He has been with Evgeni Plushenko since the very first day of the academy. Not just an OFP coach — a confidant of a two-time Olympic champion. Yerem Gazazyan frankly told Sport about the turmoil at school and its discoveries, the search for contact with Alexandra Trusova, the cool future of Plushenko Jr. and how to become your own for Plushenko Sr.
Coach Kostornoy brought confusion to the work
— Alexei Zheleznyakov said in a long-standing interview that choreography may be enough for a figure skater in terms of body development. Do you agree?- I can’t say anything about the work of Alexei Zheleznyakov, perhaps he teaches such incredible dances that all muscle groups are involved in them — then, of course, this statement is true. But I can absolutely say for sure that in order to work out some muscles, sometimes you have to puzzle over the exercises very much and the choreography can not help much here. For example, it’s hard for me to imagine that it’s realistic for an athlete to work out the quadriceps muscle or knee joint to the right extent at dances, especially if they were injured before. By the way, as far as I know, recently Eteri Georgievna (Tutberidze) has changed her mind about the need for physical training. And now, as I heard, she needs specialists in this field.
— Two seasons have passed since the superstar period of Alexandra Trusova and Alena Kostornaya's stay in the Angels…
— By the way, I would call it differently.
— How?
— The period of discovery.
— Why?
— At that time, I understood for myself how to work with accomplished athletes. Alexandra came to us as a ready-made figure skater, who clearly knows what she needs. For all of us, this was a novelty, it was necessary to urgently rebuild.
— In the case of Sasha, we found a common language almost instantly. In working with such athletes, the coach needs not only to speak, but also to listen. Your tasks and work plans fade into the background a little — the main thing is what he needs. In my opinion, this is a smart approach to the training process, when the coach and the athlete begin to work in tandem, trust each other.
— With Sasha, trust came right away?
— Very quickly, yes. Somehow, we immediately realized that we were comfortable working with each other, so there were no problems in the training process. But, of course, Alexandra is a very emotional, wayward person, and at some point she did not fully understand why I gave her certain exercises. In such cases, one had to go to certain tricks.
— For example?- Well, that's even cheat a little. It's just that before coming to us, Sasha had a different training process. She, in principle, did not have a certain type of load, so she logically believed that she did not need it. I had to show her by various methods that there is nothing wrong with these exercises — only good. And after she did the exercise, I explained what exactly it was for — and Sasha clearly saw that it really was useful.
And if outside of work, then everything in our academy children love Sasha. And I communicate with her very warmly, she recently came to visit my daughter. She was a very bright, indelible flash in our school. And a very important person in my coaching career. br>
Yes, her then coach Sergey Rozanov adhered to the position that a general physical training coach is not needed at all.
— Regarding Rozanov, I have repeatedly heard that in the team there were difficult, let's say, relations with him.
— If we draw parallels with history, then the period of Sergei's stay at the academy was a troubled time. Leaving his group without physical training and showing with all his appearance that this type of load is completely unnecessary, he only increased the number of injuries among his skaters. And because of Sergey, I was removed from the groups.
— How is it?
— In view of Sergey's position regarding general physical training, group classes were completely removed in our academy for six months on an experimental basis, only individual lessons remained for a very small number of skaters. That is, in this period, in fact, there was no OFP. And then it turned out that without it, the skaters had a significant decrease in endurance, sharpness disappeared, it became much more difficult to skate programs. Most of the necessary resources either disappeared altogether or decreased significantly. Therefore, management decided that this approach was wrong, and our original course was right. Therefore, we decided to return everything back.
— Sonya Muravyova is already entering the age when she understands what she needs?
— Sonya began treat training differently. She always came in with a desire to work, but now her approach is changing to a more adult one. jpg» />
— How is it? — Well, now we have a vacation, and I know for sure that she eats exactly as she needs, and does not allow too much. And this is not because she was forced — Sonya herself understands what she needs to achieve her goal. This is what distinguishes a professional athlete from a non-professional one.
— You said that your task is to find an approach and establish contact with the athlete. If we take the last few years, with whom was it easiest to do this, and with whom — harder?
— The easiest case in terms of communication and grinding is Sasha Trusova. And heavy… In principle, it's pretty easy for me with everyone.
— Even with Veronika Zhilina? She seems a bit shy from the outside.- She is really shy and, I will not be afraid of this word, intelligent. It is also delicate and fragile, but this soft wrapper contains a really strong character. As for the search for contact, it was not difficult with Veronika.
— There is an opinion that Veronika has quite a lot of injuries lately. What do you think caused this?
— Definitely difficult to answer. I can assume that just because for a long time, including in the Rozanov group, she did not have the same physical training classes, and the body took time to adapt to the new load. In addition, it cannot be ruled out that the foci of injuries began to appear much earlier — they simply did not pay attention to them or did not work them out enough.
Plushenko Jr. is very cool
— And how do you assess the prospects of Alexander Plushenko?
— What?
— Yes, in everything, he leaves only positive emotions in me. I have been working at the academy for six years already — one might say, I saw how he grew up, how his personality was formed. In front of my eyes, he began to do some simple exercises, and now he is jumping an excellent double axel and learning various triple jumps.Actually, he's a really talented guy. If he focuses on sports and, like his father, does not give up, he will succeed. And as for what they say about him from the outside, then this is all complete nonsense. It is very difficult to judge how an athlete will grow. This is especially true for boys — it happens that at first you don’t believe that he will be able to collect at least one ultra-si. And then he comes, conditionally, from vacation, starts working in a completely different way and achieves results.
— But in addition to talent, there is also the factor of super-famous parents. I think that many in Sasha's place could lose their heads from this.
— I would not say that Alexander has something like that. In training, he behaves the same way as all other children. Sasha in the classroom is first of all himself, and not his father's medals. He is a separate person. It seems to me that one should not consider him only as a successor to Evgeny Viktorovich. If he wants, he will achieve everything, but this will be his own story, and not just copying the path of his father.
— How did you get into figure skating at all?
— At first I came into it as a person working with the support of dancers. One day my great friend Dmitry Ionov called me (now works in the team of Alexander Zhulin — ed.) and offered to work as a figure skating coach. I agreed — and that's how I got into this sport. After a while, my other friends from figure skating advised me precisely as an OFP specialist to Nina Moser's skating rink.
— How did lifts transform into OFP?
— It's just that my skater friends realized that I understand this topic. And I liked it more than support, because here you develop in a wider area. Well, then I already got to Evgeny Viktorovich — also, one might say, through an acquaintance. At one of the shows, during a break, he asked the participants if they had a friend in general physical training — and several people immediately told him that they should take me.
As a result, I came to him for an interview. Naturally, it was exciting. Of course, I knew who Yevgeny Viktorovich was before meeting him, but it's one thing to know someone in absentia, and another personally. He suggested that I conduct a trial one and a half hour lesson, but he made the decision in about 10 minutes. He immediately said: «Let's talk after class.» This is how it all started.
— I heard that before that you managed to visit Khrustalny as well.
— Yes, I conducted additional classes there. I was called individually for trauma work and recovery. I also remember this time only from the positive side. He studied there, in particular, with Daniil Samsonov and a little with Alena Kostorna. Danya is a really cool guy, by the way. Then he was already beginning to have the beginnings of problems with his legs, pain began … His mother turned to me for help.
— In your opinion, how to become «one's own man» for Evgeni Plushenko? I think you can judge it like no one else.
— It seems to me that the main qualities are decency and professionalism. And what about the fact that during the time that I work at the academy, many coaches left, then my upbringing simply did not allow me to do some of the things that they did. That's all.
— What is he like as a leader and as a person?
— As a leader — certainly demanding, but not in vain. From the point of view of a subordinate, Plushenko is comfortable. And as a person… I was surprised even at the moment when I came for an interview. The fact is that I had fears that a person of his status would show his arrogance at any convenient or inconvenient occasion. I often met with such people.
But Evgeny Viktorovich turned out to be completely different. He takes pictures with everyone, and helps, and you can discuss any problem with him. In communication, he is just a good person, without stardom.
strong>- And Yana Rudkovskaya?
— Honestly, I have no idea how she manages to do everything, but she does a lot for the academy in general and for athletes in particular. This includes numerous shows in which our athletes take part, and direct financial assistance to children. In my day, I could not even dream of such a thing. And in general, when Yana Alexandrovna just stands next to you, it charges you better than an energizer.
I didn’t earn a penny in rock and roll, but Russia is the strongest in it
— You have been involved in acrobatic rock'n'roll for a long time, and became the world and European champion. Tell us what kind of sport this is?
— It is not as popular as the types from the Olympic program, but nevertheless it is very difficult. He took 20 years of my life. I was sent to it after my sister, at the age of 3 — and over time things went. As a result, a career developed.
— Can they even make a living?
— Well, now it has become much more popular than in my time. Perhaps now there are some ways of earning money.
— In your time there were none?
— No. I haven't made a dime there in 20 years. We also went to competitions for our own money. Then you bring home a painted piece of iron and you are completely happy with it. There was such a time that no one even thought that it could somehow be commercialized. And nothing — they came and practiced.
We got to the start by bus. At the age of 10, I trained at the Alfa club, from which we went to Lyon. The route lay through Paris, the whole journey lasted three days in one direction. In total — a week on the road. I don’t remember the details, but sitting in one place for several days was not very cool.
— Why did you do all this in this case?
— No matter how trite it may sound, but in order to simply be the best in this business. I enjoyed the process, despite all the nuances. And by the way, Russia is the strongest in acrobatic rock and roll. But even my classmates at school didn't know what I was doing. This is not the easiest sport, traumatic. There were many situations when a partner, studying a conditional back flip with insurance, twisted it in the air and flew into my chin with the back of her head. Once I flew so that I bit my tongue from all sides and fed through a tube for two weeks. And sometimes the partner accidentally hits her heel in the Adam's apple at speed — and that's it, it's impossible to breathe.