Oleg Vasiliev: “Could Ilia Malinin achieve everything he is showing now if he had an American mentality? I highly doubt it.”
Part of the interview with Oleg Vasiliev, Olympic champion in pair skating and coach of Olympic champions about figure skating in the United States.
source: RT dd. 17th May 2023 by Elena Vaitsekhovskaya
Full interview will be translated soon.
Don’t you think that modern sports have reached a deadlock and are becoming outdated?
Oleg Vasiliev: I was thinking about this recently when I read that Madison Hubbell intends to partner with Gabriella Papadakis and promote same-gender pairs. Perhaps our sport will eventually transform into some kind of show. With transgenders, non-binary skaters, male and female duets, and so on.
In reality, I am very glad that I left America ten years ago and didn’t witness everything that is happening there now, including in figure skating. The typical scene on the rink: a coach stands with hands in their pockets, avoiding accidentally touching anyone, a smile on their face, and content with everything. If you deviate even slightly from the accepted standards, there’s no guarantee you’ll be allowed on the ice tomorrow.
Do you mean to say that Rafael Arutyunyan, who coached Olympic champion Nathan Chen, achieved something incredible?
Oleg Vasiliev: To some extent, yes. On the other hand, I see that in America, those who are willing to train the way it should be done, pushing beyond the limits of what’s possible, are predominantly from Russian or Asian backgrounds.
Just ask yourself: Could Ilia Malinin achieve everything he is showing now if he had an American mentality? I highly doubt it.
Related topics: Ilia Malinin, Oleg Vasiliev
Why do the Russians always act so superior & show poor sportsmanship when they lose. Glad the Russians are banned for the time being.