This is me starting a random discussion because I am bored with the lack of skating content and I know better than to wish for something interesting to happen because the last time I did that, Lajoi and Lagha announced their split 🥲
Quite a harrowing listen, this is super fucked up. Abusive coaches who yell and bodyshame are so awful and damaging, and so many of them continue to coach despite reports being made to safesport. Not to mention some other things she talks about which is a different realm of weird. Mind you this woman is still coaching students. I also hope people have some empathy while discussing Alysa and her approach, given that this was the kind of environment she was in.
I remember someone asking if there were jump specialists at Peak Ice, well you got your answer :)
I know this Isabeau’s toe jump technique won’t change overnight but I think it’s great she got to work with him!
I’m bored and will be missing his stream so…
Back when I used to coach a little, getting to ‘package’ skaters was always the fun part. I used to work with young kids but I would always imagine doing the same for the elites. Obviously this isn’t going to be sent to him, but if it were upto you what music and choreographers will you pick for Ilia next season? You can discuss costumes too!
These 3 young women are so special in their own way. In the event in Harlem, hearing Amber spoke about how the other two gave her a new perspective and strengthened her love for skating. Isabeau and Alysa have always talked about how supportive Amber is and how she always steps in to help them. It just so sweet and healing to see such friendship between three strong competitive skaters 🥹
If we talk about skating skills in the women’s field, the top women from Japan (Mone, Rino, Rion, Yuna, etc.) would probably fill the top spots as they are noticibly at another level. But them aside who would you say has the best skating skills in the women’s field? I only recently got back into skating and watching the sport.
The best answer to this question is Valery Pavlovich Malinin, the figure skater's grandfather. He lives in Novosibirsk with his wife and still works as a figure skating coach (over 50 years of experience). I went to the center of Russia and recorded a big interview with the expert, which will help you dive into the whole story from beginning to end: how Ilya's future mother became a figure skater, why she moved to the United States and what is the fundamental difference between America and Russia.
End of January. Novosibirsk. Going to a small inflatable ice rink "Iceberg" on the outskirts of the city. Near the forest, a vacant lot and a brand new housing estate. While still on the street, I heard the buzz from the arena. Children are playing an important hockey game. I walk in at the most emotional moment - the shootout. The joy of victory and the bitterness of defeat, the screams and tears. In a few minutes the arena becomes almost empty, as in the evening it is time for the skaters to start skating.
I meet Valeriy Pavlovich, and he hands me his biography, on two pages, which was prepared as a resume. The resume turned out to be useful - date of birth, work experience, achievements of the leading pupils. We go into the choreography room and begin our conversation.
"Our group is small, athletic and recreational, beginner level figure skaters. We just recently returned from a competition in Novokuznetsk, one girl was first, another was fourth, the rest were in the middle of the table.
We often travel to competitions in the Novosibirsk area, with other students went to the center of Russia. We were in Izhevsk, Pervouralsk, Yekaterinburg. We train little by little, we perform as well as we can," says Valery Pavlovich.
#"More rinks, worse conditions."
Are some of the guys leaving for Moscow or St. Petersburg to practice more professionally?
That's already in the past. We used to have one single ice - Sibir Stadium for the entire Novosibirsk Region. And the guys came to train from different parts of the city and from the region. There were good results.
Of course, a striking example is my daughter Tatiana Malinina, who after the collapse of the USSR successfully competed for Uzbekistan and won the Grand Prix final.
Another one of our students is Yuriy Larionov, International Master of Sports, three-time medalist of the European Championships, winner of the Grand Prix. In general, there are solid results, which we are proud of.
And in general, it's a paradox. Previously there was only one rink in the whole region, and our guys were successful in zonal competitions, won in the team event, and performed well as individuals. That school trained about thirty masters of sports. And now there are a lot of rinks, but the conditions have become worse.
Why?
Basically hockey is developing everywhere, there is more ice for them. There are many rinks, but everywhere figure skating is mainly at the recreational level.
We only have a winter sports center where our best athletes are training, they are based at the "Zvezdnyy" and "Lokomotiv" ice hockey stadiums. There are good results there, especially with coach Konstantin Medovikov. But in general the situation leaves a lot to be desired.
The boys probably all go into hockey, don't they?
Boys, yes, past figure skating, into hockey. Sometimes they even just come to learn how to skate, how to skate and then they go to hockey.
And girls - to gymnastics?
Of course, artistic and rhythmic gymnastics is very well developed, there are decent bases. There was biathlon at a high level before, with Alexander Tikhonov and other masters - we were very proud of that. But now it's mostly hockey, rhythmic gymnastics, swimming.
Is figure skating in Novosibirsk expensive?
Now everything is commercial, so figure skating has become an expensive sport. Earlier you could skate on pieces of metal and soft shoes, but now you need quality equipment to teach kids. At the age of 11-12 you have to jump triplets, so you need the right skates.
Of course, all this costs a lot of money for parents, so figure skating is mainly practiced by those who have enough money to buy equipment and pay for additional training.
That is why there are problems with recruitment. Even kids come in, they practice for a little bit, as far as they have enough financial possibilities, and then they drop out. Although there are very good guys.
#"My daughter could have gone to Zhuk, but she ended up in Sverdlovsk."
How did you get into figure skating?
It used to be different. If now a child is brought by the hand at 4 years, the learning process begins, then we all started at the age of 13-14 years. We came on our own, no one brought us.
We had a basketball court near Sibiri and we practiced on it. Once I came and watched, saw the boys driving and doing some nice moves, the simplest ones, judging by today's standards. I liked it. I tried it. I started getting a little bit better at it.
We had a close-knit team, we went to training camps together. There used to be team tournaments, almost every season there was a competition of the Central Councils, that is, we literally "boiled" in competitions. The tournaments followed one another, there were times when we went out as a team for half a year - we communicated and became friends.
And then you became a coach. Why did you become a coach?
I had very good mentors. For example, Aleksandr Kuznitsyn, then he moved to Izhevsk, he invited me there, but I could not leave for family reasons. He put a lot into all of us and developed an interest in the sport. And the subsequent mentors also supported us in our desire to be coaches.
Next comes the professional interest. Your pupils begin to achieve some results, and the desire to work only increases.
Eventually you brought your daughter Tatyana to the ice. How old was she?
Five. Usually that's how we started. We took her to her first class - she liked the choreography class at first. She loved dancing. Then she began to do elements, especially jumping elements. Very early she mastered the double jumps. At age 9 she did a double axel, which was considered a good result at the time. She took third place in the junior specialty program. In general, it went slowly.
She was especially successful in free skating. Before, there was a triathlon: first, compulsory exercises, when you draw the figures on the ice - it's a difficult type. Then the short program and the free program, which Tanya was best at. After the first event she could have been in the top 20, but thanks to the successful free skating she was up to 4-3-2.
For the compulsory figures she needed a lot of high-quality ice - properly poured, without any bumps. In general, the requirements were very serious. We certainly didn't have that at Siberia.
And you decided you had to move?
After the successful junior competitions Tatiana was included in the candidates for the national team. We came to Moscow for the orientation session. Everything went well, and we were asked if we had enough ice. I said that we could do the free skating well, but we need to find the ice for the obligatory figures.
Then I was offered two variants - to Igor Ksenofontov in Sverdlovsk or to Stanislav Zhuk in Moscow. Stanislav found no time for a meeting - we were already leaving and tickets had been bought. Igor Borisovich received us. Besides, Sverdlovsk is closer to my home town of Novosibirsk.
What level were you able to bring your daughter to on your own?
She was already a triple jumper. Before she moved to Sverdlovsk, I worked for six months in Kalinin (now Tver). The conditions there were great. When we arrived, Tanya had a double axel and a triple rittberger, and they prepared the rest of the jumps there, except for the toeloop.
I remember the rink's director asking me: "Axel is there, rittberger is there. What are you going to teach next? I said, "Triple Lutz." The director says to me, "That's not what you're saying. No one does that - neither Zhuk, nor Mishin. Usually you go from simple to complex - first you do a double axel, then a salchow, a toeloop, a rittberger, a flip, and a lutz. I know my own athlete!
I ended up getting a probationary period. I learned all the jumps except for the loop. The conditions were good there. But we couldn't stay in Kalinin because of the living conditions. We were promised an apartment, but it didn't work out, we didn't have the strength to run around hotels anymore.
How did the move to Ksenofontov go?
Everything was fine, she went to the Olympic Reserve School and went to the boarding school. That is, she had a place to live and all conditions for training.
Igor Borisovich, of course, was surprised by Tanya's skills. He told another important coach: "Look, what an athlete I have! And he would prescribe jumps - flip, lutz. She did them. Ksenofontov would say, "Did you see that? Give me the money!".
#"My daughter studied everything and said: "I'm going to live, ride, and work in America. She set a goal."
Why did Tatyana decide to play for Uzbekistan?
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many of those who could not break into the Russian national team, finished their careers. How do you make it there? After all, places are taken by Moscow and St. Petersburg. That's why it was possible to participate in international competitions, performing for Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and other countries of the former Soviet Union.
And even now there's such a thing. Look at the Baltic States, Poland - there are a lot of our guys there. Even in the United States. Look at the World Junior Championships 2020. The entire U.S. men's national team is made up of Russian boys. It is both laughable and sinful, as they say.
But Uzbekistan was chosen.
We didn't have much choice. We went to Uzbekistan where they offered us the necessary conditions. There was no ice conditions, there was a palace with artificial ice, but it worked and did not work, so Tanya and one other Russian sports couple were training in Pervouralsk at Ksenofontov. He had no problems with the conditions.
Did you give Tatiana any advice professionally during her career?
n this case I trusted Igor Borisovich, because he was a very good specialist, many Russian athletes came to him for advice, even if they trained with others.
Tatiana's main victories happened when she was 26 years old - a solid age for women's singles skating. How did it happen?
I remember one conversation with Igor Borisovich. I asked him, "Why don't you let her compete in the junior competitions, that's where her competitive experience starts? He always said that she was not ready, that she had to wait. This energy was accumulated in Tatiana, so she could reveal herself at the right moment.
And she did! What helped?
First of all, her character. She is a very goal-oriented person. If she sets herself a goal, she will achieve it for sure. When Tatyana moved to America, Igor refused to coach there.
She studied everything, found out how much it cost to rent the ice, what the conditions were and said: "I will skate here, live here, work here." She set a goal and accomplished it.
How did America come into your daughter's life in the first place?
They went there with a team for a training camp. After she had been there for some time, Tanya was convinced that it's in the U.S. that you can achieve results. Ice is the most important thing for skaters. And there isn't much ice in Russia, that's why many skaters use additional training.
And what about accommodation and everyday life? It is not so cheap to live in America.
Igor Borisovich was also a good manager, so he pushed for it, looked around for opportunities, found the means. That was his great merit. In the U.S. there was no investment, everything was decided by the coaches.
#"In the U.S. they were well received. And we had a bad time in the '90s."
At the end of her career, Tatiana and her husband Roman coached each other. How did it happen?
When Igor Borisovich refused to stay on as coach for health and other personal reasons, he said: "Guys, I'm not going to be here, I'm not happy with all of this." Not everyone likes life in the U.S., and besides, he's an old-school man.
Tanya suggested I move here, but I also had a difficult situation. I answered her: "Tanya, I can't do it too". And so the option remained to help each other as far as possible. Tatiana's level of character and discipline allowed her to work independently.
After you finished your career Tatyana could come back to Russia?
There were options of what to do next. One of them was to skate in the show. But it's a lot of travel, life in different places, not very convenient for creating a family. The other option was to work as a coach, which I felt was the right one.
And she was offered a coaching job in the U.S.?
You had to get citizenship to stay there. There's an article in the U.S. that allows talented, promising people-actors, scientists, athletes-to get a passport. America invites them to live there, to develop the country.
In general, they were well received in the U.S.. And so it turned out - they invited me, and I approved. But here ... the time was ahoy then, you know. The nineties.
In this day and age, would Tatiana have moved, too?
You see, the system of work in the States is different from ours. And I like the fact that there the athlete is more dependent on himself. We have accountability. At a city sports school, we are accountable to the district, the city, and the region. When I was the director of a sports school, I had to submit documents to the authorities all the time. Only with documents. And when I asked for funds for development, I was told: "You have to do it yourself, we don't have that". But there was a lot of unnecessary paperwork.
But there is no such dependence there. Yes, it's an expensive sport; it's not free. But there is a so-called "freestyle. Let's say from 12 till 4 o'clock, where a parent buys ice at an affordable price. You can buy from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on funds. Can be with a trainer, can be without. No paperwork, no reporting.
If you, as a coach, perform poorly, your student will just leave for someone else and you lose your paycheck. That's all. That's why everyone works hard there, and the skaters know what they want.
But there is another side of the coin. Because the standard of living is high, parents and children are spoiled. They can take off in the middle of the season and go on vacation to the Dominican Republic or the Maldives. And you can only throw up your hands.
Have you ever thought about moving in with your daughter?
The situation is twofold. I have family circumstances - sick mother, now a cousin - you can not abandon an elderly person. There was a covid, and now politics interfered. Everything is complicated, in general.
Besides, my wife is old-school, I might want to, but my wife says she doesn't want to, she is used to living in Russia. There are a lot of things here, roots that hold me back.
Have you often been to the United States?
Before covid, we used to go every year. My wife and I have green cards, we traveled freely. I should have helped bring up Ilyushka. And then Lisa when she was born.
How do you like America?
It all depends on the quality of life and income. If you work well, you'll live well. And I never talked to people with less than average income. The coaches living there feel good about themselves.
Did you have any problems with the language?
I know English at a basic level. I can understand about three words. My level is not very good. Of course, if I took it seriously, I think I would have mastered it.
Have you ever been to local competitions? What interesting things have you seen?
Yes, I've been to regional tournaments. We were walking along the corridor, and Sasha Kogan (Alexander Kogan, general director of the RKF) - my best friend, we used to communicate when we were athletes and young coaches. We hugged each other. Ilyukha told me: "Grandpa, how do you know him? And I already told him. In Russia, you rarely see each other, but in America we met right away!
In general, there are a lot of our Soviet people at the competitions there.
#"It was hard with Ilya. Tanya even said: "We're done."
Was it immediately clear that Ilya would grow up to be a champion?
You know, with him it was quite difficult. If only because he's a boy (smiling). He was athletic from the very beginning, he was good at soccer. In general he liked competitive sports. For general training Tanya and Roma took him to gymnastics - he did somersaults in the pit.
In figure skating at first he didn't want to work on details. He would have liked to play soccer, but here he had to do a swallow... It didn't seem to be his thing. Roma and Tania brought him up for a long time, I came and joined in. But, I admit, it was hard. It got to the point where Tanya would say: "Let's call it a day. I can't make anything serious out of him. I said then: "Guys, it's a boy. Girls have to be ready for hard elements by 14 because then comes puberty, the body shaping, the center of gravity shifts, the sense of skate and ice changes. And this is a kid! Be patient, he'll catch the triplets, you won't be able to drag him away.
At what age were these difficulties?
Up to the age of 15, everything was complicated. When he got triplets, as I said, he got 'bored'. He started to get 'horny' - I want, I want, I want. At this age boys just wake up and understand what they need.
What helped Ilya to progress?
He has an interesting character trait. I remember we used to scare him that he didn't work hard enough, that he didn't train well enough. We were telling him, "Ilya, when you go to your competitions, there'll be five boys, and the one who works and trains well will win, and you'll be last". He says, "No, I won't be last. We say, "How's that?" He says, "You'll see!" And the interesting thing is, he came back all the time a winner or a runner-up. There's nothing to argue with.
For the next competition, the preparation goes hard again, and he's like, "I won't be last, you'll see!" He gets this trait from his mother - if I want to do it, I'll do it.
He once worked with his father on the triple axel, and even then Ilya said, "I'll do the fourth jump. I like that determination in him, to achieve everything, no matter what. I'm proud of him.
#"What is Ilya's secret? We work the way we were taught in the USSR."
And he jumped in the end! The first in history. What was such a secret training technique?
There are no secrets. I had a conversation with Tanya on this subject. Colleagues write to her, call her, ask what they do in such a special way. She answers simply: we work the way we were taught in the Soviet Union. Like Igor Borisovich, like I gave the technique - everything is the same, nothing special here. Plus Ilya's character, which I inherited from my mother. And when he became successful, it only strengthened his desire for new achievements.
It turns out that the knowledge that Roma and Tanya got, they transferred to Ilya's upbringing. And there was nothing supernatural there - everything as taught in the USSR. Ilya went through all that.
The coaches use different methods. It is clear that the correct technique is always the same. It is largely based on the work of our Professor Alexei Mishin. Later, maybe Eteri Tutberidze added something, but not much.
Do you watch your grandson's competitions live? Some parents and grandparents worry and find out the results later.
Of course, I do. I'm the coach, I can't refuse it. But before I was more worried, but now I look more calmly, analyze, look at what and where I could improve. Of course, there are mistakes, there are times when he falls down. But I believe in it, that's why it's interesting to watch.
What do you consider to be Ilya's best competition?
The last Grand Prix Final. He made a small mistake in the short program, but in the free skating he did surprisingly well. Roma went to the start with him; Tanya stayed with her daughter. After the unsuccessful short, Ilya said to his father: "Don't worry, I'll do everything in free skating".
The interview was recorded before Ilya became the USA champion.
#"Ilya drives up: 'Grandpa, what happened to your face? That's what he's doing."
What did you think when he did his first quadruple axel?
Oh, that went viral all over the internet! The guys worked and worked on it. It's good that it worked. And he took it easy.
Are quintuple jumps realistic?
Let's not think ahead, because even performing a quadruple is a big load on the ligaments and muscles. I hope to God that there will be no injury. Because he can play good, he sometimes has small sprains, but quadruplets are quadruplets. He wants to do seven quadruples.
I'm worried about his health. If he can do it, he'll do it.
Does your granddaughter Lisa also figure skate?
Yes. While Roma and his son are competing, Tanya takes care of Lisa. But the girl has a temper, too. Well, it's inherent to figure skating in general, moreover it's very hard to train your own child.
After Tanyusha I tried to work with my son myself. But I saw how much I would have to endure and I realized that I couldn't bear it. And now Tanyusha says: "Daddy, you're right, although she is capable according to her age, more capable than Ilya was, but now I think about how much more nerves, agony - everything, everything, everything, and I do not know if I can survive it all.
It's easier to train somebody else - he did something, he didn't do something, you get upset, of course. But you came home, you changed the scenery, you rebuilt, you rested psychologically. And when it is your child, you train him there, and when you come home, you train him here too. It turns out that when I visit them - father-coach, mother-coach, and now also grandfather-coach (laughs) came from Russia.
And how do you coach your grandson?
Oh, there were some funny moments! We work, we work. He comes up to me and says: "Grandpa, what happened to your face? I don't understand anything, so I ask him again. And then Tanya tells me: "Don't listen to him. He needs to switch gears all the time. Such a good boy!
Last year, after the silver at the U.S. Championships, Ilya was not taken to the Olympics. Were you worried?
Usually it was different. In Russia it happens that after the competition a team of coaches gathers and decides who to send - the one who won the right place or the one who is more promising.
That's not usually the case in the States. No matter how lame, sick, or hunchbacked you are, you win a spot and go to the competition. And then suddenly, all of a sudden, here it is... So they got the "party committee" together and began to decide. It was their decision. What can you do?
Is it fair?
It's hard for me to judge. It's up to them.
Could Ilya perform decently at the Olympics?
You know, there's no such a firm confidence. He was a boy. Yes, a confident boy - he always says that he will win. But psychology is such a thing.
It's a serious competition. You could send him, and the man broke down, and his hands were empty. And here, on the contrary, after he was not allowed, with his character, he said: "No, guys, I'll prove it to you." All things work out for the best. Maybe that was the right thing to do.
Ilya chose the nickname "God of quadruplets." He even wears a hat with such an inscription. Some fans in Russia think it's too much.
Americans were brought up differently. A Russian baptizes before you start, an American chews gum. Do you understand?
Our athletes in the USA are more relaxed, ours are more excited. I remember, after the performance at the Spartakiade, they were assembled, we were awarded, praised, and scolded. We were scolded without any choice of words. There was a lot of psychological pressure. And can you imagine what kind of pressure is there at the national team level? Although, maybe now everything has changed.
#Ilya wanted to quit figure skating and go into soccer. My daughter tells him, 'Sonny, you don't have to train there.
So Ilya is more American than Russian in character?
Yes. They're brought up in a completely different way. Where does a child usually grow up? Kindergarten, school - it's a collective. In the yard - it's also a collective. Everything there is according to its own laws. And there is a different team, the priorities are completely different.
In the U.S., I didn't see kids hanging out in the yard, playing. They're busy all the time. The bus takes them away in the morning and brings them back in the evening. Ilyushka used to leave early, because he's an athlete. But they all do it. I don't know at what level, what quality, I don't know. But the kids are always busy there. I didn't see any kids there who were left to themselves.
And on weekends you can see that they are doing sports, riding bicycles. There are a lot of running tracks, tennis courts - come and play. There's a lot to do there, that's why they are brought up in that environment, so they have a slightly different attitude.
Do you have any Russian traits in him?
Determination, a desire to get results by all means. It's in the blood of Russians. That's why there were three players of the US junior team that were born in Russia during the World Championships. A lot of Russian families move there and many children go in figure skating there.
Of course, his success is thanks to his parents. Tanya is such a goal-oriented person that if she wanted it, she would achieve it. If she wanted him to become a good athlete, she made every effort. If she had had a different character, less strong, more weak, nothing would have happened. I would have gone along with Ilya when he wanted to do soccer instead of figure skating.
You mean he wanted to leave figure skating for soccer?
Yes, he did. In conversations, at least. And Tanya told him: "Look, sonny, don't you have to train there? They demand it there, too. When he's uncomfortable, he tries to show his character - "You made me sick here, I'll go to soccer. No, buddy, it doesn't work that way.
#"It would have been more difficult for Ilya to break through in Russia.
Do you think if Tatiana and Roman had coached in Russia, they would have been able to achieve the same results with Ilya?
There are certain factors in Russia. You need to be three heads taller to make the national team. And to train in Moscow or St. Petersburg.
So it is harder to make it in our country?
Frankly speaking, it's more difficult. We have more athletes. My personal opinion is that it would be more difficult for Tatiana and Ilya to work their way up in Russia.
Ilya has become popular now. People talk about him both in America and in Russia. How do you feel about the increased media attention?
It always bothers me when those "brass trumpets" sound. I tell my daughter, "Tanya, it worries me. They grab a kid and that's it, it happens all the time". And she answers: "You know, Dad, he doesn't care." He really doesn't care what sounds out there. He lives in his own world, preoccupied with himself.
What is the psychology of Americans? The main thing is to have a good income, a friendly family, a house, a car, sports. Nothing distracting, no complications. Americans care more about what's in their backyard, not somewhere in the world. They're busy with themselves, introverts.
#"We are politicized. Americans are the opposite. Who's the president there? Doesn't matter."
Do you like this approach?
Everyone wants to live well, to have prosperity and to develop. When there are less problems - it is good. Then you can fully tune in to something serious. And when there are problems all around....
One day Tanya came to visit me, stayed here, looked and said: "Oh, Dad, this is how you live?" Well, how do we live? That's how you used to live. The next day she calls her husband and says: "Roma, take me away from here, I want to go home to America". Then she had to get registered, they took her fingerprints, some difficulties began. She felt a lot of pressure right away.
If you watch the news, you often hear that Americans don't like Russians, that there is Russophobia. Have you ever come across anything like that?
No. On the contrary, the people there are very friendly. Let's say I go for a jog or just walk in a tracksuit - everyone walks towards me, everyone says hello. Like in a big village! They don't know each other, but they say hello.
It's kind of insincere...
It doesn't matter. It's still nice for a man. I don't know them, and they say hello in the morning. They try to sympathize - they're athletes, I'm an athlete. Or let's take some public places, they just bump into me and apologize. Well, even if it's pompous, but it's humanly pleasant when people say hello to you and apologize for some little things.
And yes, they live in their own world. We're very politicized. Very politicized. And they, on the contrary, are apolitical. Who is the president there? It does not matter. The main thing is to have a job, a decent standard of living.
#"At home they speak Russian all the time. The youngest daughter speaks English already."
Do you keep in touch with your family? Do you call America?
Yes, we talk on Skype from time to time, we see each other on screens.
Ilya, by the way, has excellent Russian!
So they speak Russian all the time at home. Lisa, on the other hand, speaks only English. She can speak Russian, but not very well anymore. When we call each other, Ilyusha and I talk calmly and a lot. But Lisa has some difficulties. She says hello, and then leaves straight away. And her parents speak English with her.
Ilya got used to speaking Russian; my wife and I used to visit them every year. And all the time in Russian, in Russian, in Russian.
As a pioneering figure skater grandfather, don't you think the quadruple axel is worth too few points?
As a grandfather, I wish it was worth more. But don't get hung up on the jumps. A good skater is a harmoniously developed skater. He should be able to do everything - jump, slide and spin. Before there were only skaters who could jump, there were skaters who could rotate well, who had a good glide. Now there's a new judging system, and you have to be able to do everything.
Do you think Ilya is still not good enough in the second grade?
Yes. That's his difficulty. I remember when he was little, we told him, "Hold his hands, hold his back. But it's very hard for a kid. A girl is naturally feminine. But a boy is a boy. And he's forced to pretend to be something.
Even though he's been able to skate since he was a kid. When he was five, he was skating! You can see what kind of child will be: there are children who immediately feel the ice, balance, a skate - stood up, and skated, such a little. Usually they stomp and stomp, and then they will stomp for a long time. Ilya skated right away - he skated among the hockey players, we train together there.
What do you think of modern figure skating in general? Do you like any of the athletes?
I'll give a general opinion. Of course, our girls are very strong. They perform very well. Boys are not so good. The pairs are strong.
My pupil Andrey Hekalo was a coach of Evgeniya Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, he got a "deserved" for them. At first he coached singles. But one day I told him: "Andryush, I coached you as a pair skater. Why don't you try that one too?" Later he met Nina Moser at one of the tournaments, they talked, and he got into her team.
Team is very important in figure skating! For example, Eteri Tutberidze has a great team. Sergey Dudakov works on jumping competently, she supervises competently, and their choreographer is Daniil Gleikhenhaus.
It's a problem to create a team. All the young coaches want to make champions right away. There is no such thing. In the first Olympic cycle a person learns as a coach. He learns how to communicate, he learns how to coach, how to prepare - methodology, technique. And the next Olympic cycle you will learn, and the next one.
I have had my assistant Sonya for several years. Why did I took her? Because I trained her technique! And I don't have to teach her. And if I take someone else, I have to rebuild him. Sometimes it happens that you can't change a person.
Do you think Ilya could come to Russia? As far as I understand, he hasn't been to his parents' homeland yet.
No, he hasn't. I would like to see him as a human being. Would he be interested? I don't know. Honestly, I don't know. Whether he'll come or not - it depends on the circumstances. Right now everything is complicated.
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Source: https://sport24 dot ru/news/figureskating/2023-02-09-figurist-ilya-malinin-biografiya-rossiya-ssha-intervyu-deda-valeriya-malinina
Translated with Deepl
