The beginning of the «transfer window» in Russian figure skating turned out cheerful. First, Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin left the mentors. Now a similar decision was made by the champions of Russia among sports couples Alexandra Boykova and Dmitry Kozlovsky. The athletes said goodbye to the legendary Tamara Moskvina and became part of the star group of Eteri Tutberidze.
The transition can already be safely considered a fait accompli. It remains only to settle the small details with the documents.
“We received a statement from Alexandra Boikova and Dmitry Kozlovsky,” Anton Sikharulidze, President of the Russian Figure Skating Federation, told Sports. “They want to try working with another coach after years of cooperation with Tamara Moskvina. We hope that this experience will be positive. We will continue in every way support a couple, we really hope for them. There will be no obstacles to the transition. «
She calmly accepted the departure of the students and Moskvin. Two years ago, in her 80th anniversary interview, she argued that «transfers» in pursuit of new successes are not a betrayal. An athlete cannot be considered property, since he is free to control fate.
As Tamara Nikolaevna emphasized, when skaters want to go to her, she is interested in whether all issues have been resolved with the former coach.
«»If someone wants to leave our group, no problem,» said the coach. «A bouquet of flowers, a glass of champagne and a huge thank you.»
The bouquet was presented at the end of April. Although, at first glance, there were no prerequisites for the departure of Boikova and Kozlovsky. It is hardly worth taking seriously the allegations of some kind of conflict between the skaters and the coach, who brought them to the level of European champions and two-time Russian champions.
Moskvina has always built relationships with athletes according to the «Leader — Subordinate» scheme. She noted that she not only taught the elements, put on programs, but also educated. Organized participation in various commercial projects. She was not joking when she said that she provided promotion in the figure skating market and even taught how to communicate with the press.
Although Alexandra and Dmitry did not fully learn the lessons of the mentor. Remember Boikova's emotional reaction after her performance at the 2021 World Cup. The pair, considered the favorite, missed the championship. Many journalists savored the rudeness of the athlete towards the coach, but Moskvina resolutely stopped such conversations.
“Being a direct participant in the events, I don’t even see a reason for discussion,” she snapped in a comment.
In the Olympic Beijing, Boikova and Kozlovsky remained below the line of winners. Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov became champions in the team and bronze medalists in individual competitions. Also students of Moskvina. Immediately after the end of the competition, Kozlovsky, with the intonations of an excellent student who received a «four», complained about the low marks.
The athletes and the coach made the right conclusions from the failure. They stepped up the content, learned the quad twist and release, and the short program included a triple loop. The programs of the current season, especially the free program «Anna Karenina», can be safely called the pinnacle of creativity.
The victory at the Russian Championship, which without international starts became the main competition of the season, is absolutely deserved. As Moskvina emphasized, the programs are the result of the work of her team. Coach Arthur Minchuk, dance coach Nikolai Moroshkin, invited choreographers — People's Artist of Russia Albert Galichanin and Honored Artist of Russia Elena Kuzmina.
The headquarters of Moskvina has already delivered programs for Boikova and Kozlovsky for the new season. Anzhelika Krylova was invited to work on the free program, who noted that it was very interesting and comfortable to work with the guys. Therefore, figure skating fans, experts and judges had to evaluate the new images of the skaters.
Now it is almost impossible to hope for it. In the group of Eteri Tutberidze, they prefer not to use the luggage of their predecessors in the presence of Daniil Gleikhengauz in the team. For Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, the director from Khrustalny found a style that helped the experienced couple achieve their main success in their careers — silver at the Beijing Olympics. ice». There they performed a quadruple ejection in public. Kozlovsky even let slip that these elements are an integral part of the large-scale preparation for the 2026 Olympics. The help of Sergei Dudakov was not mentioned, but implied.
There is no superiority of the Tutberidze group over the team of Tamara Moskvina in other aspects. Eteri Georgievna participates in the preparation of sports couples as a chef who evaluates the routine work of assistants — Maxim Trankov and Alexei Tikhonov. Sometimes Pavel Slyusarenko joins them. Moskvina is involved much deeper.
It is absolutely wrong to link the departure of Boikova and Kozlovsky with many years of competition in the person of Mishina and Gallyamov. As Minchuk emphasized, four outstanding personalities coexisted perfectly in one locker room. The girls have been friends since childhood. If you wish, you can even find a photo in which very young Sasha and Nastya go snowboarding.
For homebound St. Petersburg residents, moving to Moscow is a serious challenge. Whether he is justified, we will see very soon. After all, Mishina and Gallyamov, as well as their coaches, received new motivation to complicate the content and stage interesting programs. It will definitely not be boring.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors