Irina Kostyleva: “Petrosian’s success with Tutberidze is because she communicates very closely with her mother. There were girls who were five times more talented. But Tutberidze communicated with Adeliia’s mother, and that’s why Adeliia succeeded.”
Irina Kostyleva, mother of 14-year-old figure skater Elena Kostyleva, explained why contact between coaches and athletes’ parents is so important.
original source: Championat
Irina Kostyleva, mother of skater Elena Kostyleva, emphasized the importance of communication between coaches and parents, citing Eteri Tutberidze’s close relationship with Adelia Petrosyan’s mother as a key to success. Here’s translation.
“Q: How would you like people to talk about Lena’s career in 10 years? What would be a good outcome for you in this whole story?
Irina Kostyleva: There can be no success if the coach (Evgeni Plushenko) deliberately distances parents from the child. It’s impossible. I’m not against expensive gifts, especially since he’s a very wealthy man. I’ve spoken with him maybe 20 times in my life over a year and a half. And even then, it was only in the first few months; after that, he immediately blocked me. I asked him questions he couldn’t answer. Since November, we haven’t communicated. There can be no success for an athlete if you don’t have contact with their parent.
What if the child has a fever or their leg hurts somewhere? The child can’t tell the coach that something hurts. And they can’t work because they’re afraid of the coach. If there’s no contact with the parent, nothing good will come of it. Petrosian’s success with Tutberidze is because she communicates very closely with her mother. Believe me, there were girls around her who were five times more talented and successful. But Tutberidze communicated with Adelia’s mother, and that’s why Adelia succeeded.
Evgeni Viktorovich also likes Lena, but now they’re taking my child away from me, and I don’t want to transfer her to another school because she works so well with him. Everything is good here; he gives Lena money. It’s not a lot, but it was enough for a wonderful vacation in the Emirates. We don’t need to rent housing; we have it here, and the federation pays for Lena’s skates twice a year. I made sure everyone knows about Lena,” said Irina Kostyleva.
Related topics: Adeliia Petrosian, Elena Kostyleva, Eteri Tutberidze
Man oh man. She is a skating mom to end all skating moms. I just hope Elena can set aside all the drama and focus on herself and her skating. I feel for her!