“Eteri Georgievna teaches us to do all the work properly. Only perfection she considers an acceptable quality – nothing else” interview with Anna Shcherbakova and Kamila Valieva
Anna Shcherbakova and Kamila Valieva in an interview for Vogue Russia.
source: vogue.ru
About quadruple jumps
Kamila Valieva: The hardest thing was learning the 3A [triple axel]. And most of all I like 4T [quadruple toe loop], although I also lile 4S [quad-salchow]. The last element that did not work out was 3A at the European Championships. But I know I can do it, so I just jump it again and again in training to feel confident at the competitions.
Anna Shcherbakova: I was 12 when the coaches and I started working on the quadruple toe loop. Usually they start with a triple axel. But for me, the double axel at one time was the most problematic jump – I started to jumped it only after all the triples. And the triple toe loop and lutz were my favorite at that time.
According to Anya, Tutberidze suggested that she try ultra-c. “Eteri Georgievna said long ago that the future of women’s figure skating is in quadruple jumps and we need to start working on them. I first land a quadruple toe loop in training in April 2017, a couple of days later I jumped it in a combination with a triple toe loop.
This was my first senior Grand Prix in Las Vegas. I performed unsuccessfully in the short program, but in the free program for the first time in senior competitions I performed two quadruple lutzes. After the performance, Eteri Georgievna told me that I was a hero. For me, these words were more valuable than the medal.
Kamila also has a similar story: “Eteri Georgievna teaches us to do all the work properly. Only perfection she considers an acceptable quality – nothing else. It’s impossible to be perfect every day, so Eteri Georgievna praises extremely rarely. I didn’t hear the most pleasant words, but read it on a printout that Eteri Georgievna once gave me after skating a free program in training. There was written: “Well done!”
About programs
Kamila Valieva: Eteri Georgievna [Tutberidze] and Daniil Markovich [Gleikhengauz] offer me neoclassical music for programs. Of course, it’s close to me, but I really want to try myself in something different.
About skating idols
Both Anna and Kamila named Julia Lipnitskaya as one of their top-3 favorite skaters of the past. In addition to her, Kamila singled out Zhenya Medvedeva and Alina Zagitova, and Anya has a slightly older top – Yuna Kim and Mao Asada.
Anna Shcherbakova: When I first came to the group of Eteri Georgievna, Julia was preparing for the Olympics in Sochi. I always watched her training with great interest, her level seemed unreachable for me.
About plans for the future
Anya has an unusual hobby: she does not spend prize money from competitions, but invests in stocks, using the tips of her parents. So far, Shcherbakova plans to have a sports education, and after it – another higher education. “First I plan to enter the Institute of Physical Education. And in the future, I would like to figure out in which particular area it would be especially interesting for me to work, and get a second education.”
Valieva doesn’t yet look into such a distant future – she is preparing for exams after the 9th grade and dreams of learning how to drive a car. When we asked what Kamila would do with 10 free minutes on the Internet, she replied: “Oh! I would go to many places, but now, to be honest, without much pleasure, but most often I go to the site “Solve the OGE” (site with tasks and examples for preparation for the main state exam) . In the life of a professional athlete who is also studying, there is simply no time for anything other than sports and study.” When her studies are over and all borders open again, Kamila dreams of visiting all continents, especially the Faroe Islands, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Socotra archipelago (the territory of Yemen).
Related topics: Anna Shcherbakova, Kamila Valieva
Without Eteri these girls may not even make it to the Olympics –and keep losing to the Koreans, Japanese, US skaters. Coaches are important
What exceptional children and coaching. They know how to motivate and to teach these kids to be the very best in a crowded field of many extremely talented skaters. What enormous world wide pressure they face every second at the Olympics, away from home, at 15, 16 years of age. I’d be vomiting, unable to sleep and incontinent!
God, bless them all!
This coaching team and system has given these children a kind of Stockholm Syndrome where they glorify and trust these adults and can question nothing. And now we see that they care nothing for these girls and will do anything to them to glorify themselves