“Feelings of guilt… I felt like maybe I pushed him too much with this damn figure skating.” Ekaterina Gordeeva on her feelings following the death of Sergei Grinkov, Zhuk’s training methods and Valieva’s doping case
Ekaterina Gordeeva about Zhuk’s training methods, death of Sergei Grinkov and Kamila Valieva’s doping case.
original source: Nadezhda Strelets Youtube channel
In the video interview with Nadezhda Strelets, Ekaterina Gordeeva talks about trainings with Zhuk, feeling of guilt after Sergei Grinkov’s death and her opinion on Kamila Valieva’s doping case. Here’s a translation of her comments.
Ekaterina Gordeeva spoke about the methods of coach Stanislav Zhuk.
“Ekaterina Gordeeva: I gained 500 grams, and he [Zhuk] says: you can’t go to dinner. Breakfast and lunch are fine, but not dinner. The elevator is off-limits, we only use the stairs. We were constantly running cross-countries. By the sea, on the rocks – they’re wet, you can twist your ankle. Ten people would run off, and six would return because the rest twisted their ankles along the way and can barely walk.
Not sadistic, but we did some very difficult things. For him, physical preparation meant twenty days of four hours a day without ice, on the floor. But these cross-country runs, of course, were the most challenging for me. We used to run up the stairs. We didn’t have any gyms.
Also in the pool. I couldn’t swim at all, and he was like: come on, dive, swim 15 pools. You had to dive with a mask and snorkel. To hold your breath. I thought I would drown. Not only could I not swim, but also a mask and snorkel! Everything was big for me, he put some heavy flippers on me. In the sea – I was afraid, it was cold. Still, he said: ‘come on, get in, you have to swim.’
Q: You were just a child, but you signed that collective letter that completely discredited him. There were even hints that he was not behaving properly with underage female skaters.
Ekaterina Gordeeva: Well, not underage, but 17 years old. I just remember how he interacted with older girls.
Q: So it could be interpreted ambiguously?
Ekaterina Gordeeva: Yes. Absolutely.
Q: But he didn’t behave like that towards you?
Ekaterina Gordeeva: Yes. Maybe he saw that I was working hard and wasn’t trying to slack off.
Q: Did you understand what you were signing?
Ekaterina Gordeeva: I understood perfectly. I saw how hard it was for everyone, how offended everyone was because of the things he said. I saw how he behaved. He often came to training in a state of alcohol intoxication, and it scared me. I heard that he offended Sergei (Grinkov). And when he said that we needed to sign this letter I knew that we had to.”
Ekaterina Gordeeva spoke about her feelings of guilt following the death of Sergei Grinkov.
“Ekaterina Gordeeva: I loved figure skating more, I always wanted to perform. I was so responsible. And he was just a very talented person, he didn’t have to work hard to achieve what he needed. He was very stylish in every way, from how he interacted with people to his clothes.
Feelings of guilt… I felt like maybe I pushed him too much with this damn figure skating. Not that he didn’t want to skate at all, but he was already living comfortably. Previously, doctors were constantly monitoring him, getting checks every six months. But when we started performing in America, we weren’t checked as frequently.
His back ached very badly for about a year. We got injections. But he never complained about his heart.”
Ekaterina Gordeeva also commented on Kamila Valieva’s doping issue.
“Ekaterina Gordeeva: How can doping reach an athlete? It’s a difficult topic. Of course, it could be accidental. But I think American and Canadian athletes… I don’t know about figure skaters, but there has always been some use of performance-enhancing drugs. The monitoring by our doctors should be timely, and then everything will be okay.
In figure skating, doping is not needed. It’s not even possible. The entire vestibular apparatus can be damaged. But I think it was a coach and doctor’s oversight. So, whoever was nearby.
We always had a vitamin complex – take this in the morning, take this in the evening. But all of it was basic stuff, things I could have gone to the pharmacy to buy. I don’t remember there being anything supernatural or secret.”
Related topics: Ekaterina Gordeeva
I love this lady & her story, THEIR story despite the tragic ending they had something most other people never find.
Training & lifestyle is always going to run the fine line of whats appropriate & whats not,etc, at the highest level of competition & you always want to find an edge that will get you stronger, faster, perform even better then you hoped with your body as fit as possible etc.