“Why Plushenko climbed”: Zhulin about the conflict between Tutberidze and Tarasova, throwing Zagitova and the decision of WADA

“Outstanding trainers got into a squabble”

- Over the weekend, a conflict broke out in social networks between coaches Eteri Tutberidze, Tatyana Tarasova and skater Evgeni Plushenko. Do you think the team should be the first to react so harshly to the statement of a distinguished specialist ?

- To be honest, so much sewage in recent days has spilled out that it is disgusting to read. Outstanding trainers got involved in some sort of squabble, already sickening. What are you guys ?! I go to the Internet, and even if I want to read something else, all this dirt still falls on me. About how someone is luring someone ... I would say that it all went very well. Yes, Zagitova decided to take a break, what is there to discuss? How much can you procrastinate?

- But women's skating is now at the peak of popularity, everyone is talking about it ...

- There used to be Medvedev and Zagitov, now here is Trusova, Kostornaya, Shcherbakova ... It turned out some kind of female skirmish. Well, why did Zhenya climb? He is a man. And yes, I understand Tutberidze. She shows phenomenal results and, naturally, is tired of attacks. And at the same time she starts to write something. The strongest person was involved in all of this. Just keep silent, go past and continue to succeed, conversations will come to naught.

- On Sunday, Alina Zagitova also published a post in which she emphasized once again that she was not going anywhere. Do you believe that?

- Well, of course, Zagitova is now making statements. And who else to do them? Not to me. But let's see what happens in a year. If Alina decides to return to the sport after a while, thank God. Will make a quadruple jump - I will first shake her everything that you can shake. It will be an outstanding return.

- At the same time, taking a break, Zagitova will continue to receive the bid of the athlete of the national team. In your opinion, is this fair?

- Well, perhaps Alina just wants to get paid. Why not? I don’t know, I have to ask her. I think the girl is now just rushing around, it’s hard for her to make a decision. And it’s hard to accept that at 17 you can already be a little old for your sport. Probably taking a break is indeed the best thing for her right now. She will miss the championship of Russia, Europe and the world, see how the body will behave. Maybe she will enjoy performing on the show so much that she would not want to return.

- What prevents her from waiting this period and fighting further, like Yevgeny Medvedev and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva?

- You correctly said - to fight. There is nothing more to add. Although among the "over-age" athletes, it is best to compete with young people precisely at Tuktamysheva. Of course, I jokingly call them that, but, I repeat, I would single out Elizabeth. She is trying to compete at the expense of her fourth sheepskin coat. I saw this jump - and truly an outstanding performance. The purest.

- At the same time, Tuktamysheva gives the impression of a calmer athlete, she seems to be easier on everything ...

- Yes. Lisa is doing well. She has an excellent coach, everything is fine in her personal life. She really is right about what is happening. Maybe not with a share of nonsense, but with some ease. She responds very well to everything and answers. So you need to relate to life.

- By the way, Tuktamysheva also found herself in a scandal the other day, after a video of dubious content about Tatyana Tarasova and Evgenia Medvedeva was posted on her personal page on YouTube. Have you ever encountered a similar one?

- No never. I worked with a very good agent. In general, I get the impression that the task is to raise our female figure skating to some unprecedented heights in terms of media references. Maybe that's why there are so many scandals ...

"Our girls are jumping content of adult men"

- Tatyana Tarasova said that the age limit in figure skating should be raised from 15-16 to 17-18 years?

“I said the same thing.” It's just not entirely clear how to organize this all. Yes, it would be logical for junior, youth and adult competitions to exist. But, unfortunately, today there are no relevant criteria. Yes, and will anyone want to watch adult competitions if there are no ultra-si elements? Could it be that some young figure skater first performs complex elements, and then gains four kilograms and ends her career? After all, today we have witnessed a completely new phenomenon in figure skating, when girls jump in the content of adult men. I think you need to wait. Perhaps after some time the ISU will think about what to do with all this.

- And this new phenomenon was born precisely in Russia ...

- Moreover, it was born in the group of Eteri Tutberidze. I am very glad that such a phenomenon originated with us, it is completely unique. I would single out Irina Viner-Usmanova in rhythmic gymnastics and Tatyana Pokrovskaya in synchronized swimming for the highest achievements of our trainers. And Eteri Georgievna would be on a par with them.

- At one time, there was a practice of transition from amateur sports to professional ...

- Yes, and it was really very cool. I don’t know why it all ended. Alina Zagitova, and not only she, Carolina Costner, for example, could play at such tournaments for a very long time, and the audience would love to go to them. I myself participated in this, and it was a brilliant story. Such aesthetic figure skating, where artistry is important and where you won’t gain anything due to technology. There, people became champions without a single jump. And among the judges there were ballet dancers, singers ... Completely different competitions.

- Maxim Trankov recently complained that our men are far from girls. And at the upcoming Russian championship in Krasnoyarsk, for health reasons, Mikhail Kolyada will not speak yet. Is this a serious loss?

- Yes, it's a pity, he has a good program. But speaking of our loners, I would not say that everything is so bad. In our Grand Prix finals, two skaters fought. It's pretty cool that two Russian athletes hit the top six. They still lack stability and it’s difficult to compete with Nathan Chen and Yuzur Han. But the same Samarin jumps in quadruple lutz, quadruple flip and triple axel. No one else has it.

- In connection with the decision of WADA to remove Russia from international competitions for four years, some experts suggested organizing alternative Games. Do you think skaters will go to such competitions?

- I think it will not come to that. Perhaps alternative Games would be worth holding, but only if we were completely excluded from everything. The whole world of figure skating is praying for our girls. If they do not fly to Beijing, then Mariah Bell, for example, will ride there. Well, who cares? And then, if we are completely isolated, let's go along the path of North Korea. If it comes to that, then I would be grateful to our president for organizing such competitions. And it will be possible to invite American television companies to watch how our girls ride. But I think nothing like this will happen. Now in the world there is a huge interest in Russian figure skating. Without us, the Olympics will turn into a farce.