On Friday, December 13, Olympic champion Alina Zagitova on Channel One talked about her decision to suspend her sports career. She will miss the Russian championship at the end of December, as well as the European and world championships.
The decision of the skater upset her fans and many sports experts. However, this did not end there. Not the next day, another loud statement appeared in the teamtutberidze_ Instagram account, which is associated with the coaching staff of Eteri Tutberidze - coach Alina Zagitova and many other prominent Russian figure skaters.
“Respect the decision of the greatest athlete and the work of the entire coaching staff, which led Alina Zagitova and other athletes to results that they will be proud of all their lives. Dear Tatyana Anatolyevna Tarasova, for three programs Alina Zagitova showed more sports results than some athletes - for ten. It is unfortunate that at the time of Alina's greatest achievements, you criticized her so much. Probably because of great love. In this case, the rest of our athletes really want to wish a little less than your love and care, ”the message said.
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Publication by Team Tutberidze (@teamtutberidze_) Dec 14, 2019 at 10:00 PST
Such a reaction followed in response to Tarasova’s commentary published in the media. According to the coach, she does not believe that the Olympic champion will return to big sport.
“In order to remain interesting to the viewer in the show, you need to train, and Zagitova will probably do it. But I’m sorry that only three programs measure the lifespan of the Olympic champion ... We may not have any competitions, this is a disaster, and Eteri Tutberidze ensures the country's victory in women's single skating, ”she said in an interview with TASS.
At the same time, the coach cited the example of other Russian figure skaters - Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and Evgeny Medvedev, who overcame a difficult period in their careers and continued to compete and learn new elements.
“I have great respect for what Alexey Mishin and his student Liza Tuktamysheva are doing - she was experiencing setbacks, achieved nothing in terms of medals, but returned, learned the quadruple sheepskin coat, restored the triple axel. Or our outstanding athlete, two-time world champion Zhenya Medvedeva - got out from the bottom of the well into which she fell, she is improving, ”she added.
The Tutberidze team also turned to the two-time Olympic champion, and now the coach Evgeni Plushenko.
“Evgeni Plushenko, you cannot be called a coach at the moment. You did not educate or teach a single athlete anything. Your periodic attempts to buy, in the literal sense of the word, ready-made athletes only interfere with our professional work. You did not manage to lure Alina to you, no matter how you tried to humiliate us in her eyes, ”the message also said.
Prior to this, Plushenko also commented on Zagitova’s decision to suspend her career. He suggested that the Olympic champion needs time, including in order to decide on a mentor. This athlete told in an interview with TASS.
“Who knows, maybe she will move to another group with other coaches? I do not remove this option - Alina needs attention worthy of the Olympic champion, she needs to be paid much more time. We need to move on - there is still a lot of time ahead, and she is a powerful athlete. Yes, there was a failure in the Grand Prix finals in Turin, but I had it too - I just disgusted to ride the Grand Prix, and then I was able to win the World Cup, ”he said.
However, after the publication of the statement from the Tutberidze team on social networks, a real war began. Plushenko immediately responded to the post - he stood up for Tarasova.
“Dear Eteri, no, even the most penetrating degree of your dissatisfaction and disappointment cannot excuse your uncouth rudeness to Tatyana Anatolyevna Tarasova, a genius and a great coach. Any decisions, opinions and even criticisms should not only be listened to, but infinitely grateful even for criticism, since criticism of the smartest and wisest professional is only for the good. If you can, of course, hear and not inflate your lips, ”the athlete wrote.
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Publication by Evgeni Plushenko (@plushenkoofficial) Dec 15, 2019 at 1:13 PST
Plushenko did not ignore the accusations that he was luring skaters to him.
“Indeed, a large number of children from your school come to me - again, completely voluntarily. Why? Do not know? Is it because I “didn’t raise a single athlete of my own”, how ambitiously do you describe in your “response to Chamberlain”? Thank you, of course, for the advice “to attend the training process”, for you, as a manager living at the expense of athletes, this is probably a really relevant topic, but I hasten to report: I train almost every day, and if you want to watch, then welcome . It’s not a pity to train you and share your experience, ”he added.
A little later, Zagitova herself made another statement. She also posted it on her Instagram. The skater once again emphasized that she was not going to leave the sport.
“I don’t even think about any“ departure ”or“ completion ”. As an athlete who has achieved all possible first places, I want to be on the highest pedestal, and for this I need to train even more and even harder. I am still in the Russian national team and I can still play for my country at international competitions. I continue my “figured” path with the support of my coaches, ”she said.
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Publication by Alina Zagitova (@azagitova) Dec 15, 2019 at 6:27 am PST
Maxim Trankov, Olympic champion in pair skating, shared his opinion about the mutual accusations of the coaches. He wrote about this in his account on Twitter. The skater admitted that he was ashamed of what was happening in this sport. In his opinion, even conflicts in the football environment can not be compared to Russian figure skating.
“Around football is resting ... sad ... people write, but for some reason we are ashamed of us (skaters). People, turn around, change your mind, it’s impossible! Hatred leads to terrible consequences ... ”- wrote the skater.