“I really believe in work. It reveals you, and gives you new opportunities” Tatiana Tarasova about Eteri Tutberidze

Part from the interview with Tatiana Tarasova, about Eteri Tutberidze.

by Igor Rabiner for sport-express.ru

Do you remember the early Tutberidze, who, as I read, was not taken to Tchaikovskaya in CSKA, and only then she settled on the Serebryany skating rink?

Tatiana Tarasova: I didn’t take her either, she came to me! Much later, when this story became clear, I said to her: “I do not remember you.” And she said: “You worked with Klimova and Ponomarenko, and you didn’t see anything around. It was obvious.” I really did not see anyone and nothing, I worked pointwise. And whoever came and left I did not notice.

What, besides many hours on the ice, allowed her to turn from a novice coach into the most powerful specialist in the country?

Tatiana Tarasova: She skated well, she had a good skating skills! And the desire to become a coach. She did not want to work in America. She wanted to create her own school and she did. It so happened that destiny turned out well. She was invited to the rink, and she began not just work there, but to work very hard. And to live there. I really believe in work. It reveals you, and gives you new opportunities.

What is the role of choreographer Daniil Markovich Gleikhengauz in Tutberidze’s success?

Tatiana Tarasova: They work well together. But each of us needs to improve. He is a young man with ambition. I would like to see a greater variety in his programs.

After all, in our figure skating there have never been such monopolistic coaches as Eteri Tutberidze. This sport has always seemed to me like an arena of intense coaching competition, and not of the same situation as in rhythmic gymnastics with Irina Viner-Usmanova and Tatiana Pokrovskaya in synchronized swimming.

Tatiana Tarasova: Why? Once, Stas Zhuk, for example, had all three pairs in the national team, single skaters – both girls and boys. And the dancers – champions of the country. He had half of the team! This is history and it should not be forgotten. He also worked sensationally.

You called Tutberidze quite a unique case. What is this uniqueness?

Tatiana Tarasova: Yes, she is unique. She works on the ice almost for twenty years. This is the heyday. She learned a lot, she has good conditions – the truth is, as of yesterday. And when the second rink is built, they will be even better. She has a very strong and correctly selected coaching team, excellent selection. She works for many hours without leaving the ice. I understand this, because I myself worked for twelve hours. She spends her life on the ice. Her life is there. She has a goal – to be the best of the best, always win. And when the profession becomes your life, it’s impossible not to succeed.

Has your attitude to her changed over the years?

Tatiana Tarasova: Perhaps. But it was clear long ago that she did not look like anyone else. I remember Tutberidze from her first students, they differed from others because they jumped a lot and very consistent. She had a terrific rotation in the air.

Her opponents believe that dozens, if not hundreds of broken fates of other girls from her “incubator” are behind the successes of Tutberidze’s main students.

Tatiana Tarasova: It is not true. There’s only one first place. And she has ten people who claim it. And none of these destinies are broken. They trained and got from her the most that they could get. It’s just that one person’s body can withstand it, while the other can’t. The third began to gain weight, the fourth got bulimia. Not everything depends on her. Parents should watch this too.

I used to train ten ice dance duos and two pairs. They all skated well. But there was Bestemyanova, and I worked with her the same way as with the eighth number. The individuality of the athlete has not come out of nowhere. You work with everyone the same way, and the manifestation of the strongest, the best depends on how much talent and perseverance you have. She (Tutberidze) found that golden key with which she opens them.

How closely do you communicate with her personally? What is your relationship?

Tatiana Tarasova: We do not. I do not interfere with my advice or anything else. Just congratulations. And I comment. What else can I say besides what I say in the commentary?

How did you react to the taunts addressed to you on Team Tutberidze’s Instagram? For example, on the topic of Zagitova?

Tatiana Tarasova: I understood that they misread my thought. Yes, three programs are really not enough for me. Because I want to watch her sporting life, as well as the life of other great athletes. Is it bad? On the contrary, she interests me!

Related topics: Eteri Tutberidze