“There was a big scandal. I said that I’m tired, I want a normal attitude towards myself. At least not a humiliation in front of the whole group.” Kostornaia about training and leaving Tutberidze’s group
Interview with Alena Kostornaia. About training and leaving Tutberidze’s group, leaving Angels of Plushenko and Anna Shcherbakova’s victory at the Olympics.
source: championat.com
About trainings in the Group of Tutberidze. Kostornaia noted that in the group of Eteri Tutberidze, the presence of parents in training is welcomed.
Alena Kostornaia: Does my mother understand figure skating? This is a person who has been shouting to me overboard for the last three years: “This is the fifth flip-toe loop, and you need ten!” Here they are, Katya Samsonova (Daniil Samsonov’s mother) and my mother, together. Danya and I skate along the board, and there is always some kind of screaming: “Not that, not like that!” But in principle, Eteri Georgievna welcomes when a parent watches the training of his child, because the coach will say one thing, the child will say another, and you won’t understand who is right and who is wrong. And so the parent himself sees that his child does nothing in training, and stands overboard with a stick, shouts something to you.
Is it possible for parents to watch training at Eteri Georgievna’s group? This is not only possible, but necessary. At some point there was a funny situation, one of the parents … No, I remember who, but I won’t say. A person was skating the program, something didn’t work out there and a mother had the imprudence to watch something on the phone. Daniil Markovich [Gleikhengauz] comes out: “Did you see what she did?” She replies: “Honestly, no, I was using my phone.” And he: “Why are you using your phone during training?” It was so funny.
About not being the first number in the group of Eteri Tutberidze
Alena Kostornaia: I have never been number one in the group. At first there were some girls, then there were other girls who were younger, but I have never been the leader of the group. They always removed small children from me, they simply pushed them away. I don’t know why, but it was believed that I had a bad influence on the group, that I was allegendly corrupting the entire group by some of my actions, and I was told about this repeatedly. Maybe. But it’s not that I’m so-and-so, it’s just that people didn’t have the character to think for themselve. She does it, so I also want it that way. Not like I said, “Let’s do it.” They were just going in the wrong direction themselve. But for me… I can do it here a little bit, I can do it back. I don’t have a hard frameworks. This is like with going to bed at 11 o’clock. I can go to bed at 1 a.m. It won’t be bad for me. And for some it’s bad. In such situations, it was believed that I was corrupting the entire group. Each person should think with his own head. If you’re a submissive person, it’s not my problem.
source: championat.com
About leaving the Tutberidze’s group for the first time
Alena Kostornaia: There was a very big scandal inside. There are links: I, as a character, Eteri Georgievna, mother and federation. And I go on the ice, Sasha has left, and we had such a thing that they often praised Sasha and set her as an example for many of us. We thought: “Well, Sasha is gone, maybe at least this time they will appreciate us.” But no. And we’re like, “Damn, why?” And again: “She did it well, and you …” I think, damn it, well, I’m tired of it. And I understand that if I now go to the “Angels” to Sergei Alexandrovich (Rozanov), it seems to be one school, but different directions. I thought that no one would tell me anything here, no one would be set as an example for me. And I said that I was leaving, that they nagged me all the time, I’m tired of this, I want a normal attitude towards myself as an athlete. At least not a total humiliation in front of the whole group.
Then it was – “either you, or we.” There was no other dialogue. Maybe the only time when Daniil Markovich and Sergei Viktorovich were there, we were all talking together. They went somewhere for a short time, and Eteri Georgievna began to ask: “Why? What can be done to avoid this?” But then five minutes passed, Daniil Markovich and Sergei Viktorovich returned, and again the dialogue went along the lines of “We made you, and you are doing like this with us.” I thought that I, too, made some efforts for this. I was so offended that it was being depreciated so much. Plus, there were moments when, in order to motivate you to work, it started like: “And you …” – and some kind of laughter, sometimes not very pleasant. It happens in different ways. Naturally, when it’s not about you, it’s funny. When it’s about you, you consider it as some kind of humiliation, it becomes unpleasant, even though they don’t even take it seriously.
Alena also added that her mother was against switching to Angels of Plushenko
Alena Kostornaia: At one point I was so tired of it that I decided that it was necessary, that’s it. I left Novogorsk, my mother kept me at home without training, without a skating rink, without anything related to figure skating at all, so that I would change my mind. But I realized that I do not want it to repeat again. We went to the federation, talked to the federation, it was “no-no-no” from all sides. At one point, I couldn’t stand it myself, I called Eteri Georgievna: “Eteri Georgievna, you know, I decided to try a new direction, to work differently.” She said, “If that’s what it’s called, then fine.” And that’s it. This is where our dialogue ended. But my mother was strongly against it, and the phrase was: “Do whatever you want, I tried to dissuade you.” And when there were failed competitions, injuries, something else, the phrase “I tried to dissuade you, but you didn’t listen to me” constantly sounded.
source: championat.com
About leaving from Angels of Plushenko
Alena Kostornaia: How did the transition back to Tutberidze happen? An interesting situation. Who was my coach? Marina Evgenievna is a woman, Elena Vyacheslavovna is a woman, Eteri Georgievna is a woman. I do not perceive a man-authority. For me it is not an authority. I rely more on life experience, on some knowledge, something else, and not on patriarchy.
“And what’s the difference: a man or a woman? A coach is a coach,” the journalist objected to Kostornaia.
Alena Kostornaia: No. No, that’s it. I don’t know how it works. For me, this is a non-authoritative opinion. I do not know why. I am trained by strong and independent women who have made themselves. And I was always taught not to depend on anyone. The “strong and independent” pattern somehow settled well. It’s not that I didn’t respect the coaches, no. And I somehow understood this well at one moment. I thought, well, maybe suddenly it will work out. Maybe it will suddenly turn out to return me in this mix, from which I flew out partly of my own, partly not of my own free will. Well, let’s try, if it works out, igreat. Well, somehow they took me back.
source: championat.com
About working with Elena Buyanova
Alena Kostornaia: How do I feel at CSKA now? Fine. Trainings every day, twice a day. There are half-days, but this is a planned. How is the atmosphere? Training, working atmosphere. Everything as usual.
Do I feel comfortable with Elena Germanovna? I think we are learning from each other. The first couple of days I was shaking, I was very afraid. And now I go to training and understand Elena Germanovna. I feel very comfortable, very comfortable. I hope we get to know each other better.
source: championat.com
About Anna Shcherbakova’s victory at the Olympics
Alena Kostornaia: I was on a quest. When I left after the first quest, all the photos were already there, there were no videos yet. I thought: “Well, Kamila won one hundred percent. I root for Anya, I love Anya, but it’s unlikely … ” And then I went to the social networks, I saw Sasha’s emotions, Kamila. And I thought: really all those years of all this … She, probably, got it the worst. That is, if something was permissible for me because I did not let someone to force me, then Anya endured to the last. This is the moment when a person has overcome himself.
Is that why I wrote a touching post? Yes, because we got along so well. We were always in the same boat.
source: championat.com
Related topics: Alena Kostornaia
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