Evgeni Plushenko: Boys train differently, they feel sorry for themselves

Evgeni Plushenko about his son, Alina Zagitova, Evgenia Medvedeva and Russian men’s skating.

Dmitri Kuznetsov for sport-express.ru

Are you satisfied with your son’s results?

– He made two single axels, one in combination with loop. We have complicated the program, added lutz, he skated it well, properly, we will continue to work.

What is the next stage?

– Double jumps. With the new program you need to do them, he is working on them now. They are close.

Everything is serious.

– We are committed to sports, it’s not physical fitness, not a hobby, we’re looking forward to having a result. We train him the same way children in other schools train, CSKA or Hrystalny, are trained. But there are children who skate six hours a day, he skates for two hours. There is additional ice, sometimes it turns out 2:45. So the boy have loads, but everything in moderation.

Now it is accepted that you need to skate as much as possible. I think this is wrong. You need to feel a child. Your ward may be better than his peers now, but all competitions will start at the age of 15! That’s where you need to be prepared. Many people think that the result is needed now, there are a lot of parents who think that a child needs to have additional skating sessions, practice 4-6 hours a day. But this is wrong. Some parents begin to rush from one coach to another, second, third. This is also not right. It is better to choose one team and stay with it. Personally, I don’t need the result now. It is necessary to prepare my son for the future.

Figure skating is incredible popular now. Is this a consequence of victories or rather the battle between Medvedeva and Zagitova?

– Ladies skating is very popular in Russia, because we have girls – leaders. Zagitova, Medvedeva gave impetus. But actually it all started earlier – with Sotnikova and Lipnitskaya.

And now comes the next wave – Trusova, Shcherbakova, Kostornaia, Valieva. The girls simply attracted interest with their consistency, quads. When was the last time girls jumped quads? And, of course, there’s also a huge interest in men’s skating, Yuzuru Hanyu, Nathan Chen. Shoma Uno has a combination triple Axel – quad toe loop. I did such only in training. The guys pushed the sport forward. Now the new figure skating came.

You were surprised how Zagitova and Medvedeva managed to come back at the World Championships?

– Not at all. They are prize-winners of world championships, Olympics, top sportswomen, they work. Everyone has ups and downs, this is normal. It didn’t surprise me.

Our ladies are unbelievable, but men’s skating is in a complete different situation. Why?

– (long pause, sighs) I just want to say that the boys … We have young guys, yes, but it takes time. Boys train differently, they feel sorry for themselves. I had guys in the group, they left, thank God. I went into the gym and saw them looking in the mirror looking at something on their faces. Narcissism. And you need to work hard. There is Alexei Nikolaevich Mishin, who works in St. Petersburg. Go go to him, he will take you with pleasure.

Who are you talking about?

– About Kolyada. Well, it doesn’t work for you, there is no result. Look around, think. Maybe Alexei Mishin will give you a certain message. Maxim Kovtun came to me. Yes, it didn’t quite work out, it was such a test experience. But Max is a very talented guy, he was very motivated first. It just happened so that I had a lot of shows, and he needed me to sit with him all the time. However, I am always open, Max and I jumped triple axel. It was interesting, of course, when the coach jumps together with the athlete, such a motivation for him. I have my own approach and my own vision of many things, not by chance I became a long-liver in a big sport. I share secrets, but not all yet.

Related topics: Alina Zagitova, Evgeni Plushenko, Evgenia Medvedeva, Maxim Kovtun, mikhail kolyada