Tiffany Zahorski and Jonathn Guerreiro left Alexander Zhulin’s group

After Sinitsina / Katsalapov went to Zhulin, there were talks that it isn’t the last change in his group.

Director of Elena Kustarova and Svetlana Alekseeva‘s group confirmed that Tiffany Zahorski and Jonathn Guerreiro left Zhulin and joined their group:

http://rsport.ru/figure_skating/20170516/1120543122.html

Well, it was quite predictable and I think it’s a right move and a good choice. Why?

1. Zhulin’s group is too crowded and ability to give equal attention to all of his students it’s not about him.
2. Too much divas and drama queens per one square meter of ice.
3. Zhulin doesn’t seem actually interested in this team, necessity to go back to the old dance last season speaks for itself.
4. You don’t have to be a Nostradamus to predict that this season Zhulin will give all his attention to Bobrova / Soloviev and Sinitsina / Katsalapov. So it’s totally understandable if guys don’t want to waste their time. It’s not just understandable, but reasonable because you don’t have much time as an athlete.
5. There’s no good technical coach/specialist in Zhulin’s group now while Alekseeva and Kustarova are known for their strong technical base. A lot of Russian world junior champions was exactly from this group and it’s not a coincidence. And for such a new team as Tiffany and Jonathan it’s almost the most important thing to be  technically strong.
6. If all the rumours about Ilinykh and Zhiganshin are true, Tiffany and Jonathan will be the only senior pair there. Well, even if Elena and Ruslan continue skating, it’s better to be a second pair in the group than maybe 3d or maybe 4th.
7. Yes, Alekseeva and Kustarova are not very fashionable choreographers and some costumes in their group was disastrous, but you can work with so other choreographers and rely on your own sense of style.

So, I really see only positive in this change (I wish Hurtado / Khaliavin could have done the same). Good luck to Tiffany and Jonathan!

Related topics: ice dance, Tiffany Zahorski Jonathan Guerreiro

7 Responses to “Tiffany Zahorski and Jonathn Guerreiro left Alexander Zhulin’s group”

1. Gy says:

   18/05/2017 at 02:04

   Let the war begin: Elena’s own Kellyanne Conway wrote on FSO that Ruslan dropped the bomb about retirement when Elena had done all the work for getting a choreographer and finding a sponsor and is whining he didn’t say anything until the day they were going to buy plane tickets. She’s saying Elena is in great shape and wants to continue. Oh and his injury isn’t “a sports injury”.

   Meanwhile, someone who seems to be close to Ruslan’s family has been offering a slightly different account. This person back in February was the first to say there’s a real possibility Ruslan is quitting, even when Elena’s friends were calling bull, so she seems legit. Anyway, Ruslan was fed up with Elena’s laziness, knew nothing would be accomplished with the way Elena trains, and didn’t want to risk his health in the event that Elena repeated her behavior from last summer.

   Another source said Elena’s weight gain was much much worse than what we saw in Skate America or even what Vaytsekhovskaya was reporting (20 kilos overweight, as opposed to Vaytsekhovskaya’s and Tarasova’s estimate of 10) and he ended up with a hernia in the groin area, and was told by the doctors he shouldn’t be lifting more than 50 kilos.

   Given that Elena’s idea of training hard includes smoking with the Russian version of the Paris Hilton/Brandon Davis clique, it seems the other stories are more accurate. Cause nobody quits a job without another job lined up unless the situation is horrible

   Reply
   • FS Gossips says:

     18/05/2017 at 20:45

     Oh that’s why I love Russian ice dance! Who need soap operas!)

     As far as I know, Ruslan really has health problems (not injury). I suppose it couldn’t have been a secret for Elena or coaches. It’s curable, but he needs to be careful and lifting up of big weight doesn’t promote treatment. Elena didn’t do anything to assure her partner that risking his health is really worth it. So I really don’t believe that his decision was a big surprise for Elena and coaches. I really don’t understand how much blind, deaf, selfobsessed you need to be not to see this coming. So, sorry I’m not buying the story “Betrayer-2”)))

     Reply
     • Gy says:

       19/05/2017 at 04:21

       Elena’s self-absorption is rather stunning. I heard Ruslan actually didn’t even want to skate the last season, as he was embarrassed with how poorly prepared they were for the test skates, so the threat of Ruslan walking out was real. Maybe she thought he wouldn’t do it during an Olympic year?

       Reply
2. OlgaLV says:

   17/05/2017 at 18:31

   Russian ice dance is never boring!:))

   Reply
3. Sophie says:

   17/05/2017 at 16:01

   Interesting! Could you please elaborate the divas/drama queen thing ;)

   Reply
   • FS Gossips says:

     18/05/2017 at 20:27

     Oh, I think Ekaterina isn’t very pleased with Zhulin decision to take Vika and Nikita in the olympic off-season) Rumour has it, Zhulin is very inspired to work with hus “new team”.

     Reply
4. Julie says:

   17/05/2017 at 13:51

   Completely agree with you! I am really hoping this will be a good change for them because I like this pair a lot!

   Reply