“In the world of figure skating, everything happens a bit unfairly.” Interview with Ksenia Tsibinova who used to outperform Trusova and Shcherbakova and left at her peak.
Interview with signle skater Ksenia Tsibinova who left sports at her peak.
source: Sport-Express dd. 26th July 2023 by Dmitri Kuznetsov
Over the past few years, a whole pool of female figure skaters has emerged, attempting to challenge the leaders from Eteri Tutberidze’s group, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and Evgeni Plushenko’s students. At one point, Sofia Samodelkina also approached them but stepped back. Ksenia Sinitsina, Elizaveta Nugumanova, and Anna Frolova had their moments of stardom, but they weren’t allowed to go significantly beyond the 200-point mark. They are still involved in figure skating, though Nugumanova is leaning more towards performing in shows.
But there was another figure skater who shone for exactly one calendar year, from winter 2019/20 to winter 2020/21 — Ksenia Tsibinova. Her rate of progress was impressive; she won two stages of the Russian Cup and became eighth with 203.56 points at the Russian Nationals, with only a few points separating her from the top five. In juvenile category, she outperformed Trusova, Shcherbakova, and Kostornaia. However, after her best season and while being at her peak form at the age of 17, Tsibinova ended her career. In an interview with Sport-Express, Ksenia explained why people leave under such circumstances, the value of a career in figure skating for children and parents, and how she began performing in roller skating shows.
Ksenia, you left figure skating after the best season in your career, placing eighth at the Russian Nationals. Why?
Ksenia Tsibinova: Yes, that Russian Nationals in Chelyabinsk was pivotal. I believe I had a decent season and did well in the main event of the season as well. However, in the world of figure skating, everything happens a bit unfairly… That’s how it turned out. When you consistently skate clean throughout the season and do well at a specific competition, but then someone else comes out and performs a program with double jumps and makes it into the Russian team, it becomes frustrating.
I was eighth. I thought I might at least make it into the reserve team. The top six make it to the main team; I was only a point away from sixth place. I kept training, working on my triple axel.
Did it work out?
Ksenia Tsibinova: Yes, there were good attempts with landings, but with underotations. I was waiting for the moment when they would post the lists. And when they did, I didn’t see my name there, as you can understand. That’s when I immediately realized that there was no hope for test skates or anything like that. So, we started thinking — should we continue further? For what? It’s truly hard work when you’re on the ice from nine in the morning until nine at night. There’s no free time, no studying.
No personal life either.
Ksenia Tsibinova: You can forget about that also. We discussed it extensively with my mom and relatives, because making such a decision is difficult. And ultimately, we decided that it was time to finish. I went to Sergei Dmitrievich Davidov (a coach at CSKA). I talked to him, we discussed everything. He understood me.
I thought I had left for good and decided to focus on my studies. I spent about a month doing that, and then my mom suggested, “How about pairs?” I thought about it for a long time because, after all, my height doesn’t really suit pair skating — 167 centimeters. But, alright, I said, let’s try it. My last chance.
It didn’t work out, it seems.
Ksenia Tsibinova: Nina Mikhailovna Mozer took me in when I came and skated. They found me a partner, and we learned lifts, some elements together. But then they gave that boy to another girl. They told me to find someone else because I’m too tall. And finding a tall and suitable boy for pairs is really a problem. We searched, but time was passing, the season was starting, and we needed to start practicing the elements. I was just doing triple jumps, which I already knew how to do.
You should’ve also tried ice dancing.
Ksenia Tsibinova: Not my thing. It’s all beautiful, of course, but I don’t enjoy it that much. Well, that’s it, my career ended. I suppose it wasn’t meant to be. Now I coach and perform in shows, and I really enjoy it. I have a lot more free time. Life is great. Yes, I do have a slight regret that I didn’t achieve more in figure skating…
But you’ve breathed a sigh of relief.
Ksenia Tsibinova: Yes, both me and my mom (laughs).
Was there any emptiness after leaving? Like, it’s 9 in the morning, and I’m not at the rink. What am I supposed to do?
Ksenia Tsibinova: I thought about that — what I would do when I’ve been doing one thing all my life. But it so happened that I finished when the school year started. And I fully immersed myself in studying. From 9 am to 5 pm, I was at college. So, I had things to keep me occupied. In the future, I plan to become a coach; I’m planning to study at RGUFK (Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism). For now, I offer coaching for those interested, for a reasonable fee. So if anyone wants to, come join! I’m coaching those who don’t know how to skate, not athletes.
What was the most challenging aspect of your career? Female singles skaters sometimes complain about weight and puberty, some struggle with their relationship with coaches or competitors in their group. What about you?
Ksenia Tsibinova: Actually, I got along well with everyone, there wasn’t any intense confrontation among us. Weight wasn’t much of an issue for me either. I’d say it was the lifestyle itself. The fact that you’re working the entire day, constantly doing something, running, jumping, training. You can’t take time off — you can’t go visit relatives in your hometown on weekends because you only have one day off a week, and you want to use it productively, relax, recover. Missing studying also plays a role. But apart from that, everything was fine.
You started skating in Yaroslavl. How do people make their way to Moscow? Parents need to invest quite a bit without any guarantees.
Ksenia Tsibinova: I was skating in Yaroslavl until I was six or seven years old. At that time, Sergei Dobrin came from Moscow to us for master classes and said: if you want progress, we recommend moving to Moscow, training with Ilia Klimkin. At first, we traveled to Moscow for training sessions on weekends — it’s a significant step to make, so we took our time deciding. We went for one day — on Saturday early in the morning, you leave home, get on the train, train all day, and then return to Yaroslavl in the evening. At some point, we realized that continuing in this manner wasn’t feasible, it was tough. So, we decided to move.
So, your parents had to drastically change their lives for your figure skating pursuits.
Ksenia Tsibinova: Yes, they changed everything dramatically. At first, my mom, grandfather, and grandmother moved with me, and then it was just my mom and me. We rented an apartment. Life wasn’t easy, especially in terms of expenses. Sometimes we had to search for our last bit of money just to buy bread. Later, we sold our apartment in Yaroslavl, bought one here in Moscow, which made things a bit easier, but objectively, figure skating comes with significant costs.
I heard it’s a few million rubles per year.
Ksenia Tsibinova: I can’t really judge, I didn’t keep track. But it’s definitely a substantial amount. Honestly, I don’t even want to remember that period.
Sports, theoretically, should bring joy. Look at America, Canada — everyone’s skating with smiles from ear to ear, even if they’re not doing quads. Maybe it’s just a facade, but why has figure skating in our country, especially for women, turned into something army-like and Spartan?
Ksenia Tsibinova: Competition. I think they simply don’t have it to the extent we do.
You mentioned that in the world of figure skating, things aren’t always fair. Did you encounter this often at the lower levels?
Ksenia Tsibinova: Actually, at the junior level, I didn’t pay much attention to it. I started noticing it at the stages of the Russian Cup, more significant competitions. In youth competitions, generally, the way you trained the way your get.
Can anything be done about the judging? Through changing the system itself, for example. Or is it not about that?
Ksenia Tsibinova: Right now, they’re discussing separating judging panels into technical and component aspects; maybe that will change the situation somehow, but overall… I believe everyone understands things pretty well.
But only Plushenko talks about it, from what I remember.
Ksenia Tsibinova: He’s great, he speaks his mind and tells it like it is.
There’s also the option of changing citizenship. Did you consider that?
Ksenia Tsibinova: I’ve always wanted to skate for Russia.
But you used to beat Nastya Gubanova, and now she’s the European champion. Isn’t that an example?
Ksenia Tsibinova: I understand. But I always dreamed of standing on the podium with the Russian flag and hearing the anthem. Yes, it didn’t work out. Although I did manage to participate in a couple of international competitions. I won two first places in Tallinn and Zagreb. There, I got to hear the anthem at least.
Do the feelings from international competitions differ?
Ksenia Tsibinova: It would feel different at the Grand Prix stages. There wasn’t much competition there, but, of course, when they announce you in English, and then you stand on the podium with the flags… It’s a bit different. I’d like to have more of such competitions, but you have what you have.
Is the organization of competitions significantly different from the Russian ones?
Ksenia Tsibinova: Overall, it’s good everywhere. Although the Russian Nationals is more serious in terms of organization. For the draw, I specifically looked for a dress and styled myself. It’s a cool tradition. It’s great that there’s now a variety of tournaments — the jumping championship, the show program tournament. I’d love to participate in something like that. I’ve always liked the Channel One Cup, where everyone is so friendly.
Zagitova and Medvedeva were especially friendly.
Ksenia Tsibinova: Well, I mean the team spirit within teams, of course. That’s something new.
How difficult was it for you to maintain your weight throughout your career? After all, people often complain about puberty.
Ksenia Tsibinova: I didn’t have serious issues. I didn’t follow strict diets or even run in plastic film wrap. If there were difficulties, I’d reduce the calorie intake a bit and just run on the treadmill or outside. There was no torturing myself with plastic wrap or special suits that create a sauna effect. Many people use them, and yes, they really affect the heart. Even puberty for me lasted only about two weeks. I just slightly reduced the amount of food, ran a bit, and… it all passed!
Then what can be done to prevent figure skaters from leaving? Out of the top 8 in Chelyabinsk, you left, and Shcherbakova, Trusova, Usacheva, Khromykh, and Nugumanova are not performing. Only Valieva and Tuktamysheva remain.
Ksenia Tsibinova: It’s hard to say. Still when younger figure skaters come in, it’s easier for them to do complex jumps. They’re constantly growing, and you can’t keep up with such an insane number of quads physically. And without quads, there’s nothing to do at Russian tournaments now. I only tried the toe loop jump, but my triple axel turned out better.
Is there really such a huge difference between triple and quadruple jumps? After all you move from doubles to triples somehow?
Ksenia Tsibinova: I used to think the same way. We learned doubles and triples, so what’s the problem with quads? (Laughs.) It’s just that if we started training them at a younger age, like Liza Tuktamysheva, it would work better. But when you’ve already grown up and are bigger, starting from scratch to learn quads is tough. When you’re older, your survival instinct kicks in when attempting these difficult elements.
Did you even want to do figure skating? Since you coach kids, you surely understand that it’s often the parents’ desire.
Ksenia Tsibinova: My mom brought me into it as well. She wanted to skate herself, but her parents didn’t engage her in skating. So, she decided to put me into it. It’s funny that she brought me to the rink when I was two years old. The coach said, “No, she needs to be three years old.” My mom decided to try again when I was 2 years and 8 months old. But they asked again, “Is she three?” So, my mom brought me to figure skating just a few days after my birthday. When you’re little, you don’t think about why you’re doing it, of course. After moving to Moscow, you start to realize that it’s nice when you achieve high places in competitions.
So, there were no tears, no desire to quit? You don’t always win first place, after all.
Ksenia Tsibinova: When I was little, I won almost all the competitions.
Convenient.
Ksenia Tsibinova: Yes. So, there was no need to force me. No one even beat me with the skate guards. And no one stole my skates.
Now you perform in roller skating shows. Is it similar to figure skating on ice?
Ksenia Tsibinova: When they first suggested it to me, I thought, “Roller skates, how do you even do everything there?” It’s completely different. You can’t lean on your edges — you’ll fall immediately. Instead of the toe pick, there’s a stopper, and you can adjust it. When I first tried to pivot with it, I almost fell forward. And falling is much worse than on ice. But on the first day, I did an axel jump. Then I went on the ice, put on my skates — and it felt completely different, as if I had never been on skates before. My legs were shaking. I instinctively braked with the toe pick. You need to get used to it, but I like it. We even thought — maybe we should compete in roller skating? Egor Murashov, for example, can do all the triple jumps on roller skates; there’s a good company forming.
Shows bring at least some variety. Because in competitions, it’s as if they’ve turned on one lyrical-angelic piece of music, and everyone skates to it. Then comes Tuktamysheva, and then they switch back to that same record.
Ksenia Tsibinova: In reality, finding music is hard work. For me, the most challenging part was searching for music for the program. If something I liked came up, someone else would already be skating to it. I’m not a music enthusiast; I don’t listen to it often. So, I didn’t know where to look. Coaches and choreographers helped me. It’s hard to create a program to new music that I like. It’s more of a show format. Although, in my childhood, I had programs to music from the movie “Madagascar,” and in the junior category, I even skated to Edwin Marton’s music.
Did you switch to roller skates without injuries?
Ksenia Tsibinova: Yes, thank goodness.
And during your career on ice, were there any injuries?
Ksenia Tsibinova: Hardly any. Once, two weeks before the junior national championships, I either tore or strained a ligament. My foot got twisted, in short. I competed with tape, skating through the pain.
What about that self-preservation instinct?
Ksenia Tsibinova: When you’re little, it’s almost absent. In adulthood, your back starts giving you trouble. There was a moment in pair skating when I went to practice and realized something was wrong. They told me to do the spins I could. I stepped on the ice, started untying my skates, and realized I couldn’t bend down to the laces. My back just wouldn’t flex. I barely made it home, went for an MRI. Nothing too serious — they found protrusions, which many figure skaters have. I went through a course of treatment, injections, massages — it got better. But my back hurts from time to time. And I wasn’t even doing quadruple jumps regularly.
So, to everyone entering figure skating, I would wish for strength and patience. And I highly advise parents not to force their children into it. If it doesn’t work out — it’s okay, it’s truly a colossal effort. You’re on the ice all the time; it’s a tough life. If you see it’s not working, don’t torture the child.
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