Rafael Arutyunyan: “There is only one scenario in which I would refuse an athlete: if someone wants to come six months before the Olympics, seriously expecting that I would work a miracle and make them a champion.”
Rafael Arutyunyan about working with Sofia Samodelkina.
original source: RT dd. 8th September 2024 by Elena Vaitsekhovskaya
Recently it became known that Sofia Samodelkina who now represents Kazakhstan will have a try-out to train with Rafael Arutyunyan. In the interview with RT Arutyunyan spoke about the prospects of this collaboration. Here’s a translation of his comments.
“Q: If I’m not mistaken, Samodelkina has already reached out to you for help.
Rafael Arutyunyan: You are not mistaken. The first time her family contacted me was when Sofia left CSKA and was looking for a coach. I said that I was open to considering her, but only after all issues related to changing her sports nationality and obtaining a release from the federation were resolved. This process took more than a year. Currently, the Figure Skating Federation of Astana has officially reached out expressing interest in collaboration.
Q: And you agreed?
Rafael Arutyunyan: My rule is to outline upfront all the challenges they might face. So first, I explained that California is a unique place with completely different prices and a different lifestyle. You have to pay one and a half times more just for food and gas than in any other state in America. Eventually, we agreed that the athlete’s first visit would be exploratory. I thought it was premature to provide any information about it, but I was told that it had to be officially announced to secure the necessary funding for the trip. That’s actually why we announced the upcoming internship.
Q: You have often said that Russian female single skaters are very promising material for a coach. By that logic, Samodelkina, who potentially can perform a triple axel and at least one quadruple jump, should be of obvious interest to you.
Rafael Arutyunyan: Many come to train with me, and I often repeat that there is only one scenario in which I would refuse an athlete: if someone, hypothetically speaking, wants to come six months before the Olympic Games, seriously expecting that I, as a coach, would work a miracle and make them a champion. I refuse such requests immediately. My ice rink’s doors are open to all others.
Q: But if Sofia indeed sparks your interest, would you be ready to switch from advisory support to full-scale coaching?
Rafael Arutyunyan: I’ll ask you a question in return. Do you understand what real interest means to me?
Q: I understand perfectly.
Rafael Arutyunyan: There you have it. If I see an athlete in Samodelkina who genuinely wants to achieve outstanding results, then I would indeed be interested in working with her.
Q: I only saw one performance by her this season and don’t know what form she is in now.
Rafael Arutyunyan: I think, not very good.
Athletes usually don’t come to me in good shape when they seek help. But the question is not about that, it’s about how much the person is motivated to work. To understand that, usually, a few practice sessions are enough for me.
Q: Do things like potential excess weight or an injured leg scare you?
Rafael Arutyunyan: No, not really. Here’s the thing: bringing weight back to normal is certainly important. But I never put it to the athlete in a way that if you don’t lose weight immediately, I won’t work with you. I set a certain period for the person to start getting in shape and then simply watch the trend. If an athlete is truly motivated, they will get into proper shape.
Q: In America, I know, it’s not too customary to talk to athletes about their appearance.
Rafael Arutyunyan: It’s not even about the appearance. The point is that it becomes meaningless to work as such. After all, you can’t jump well if you have, hypothetically speaking, a five-kilogram backpack hanging on you.
As for leg problems, it’s important to first understand where these issues are coming from. One reason might be that most figure skaters don’t really like edge jumps: to jump well, you need to be proficient in edge skating. Accordingly, people start focusing more on toe jumps. But when you jump from the toe pick, you have much less support and more strain on the leg. If a skater starts gaining weight, the load on the leg sharply increases and injuries automatically begin to worsen.
Q: How do you handle that?
Rafael Arutyunyan: First of all, it’s necessary to redistribute the ratio of toe jumps and edge jumps during training. Usually, the leg stops hurting quite quickly.
Q: Did you discuss with the Kazakhstan Figure Skating Federation how long Samodelkina will be staying with you?
Rafael Arutyunyan: For now, we have agreed that she will stay with me for about three weeks. This duration was determined by the Kazakh side, and I think it’s because the athlete training system in the country is still built on the same principle as during the Soviet era. Back then, as you may recall, training camps in most sports were standardized in duration — lasting 21—22 days.
Q: Who will handle the everyday issues like housing and transportation?
Rafael Arutyunyan: I have managers who can assist with that; they also handle scheduling and so on. Accordingly, I’ve provided all the necessary contacts. At the same time, I explained why I personally do not deal with such matters.
Q: Why is that?
Rafael Arutyunyan: Firstly, one can get bogged down in purely organizational matters to such an extent that there’s no time left for training. Secondly, I’ve often found that once you start dealing excessively with an athlete’s personal problems, they subconsciously start to think that you need something from them. In this situation, I actually need nothing. I am ready to consult, explain certain things, help in some areas, but whether our collaboration with Samodelkina turns into serious work depends entirely on the athlete herself. Any endeavor must be worth the effort.
To be entirely candid, deep down I am somewhat wary of athletes who jump from coach to coach. It’s understandable that sometimes an athlete has no choice, but it’s important to realize that changing coaches is not a panacea. You always create your own results.”
Related topics: Rafael Arutyunyan, Sofia Samodelkina
The way Arutunyan speaks seems actually very full of wisdom I don’t know why. Probably lots of maturity and experience. I don’t know it’s just my opinion
I’m glad that Samodelkina finally managed to change sports citizenship. Looking forward to see from her in the future !!