The decision of two-time European champions Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov to move to the group of Eteri Tutberidze became the most high-profile event in April in figure skating. “Transfer” has already been called a step that is beneficial to everyone, and there really is no doubt about it. The only question is, will the change of coach bring the desired result or will it become another unrealized project in the fate of Eugene and Vladimir? Let's try to figure it out.
The only person who really suffered from the castling was Sergey Voronov.
Shortly before the World Cup in Stockholm, he said in an interview: “When I just got into the team of Maxim, Zhenya, Vova and Marina Olegovna (Zueva. -
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), it became a 'wow' for me.
It's one thing to just work as a coach, and quite another, when you have matured guys in your hands, applicants for places in the top three of world figure skating.
This is a big challenge.
Therefore, I understood: if I manage to bring something to the skating of Tarasova and Morozov, help them with jumps or something else, it will be just super. "
At the same time, Voronov added: “As for mutual understanding, if it weren't for it, we would hardly have worked until the end of the season.
Rather, they would take me for a trial period, and then they said that there was no need for my services anymore ... "
Approximately this is what happened now: the world championship Tarasova and Morozov failed, and it was the jumping part that turned out to be the weak link of the pair.
After that, the participation of Voronov in further work, predictably, ceased to be necessary.
Zueva, who put the skaters on the program in the ended season, can also be called the injured party, but with a stretch.
The pandemic prevented the continuation of full-fledged work with Tarasova and Morozov.
Now it would be simply unreasonable to let the Olympic preparation run to chance, which, moreover, does not depend on any of the interested parties.
Hence, this card can also be considered a bat.
The most accurate thing about the step taken by the athletes was the vice-champion of the 2002 Olympic Games in ice dancing, the famous choreographer Ilya Averbukh.
“They (Tarasova and Morozov. -
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) have nowhere to retreat, they have to go for broke.
There is no longer any question of the right to make a mistake, but only about shaking up and winning, ”he said.
The transition nine months before the Olympic Games to a specialist who has no experience of working with couples (except for a very short period of Tutberidze's work in the show with Nikolai Apter, a rather strong greenhouse of the St. Petersburg school at that time) is an unconditional gamble.
But it could be considered as such if Tarasova and Morozov had some other option.
Here it is just right to say that Zhenya and Volodya found themselves in the position of Voronov, when he moved from complete despair to Tutberidze in 2013.
The draconian discipline adopted at the new headquarters and the dramatically increased workload led to the fact that Sergei spent his best season: he became the second in the Russian Championship, won bronze in the Grand Prix finals and at the European Championship. The fuse just didn't last long.
In this regard, nine months of work (in fact, eight, since it would be nice to be fully armed by the time of the country's championship) is much more preferable for Tarasova and Morozov than the full Olympic cycle: technically they are impeccably equipped, and endure any training violence against themselves for the sake of a high goal during this time it seems quite real. And if Vladimir now resignedly arrives at the rink at nine in the morning to do choreography in the same hall with little girls, which was immediately noticed by many people close to the coaching staff, this speaks of the seriousness of the intentions of not only the skater, but also his new mentor.
Why does Tutberidze need this?
After all, the time for working with a couple will have to be cut out one way or another from classes with singles, which in the Olympic season looks like a certain risk on the verge of overconfidence.
Tatyana Tarasova, who had a victorious experience of Olympic performances not only in her main dance specialization, but also with couples (Irina Rodnina / Alexander Zaitsev), and with singles (Ilya Kulik, Alexey Yagudin) once spoke out on this score.
She said something like this: when you achieve success, constantly working in some particular form, you get tired of it.
Involuntarily, you begin to want something new, gambling, into which you can go headlong and try to gain a new experience for yourself.
These words fit perfectly into the current situation.
The technological process of training single women is debugged in "Khrustalny" to full automatism and does not require one hundred percent participation of the head of staff.
Tutberidze knows how to work on the elimination of "fleas", cleaning out ready-made athletes, like no one else, without losing sight of any trifle.
And with regard to programs, everything may well turn out more than favorable: while working at Eteri Georgievna's headquarters, the director of the group, Daniil Gleichengauz, had a long time ago: he learned how to select programs so that they hit right on target and turned out to be impeccable in terms of all technical requirements.
In addition, he probably wants to expand his own creative framework, too.
Agree, successful programs, no injuries, great experience and the most severe training discipline are a sufficient set in order to compete for at least the third position in the Olympic team, and the maximum for any of the medals.
What in the new team can the role of Maxim Trankov be reduced to if he does not change his mind to continue cooperation with athletes?
Most likely, for rough work on paired elements.
And no matter how grandiose work in this direction was done by him, one must understand that the number one figure with the success of Tarasova and Morozov in Olympic Beijing will undoubtedly become a new mentor.
The only question is, is Trankov himself ready, who for several years single-handedly tried to pull Yevgenia and Vladimir out of oblivion, to be on the "dancer"?
Even if he has such a striking figure as Tutberidze.
In 1972, by the way, a psychologically similar situation developed in the group of an outstanding specialist in pair skating Stanislav Zhuk: then the duet of Olympic champions Sapporo Rodnina and Ulanov broke up, and the coach blinded a champion pair from Rodnina and Zaitsev in a matter of months.
It is believed that the decision to go under Tarasova's wing in 1974 was made by the skaters themselves, tired of the despotism of the former mentor, but in fact the transition was preceded by a conversation between Zhuk and Rodnina in which the coach told the skater that he did not want to continue working with her and Zaitsev.
And he explained: “Judge for yourself: I will make your pair, it is already clear what I will do.
And everyone will immediately begin to say that this is not a Beetle at all, but the great Rodnina ... "
However, this is a completely different story.