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Evgeni Plushenko does not lose hope of fighting with Alexei Yagudin for a powerful fee, promises to turn his academy into an Olympic village, finds motivation for Alexandra Trusova, and plans to send his son Sasha to football. The two-time Olympic champion spoke about all this and much more in an interview with Sport.
“Sikharulidze saw my torn pants…”
—Many Russian figure skating fans have the impression that that the FFKKR released Sofya Samodelkina to Kazakhstan and Sofya Titova to Armenia only thanks to your good relations with the head of the federation Anton Sikharulidze.
— Anton and I have been friends for a long time. I will never forget how in St. Petersburg, seeing my torn pants and worn-out sneakers, he brought a huge package. Although his shoes were several sizes too big, I was wearing the sneakers I had been given as a gift. On tours, Tom Collins and Anton lived in the same room, he is my son’s godfather. I have great respect for his activities at the head of the federation, I know about the reforms that he is going to carry out. It just has nothing to do with the transitions of the skaters. Samodelkina came to me already having a residence permit in Kazakhstan and having initiated the process of changing citizenship. We simply finalized all the legal issues with Sikharulidze and the general director of the federation, Alexander Kogan. The decision to compete under the flag of Armenia was made by Titova herself and her mother. It is their choice.
— It’s hard to believe that this process took place without the participation of Ararat Zakarian, who was your manager for many years.
— Your group is dominated by figure skaters, which makes you remember the phrase of Alexei Nikolaevich Mishin: “It’s better to have two not the most talented guys than one most talented girl.»
“The professor didn’t say that: “One boy is better than ten girls.” I admit honestly that when I was a boy I did not understand him. How so? Ten girls, of which one or two must “shoot” in every way, and one boy! Mishin kept repeating: “When you become a coach, you will understand.” And now I understand. Girls are more difficult to manage, even more difficult to simply guide them in their work. Especially when they are 14-15. And now most of my students are at this age.
— If not at this age, then at 16-17, girls still tend to fall in love with their charismatic coach…
— I haven't encountered this yet. Maybe everything is ahead.
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— Together with those who are preparing for the new season, Alexandra Trusova is working on the full program in training. Is there any plans for her to return to big-time sports?
— She is practicing her short and free programs. Trusova has goals, she wants to prove that she has not yet said the last word in figure skating. The decision is up to her in any case. Sasha can return and perform at a good level. She is a girl with an amazing character that has not gone anywhere. It is a pleasure to work with her now. Trusova has become more mature and experienced, she has finally started to listen and hear her coach. This was not the case before and it was difficult.
— Is Trusova still upset that she failed to become an Olympic champion in Beijing with five landed quadruple jumps?
— We never talk about this. Today, a skater can do six quadruple jumps and still lose. We need to accept the current judging system, which evaluates more than just jumps. A well-executed spin can even earn more points. If an athlete doesn't understand this, we have to explain it.
«Lipnitskaya has freedom of action»
— After Vancouver, where Evan Lysacek became an Olympic champion without quads at all, you and Mishin made a lot of efforts to raise the price of ultra-si elements. Now the ISU has initiated reforms that should lead to a reduction in the number of jumps in the free program and will make it possible to repeat the same elements. Will you adapt to the new rules?
— There must be different jumps in programs. The time has come. After Vancouver they asked me when they would do the quadruple axel and 4+4 cascades. I gave it ten years and was practically not mistaken. Malinin already consistently performs the quadruple axel at competitions and is not afraid to even include a triple axel in the short program. Now Vladislav Dikidzhi has shown it.
— How deeply do you delve into the problems of sports couples and dance duets that Plushenko’s Angels represent at competitions?
“I don’t even have time to work with all the singles skaters.” I lead three groups. Working in Moscow, Yulia Lipnitskaya has complete freedom of action. Just like Natalya Vladimirovna Linichuk in working with dance duets. They have their own methods. Even their own choreographers. Of course, you have to delve into organizational issues. Our coaches have freedom when it comes to the training process.
— Mishin recognized you as a coach?
— He hasn’t told me about this yet, but he’s okay with it. Soon on the territory of the Academy we will install a bust of the Professor next to Nikolai Panin-Kolomenkin and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry already standing at the entrance to the ice arena.
— Where are your medals and screws, testifying to numerous surgical interventions?
— In the house next to the skating rink, a special room is reserved for them. There are medals and broken screws. Recently there was an exhibition at VDNKh, and my Olympic medals were taken away. They asked for three weeks, returned after three months.
— Do you see in the current generation of figure skaters capable of repeating your achievements and winning four medals at four Olympics?
— I honestly admit: I don’t see it. Sometimes I wonder how I managed to do this with so many injuries and surgeries, as well as shows in which I had to perform. There were 18 operations under general anesthesia alone! I can’t explain how I went on the ice after that, how I withstood the loads necessary to be at the top. For a long career, you need to be very calm and balanced. Now I look at the children — they freak out at the first thing. I’m generally silent about my parents.
Gnome Gnomych became interested in football
— Alexander Plushenko won his first victories, albeit at rather modest all-Russian competitions, last season. Your son asks to show your championship performances and tell us how Olympic medals are obtained?
— Slowly I began to become interested in this. Sasha is getting older, and many things are becoming interesting to him. He finds my programs from different years in search engines and looks at them carefully. He asks something. Although lately he has become very interested in football. Perhaps, when a football school opens at our academy, Sasha will study there in parallel with figure skating.
— How did Sasha react to the appearance of his younger brother?
— He loves him very much, nurses him, educates him. The guys are always together. Good boys.
—Your and Yana’s plans to give the boys a sister were published in the media. How serious are they?
— Yana and I have five boys between us. We really need a girl! It's just in the plans for now. Now we need to resolve all issues related to the academy.
— A grandiose construction project is underway on the territory of the academy. One gets the impression that you are building an Olympic village here.
— This is true! Being already a successful and wealthy person, I always wanted to build my own ice arena. Now the plans have expanded. I want Plushenko’s Angels to become a multidisciplinary sports academy, which will include tennis, football, and hockey schools. We are already recruiting initial football training groups in August. The hockey school will be headed by our legendary Olympic champion Valery Kamensky. In the future, we will probably also open a short track school on our ice rinks.
— In addition to sports facilities, we are also building medical rehabilitation center. For what?
— This idea was prompted by the treatment of my own ailments. Communicating with coaches in various sports, I was surprised to learn that even junior coaches do not understand why rehabilitation procedures and massage are needed. At our academy, two highly professional massage therapists and a doctor work with figure skating groups. The last rehabilitation (similar procedures are necessary after all injuries) took place at the center of Dmitry Nikolaevich Dzukaev, who operated on me twice. He developed a unique method of restorative procedures in water. I want to involve him along with his assistants to work with our athletes.
— After the next miracle procedures, what content are you ready to include in the numbers in your shows?
— Now I have set myself the task of restoring the triple axel. In my fifties, I want to perform it, including in shows. I feel like I'm in good shape. This week we resume training for my hockey team “Union of Champions”. This season we are going to the NHL, the Night Hockey League, and we dream of reaching the final tournament in Sochi.
br>— How great is the competition in the field of ice shows now and how do you “share the clearing” with Ilya Averbukh and Tatyana Navka?
— Competition is a good story. It should be in any field. There are still the same people on the market now: Averbukh, Navka and Plushenko with Rudkovskaya. They all have good products and the public has a choice. Our shows are always sold out. Perhaps because it is possible to attract high-class athletes to participate. The skaters who train at Plushenko's Angels are given additional work, and they all earn their fees by performing ultra-si elements in the show. The same Makar Ignatov, when he was still training with my good friend Evgeniy Rukavitsyn, performed three dozen quadruple jumps in our shows during the tour.
— Only Ignatov dares to do this?
— No, all the skaters from our academy participating in our shows. Not only during encores, but also in her numbers, Sofya Samodelkina tries to perform a triple Axel and a quadruple Salchow, Alexandra Trusova — a quadruple Lutz, Sofya Muravyova — a triple Axel, Veronika Zhilina — the same triple Axel and two quadruple jumps, Nikita Sarnovsky — several quads. For guys who perform not only in shows, but also in competitions, this is an excellent rehearsal in front of spectators.
— Ignatov, training with Rukavitsyn, performed not only in your shows. Now that he has moved to the Plushenko's Angels Academy, will you allow him to do this?
— If our athlete will be paid for all training expenses, why not? Let him earn good money. Although I prefer the approach practiced by Tom Collins, the organizer of the Champions on Ice tours. The Stars on Ice troupe toured at the same time, but Collins clearly set the condition: either — or. At one time, I chose Champions on Ice and skated there for more than ten years. Collins, whom I consider the greatest manager, took me into his troupe when I was only 15 years old, and helped me in every way. If we return to the question of our athletes performing in Navka or Averbukh's shows, I'm not sure that they have the budgets to handle the invitation.
— Wasn't there enough budget for Muravyova in their own show?
— This year Sonya will focus on sports competitions. That's probably right. This is her choice and her decision, which I, as a coach, supported. She will still have time to make money on the show. I want to emphasize that each participant in the ice show has his own price. I have been in this business for a very long time and have worked my way up from the bottom to the top. I started skating for a fee of a thousand dollars.
— What was the maximum?
— 150 thousand dollars for one exit. I was one of the most expensive athletes and I think that I had the right to it. At one time, Pro-Am tournaments, in which professionals and amateurs competed, were a good source of income for skaters. They generally paid fabulous amounts of money there.
—You set your price for participation in the “Russian Challenge” show program tournament at ten million rubles. If there are sponsors who are ready to shell out that kind of money so that the audience can see the continuation of the long-standing duel Plushenko vs Yagudin, will you go out on the ice?
— The price has been set, and it does not change. If there are people willing to pay, you will definitely see me on the ice. I’m interested in competing again, and not only with Yagudin. This is why I am restoring the triple axel.
—Your academy is, on the one hand, a private commercial project whose goal, like any similar project, is to make a profit, and on the other hand, you train skaters for the national teams of several countries. How do you manage to combine these incompatible things?
“This is really a family project between us and Yana Rudkovskaya, but we are receiving a lot of help from the governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, and the head of the Odintsovo district, Andrei Ivanov. Thanks to their support, we are able to solve many issues related to the life support of the academy. We are not earning anything yet, but everything is ahead. I always repeated that our project is long-term. In five years we want to build everything we have planned in our “Olympic Village”. True, we are not at a loss even now due to the holding of our shows. Many of our athletes joined the Moscow region team, which will bring additional subsidies for ice rental. This will be a significant help.
— Do you get paid extra for training with Sofia Samodelkina and Sofia Titova from the Figure Skating Federation of Kazakhstan and Armenia?
—They don't pay anything yet. This month Samodelkina is scheduled to compete at the Kazakhstan Championships, after which I want to hold negotiations with the mayor of Astana, who has shown interest in financing the preparation of his country’s Olympic hope.
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