raised many Olympic champions, but also radically changed pair skating, making this discipline truly spectacular. For many years, it was Zhuk who was considered the personification of the powerful coach-winner, who Tatyana Tarasova and Eteri Tutberidze became after him.

Unpleasant conflicts also did not pass him by. The beetle was known for its heavy and even cruel character, the manifestations of which students often complained about. One of his rules was to part with the athlete if he allowed three serious faults during their cooperation. Even Irina Rodnina, who left Beetle after the first Olympics won, became a victim of this principle.

During his career, a venerable trainer has made ill-wishers, and in 1986 clouds hung over him. The Central Committee of the CPSU received a letter telling about the immoral behavior of the Beetle - about alcohol abuse and excessive enthusiasm for young students. Its author was the choreographer Marina Zueva and former student Anna Kondrashova. The beetle was soon removed from work, despite all his regalia.

What caused the conflict between the Beetle and Zueva is not completely clear. But it is well known that soon after this, her former students Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergey Grinkov returned with the choreographer, with whom Zhuk was engaged for some time. In addition, Zueva later recalled how one day a coach “stole” an invented program for Elena Vodorezova, who, incidentally, defended her mentor after the story with a letter.

“I had an exam on the art of a choreographer at the institute, and I needed to get a job. And Lena Vodorezova then lived with me in the same house. And my mother says to me: put a number for Lena. But something is uncomfortable for me, after all, the famous Beetle, a really great coach, works with Lena. But still I decided. I drew a sketch, brought music, explained the theme of the program that I will put. Well, and as a result, Zhuk took this my work for the short program of Vodorezova. It was a Firebird. I took it exactly as I came up with, ”Zueva said after the death of the Beetle.

Mariah Bell and Lim Eun Soo

Not only fans with experience can recall the scandalous events in figure skating. During the 2019 World Cup, the story of the American skater Mariah Bell and Korean Lim Eun-suh made a lot of noise.

In one of the training sessions, the skaters collided with each other, causing Bell to cut Lim's leg with a skate. Often, such incidents are quickly exhausted, but this time the agency representing the interests of the South Korean athlete raised the alarm. It immediately accused Bell of intentionally injuring him before an important start.

An additional tension was created by the fact that both athletes were engaged in the United States under the leadership of Rafael Harutyunyan. In the comments to the Korean press, Lim representatives assured that the American regularly lifts up her colleague.

At the request of the South Korean Federation, the International Skating Union conducted an urgent investigation. The organization found no evidence that Bell intentionally injured Lim. The incident was quickly exhausted, especially since the athletes themselves did not blame each other for anything. But at the same time, it is worth canceling that at the end of the season Lim left Harutyunyan's group and stopped training with Bell.