The only performer in the world of four different quadruple jumps, Alexander Trusova, decided to change her coach. Thus, the famous trio of students of Eteri Tutberidze - Alexandra Trusova, Anna Shcherbakova and Alena Kostornaya, who dominated the world stage last season, broke up.
And of these athletes, Trusova has the most extensive technical arsenal. In October, when Sasha shook the figure world with a victory at the Japan Open with four quads performed in one program, it seemed that there wasn’t a skater in the world capable of more.
But fate decreed otherwise. All that a debutant of an adult season can boast of at the time of its completion is the bronze awards of the Grand Prix finals, the Russian championship and the European championship.
In such a situation, it was not difficult to guess that the athlete (or rather, her parents) is very likely to think about changing the coach. And so it happened: in the last days of April, a source close to the group of Eteri Tutberidze said that Sasha had already notified the decision of her former mentor. He also noted that Trusova leaves the group together with one of the coaches, with whom she intends to continue cooperation, but besides this he will look for a more eminent specialist to agree to take the athlete under her protection: it was so common in figure skating that it’s not too it is sometimes difficult to gain authority in the eyes of judges by a well-known coach on board.
Officially, Trusova’s transfer to another coach can be considered completed only after Alexandra herself or her representative, who has the appropriate right, transfers the necessary documents on the change to the Russian Figure Skating Federation.
One of the sources said that until the end of the May holidays this is not possible, since the country has a non-working day and a self-isolation regime is observed to combat the spread of coronavirus infection.
“All news that will appear in the media before May 12 should be regarded as rumors and nothing more. The athlete’s family will not comment on them until the final decision, which will be published on the website of the FFKKR, ”the source said.
The wheel spun nonetheless. On Wednesday, the Olympic champion of Turin, Evgeni Plushenko, confirmed that Alexandra officially began the process of changing the coach and is preparing the relevant documents to submit them to the FFKKR.
Earlier, another source admitted that the Trusov family considered three candidates for the position of the new head coach, but one of them fell away already at the first stage of negotiations - the specialist who received the offer refused the family.
The current situation with Trusova partly resembles the one that took place five years ago with Julia Lipnitskaya. It quickly became clear that mentors who were ready to take on the heroine of the Games in Sochi, who had greatly lost ground, can be counted on the fingers. And none of them is eager to get a "pig in a poke."
The most optimal from the point of view of the athlete’s technical development (after one of the leading Russian specialists refused), it seemed that moving overseas to Brian Orser or Rafael Harutyunyan, but a different problem arose: in this case, the skater could not go to the USA or Canada alone. It turned out that the only real candidate for the role of coach Lipnitskaya was Alexei Urmanov - a man who knows the jumping technique perfectly and knows how to learn it.
It is possible that Plushenko is exactly the only real candidacy for Trusova, especially since the previous coach of the athlete Alexander Volkov continues to work in the Plushenko Angels, and Sergey Rozanov leaves the Tutberidze team with her. It was initially not very likely to send the skater to Harutyunyan at first: this is due not only to the fact that California is a very expensive state to live in, and Harutyunyan is one of the highest paid specialists, but also to the fact that Trusova, due to her age, can it turns out to be too much “baggage” - someone has to solve everyday issues, perform the functions of a manager, translator, and so on.
After moving to Canada, two-time world champion and vice-champion of the Games in Pyeongchang Evgenia Medvedev faced similar problems, but despite the dramatic departure, she had a much louder track record than Trusova’s, more powerful sponsorship and numerous advertising contracts. And the time was much more favorable than now, when figure skating as a business of that and look collapses because of the coronavirus.
Harutyunyan himself declined to comment on the likelihood of the Russian figure skater joining his group.
“Any coach, I think, would be interested to work with an athlete who is in the top ten of the world. It's just that all Russian athletes are very dependent on the conditions created for them: a step to the side is regarded as an escape and it is historically known what this leads to, ”he explained in a conversation with RT.
The main question, in fact, is another: will the new mentor Trusova be able to raise one of the most striking figure skaters in the world to a new level for her? And is this possible in principle?
Theoretically, yes, but it will be incredibly difficult. Firstly, Sasha is a vivid representative of the generation of Russian singles who are especially good in their first adult season before the start of the period of growth, formation and growing up. Secondly, the Tutberidze school has a rather pronounced specificity - approximately like the Barcelona Football Academy, whose best players are well prepared to continue their careers in the same club, but it is extremely difficult to take root in other teams.
After the loads and the competition that one has to go through before being on the “adult” ice, the skaters have almost no resources left: their career is not designed for a long time, over the past few years it has become quite obvious, and hardly anyone agrees that the peak of Sasha’s career was planned by her former coaching staff not in the foreseeable future, but “here and now” - at the Montreal World Championship, canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In order to continue to perform at the same level, Sasha already needs a completely different job, which would allow him to build a new body, a new technique, a new riding style. In other words, to start from scratch. Such issues are not resolved in a few months, so you need to learn to wait. And to understand that the number of quadruple jumps on female ice will only multiply. So, the “wow effect” that accompanied Trusova’s performances this season may never happen.
Who undoubtedly benefited from this high-profile transition is Plushenko himself. For his academy, a transfer of this level is, above all, a great advertisement. If we recall the constant and very tough dives of Plushenko in public space with the headquarters of Tutberidze, the Olympic champion in general can consider himself a winner. Well, if Eugene really manages to bring Trusov to big victories, all of us will have to take off his hat. In the meantime, you should wish Alexandra and Eugene success.