Yana Rudkovskaya: “Tutberidze herself didn’t achieve anything in skating as an athlete. I even tried to find at least one performance of hers. I found Tatiana Tarasova’s, I found Alexei Mishin’s – but I couldn’t find hers.”

In an interview with Evgenia Medvedeva, Yana Rudkovskaya criticized Eteri Tutberidze for dismissive comments about Evgeni Plushenko and questioned Tutberidze’s own accomplishments as a figure skater, while acknowledging her success as a coach.

original source: No Comments Evgenia Medvedeva’s Youtube channel

Yana Rudkovskaya expressed her mixed feelings toward Eteri Tutberidze, particularly in light of comments Tutberidze made in a past interview. Here’s a translation of her comments.

Rudkovskaya recounted an exchange where interviewer Borisov asked Tutberidze, “There’s Plushenko, for example,” to which Tutberidze dismissively responded, “And does he exist?” Borisov replied, “I don’t know,” and Tutberidze added, “Me neither.”

“How am I supposed to feel about her after that interview?” Rudkovskaya said. “It’s at minimum a strange answer from someone who is immersed in figure skating 24/7. Of course, Evgeni is not a titan in the coaching world. But he is an outstanding Russian singles skater, a global sports legend, and the most decorated athlete of this century, with four Olympic medals across four different Olympics.

You might not respect him as a coach or take his coaching career seriously, but to say something like that about someone who has achieved so much in sports… Tutberidze herself didn’t achieve anything in skating as an athlete. I even tried to find at least one performance of hers. I found Tatiana Tarasova’s, I found Alexei Mishin’s – but I couldn’t find hers. I know her as a coach, but as an athlete, I’ve never seen her. She didn’t establish herself in sports in that way – I don’t know who she even is as an athlete. But she made a name for herself as a coach, and for that, she deserves credit. No one is arguing that.

Still, how can she say about a colleague, ‘And does he exist?’ It’s a bizarre answer. Borisov later told me, ‘I didn’t even know how to respond.’ It’s strange.”

Rudkovskaya continued by discussing the rivalries within figure skating across different categories, referencing various competitions:

“Among adults, there has always been this rivalry – Muromets versus Akatieva, Muromets versus Petrosyan. Take last season: Makar Ignatov versus Samsonov and Mozalev. In juniors: Aleksaikin and Sarnovsky versus Arseniy Fedotov. Elena Kostyleva versus Bazilyuk and Dvoeglazova. There’s always been these rivalries between two of the most prominent coaches. For better or worse, Tutberidze earned this attention through her work. Plushenko attracts attention because he’s a great athlete. And yet, despite his legendary status, he has been coaching for the past eight years. He could have easily chosen to retire, but he works hard, training every single day.

So why the question, ‘Does he exist?’ I think it’s complete disrespect. This side of Eteri Tutberidze is incomprehensible to me,” Rudkovskaya concluded.

Related topics: Eteri Tutberidze, Evgeni Pluschenko, Yana Rudkovskaya