Evgeni Plushenko: “Trusova can work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, this is her distinctive feature.”
Evgeni Plushenko summed up the results of the competitions with the participation of his athletes, shared plans for the near future and thanked those who generate some heat for figure skating.
source: rsport.ria.ru dd. 18th February 2021, by Boris Khodorovsky
How do you assess the intermediate results of your athletes’ performances?
Evgeni Plushenko: We’re in the middle of season, but this season is unusual, because there will be only one major start at the international level – the World Championships in Stockholm. Sasha Trusova is now preparing for it.
The FFKKR announced that only the winners of the Russian Nationals have a guaranteed spot in the national team for the 2021 Worlds. Trusova took third place there…
Evgeni Plushenko: She qualified for the World Championships, and now she’s preparing for it. We even decided to skip the Russian Cup.
How is Alena Kostornaia doing?
Evgeni Plushenko: She has had a coronavirus, and she is only recovering from an illness. We hope that she will be able to perform well at the Russian Cup Final.
Experts and fans note that Trusova has improved in components this season.
Evgeni Plushenko: Sasha can work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, this is her distinctive feature. She also trains herself a lot, fortunately, now the training base allows her to do this. We started cooperation with a famous choreographer, whose name we will name soon (the photo posted by Plushenko on Instagram leaves no doubt that this is Nikolai Morozov. – author’s note). Indeed, lately we have been paying great attention to choreography and gliding. Trusova is ready to work and work very hard. I have never met another such a skater either when I was skating myself or now. We found a common language with Sasha, we hear and understand each other. I am sure that Trusova will continue to improve not only in choreography, but also in the consistency of her jumps.
Do you use those exercises that at one time allowed you to improve the choreography and consistency of jumps?
Evgeni Plushenko: Sure, I use the experience that I got during training with Alexei Nikolaevich Mishin. At one time, together with the Professor, I participated in many seminars, where I demonstrated my coach’s developments. Sometimes I showed Mishin’s exercises for 8-10 hours on the ice and on the floor. Of course, working with my athletes I bring in something of my own, but the base is 100% Mishin’s. It would be foolish not to use it and try to teach my athletes a different technique.
Your best skaters are entering what is called transitional age. Are you not afraid that they will have other interests in life, and this will affect the results?
Evgeni Plushenko: Some new interests always appear in life, but my girls have such parents that I can be calm. They are very well controlled, and we, the coaches, will also keep “our finger on the pulse”.
It has already been announced that the participants of the World Championships in Stockholm will be in a “bubble”. Can this situation negatively affect the performance?
Evgeni Plushenko: Today no one can predict this. In the United States, both the Grand Prix and the National Championship in Las Vegas were held under these restrictions. This did not stop for example Nathan Chen from showing excellent skates. Russian figure skaters did not compete in such conditions. We will try. The main thing is to prepare well.
Did you like the experiment with the team event for the Channel One Cup?
Evgeni Plushenko: Great event! We need to prepare our skaters for the Olympics, which also includes team competitions. They have their own specifics, as I saw in Sochi. On the one hand, figure skating is an individual sport, and you skate only for yourself, but here you feel responsible for the team. I am sure that this is not a one-time event, and team competitions will find their place in the calendar. Perhaps even in the “Russian team against the world team” format. Today we need to thank FFKKR, which at such a difficult moment found the opportunity to organize a full-fledged competitive season.
How do you react to the efforts of fans and the media to play coaches against each other?
Evgeni Plushenko: Hype is a hot topic now! At one time, my confrontation with Alexei Yagudin was heated in all possible ways. Today, somewhere I expressed my position, somewhere another team … Interest in figure skating has only grown. The media and the internet picked up this story – thank them for that!
Related topics: Alena Kostornaia, Alexandra Trusova, Evgeni Plushenko
“Very well controlled”
Karolyi style oppression comes to mind.