Evgenia Medvedeva: “‘She killed her career by leaving to Orser,’ they said. Well, our coaches love to talk a lot. So I just want to remind the place and time my career ended.”
Translation of Evgenia Medvedeva’s comments about the Olympics and moving to Canada to train with Brian Orser.
original source: Okko Sport
Evgenia Medvedeva shared shared how she changed after the Olympics in the interview with Okko Sport. Here’s a translation of her comments.
“Q: There are many headlines on the internet like “Medvedeva destroyed her career by leaving Tutberidze,” “Zhenya wanted to even the score at the next Games, but it didn’t happen.” How did you react to this? Did you have such a goal or a goal to prove something to someone?
Evgenia Medvedeva: There was no goal, there was a desire. It would have been great to reach the next Olympics. I didn’t, well, that’s okay.
Of course, in the first six months after the Olympics, I was like, “I’ll learn quads now and beat everyone!” I was on an emotional upswing. Then realism returned to me, and the limitations of the body also kicked in.
I will remind you where and when I ended my career. Just remember where, with whom, and when I ended my sports career.
“She killed her career by leaving to Brian Orser.” Well, our coaches love to talk a lot. So I just remind the place and time of the end of my career.
Q: Was the post-Olympic season pivotal for you in your personal development?
Evgenia Medvedeva: Probably, yes. Pivotal in my becoming a person, not just an athlete — I established myself as an athlete when I won the second World Championships. The Olympics also played a role in my image and how people perceived me.
Then the process of becoming a person started, and I changed a lot, tried many things. There were unsuccessful programs that we eventually changed — I went to the World Championships with a different short program. Initially, we did an American-Canadian program, “Orange Coloured Sky,” a light jazz style, but it didn’t suit me; it wasn’t my mentality, perhaps it looked silly on me.
Mid-season, we decided to change the program, invited Russian-speaking Misha Ge, and created a very good program, “Tosca,” which perfectly conveyed my character, and I felt comfortable. “Tosca” was a thrill, Libertango was a thrill; many people liked it, and I always dreamed of skating tango.
I closed my Gestalts, perhaps not always in favor of sports results, but in favor of myself. It was okay for me. I celebrated third place at the World Championships as if I had won it for the fourth time.
Q: Did you want to skate something in Tutberidze’s coaching staff, knowing that they would never let you do it, and did you manage to do it later?
Evgenia Medvedeva: There are programs that work, there is a style that works. And there are programs that won’t work not only for athletes but also for judges. Eteri Georgievna doesn’t just send you to competitions; she does it with the goal of making you a better athlete, a world champion.
Programs are always chosen to look good on the athlete. It doesn’t matter what the athlete wants. The athlete is young, of course there are some “I want,” but there is common sense.
I always suited lyrical, classical style. Soft lines, smooth choreography suited me because I have long arms and legs. When I weighed 35 kg, I was such a slender ballerina. Programs were always choreographed in such a way that emphasized my strengths and hided my weaknesses. Give me, a 35 kg grasshopper, a Libertango, which I really wanted and it would be funny.
What needed to be given was given, and it worked very well — 12 world records.
Then puberty, I turned into a young lady, and then you can skate to Libertango,” said Medvedeva in the podcast “What’s in the Mix?”
Related topics: Evgenia Medvedeva
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