Elena Buyanova: In Graz, everyone told me that Danielian reminds young Fernandez

Interview with Elena Buyanova about Artur Danielian successful debut at the European Championships.

by Elena Vaitsekhovskaya for russian.rt.com dd. 24th January 2020

Do not you think that in the free program, Artur Danielian reminds the young Javier Fernandez?

– In Graz, everyone tells me about it, although I myself have never associated Artur with Javi. But I began to look at him slightly differently. Indeed, there is a certain similarity. But this is not because we intentionally copy someone. Like Fernandez, Artur has very soft moves from nature. So far, in comparison with the Spaniard, he loses, because he has not learned to skate freely, he’s a bit uptight. I hope this will pass with age. There’s a lot of humor and irony in Artur, as in Javier, he is able to show grotesque characters. In fact, we tried to emphasize these features. At the beginning of the season we tried to do something more masculine, rather than playful, but we abandoned such an idea in time. We believe that we did the right thing.

Did you expect him to win a medal at the debut European Championships?

– I could not even imagine, after all, our team has two very experienced athletes, much more experienced than Artur. It is a pity that in a free program there was a fall from a fairly easy jump. Apparently, he spent too much energy on the quads.

This is just a lack of experience: you cannot make such mistakes fighting for a medal. Despite this, I really liked how Artur prepared himself for a performance, how he spent the warm-ups, trainings. It seems to me, the inner sporting spirit begins to appear and grow in him. It’s great when athlete starts to feel confidence.

Was there any worries before the debut?

– Artur came to Graz with a great desire to perform. He is a big fan of figure skating in the broadest sense of the word. He knows everyone, watches all performances, watches what is happening. If we talk about Danielian’s character, he has a great internal intelligence, which sometimes greatly interferes in sports. I hope that the result that we were able to show will only inspire Artur in the future.

What was the most difficult thing for you as a coach at this championships?

– There were many nuances, but I would not call them complicated. It’s always easier for an athlete to break into such a level for the first time, than to perform there for a second or third time. Therefore, I encouraged Artur that competitions should be a kind of holiday, where he can afford the flight of the soul without looking at circumstances. It’s not an easy test for a newcomer to be among those whom you previously saw mostly on videos. And of course, he looked at everyone with wide eyes.

When Danielian qualified for the European Championships, there was talks that you might prefer your athlete to spend the season in juniors.

– Artur will perform in juniors, we don’t intend to refuse the junior world championships.

In this regard, another question: does Danielian need to go to the senior world championship in Montreal as well? Won’t the load be too big?

– I haven’t yet thought about this at all, emotions are overwhelming. I’ll think about it tomorrow, as the heroine of the famous novel said. We will certainly discuss all this with the leadership of the federation, but the primary plans are Russian junior championships and the selection for the junior worlds.

Does a person who has won the silver medal at the senior European Championships have to prove that he is worthy to represent the country at the junior world championships and have to qualify on a common basis?

– These are the rules. I am not ready to predict how things will turn out in the future. I will say more: before the European Championships, we discussed with the leadership of the team that we would return to Moscow immediately after the men’s competitions in order to have more time to prepare for the next competitions. Now we’ll have to change these plans, since in Graz Artur will have to participate in the exhibitions.

He started this season quite early – in May. Then, like everyone else, we had problems with boots. Therefore, it would be nice to have an opportunity least a little to rest and recover. But now it depends not only on our desire.

Could you explain the phrase about boots? What does “like everyone else” mean?

– Well, since the summer many got their boots broken, right? This is not ok, of course, but it is a given. So there are enough worries. Artur still has some problems with his legs. We counted on a pause after the European Championships to change boots, to heal his legs. I really do not want to let the problems become chronic. Сalluses on feet are very dangerous in this regard: they need to be treated, but it is extremely difficult with ongoing trainings.

Would you like to be able to release Danielian from the selection for the junior championships in order to save strength?

– If we are given such an opportunity, then most likely we will really refuse this competitions.

Related topics: Artur Danielian, Elena Buyanova, European Championships