Sergei Dudakov: “If our sport moves toward beautiful skating only, we might go in the opposite direction from sport and turn into a show.”

Sergei Dudakov, coach of Eteri Tutberidze’s group, believes that figure skaters need to find a balance between jumps and beautiful skating.

original source: Okko / text version Sports

Sergei Dudakov emphasized the need for balance between technical difficulty and artistry in figure skating, warning that focusing solely on beautiful skating could turn the sport into a show rather than a true athletic competition. Here’s a translation of his comments.

“Q: Recently, there was a striking interview with Anton Sikharulidze (hea of Russian Figure skating Federation), where he said that quadruple jumps are just showing off. As a coach, what do you think about that?

Sergei Dudakov: Look, I just got back from St. Petersburg a week ago, where the Channel One Cup was held. Anton was there, and we talked about this topic.

I don’t know, maybe something was misinterpreted… No one wants to give up quads. But skaters should perform them beautifully, with positive grades of execution. The main point is: less messiness.

If our sport moves toward only beautiful skating, then maybe we’ll go in the opposite direction from sport. After all, this is a sport, and we want to do difficult, ultra-c elements. That’s what makes our discipline a sport.

I think both Anton and I support a healthy balance, a golden mean. It’s important to skate beautifully, and it’s important to skate technically. But without ultra-c elements? I don’t know… I still believe everything should be combined. Both ultra-c elements and beautiful skating should be on the same path.

Yes, if a quad isn’t ready, maybe it shouldn’t be included in the program – to avoid messiness.

Q: When it’s not ready, it’s just showing off. But when it is, it’s strategy and tactics.

Sergei Dudakov: Exactly, I’m for a healthy balance. I’m not against quads; they move figure skating forward. Because if it’s only beautiful… well, then we turn into a show.

A skater should perform well and cleanly. For example, let’s look at the Olympics. In men’s singles, Misha [Shaidorov] won. After the short program, he was fifth and started second in the free skate (starting number in ta warm-up). All the main rivals – Siao Him Fa, Kagiyama – skated after him.

If we compare Misha and the others, they are more artistic skaters, while Misha is more of a jumper. If we look at the second mark, all the main rivals were ahead of him. He had no choice but to go for his full technical content. The others didn’t succeed. So, what won? In this case, technique. I’m very happy for Misha – well done.

On the other hand, let’s look at the women. Amber [Glenn] and the Japanese skater Ami [Nakai] had ultra-c elements, but things didn’t work out for them. Our Adeliia [Petrosian] also had a toe loop (quad). We compared and analyzed.

In this case, Kaori [Sakamoto] did two solo flips. According to the rules, if the second solo jump is the same, it’s penalized – the base value drops immediately. I think she had two combinations, but the rules allow three. That’s what she was missing; she lost by less than two points. If she had done something else – a combination, even a flip-toe loop – it could have been worth a gold medal.

In this case, I think beauty and beautiful skating won. Alysa Liu skated cleanly, without mistakes.

So, it’s always a balance. Even with Adeliia – if she had landed that quad, even just one, she probably would have medaled. If she had landed two? But that’s all “if, if, if”… That’s sport.

That’s why I support healthy competition and the golden mean. Both difficulty – technical content – and the beauty of skating are important.”

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