“She didn’t want to weigh in, gained 1.5 kg – how was that possible in just one day, it had to be intentional or her mother supported it.” Tutberidze about Medvedeva’s behavior in the Olympic season
Translation of Eteri Tutberidze’s comment about Evgenia Medvedeva’s behavior before the Olympics.
original source: Comment Show Youtube Channel
Here’s a translation of Eteri Tutberidze’s comment made in a interview with Leonid Slutsky.
“Q: Your last two Olympics, the kiss & cry. On the surface, you have Olympic gold, you’ve brought athletes to the podium twice – there and there. But, as I understand, there was a huge problem at the 2018 Olympics with Zhenya (Evgenia Medvedeva), who couldn’t handle her emotions, and now history is repeating itself in Beijing. The whole world saw what Trusova did. What happened and how do you reconcile the grand achievement you’re aiming for with your student’s behavior?
Eteri Tutberidze: Honestly, I couldn’t celebrate at all. Not because I wasn’t happy for Anya (Anna Shcherbakova), I congratulated her, even though they accused me of not congratulating her. It’s just that the events leading up to it cast a shadow over everything.
Let’s start with Zhenya Medvedeva. The season begins, and there are transformations happening with Zhenya, with her mother. You can feel them distancing from you. Someone starts to influence their opinions, someone starts to influence the athlete’s behavior, and you realize that it’s someone from the outside.
Q: During the Olympic season?
Eteri Tutberidze: Yes.
Tatiana Anatolyevna [Tarasova] for some reason decided to get involved in her (Medvedeva’s) preparation and offer advice. Not to me. Well, call me, come here, offer advice from here. But no, the advice comes from behind. There’s an influence on the athlete. And she approached the Olympics not as sincerely with us. I think I mentioned the pure tail several times, and that’s what it was here. She wasn’t a complete stranger, but she was somewhat distant from us.
Q: When you internally feel that the athlete is distancing themselves, do you shift your focus to another athlete?
Eteri Tutberidze: I don’t shift my focus anywhere. You just try to work with what you have. A skater comes who doesn’t want to weigh in, or she’s gained 1.5 kg – how is that possible in just one day, it has to be intentional or her mother supports it. And you realize that there are 2-3 weeks left until the next Grand Prix event, and this Grand Prix leads to the Final, and there’s just a series of underrotated jumps, and hysteria starts to build during training, and all that. You just try to do what’s useful today.
Or, for example, today you have the free skate because we’re heading to a competition. The athlete refuses to skate the free program, and it’s very strange behavior because you’ve been together for 13 years, and something like this has never happened in your life, and now it feels like they’ve been replaced, and they’re someone else.” Tutberidze said in an interview with Leonid Slutsky on the “Comment.Show” YouTube channel.
Related topics: Anna Shcherbakova, Eteri Tutberidze, Evgenia Medvedeva
The jumping performance taught in sambo is so bad, if a skater gains a few grams or a kilogram he loses his jumps.
What is the “pure tail”??
Eteri used this phrase, repeating the words of Irina Winner, rhythmic gymnastic coach, describing the path of Alina Zagitova to the Olympics. Perhaps she meant actions/behavior of the athlete meaning that she hasn’t done any bad things or something like that. Was honest, good and diligent.