I hope you feel better soon! Thanks for sharing! Also for sharing the translations. I was in Ballet for way too long and understand some of this all too well. I'm so sorry they feel they need to do so much to be great! They're all amazing!
I'm a Russian native speaker and I've listened to the whole podcast, so I thought I'd add something that I found worth noting. Aliona said that despite all the abuse and being aware of it, she was still determined to continue because she knew that if she doesn't come out on ice, another young girl would just take her place and basically deprive her of everything that she'd worked on so hard up to the moment. I think this again proves that Eteri is very much willing to just dump her trainees during hard times in favour of someone who's younger, lighter, thinner, healthier etc - it's like a conveyor belt. And that the girls are motivated by fear and by rivalry, not by the feeling of being appreciated. Also you were 100% right about why Aliona loves the sport, she said herself that she's driven by the crowd, that she loves the adrenaline and the thrill more than skating itself and that it's basically the only thing that is still keeping her in the sport since now the competition is so severe that she might even have no chance to succeed at major events.
@@cawley4172 Lol date like anyone ever, and then get super existential about it emotionally and internally and you relate soo hard XD it's the need to impress that' the root of the evil, but honestly, i think competition is too natural for our species.
@Gerardo Resendiz maybe that's because unless they're more or less famous they don't feel confident enough to tell such things. And it usually takes time to realize that you've been abused too
@Gerardo Resendiz a lot of the gymnasts who came out about Nassar's abuse had retired from gymnastics without going elite. You wouldn't know when the non-famous people talk about abuse because nobody listens to them
In what right do you judge her mother, the one who raised her? You heard literally one side of the story and you think you know it all from the inside and you have the right to judge it. The way to accomplishment is tough, And Aliona is pretty set up for life already. She ain't looking like such a victim to me.
Looking back at aliona when she was just a junior and how beautiful her skating was and thinking she's going places in the sport! she had so much potential even after she reached senior level that the world deserved to see more of her and her beautiful skating... she reminds me a bit of lipnitskaya in how her light was dimmed because of tutberdize :(
She should change to Orser like Medvedeva did, she matured so much as a skater there and from the interactions with her trainer, you got the impression there was a lot of appreciation there as well.
My heart breaks for Anna. She’s been going through this for over a decade, she’s never known anything else. I hope and pray she finds a way out, finds a coach (if she continues skating) that loves and values her, and finds unlimited joy and happiness
My heart hurts for Aliona and it doesn’t surprise me that poor Anna got it the worst. The poor girl has always been downgraded and what she takes away is that she medaled at the Olympics. She’s so dang smart I wish she would stand up for herself. So much respect for all of them. They don’t deserve any of the abuse.
I agree that they are both very intelligent girls, especially given what is going on in their country. Anna didn't show up at Kremlin when Putin was meeting other Olympic medalists yesterday. That was a very brave and smart decision in my opinion.
Anna really is amazing, I’m totally smitten. Its quite tragic though. She’s got the looks, the smarts, is sweet, and heartthrob but still has to take abuse.
Tbh it's not only that Anna now probably thinks that enduring all of it and never standing up to them was worth it bcs she got the medal, - it also gives Eteri and the rest of them the ability to say to set her as the example, to send the message that fighting back will diminish their chances at winning and tbh that's just scary
You know what is the worst besides all of the worst rumors being confirmed to be true? The fact that we didn't need this interview, we have seen two Olympics now, where mentally broken girls skate out of their skin, podium and still it doesn't mean happiness. We remember how Anna looked, Sasha breaking down and legit the only happy one being Kaori, since she has proper geographical borders between herself and camp Eteri. Honestly? Good on Kostornaia going "you know what? I'm leaving and burning not only bridges, but you and your reputations with it". Though will that heal the wounds on her soul from years of mistreatment and abuse? Nothing ever will, which breaks my heart.
as shocking as all of this information is, it doesn't surprise me. aliona basically confirmed what we all already knew about the abusive tactics of the tutberidze camp. the part about anna makes me rethink so much about anna's skating and just her relationship with the media. she has a reputation of being really "poised, well spoken" and nothing ever seems to phase her. and her power of mind is a well known fact in the fs community. i wonder how much she must be used to numbing down everything she feels to earn those medals. i mean this girl literally said she felt numb after winning an OLYMPIC GOLD (granted there were many many other things contributing to that)
Anna saying "special thanks for my mum for coming to every training session" after winning Olympics makes me question things right now. (also looking at the fact that if the moms would protect their children from the abuse, they would have probably ended up miles away from them, not being able to interfere like Alina's mum.)
@@multiwatever101 yes, Anna’s parents seem to be the most supportive out of the most. Sasha’s kept on wanting her to receive the gold medals. Aliona’s mom seems to be emotionally abusive to me. While Anna’s parents from her words have actually created positive environment at home. They were not demanding at all. That’s what she said in the last interview. To me it seems like she gets a lot of support from her dad, which is so important for girls in particular.
I used to be a figure skater, and when I was young I absolutely loved the sport. Each time I went on the ice, I would skate until the last possible second before the zamboni came out on the ice and forced me off. After practices, I would beg my mom for more rink time. My mom was very supportive of my skating, and encouraged my passion for the sport. I remember the first time I landed a double loop double loop combination, she took me out for icecream after. Those are some of my favorite childhood memories. However, when I started competing in serious competitions, things took a turn. My mom became so involved with my skating, it became an obsession to her. She would record my sessions with my coach, and afterwards while I practiced would shout at me, in front of everyone in the rink, if I did something wrong. I would skate 5 days a week, everyday before school, and required I do off-ice training 7 days a week. If I didn't hit my quota for the day, or had an off day where I didn't land all my jumps or practice all my spins, she would take something from me. She would take my laptop and phone away for weeks, or not allow me to see friends, until I accomplished a new element. She would scream at me if I was too tired to skate, or couldn't do something. It completely smothered my love for skating. A sport I loved so much, was weaponized against me. It was no longer about the fun of learning new things but the pressure to do well. Being at the rink and being at home were both stressful environments and I felt like I couldn't get a break. My relationship with my mom became strained and I eventually quit before I turned 14. Having a parent be too involved with their child's performance can smother any passion that child has for their hobbies. It is toxic and hurtful, and I can imagine how exhausted and miserable Kostornaia was to be surrounded by adults who just kept demanding more from her. When you say, "I don't think she was ever in love with figure skating I think she was in love with the theatrics," I don't know if I agree. In my experience, I know I genuinely LOVED skating. It was my everything. But being in a harmful environment where my love of skating was weaponized against me, with constant negative reinforcement from my family, made it impossible for me to enjoy it anymore. It became dangerous to love it, so I stopped.
Smart girl. Valieva was just exploited in the test skates free skate. She was used as a pawn to make Eteri look good. Sickening. Best of health to you. Health is wealth.
Every time, I hear about what is going in Tutberidze team I have flashbacks to the abuse my friends and I endured in Art schools and Music schools in Poland. Constant humiliation and screams from teachers and parents, vomits, s-h and panic attacks, being the best one in the group one moment to then being dumped like a nothing after the back, eyesight or wrist injury. I kind of can relate too much to them despite not being an athlete. It's the sick mentality of adults thinking that under pressure they will make gold or a diamond.
It's not surprising to me that FS parents are such stage moms, no child would willingly do that to themselves. I hope Aliona gets the best situation out of this that she can. Also, can you also do an intro to the Japanese figure skating people? Would be fun.
@@luyumi9568 Mie Hamada vs Marin Fans and Nobunari Oda Daisuke, one of the first big Japanese FS star The drama that was Yuzu's senior debut The rise of Yuzu, the fall of Daisuke Mao Asada and her rivalry with Yuna Kim The short lived super star that was Marin Honda Shoma Uno who was very rarely Uno The rise of Yuma Kagiyama Shun Sato, the next Sendai super star. Kaori, the light of Paola's life Wakaba, the criminally underscored skater Rika the next big thing in FS if she wasn't so underscored
Not ALL skating mums are like that! My mum was an incredible support, in all the right ways. Not pushy or demanding at all. She expected me to work, as it was costing my parents a fortune obviously, and as she said "I'm not getting up at 4.45am every morning to watch you stand at the side!" and I think that was more than fair. She worked part time PLUS spent 22hrs a week at the rink with me, and gave up any social life she could have had for 12 years for me. I skated another 6 professionally under my own steam. I saw some absolute horrors of parents in my time in skating, and tbh I think they're even worse nowadays. I saw it when I was coaching. Coaches get zero support from parents nowadays. Little "Samantha" is always right, and the coach wrong, and they'll switch coaches at the drop of a hat. They'll literally argue that they know more than you (😂) even with 40 years experience in the sport 🙄🤦🏼♀️
Aliona is just so strong and she has a great instinct of what is good for her and her body. This girl had the guts to do what felt best for her (I’m talking about the transition to AoP) despite her mother and federation being against it!!! I just wish people at the time of the transition wouldn’t give her such hard time saying “she doesn’t know what she is doing”, “she goes from one bad decision to another” etc, because she really DID know what she was doing. I really wish that she will come back stronger than ever 💙
So much heartbreak for 3A, the injuries, disappointments, breakdowns and abuse. I knew from following Medvedeva and Zagitova to expect a rough journey but I never imagined that 3A would turn out like this. In just a few years, they went from Powerpuff girls sharing a podium to each having their individual issues
It really paints the picture for anna here. Maybe her mental strength came from all the things she has to endure from the coaches, especially since shes been with them since the beginning, thus she was forced to be resilient. She also mentioned before how what happens in training should stay in traininh
I think she has this incredible trait within her to separate training from real life, but certainly most people aren't able to do this very well since emotions run the course. But she's very logical I am always reminded how she has demonstrated how the press negative attitude almost means nothing to her because she doesn't feel like it's a role ro be acknowledged by a press as a figure skater, but it is to skate well.
This situation with a Anna taking the most abuse is similar to Margarita Mamuns Olympic gold in rhythmic gymnastics 2016. She also took the most abuse from Irina Viner and ended up winning despite not being the favourite for gold.
I watched the documentary about her a few months ago on YT, and I was horrified by her treatment. It was heartbreaking 💔. I don't blame her for quitting as soon as she won Oly's. I would have too tbh.
Tbh I don't think Mamun got it harder than Yana. We just think that because we saw more of her in that doc. But there's a scene in there where Yana confronts Rita and says "What did she do to you, did she yell at you?" Which to me signifies that they likely both got it from from Viner
@t if I'm not mistaken there's a scene where Yana tells Rita that when she's good they tell her she's beautiful and everything but when she does something bad she's a fat cow. It's a scene where they talk about how heavy the leotards are. I believe it's because we didn't see enough of Yana and their interactions, but I'm sure they did the same to her. Viner did want Yana to win but she most probably got the same abuse.
The part about using Sasha as an good example is very telling. It's a textbook abusive, manipulative tactic as the coach basically pit these girls against each other. Sasha being the example doesn't mean she's the favorite at all. They simply used her not because she was number 1 or she won anything (because she didn't, all she did in the past 3 years was losing) but they need her to gaslight everyone else and make them believe that they better keep working harder (like Sasha) or else they will never be good enough. An environment like this is just the worst for everyone as the coach basically sabotage these girls' relationship so they can achieve what the coach want them to achieve.
Totally agree. Sasha’s training mentality and personality are exactly what eteri wants all her students to have - never stop, always working hard, always listens and not talkative, training machine. And Sasha is really not cared about at all. She’s basically held against all other girls. Honestly if I were in the position of Anna and aliona, maybe all I can feel is resentment towards the role model. And just look at her programs. Seriously, novice girls programs looks more delicate and well-organized than Cruella. Omg I just feel so so sorry for all the girls but as far as I can foresee, Sasha and Anna are probably not going and able to leave eteri’s group any time soon. Alionas being through so much mental and physical pain, but I’m happy she has left with decisions made by herself, and with a few gold medals.
@@l.s4450 have you heard what plushenko said about Sasha being difficult to train because she pushes herself too hard in jumps when there are aspects elsewhere to improve... she's almost on autopilot for working to the point of exhaustion without giving much though to long term health. Eteri has brainwashed this into her and when she didn't win gold in Olympics...it completely broke her.
I was always under the impression that Aliona's parents were the most liberal ones because they allowed her to change coaches but it turned out that her mum is just another stage mum and everything was Aliona's choice. This makes me a bit concerned because it seems like Eteri selects students who are 1) pretty (and thus marketable) and 2) have crazy parents who will work with her. This makes me extremely concerned about all the Tutberidze girls, especially Anna because they all have stage parents and thus no support system.
From what I’ve read in interviews, Anna’s parents are far from so-called stage parents though. They have advised Anna to give up figure skating at several points of her career, but Anna was just too passionate in FS. I actually feel Anna’s family provided her with the support and education she needed to be so resilient and level headed.
Anna parents where definitely stage parents. Like why did aliona say that “Anna had it the worst”? Anna was being Emotional abuse, mentally abuse by her team and coaches..
I love how open Aliona is to talking about everything that happened to her and the girls. She's always been my favorite Russian skater and I wish to see more of her with her new coach. I believe that had COVID not happened, she would've walked away as at least the 2020 World Champion. What she went through was absolutely disgusting, especially from her own mother. The fact that Anna got it worst makes my heart break even more for her seeing how classy and intelligent she is. Putting the Tutberidze skating technique aside, we all love Anna as a person and she has the talent, yet she's so often put down by the people who say she's the "favorite". The adults really failed them both, as well as Sasha and Kamila of course
I still have zero comprehension how Anna hasn't been completely broken in the process. When she won, I felt like she finally got her redemption arc for her resiliency (press and training abuse)...but again like you mentioned, it becomes a reinforcing evidence for Team Tutberidze to justify their system of abuse. Honestly, fuck all the people who believed she was the overall favourite (except Daniil who has this weird trope of love-hate for Anna?? Major red flag imo)...she was the unexpected winner as she lost her favour after placing behind Kamila in various competitions. Treated almost like a backup medalist in case Trusova didn't get a clean skate. Of course, Tutberidze would claim that her win was expected, when in reality Anna proved that it wasn't Tutberidze but purely on her own determination that she won that gold. But of course, Anna has likely been so brainwashed under their training, I'm not sure if she realised she should only thank herself for that gold
The thing is Aliona has gone through this exact abuse and is in awe how Anna actually for a lack of words to describe, managed to place herself in Gold. Not that she had doubts about her skills at all but one must question how does one survive under that kind of abuse. And that Anna chooses to not retaliate in any form or way?? Just how??
@@jahanb2002 Daniil seems to outwardly be the most affectionate towards Anna and people have commented that she tends to get the best choreography, but he is surrounded by a bunch of red flags including comments about weight management, Anna being obedient and loyal...I mean this is the case, the more a person is seen as affectionate in an abusive environment, the more likely they are the enablers (not asking anyone to believe these rumours or accusations, but everyone should be wary)
@@jahanb2002 Daniil had a very strange relationship with Alina that many ignorant fans in would respond to and say that they should date. The way he hugged her sometimes gave me the creeps however he has always been a minion to eteri so behind eteris back he would be all loved up to Alina and in front of eteri he would hate her the way eteri hated her and same here with Anna. Both Alina and Anna have very similar personalities, the type to stay quiet and take and obedient and just take the abuse, they wouldn’t speak up like aliona. So it’s very interesting that the two girls Daniil has seemed to have a strange relationship with are the two girls who in my opinion would be the easiest of the bunch to manipulate. This is all just my thoughts not confirmed facts. I’m guessing that’s what the comment above was referring to
I wish they would raise the age for senior competition. It's despicable that coaches clearly see it as an ADVANTAGE that their bodies are 'light' and under-developed. Imagine if they only became seniors at 18... It would just be the start of their senior careers for the likes of Sasha, Kosto and Anna! They never would have been pushed so far before they had developed physically and mentally. Fifteen year old Valieva wouldn't have gone through Beijing and would have had a real chance to win gold at the next olympics at the normal (but still YOUNG) age of 19! Yes, it clearly makes champions but that doesn't make it right. The ISU need to change the rules before other training camps have no choice but to use team tutberidzes dangerous methods in order to stay competitive.
You also would not have noticed Tara Lipinski or Sara Hughes or the recently retired Alisa Liu as well as many others because they wouldn’t make it to the “senior competitions”
@@elenamastiukova2787 You can argue that both ways. I'm sure there is also a very long list of skaters we never heard of because they were pushed too far and hurt themselves. As I said, 'yes, it clearly makes champions but that doesn't make it right.' I get what you mean- it's great to see how far the sport has come because of the things these girls have done but it comes down to right or wrong. I think it's gotten to a point now where the skills are so demanding and the pressure is so intense that it's wrong to put children through it. Just my opinion though!
They probably kept younger students from her so they wouldn’t have an example of someone who isn’t completely obedient to the camp’s abuses! This “bad seed” business she says is unexplained- had to be the coaches recognizing that she was rebellious and may be the first to do an expose or to critique their methods. Wouldn’t want the younger girls learning to stand up for themselves!
Good video but I don't think they wanted Sasha to win. They gave her such a non-Olympics program. The abuse they gave Anna doesn't necessarily mean that they wanted her to fail. In abusive training they always have one person as the paragon of success and hard work (ahem Maddie Ziegler) so they can compare you and have everyone feel like shit, but the Example isn't always the favourite to win. They're just used as an object to make everyone work harder. They recognise that Sasha is willing to make her entire life about skating and want the others to be the same way so they can brainwash them and maximise the girls loyalty to them, giving them a good number of girls who are willing to do anything for the team. The favourite has always been Kamila. Team Tutberidze finds their opportunity and runs with it so they've always just stuck with Kamila as the winning girl until the scandal came out. Sasha was just used to abuse the other girls.
I think this is exactly why Sasha had her mental breakdown at OG because she was put in such a toxic environment like that and being set as an example probably just made her work even harder to meet up the coach's expectation.
@@EgW21 sorry to point this out but you have to recognize that everyone has biased opinions. I’m not blaming aliona for anything, because it is so normal for people (aliona) to dislike or at least not emphasizing with another person (Sasha in this situation) who is set up as a role model & always used to compare yourself to.
@@l.s4450 No-no, I don't blame you. I just say that none of us may have true opinion. It's just our imagination of this situation. But at least Aliona was training there during many years. And we have no reason not to trust her at all. Just in my case, I always feel teacher's attention towards to me and other children (some words, sight etc.) May be the same Aliona.
Daniil comes off as very arrogant. He acts like he is the main coach. Even during competitions when the camera is on him, it's clear how he carries himself
as a former ballerina one strict rule in our class was no parents can watch. I myself work as a teacher now and its one rule in my classes as well, even for hobby classes. the parents know shit about ballet yet they will scold their children for doing something “wrong”. children feel extremely pressured when parents are watching them. its very detrimental to their psychology. I cannot believe that they allowed parents to add up to the pressure these little children face, its all so fucked up.
I did ballet for 7 years, so I know that parents don't sit in classes (and I think it's good), as it's a small environment where the kids need to concentrate. In an arena or rink it's obviously huge, so parents can sit dotted around. We need a parent or guardian to be present (at least in the UK anyway) as skating is very dangerous. If a kid gets badly injured we need a parent to be there just in case. Young kids need someone there to look after them anyway, as the sessions can be 2 or 3 hours, and when not in 121 lessons they have to train by themselves. Very different setup from dance class. I skated for 18 years, both competitively and as a pro. Coached and been around the sport for over 40. Pushy parents can be a nightmare, both for the kids and as a coach/teacher. I've seen some horrors, as both a competitor and coach.
@@EightFrancs they would would make me nervous. I also have ADHD and used to suffer from self-esteem issues. I just wanted to be the best and didn't want my parents watching because I thought I sucked. I am like that today at work too, it makes me nervous when my managers are watching behind me and then my performance suffers.
I'm surprised that they held Sasha up as an example and compared the others to her, I love Sasha but it didn't seem like she was the coaches' favorite at that camp. I really would have assumed that Anna would be the favorite. I feel awful for these girls
Me too but Sasha works very hard and I’ve seen many interviews with many coaches where they all say that she can train for hours without stopping and she’s determined to reach her goal. I mean look at her body it’s just all muscle. Obviously they want someone like her who can train 38 hours a day, even if not everything about her skating is where it should be ( skating skills, spins, basically everything but jumps ) she still plows. And I’m sure Anna works hard but when you have a body like Anna’s which is so frail it looks like it could break with one jump, you’re not going to be training like Sasha
It's textbook manipulation, using Sasha's diligence to set an example for others, and use others' artistic to undermine Sasha (Sasha's dance teacher says Sasha told her that people say she can't do anything).
yeah, basically Sasha is set as an example because she's self driven, she plows and no one needs to drag her to work. That doesn't mean she's the coach's favourite though.
In other part of the interview they were talking about how the athletes don't have a say in anything and the importance of going to the psychologist and that there is need to be one in every coach team. She really emphasized that in all this training craze she didn't have any life skills and that she couldn't get all papers needed for her transfer by herself, she didn't know of some of the papers existence, before all was done by adults around her. No one was preparing them for this and there were no responsibilities or accountability outside of training ring. As the example she told that one of the girls thrown a fit to her mother that her skates had to be sharpened in Sochi city in one exact place by the tomorrow training session, meaning her mother had to fly to different part of the country and back in less then 24 hours, she didn't tell how it ended but the point was that skaters have to be responsible and take accountability for their actions but if everyone treat them like robots they don't comprehend how to be autonomous mature human beings, as the result we see this drained lost teenagers which cant navigate real life, its no wonder that they all cling to sport so much because no one taught them about real life literary, and that the work has to be done to create such training environment. And there was a funny moment when she said that all men who trained her sucked and are incompetent, after that she can only train with female coaches=)
The funny think is sasha was actually set up to be bronze anya (anna/aina) as 2nd and Kamila as first still confuses me when sasha was told that she be first if she landed her quads as anna was ettri 2nd fave and i think it was something more personal with anna then Kamila
It’s so hard to hear everything Aliona said even if we already kinda knew it, also to know from her that Anna got it the worst makes so much sense and is disheartening because even if she still is the hardest working, the loyal and most obedient, is pretty clear that non of her team was glad she won Olympic gold, and based on her tv reaction I doubt she is as happy as she should be, I’m really hoping a part of her starts to question if all of this was actually worth it. On a final note I’m trying to be positive and think all of this late events are leading to the end of team tutberitze™ but considering how much the Russian politics are involved in this I find it hard, either way this fandom never rests and neither do you so thank for ur videos
here is my opinion on the 3A. Ana is the "hardcore-obedient but hardworking child" that's why she's Daniil Gleik's favorite. Dude's probably jumping with joy inside when she won the OGM. Trusova is the "hardworking but stubborn child" She is Eteri's "suppose" crowning glory if she had won the OGM with those quads. Later on, she probably got so disappointed the way she acted after getting silver. Kosto is the "rebellious stubborn child with talent but won't listen to coaches so she's the bad apple". Real talk - Kosto just have something in her that when she skates, just so looks so good. Crappy choreo and technique doesn't matter when she skates cause she just owns it. I remember the first time seeing her romeo and juliet and that ending pose and the expression is just--- 🔥😩❤️👌. I wanted to cry. Its like a very rare talent. Maybe she can be an actress. I felt same with Misha and his carmen.
Poor my girl Sascha. The only thing she wants is evolving in figure scating, she is the true hero. But nobody is on her side, neither coaches, nor students
A quest is when you gather somewhere in nature, usually and have basically live-action dnd. It can go on for days, or even weeks. It was really popular in Russia in the 2000s and late 90s
I hope that you cover Vincent Zhou's ESPN article that he did that really exposed the abuse he's gone through in training and also that Rudy Galindo tweeted about it saying he saw Vincent's mom abusing him at the San Jose rink and that the cops were called once, and that he's "felt so bad for Vincent all these years" meaning the abuse must have happened when he was young 🥺
Yike this gave me flashbacks to my russian violin teacher who shamed my mom for not being as toxic as the other moms and for not knowing enough about violin. And she made my mom take notes during lessons and scolded her for not screaming at me enough at home when i practiced (which my mm did quite a bit of even tho she had no music knowledge). My violin teacher was like awarded the best violin teacher on the east coast by the american violin teachers association or something too. I hated violin and quit after putting years of my life on it
I feel so bad for Aliona and all eteri girls that have gone through this. Also life is hectic no need to apologise for sickness and other personal problems
Interesting. I know the case is different with Alina because it seems her parents, at least her mom, dead not a toxic parent like these others. And Eteri intentionally kept Alina away from her family so she could focus solely on her training. Then when her mom was allowed to see Alina again, Alina became “like a baby”.
This really reminds me of my ballet experience, not counting the part with the parents. My mother isn’t like that at all. I am currently fifteen of age, I had to quit ballet when I was fourteen, due to a foot injury on my left leg. I used to dance at my country’s most prestigious ballet academy, I was a pre professional ballet dance in training, en pointe. I had danced in pairs twice, and have basically done solos, and normal acts. The amount of training I would do was horrific, even to me. I remember that I would do what ever it took, for me to become and stay number one. Prior to when I started dancing in the academy, I was the most flexible girl in my school. And when I did come to the academy, I immediately knew what I was not doing enough. Not to mention, I started ballet very very late. Only when I was turning thirteen did I start ballet, yes I did dance ballet for a year when I was around four, then I moved countries, I also did a little bit of figure skating and hip hop for three years, I did also do one year of competitive swimming. I trained all day everyday for seven plus hours, literally. I would go to drastic measures to increase my flexibility quickly. I would hold a single stretch position? For minutes until the pain went away, I sat in the splits for approximately an hour. I would do quite the dangerous stretches. I also remember two occurrences when my hip like almost came out of its socket? I remember feeling this rolling sensation, and I also heard it. I remember it being really scary and painful afterwards. I also never like ever took breaks, all my free time would go to either stretching, conditioning, or repetitively trying to perfect variations, and repeating the class variations, also always taking notes, and reading them, and I would always be working on my arches, technique, pointe work, pirouettes and so on. So I would only actually rest when I would 1. Get injured or 2. Get really sick, because even if I was mildly sick I would still attend class and train hard. Health wise, I lost my menstrual cycle. I don’t know about the other girls, since I didn’t dare to ask around. Now the teacher’s I love a strict teacher that teaches discipline. However, the teachers that I had I would hold my tears back. We were constantly compared to each other, belittled, we’re told “it’a either this or nothing”, even told that we weren’t good enough, also forced to do tenacious stretches, when we were doing grand allegro, we would be screamed at. Screaming at us to jump higher, do it properly, if we wouldn’t then we would get kicked out or forced to do some strenuous activity, we would be humiliated in front of everyone . When we we’re stretching we would be “assisted” to such lengths that it was just scaring. I have had a lot of injuries, one of my most hazardous injuries was again, my left side, my hip. Maybe it was after those two incidents but I couldn’t and still cant move my leg around cleanly, there’s one point when it gets stuck. And when I try moving it, it just does this bone-y sound and feeling, and it really really hurt. I really overworked myself, I soon realised how traumatised my body was. Mentally and physically, I was always in competition with the other girls, I had no moment of rest. I would dance en pointe for three hours plus, I bled I have bunions, blisters, everything imaginable. I would do pirouettes again and again, after one major fall I was literally so afraid to do pirouettes. I couldn’t just do nothing about it, if I wanted to progress and have my dreams come true then I had to keep doing it again and again. I had no social life, no friends not even at the academy. Don’t get me wrong I wanted friends but I don’t know, it was as if I was a different person. My mindset or my character was and honestly still is, so competitive. That I simply saw every other girl as someone who was standing between me and success. With time I actually started falling out of love with ballet, and with the injuries I had. I spoke with my mother, and decided to leave ballet for good. I honestly really miss it, I cannot stand looking at my pictures, clothes, equipment, my bar, marley floor, and of course pointe shoes. I of course still listen to my most beloved genre of music, classical. Yet I avoid all familiar ballet acts, and I also avoid videos of ballet. It really breaks me inside, sometimes I cannot help but think. Why did I quit? That I was so stupid, that I missed every aspect of it. The pain no longer mattered, the anguish and tears. I just wanted to go back in time, but I still know that I made the right choice. For my health, my body is traumatised, injured most likely for life. I know that I did the right thing for myself, but I still sometimes have these “episodes”. When I will have a mental breakdown, I will weep for so long, and even hyperventilate. I even for some reason dog in with my nail into the skin of my thumb, it helps me to cope I suppose. Sometimes I even draw blood, still it helps me. I am currently really invested in horseback riding, specifically in English and as my main discipline I chose dressage. I will also be competing soon, and will have my very own horse soon. I know that my experience is incomparable with the girls mentioned in figure skating. But as a Russian girl who has gone through in my words hell, I simply could not hold back from writing. If anyone has any advice for me, about how to just leave ballet. Or perhaps help with coping, I would be really fond of hearing from you. And if anyone has a similar experience, then that will also help. I sincerely apologise for my writing system, and my grammar as English is not my mother language, thank you for your time tough.
I feel really proud of you for making such a mature decision, it must have been really hard. When in doubt maybe consider whether you would want a loved one to continue engaging in that sport, even if it were to destroy their physical and mental health, social life, and love for it. Wishing you good luck and all the best❤
As i said many times, is clear how Eteri wanna Kamila to win it all, the team event and the individual. She likes Kamila, you can watch it in many many fan videos. AFTER KAMILA SCANDAL Daniil want Anna to win and Sergei Sasha. Eteri dont care about Annas gold at all, btw Russian media this days have Kamila and Sasha as icons and her stars, not even Anna Lets see if Anna retires or not, i see Kamila winning again if Russia competes OF COURSE THERE ARE MANY IMPORTANT TOPICS, BUT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT FS
This is what I am so sick of with the Russian press. They have bullied Anna continuously and continue to disregard her Gold. But I hope at least Anna rakes in her endorsements for going through all this horrible shit.
The reaction to Anna Scherbakova's win reminds me of the reaction to Zamolodchikova's floor routine and eventual gold at Sydney. The entire team ignored her. They exoected Svetlana Khorkina to win. (To be fair Khorkina gave up her vault spot for Zamolodchikova to win gold there and cheered her on loudly).
@@danielamontano2336 I think our only concern how long her body will hold up with the multiple quad routines, but yes I believe she has another season or two in her
I feel bad speculating about a teenage girl’s weight, but after lipnitskaya came forward (and after daniil’s comment about loving that Anna could get full on “only two shrimp”) I would bet that she has faced some struggles with eating as well. I wonder if kostornaia was referencing something like that when she said Anna got in the worst.
I think that if parents are like Aliona's then they are welcomed & encouraged by Tutberidze, meanwhile parents who show concern or in Tutberidze's words are a "distraction" then they are kept apart from their children.
In any other country Sascha could be like a female version of Yuzuru Hanyu and participate in several Olympics, its a shame that in Russia you can be replaced in any moment by younger scaters while participants from other countries arent even close to your level
I don't think she said that Anna got it worse. Anna just endured it while Aliona wasn't having it. And why would they have thought that Sascha gets gold? While Anna has won way more competitions than her. I wonder why Aliona keeps trying to skate somewhere if she doesn't like it. There is so much else she can do.
I'm an elite gymnast and my coach HATES when parents get involved with our training, however, some parents still do to this day. So I find it strange that Eteri welcomes the parents to come and tell their children what to do, I'm not surprised that she allows them to come and add pressure and yell at them, I mean this is Eteri we are talking about, but the fact she lets them create training plans? But seriously every single person in these YOUNG girls' lives has failed them, no one is there to protect them and it just breaks my heart to hear and see what these girls have to go through to 'be the best'
you know, probably the saddest part is that danil also loved Alina and we all know how efing bad she had it, how much shit she went through: verbal abuse, comparison with Evgenia, she was set away from her mother, etc. Then she became olympic champion and probably thought that everything she went through was worth it. Then coaches, especially danil, did the same thing with Anna and now after she won the title, she probably also thinks that it was worth it (as you said in the video). I wouldn't be suprised if danil thinks that that is a good tactic to rise an olympic champion and is going do it again and again and again...
Anna is very smart. I think she knows that when someone is toxic, it’s not her fault, she knows how to separate messed up comments from good advice, that’s why she endure the most. She has the most strengthened mindset of anyone I know. That’s pretty impressive and that’s why I think she deserved that gold. But this doesn’t come out of nowhere, maybe she has a good supportive system. Family, therapist, I don’t know, but good for her!
Remember that Alina Zagitova also broke both an arm and a leg around the same time after only a,short time with Eteri-it was after this AND having to relearn how to walk and skate that Eteri kicked her out for “laziness” telling her she was a skater who needed to train 12 hours a day to be successful, and also told her during the 2019 season when she went through a massive growth spurt and increased in height a pretty significant amount over a short time span (her leg length increase was insane) and struggled as a result, and also as a result, was diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter disease in her knees (which were always taped up that season and after) that she would be in pain no matter whether she took a break or skated and should just push through, owing it to the fans and her status. The same remark she gave before her disaster out Russian Nationals free skate after suffering a chemical burn on her ankle following a mild sprain at the Grand Prix final before nationals, from the compress and topical rub not being sufficiently diluted before grandmother applied it-that despite layers of scorched raw skin, she should skate. I remember the flinching when falling out of the spiral in her step seq where she grabbed her boot by the ankle and flinched and stumbled out of it. The sad part is that with both of these difficulties and painful conditions, Alina never blamed them or her rapid growth spurt for her failures or mistakes, rather that she didn’t want it enough or train hard enough. It was Daniil when asked, who shared about her ankle burn after nationals and fans got ahold of the pictures of her raw inflamed ankle burn, yet stopped short of blaming her uncharacteristic mistakes (the non jump errors she’d never made prior) on the injury or pain stuffing it in a skate must have caused and also rejected suggestions she should have withdrawn to heal. Completely disturbing! How Eteri calls any of these girls lazy or insulted Alina’s desire to step away from competition and enjoy her successes with the family she lived without for so long to achieve her success is beyond me. Eteri separating young girls from their mothers so they won’t be mamas girls and seek comfort from mom due to the stress of high impact training is gross! People shitting on Alina for wanting to step away after 3 senior seasons of success so she could have a life and enjoy her earnings with the family she missed is ridiculous!
I wonder if she feels she has to be that type of person to maintain her authority because there seems to be a power struggle between the coaches (especially with Daniil)
yes, after aliona told about this situation, where eteri was alone with her and asked why she wants to leave and what she can do to stay. I thought the same. I will not support eteri, but I could imagine, that she is nice with the girls when they are alone… and not with daniil and the other men (I can’t spell his name)
something i wish you would comment on: it seems that russia is still promoting valieva as the queen even though sherbakova won the gold. they ignored her at the olympics and from what i'm seeing they are ignoring her now. and by the way this is the second olympics where kostornaia at her best would have taken the gold!
No one is ignoring Anna. She is distancing herself from the ceremonies and celebrations since they involve Putin and other state officials whom she most likely wants to avoid, for obvious reasons.
That’s not true at all. Kamila fell a lot at the Olympics. Sasha has barely ever beaten Anna as a senior because she has zero components. That is supposed to be half of your score. Anna can jump quads and she has amazing musicality, interpretation, and performance
I just watched the podcast in russian and the translation is pretty accurate, but there are some parts that have been avoided and this changes the whole meaning quite a bit.
How so? Would you mind elaborating please? If it changes the way we all look at certain things, I am very interested to hear what exactly and what info we're missing here
@@BlackSwanKathleen Ok, so there are numerous moments so it's hard to describe it in a few words. However, in my opinion, the most important parts are the relationship with her mother and that competition after she transferred to Plushenko. Ok, and maybe her childhood, the trainings in the Tutberitze team are important to mention too. As I said... Numerous moments... So, the first question was basically, how did you fall in love with fs and she said that at 4 she really didn't like it, but at her first competition she fall in love with fs and now she can't imagine doing anything else in the artistic part. Then, her mother. She wasn't yelling at her with bad intentions, but more to help her. In russian, she said the word yelling, but it was meant more like annotate, like a coach would do. She said that till now her mom dedicated her life to her in order for Aliona to manage her time, do well, and like to do all the paperwork and this kind of stuff that needs to be done. She said to Alena to do that list of exercises, couse the mom was understanding that these elements she needs, not what the trainers were asking her. Kostornaia basically said also that her mom was right and at the training, she was searching for the easiest way always, so she was this lazy and screwy type of kid. However, of course, that's not an excuse to isolate her... Also, the trainers would scold the parents if they would stay on the phone, during training. Such a creepy moment. Now she has an excellent relationship with her mom, from her words. And the competition. Everyone was convincing her to not go. She couldn't do the free or the short without pain. But Kostornaia insisted. She was the one at every part that said, I will definitely do it, or let's do one more although everyone was asking her to not. And to mention, the hosts and she were analyzing this bad behavior as the result of her horrible time at Tutberidze. Anyway, there is sooo much to discuss. There were so many details. But the general thought was very good demonstrated in the video.
@@mihaela1273 Thank you, that does clear up some things that I thought were strange or contradictory and gives me a better feel of what the conversation was like and how she feels about certain things. Thank you very very much !!
Finally a video that higlights what i love about Kosto. Im so tired of people saying she is over and that her only year of existance was 2019 basically. Kosto represents way more than that, and even now she is speaking up. She was on my top 3 but after this video i know she is my fave
This is really sad. I always thought Kostornaia was the only full ranged extremely talented skater after Yuna. The presence you mentioned was clearly there AND with astonishing skills and precision. It was so much better than any Russian skaters. Her 2019 performances were beyond everything. This is very, very sad to hear.
I did horseback riding for years and I literally fell off my horse and badly bruised my wrist without my mom, who was sitting in her car and had a perfect view of the arena, realizing it. I seriously cannot imagine a situation where my mom being involved with my training would've benefitted me in any way - she knows nothing about horseback riding.
Most skating parents know nothing about the sport either, but feel the need to stick their oar in about everything, like they even know what they're talking about lol. My mum knew every single element in skating, but would have NEVER told me how to do something! That's what she paid my coach the big bucks for lol. It always amazes me when parents willfully change things a coach tells them to do, even down to changing a skaters programme (no, I'm not kidding!)
Great video! The only thing I disagree with is that they thought Sasha would win after Kamila fell. As you said, Sasha doesn't win competitions. She hasn't gotten gold in her senior career. I'm not sure why they would think that would change now, at the Olympics of all places. Especially after her fall during the short program. I think they expected Anna to win if Kamila didn't.
@@candyc3314 Also I think if they really cared about her getting gold they would have let her skate in the team. They didn't expect her to beat Kamilla and they knew she wouldn't beat a clean Anna with her short mistake. I don't think they were thinking of Sasha at all at that point.
She has edge quality and skating skills that the others girls don’t. I love your videos you and an Hungarian girl on Facebook are literally the only people making me watch figure skating Im a bit done with the explotation of these girls russian federation etc
I don’t think it’s fair to say Sasha hasn’t won anything in Seniors. Correct, she hasn’t won any first place spot while in seniors but she always pulls a medal!
@@sandrajesus3971 are you talking abt this channel owner? Becuz she doesn’t NOT like Sasha. Also Sasha herself is the one who says “I haven’t won anything” she said so during the press conference after the Olympics and after her break down. They asked her why she was upset and she said something along the lines of “ I haven’t won in major competitions in 3 years so I thought if I finally landed all 5 quads I would get a Gold, that didn’t happen so that’s why I am upset” - says Sasha while trying to hold back her tears. I think what the channel owner just meant and what Sasha herself means is that she just hasn’t won gold in competitions that “matter” aka in the competitions with the other top Eteri girls.
Paola…..I hope you feel better soon! I hope after Aliona takes a look at the whole situation, that she will decide to keep skating because she is so beautiful on the ice. However, I could also understand why she would want to leave skating since she has been emotionally and physically abused because of skating. I hope she writes a book!
I stopped following Women's skating a while back enjoying the men's competition more. Recently I read a story about Vincent, it is really dark with a very toxic environment! So this is probably how skating and sports in general are, it is so sad!
for some reason, no one tried to translate this part of the interview: Z: So you are a gambler, very gambler, aren't you? A: Yes. I love to play. I get excited during every workout. We often argue with each other during these training sessions. For example, I approach someone and say: “Look, if I don’t complete this element now, then I will owe you something.” I... Every day I lose something. But, then I try to recoup, of course. ... I will say this: in order not to lose, I tried so hard that I broke my arm! In other words, she broke her arm trying to win the bet. So in the same interview you can hear two different versions of what happened.
I’ve read this part too :)) The first time she broke her arm she said it on her own UA-cam channel that it was due to a 3A attempt so I guess she was talking about the second time she broke her arm?
The way these girls are trained is abuse . These girls are in complete burn out by 18 . Yulia Lipnitskaya had to be hospitalized for anorexia ! This coaches pupils look cloned, same bodies, same style etc Give me back the old skating days !!
I personally don’t find it odd that she started at 4. I’m not from Russia but almost everyone who trains under my coach started at around 4. I am actually the only person there who started relatively late (around 6 or 7)
I hope that more and more people will see what's happening and begin to really be able to pinpoint abuse. These behaviors need to be recognized and called out for what they are. There is no sense in supporting this sick way of living. It's not just outsiders who think that nothing can ever be wrong, it's "ourselves" too. You can be a victim and continue living your life this way not because you are stupid, but for many other reasons. For example, it's all you know, or you are too kind. It can be for many reasons that you wouldn't even dare to label yourself as a victim. But for the sake of all people we have to SEE this and believe in our own authority over our own lives. Only recently I'm even beginning to realize myself how much I "let" other people hurt me in life, but neither when I was a child nor an adult do I blame myself for it. Nor does our own personal "allowance" necessarily release us from it. That's why we need to help eachother so badly. Recognize the tactics.
They probably hated that aliona didn’t follow their rules but was still winning because it contradicted their methods. It showed the younger skaters that they don’t have to follow what eteri says word for word.
At least Aliona after those years of abuse has a little peace now and can talk about it, I can't understand how a parent can put money and fame before their child's well being! And my heart goes to Anna who's still in that hell
So she doesn't actually like skating. Interesting... I think she would be a great actress. Imagine her performing at the theater. She'd be amazing. Or dancing. I'm thinking jazz or musical theater, since she is such a performer. I think she would be great at those.
And this is why I call Alexandra Trusova not a nasty person because she broke down crying at the Olympics in Beijing, when she won silver. She knows that she will probably won't have a chance of trying again 2026, her body is very likely won't be capaple. She will come home and her surrounding will blame her for not being good enough. Although she is such a talent, but so tortured, like the others.
In any other country Sascha could be like a female version of Yuzuru Hanyu and participate in several Olympics, its a shame that in Russia you can be replaced in any moment by younger scaters while participants from other countries arent even close to your level
Hello, I love your videos. I'm a fan of figure skating and Russian drama, but I speak Spanish, so I don't know if it's possible for your videos to have Spanish subtitles active, it would be a great help, thank you very much.
My own relationship with my mom got better when I moved out as well. If my daughter was lucky enough to make it to the Olympics or even an elite level competition I would be proud of her regardless of the result nor would I force her to train and compete injured - that’s what a mother is supposed to do.
I think that I've read somewhere that eteri team said to Kostornaia:" you used to be the European champion but you are nothing right now you are injured and everything. so goodbye you are leaving the team..."which honestly is...
This is the reality for majority of skaters tbh... Toxic coaches, skating environments and even more toxic parents... My heart aches for all the skaters that can't see how beautiful and talented they are
Well, knowing that in fact Sasha was the favorite puts her meltdown in Beijing into even more perspective. That team has been praising her and using her as the example, as the standard the other girls need to achieve despite the fact she hasn't won a major title since turning senior. The girls who were winning worlds, euros, gpf, nationals were put down and told to be more like Sasha. That must have given Sasha a false sense of security that if she was able to hit her quads that she'd win. Then for her to finally deliver on her program and still not win---no wonder she went ballistic. Eteri and her team are deplorable people. And poor Alena--her mom was a total skid mark for a while there too. Imagine not being able to have a moment of peace unless you are sleep or studying. Lord, those poor kids... I'm glad she's out of that environment. At this point I'd love to see her continue to skate in shows as that seems to be what she really likes. Also, with the whole Russia-Ukraine war still going on with no end in sight, I'm doubtful the Russians will be allowed back into international competition for quite a while.
I'm not surprised at all about the situation with Anna. I don't know why so many people said she's the one they chose for the gold when Eteri didn't even care about her once Sasha came back and Kamila became a senior. But it is quite shocking to find out about Alëna's mother. I figured Anna's and the rest of the student's parents are in with the teaching method, but never thought Alëna's would be. How did she raise Alëna to be so free-spirited and feisty when she's like that. Thanks for this video. I live for Anna and Alëna's friendship and support. If they're friends with Liza, it'd be the ultimate friendship among my favourites. I hope Alëna continues skating, even if not competitively. She's definitely a gem, so much natural talent for FS. I also hope Anna and Liza to continue for long because they're also really good but for different aspects.
Grazie gentile Paola. Aliona è una grande atleta ma soprattutto, dopo questa intervista, è simpatica geniale divertente, un vero "amore" tanto necessaria nel mondo un po' muffoso del figure skating. Le auguro tanta fortuna e felicità
Around the 23:00 mark you mention Zhenya probably didn’t have it as bad bc she was Eteri’s favorite, but I’m going to have to disagree in that ET waged war on her. And all of what ET said, we now now was proven a lie by other officials. Evgenia and Alina were also the first that were pitted against each other so badly, look at the Olympic video of it. Alina then had 3 replacements dangled in front of her. She was also a favorite of Daniil. The favorites are just more abused because they’re led to believe they’re cared for the most 😢
I suspect this's why Dr. Shivetzky (sp?) is there... He, as an Anesthesiologist, is probably doing nerve blocks and radiofrequency ablation to allow them to continue training/competing without feeling pain
I'm still without my voice so enjoy this vid while i recover for the next one 😅
I hope you get better soon.
I hope you feel better soon! Thanks for sharing! Also for sharing the translations. I was in Ballet for way too long and understand some of this all too well.
I'm so sorry they feel they need to do so much to be great! They're all amazing!
does your voice need some more spark?
Hope you feel better ❤️🩹
Good analysis. Enjoyed it. Get well soon.
I'm a Russian native speaker and I've listened to the whole podcast, so I thought I'd add something that I found worth noting. Aliona said that despite all the abuse and being aware of it, she was still determined to continue because she knew that if she doesn't come out on ice, another young girl would just take her place and basically deprive her of everything that she'd worked on so hard up to the moment. I think this again proves that Eteri is very much willing to just dump her trainees during hard times in favour of someone who's younger, lighter, thinner, healthier etc - it's like a conveyor belt. And that the girls are motivated by fear and by rivalry, not by the feeling of being appreciated.
Also you were 100% right about why Aliona loves the sport, she said herself that she's driven by the crowd, that she loves the adrenaline and the thrill more than skating itself and that it's basically the only thing that is still keeping her in the sport since now the competition is so severe that she might even have no chance to succeed at major events.
I can't imagine how terrifying it must be to work so hard and sacrifice so much to impress someone who can replace you at any moment.
@@cawley4172 Lol date like anyone ever, and then get super existential about it emotionally and internally and you relate soo hard XD it's the need to impress that' the root of the evil, but honestly, i think competition is too natural for our species.
@Gerardo Resendiz maybe that's because unless they're more or less famous they don't feel confident enough to tell such things. And it usually takes time to realize that you've been abused too
@Gerardo Resendiz a lot of the gymnasts who came out about Nassar's abuse had retired from gymnastics without going elite. You wouldn't know when the non-famous people talk about abuse because nobody listens to them
Russian native? Lol
The way this behavior is supported by their parents is so devastating. These girls really have absolutely no one looking out for them.
+
Her talking about her mother gave me flashbacks to the movie I Tonya about how her mother desperately wanted to see her fail :(
Skating moms are the worst species on this planet.
Exactly. It's their parents' fault the most, they only care about money
In what right do you judge her mother, the one who raised her?
You heard literally one side of the story and you think you know it all from the inside and you have the right to judge it.
The way to accomplishment is tough, And Aliona is pretty set up for life already.
She ain't looking like such a victim to me.
Looking back at aliona when she was just a junior and how beautiful her skating was and thinking she's going places in the sport! she had so much potential even after she reached senior level that the world deserved to see more of her and her beautiful skating... she reminds me a bit of lipnitskaya in how her light was dimmed because of tutberdize :(
omg yes 😭😭 my two fave skaters, put on the expiration shelf by team tut - it's literally criminal
She had a chance to be like Yuna Kim imo
She should change to Orser like Medvedeva did, she matured so much as a skater there and from the interactions with her trainer, you got the impression there was a lot of appreciation there as well.
My heart breaks for Anna. She’s been going through this for over a decade, she’s never known anything else. I hope and pray she finds a way out, finds a coach (if she continues skating) that loves and values her, and finds unlimited joy and happiness
My heart hurts for Aliona and it doesn’t surprise me that poor Anna got it the worst. The poor girl has always been downgraded and what she takes away is that she medaled at the Olympics. She’s so dang smart I wish she would stand up for herself. So much respect for all of them. They don’t deserve any of the abuse.
I agree that they are both very intelligent girls, especially given what is going on in their country. Anna didn't show up at Kremlin when Putin was meeting other Olympic medalists yesterday. That was a very brave and smart decision in my opinion.
And also you know how intelligent she is from the way she carries herself and the way she speaks
.
Anna really is amazing, I’m totally smitten.
Its quite tragic though. She’s got the looks, the smarts, is sweet, and heartthrob but still has to take abuse.
@@richieqian1491 I guess she was there. 😭😭🤦🏼♀️
@@richieqian1491 ohhh ok. Thank you for clarifying 😭😭
When Aliona said “quest” she didn’t mean a trip. She meant a real-life room escape. In Russian it’s called a quest
😭💔
Do you mean an escape-room?
@@AnnaEmilka yeah, it's called "quest" in russian
@@AnnaEmilka yes
Like entertainment.
Tbh it's not only that Anna now probably thinks that enduring all of it and never standing up to them was worth it bcs she got the medal, - it also gives Eteri and the rest of them the ability to say to set her as the example, to send the message that fighting back will diminish their chances at winning and tbh that's just scary
You know what is the worst besides all of the worst rumors being confirmed to be true? The fact that we didn't need this interview, we have seen two Olympics now, where mentally broken girls skate out of their skin, podium and still it doesn't mean happiness. We remember how Anna looked, Sasha breaking down and legit the only happy one being Kaori, since she has proper geographical borders between herself and camp Eteri.
Honestly? Good on Kostornaia going "you know what? I'm leaving and burning not only bridges, but you and your reputations with it". Though will that heal the wounds on her soul from years of mistreatment and abuse? Nothing ever will, which breaks my heart.
as shocking as all of this information is, it doesn't surprise me. aliona basically confirmed what we all already knew about the abusive tactics of the tutberidze camp.
the part about anna makes me rethink so much about anna's skating and just her relationship with the media. she has a reputation of being really "poised, well spoken" and nothing ever seems to phase her. and her power of mind is a well known fact in the fs community. i wonder how much she must be used to numbing down everything she feels to earn those medals. i mean this girl literally said she felt numb after winning an OLYMPIC GOLD (granted there were many many other things contributing to that)
Anna saying "special thanks for my mum for coming to every training session" after winning Olympics makes me question things right now. (also looking at the fact that if the moms would protect their children from the abuse, they would have probably ended up miles away from them, not being able to interfere like Alina's mum.)
Anna did say that her parents are supporting her emotionally and they let the coaches do their job.
If her mom was always there then she has seen her child get humiliated and emotionally abused. Humm...
Alina's mother was friends with Tutberidze. Her daughter was deliberately led to the Olympic Games. Why should she interfere?
@@multiwatever101 yes, Anna’s parents seem to be the most supportive out of the most. Sasha’s kept on wanting her to receive the gold medals. Aliona’s mom seems to be emotionally abusive to me. While Anna’s parents from her words have actually created positive environment at home. They were not demanding at all. That’s what she said in the last interview. To me it seems like she gets a lot of support from her dad, which is so important for girls in particular.
what a realisation, this is horrifying
as a russian i can confirm that the translation is pretty accurate
I used to be a figure skater, and when I was young I absolutely loved the sport. Each time I went on the ice, I would skate until the last possible second before the zamboni came out on the ice and forced me off. After practices, I would beg my mom for more rink time. My mom was very supportive of my skating, and encouraged my passion for the sport. I remember the first time I landed a double loop double loop combination, she took me out for icecream after. Those are some of my favorite childhood memories.
However, when I started competing in serious competitions, things took a turn. My mom became so involved with my skating, it became an obsession to her. She would record my sessions with my coach, and afterwards while I practiced would shout at me, in front of everyone in the rink, if I did something wrong. I would skate 5 days a week, everyday before school, and required I do off-ice training 7 days a week. If I didn't hit my quota for the day, or had an off day where I didn't land all my jumps or practice all my spins, she would take something from me. She would take my laptop and phone away for weeks, or not allow me to see friends, until I accomplished a new element. She would scream at me if I was too tired to skate, or couldn't do something.
It completely smothered my love for skating. A sport I loved so much, was weaponized against me. It was no longer about the fun of learning new things but the pressure to do well. Being at the rink and being at home were both stressful environments and I felt like I couldn't get a break. My relationship with my mom became strained and I eventually quit before I turned 14.
Having a parent be too involved with their child's performance can smother any passion that child has for their hobbies. It is toxic and hurtful, and I can imagine how exhausted and miserable Kostornaia was to be surrounded by adults who just kept demanding more from her. When you say, "I don't think she was ever in love with figure skating I think she was in love with the theatrics," I don't know if I agree. In my experience, I know I genuinely LOVED skating. It was my everything. But being in a harmful environment where my love of skating was weaponized against me, with constant negative reinforcement from my family, made it impossible for me to enjoy it anymore. It became dangerous to love it, so I stopped.
Smart girl. Valieva was just exploited in the test skates free skate. She was used as a pawn to make Eteri look good. Sickening. Best of health to you. Health is wealth.
Every time, I hear about what is going in Tutberidze team I have flashbacks to the abuse my friends and I endured in Art schools and Music schools in Poland. Constant humiliation and screams from teachers and parents, vomits, s-h and panic attacks, being the best one in the group one moment to then being dumped like a nothing after the back, eyesight or wrist injury. I kind of can relate too much to them despite not being an athlete. It's the sick mentality of adults thinking that under pressure they will make gold or a diamond.
Damn, to what school you went to? I also was in art school (one of the hight profile ones) in Poland but never had shit like this?
@@oooonoooo3807 Plastyk im. Wyczółkowskiego
It's not surprising to me that FS parents are such stage moms, no child would willingly do that to themselves. I hope Aliona gets the best situation out of this that she can.
Also, can you also do an intro to the Japanese figure skating people? Would be fun.
It would be awesome if she could talk about Mie Hamada and her own drama
@@luyumi9568 Mie Hamada vs Marin Fans and Nobunari Oda
Daisuke, one of the first big Japanese FS star
The drama that was Yuzu's senior debut
The rise of Yuzu, the fall of Daisuke
Mao Asada and her rivalry with Yuna Kim
The short lived super star that was Marin Honda
Shoma Uno who was very rarely Uno
The rise of Yuma Kagiyama
Shun Sato, the next Sendai super star.
Kaori, the light of Paola's life
Wakaba, the criminally underscored skater
Rika the next big thing in FS if she wasn't so underscored
Not ALL skating mums are like that! My mum was an incredible support, in all the right ways. Not pushy or demanding at all. She expected me to work, as it was costing my parents a fortune obviously, and as she said "I'm not getting up at 4.45am every morning to watch you stand at the side!" and I think that was more than fair. She worked part time PLUS spent 22hrs a week at the rink with me, and gave up any social life she could have had for 12 years for me. I skated another 6 professionally under my own steam.
I saw some absolute horrors of parents in my time in skating, and tbh I think they're even worse nowadays. I saw it when I was coaching. Coaches get zero support from parents nowadays. Little "Samantha" is always right, and the coach wrong, and they'll switch coaches at the drop of a hat. They'll literally argue that they know more than you (😂) even with 40 years experience in the sport 🙄🤦🏼♀️
Aliona is just so strong and she has a great instinct of what is good for her and her body. This girl had the guts to do what felt best for her (I’m talking about the transition to AoP) despite her mother and federation being against it!!! I just wish people at the time of the transition wouldn’t give her such hard time saying “she doesn’t know what she is doing”, “she goes from one bad decision to another” etc, because she really DID know what she was doing. I really wish that she will come back stronger than ever 💙
So much heartbreak for 3A, the injuries, disappointments, breakdowns and abuse. I knew from following Medvedeva and Zagitova to expect a rough journey but I never imagined that 3A would turn out like this. In just a few years, they went from Powerpuff girls sharing a podium to each having their individual issues
The issues were already there, they just eventually boiled to the surface
What issues does Anna have?
@@hatschibratschiluftballon878 Winning the Olympic gold 😂
It really paints the picture for anna here. Maybe her mental strength came from all the things she has to endure from the coaches, especially since shes been with them since the beginning, thus she was forced to be resilient. She also mentioned before how what happens in training should stay in traininh
I think she has this incredible trait within her to separate training from real life, but certainly most people aren't able to do this very well since emotions run the course. But she's very logical I am always reminded how she has demonstrated how the press negative attitude almost means nothing to her because she doesn't feel like it's a role ro be acknowledged by a press as a figure skater, but it is to skate well.
@@day6hwaiting708 to me it feels very disturbing that a girl this young has to disassociate this much.
This situation with a Anna taking the most abuse is similar to Margarita Mamuns Olympic gold in rhythmic gymnastics 2016. She also took the most abuse from Irina Viner and ended up winning despite not being the favourite for gold.
I was thinking the same!!
I watched the documentary about her a few months ago on YT, and I was horrified by her treatment. It was heartbreaking 💔. I don't blame her for quitting as soon as she won Oly's. I would have too tbh.
Tbh I don't think Mamun got it harder than Yana. We just think that because we saw more of her in that doc. But there's a scene in there where Yana confronts Rita and says "What did she do to you, did she yell at you?" Which to me signifies that they likely both got it from from Viner
@t if I'm not mistaken there's a scene where Yana tells Rita that when she's good they tell her she's beautiful and everything but when she does something bad she's a fat cow. It's a scene where they talk about how heavy the leotards are. I believe it's because we didn't see enough of Yana and their interactions, but I'm sure they did the same to her. Viner did want Yana to win but she most probably got the same abuse.
@@innikr1234 Viner treats every girl like that. She makes no secret about her training methods. She wants them to win so she does this
Anna's win has everything to do with her perseverance than the toxic environment she was brought up in. She won despite them and not because of them.
Remember her sitting there all alone with the gold medal really told the whole story.
The part about using Sasha as an good example is very telling. It's a textbook abusive, manipulative tactic as the coach basically pit these girls against each other. Sasha being the example doesn't mean she's the favorite at all. They simply used her not because she was number 1 or she won anything (because she didn't, all she did in the past 3 years was losing) but they need her to gaslight everyone else and make them believe that they better keep working harder (like Sasha) or else they will never be good enough. An environment like this is just the worst for everyone as the coach basically sabotage these girls' relationship so they can achieve what the coach want them to achieve.
Totally agree. Sasha’s training mentality and personality are exactly what eteri wants all her students to have - never stop, always working hard, always listens and not talkative, training machine. And Sasha is really not cared about at all. She’s basically held against all other girls. Honestly if I were in the position of Anna and aliona, maybe all I can feel is resentment towards the role model. And just look at her programs. Seriously, novice girls programs looks more delicate and well-organized than Cruella. Omg I just feel so so sorry for all the girls but as far as I can foresee, Sasha and Anna are probably not going and able to leave eteri’s group any time soon. Alionas being through so much mental and physical pain, but I’m happy she has left with decisions made by herself, and with a few gold medals.
I suppose it must have been so confusing to Sasha to be the "exemple" while not being able to win any major title.
@@luyumi9568 I think she would just think she's good but because she never skated clean before Olympics she accepted her defeat.
This is an excellent example and almost replicated like for like as to how Abby from dance moms would use Maddie and Chloe...
@@l.s4450 have you heard what plushenko said about Sasha being difficult to train because she pushes herself too hard in jumps when there are aspects elsewhere to improve... she's almost on autopilot for working to the point of exhaustion without giving much though to long term health. Eteri has brainwashed this into her and when she didn't win gold in Olympics...it completely broke her.
I was always under the impression that Aliona's parents were the most liberal ones because they allowed her to change coaches but it turned out that her mum is just another stage mum and everything was Aliona's choice. This makes me a bit concerned because it seems like Eteri selects students who are 1) pretty (and thus marketable) and 2) have crazy parents who will work with her. This makes me extremely concerned about all the Tutberidze girls, especially Anna because they all have stage parents and thus no support system.
From what I’ve read in interviews, Anna’s parents are far from so-called stage parents though. They have advised Anna to give up figure skating at several points of her career, but Anna was just too passionate in FS. I actually feel Anna’s family provided her with the support and education she needed to be so resilient and level headed.
Anna parents where definitely stage parents. Like why did aliona say that “Anna had it the worst”? Anna was being Emotional abuse, mentally abuse by her team and coaches..
I love how open Aliona is to talking about everything that happened to her and the girls. She's always been my favorite Russian skater and I wish to see more of her with her new coach. I believe that had COVID not happened, she would've walked away as at least the 2020 World Champion. What she went through was absolutely disgusting, especially from her own mother. The fact that Anna got it worst makes my heart break even more for her seeing how classy and intelligent she is. Putting the Tutberidze skating technique aside, we all love Anna as a person and she has the talent, yet she's so often put down by the people who say she's the "favorite". The adults really failed them both, as well as Sasha and Kamila of course
I still have zero comprehension how Anna hasn't been completely broken in the process. When she won, I felt like she finally got her redemption arc for her resiliency (press and training abuse)...but again like you mentioned, it becomes a reinforcing evidence for Team Tutberidze to justify their system of abuse. Honestly, fuck all the people who believed she was the overall favourite (except Daniil who has this weird trope of love-hate for Anna?? Major red flag imo)...she was the unexpected winner as she lost her favour after placing behind Kamila in various competitions. Treated almost like a backup medalist in case Trusova didn't get a clean skate. Of course, Tutberidze would claim that her win was expected, when in reality Anna proved that it wasn't Tutberidze but purely on her own determination that she won that gold. But of course, Anna has likely been so brainwashed under their training, I'm not sure if she realised she should only thank herself for that gold
The thing is Aliona has gone through this exact abuse and is in awe how Anna actually for a lack of words to describe, managed to place herself in Gold. Not that she had doubts about her skills at all but one must question how does one survive under that kind of abuse. And that Anna chooses to not retaliate in any form or way?? Just how??
Could you elaborate on the Daniil thing you mentioned? Dude gives me the creeps honestly
@@jahanb2002 Daniil seems to outwardly be the most affectionate towards Anna and people have commented that she tends to get the best choreography, but he is surrounded by a bunch of red flags including comments about weight management, Anna being obedient and loyal...I mean this is the case, the more a person is seen as affectionate in an abusive environment, the more likely they are the enablers (not asking anyone to believe these rumours or accusations, but everyone should be wary)
@@jahanb2002 Daniil had a very strange relationship with Alina that many ignorant fans in would respond to and say that they should date. The way he hugged her sometimes gave me the creeps however he has always been a minion to eteri so behind eteris back he would be all loved up to Alina and in front of eteri he would hate her the way eteri hated her and same here with Anna. Both Alina and Anna have very similar personalities, the type to stay quiet and take and obedient and just take the abuse, they wouldn’t speak up like aliona. So it’s very interesting that the two girls Daniil has seemed to have a strange relationship with are the two girls who in my opinion would be the easiest of the bunch to manipulate. This is all just my thoughts not confirmed facts. I’m guessing that’s what the comment above was referring to
@@day6hwaiting708 His best choreography so a 💩 that doesn't stink as much is still a 💩
I wish they would raise the age for senior competition. It's despicable that coaches clearly see it as an ADVANTAGE that their bodies are 'light' and under-developed. Imagine if they only became seniors at 18... It would just be the start of their senior careers for the likes of Sasha, Kosto and Anna! They never would have been pushed so far before they had developed physically and mentally. Fifteen year old Valieva wouldn't have gone through Beijing and would have had a real chance to win gold at the next olympics at the normal (but still YOUNG) age of 19! Yes, it clearly makes champions but that doesn't make it right. The ISU need to change the rules before other training camps have no choice but to use team tutberidzes dangerous methods in order to stay competitive.
You also would not have noticed Tara Lipinski or Sara Hughes or the recently retired Alisa Liu as well as many others because they wouldn’t make it to the “senior competitions”
@@elenamastiukova2787 You can argue that both ways. I'm sure there is also a very long list of skaters we never heard of because they were pushed too far and hurt themselves. As I said, 'yes, it clearly makes champions but that doesn't make it right.' I get what you mean- it's great to see how far the sport has come because of the things these girls have done but it comes down to right or wrong. I think it's gotten to a point now where the skills are so demanding and the pressure is so intense that it's wrong to put children through it. Just my opinion though!
They probably kept younger students from her so they wouldn’t have an example of someone who isn’t completely obedient to the camp’s abuses! This “bad seed” business she says is unexplained- had to be the coaches recognizing that she was rebellious and may be the first to do an expose or to critique their methods. Wouldn’t want the younger girls learning to stand up for themselves!
Good video but I don't think they wanted Sasha to win. They gave her such a non-Olympics program. The abuse they gave Anna doesn't necessarily mean that they wanted her to fail. In abusive training they always have one person as the paragon of success and hard work (ahem Maddie Ziegler) so they can compare you and have everyone feel like shit, but the Example isn't always the favourite to win. They're just used as an object to make everyone work harder. They recognise that Sasha is willing to make her entire life about skating and want the others to be the same way so they can brainwash them and maximise the girls loyalty to them, giving them a good number of girls who are willing to do anything for the team.
The favourite has always been Kamila. Team Tutberidze finds their opportunity and runs with it so they've always just stuck with Kamila as the winning girl until the scandal came out. Sasha was just used to abuse the other girls.
They also mentally abuse Sasha besides using her as the Example :(
I think this is exactly why Sasha had her mental breakdown at OG because she was put in such a toxic environment like that and being set as an example probably just made her work even harder to meet up the coach's expectation.
It's just your thoughts. Aliona was a part of Tutberidze's team. Don't you think that she know more than all of us?
@@EgW21 sorry to point this out but you have to recognize that everyone has biased opinions. I’m not blaming aliona for anything, because it is so normal for people (aliona) to dislike or at least not emphasizing with another person (Sasha in this situation) who is set up as a role model & always used to compare yourself to.
@@l.s4450 No-no, I don't blame you. I just say that none of us may have true opinion. It's just our imagination of this situation. But at least Aliona was training there during many years. And we have no reason not to trust her at all. Just in my case, I always feel teacher's attention towards to me and other children (some words, sight etc.) May be the same Aliona.
Daniil comes off as very arrogant. He acts like he is the main coach. Even during competitions when the camera is on him, it's clear how he carries himself
as a former ballerina one strict rule in our class was no parents can watch. I myself work as a teacher now and its one rule in my classes as well, even for hobby classes. the parents know shit about ballet yet they will scold their children for doing something “wrong”. children feel extremely pressured when parents are watching them. its very detrimental to their psychology. I cannot believe that they allowed parents to add up to the pressure these little children face, its all so fucked up.
Yes. I agree. When I was in enrolled in ballet and gymnastics as a child. I hated my parents watching my practices. I would tell them to go away.
I did ballet for 7 years, so I know that parents don't sit in classes (and I think it's good), as it's a small environment where the kids need to concentrate.
In an arena or rink it's obviously huge, so parents can sit dotted around. We need a parent or guardian to be present (at least in the UK anyway) as skating is very dangerous. If a kid gets badly injured we need a parent to be there just in case. Young kids need someone there to look after them anyway, as the sessions can be 2 or 3 hours, and when not in 121 lessons they have to train by themselves. Very different setup from dance class.
I skated for 18 years, both competitively and as a pro. Coached and been around the sport for over 40.
Pushy parents can be a nightmare, both for the kids and as a coach/teacher. I've seen some horrors, as both a competitor and coach.
@@meganmariesnyder5305
Genuine question here.
Why didn't you want your parents to watch you training?
@@EightFrancs they would would make me nervous. I also have ADHD and used to suffer from self-esteem issues. I just wanted to be the best and didn't want my parents watching because I thought I sucked. I am like that today at work too, it makes me nervous when my managers are watching behind me and then my performance suffers.
@@meganmariesnyder5305
I understand.
Thanks for replying, it's an interesting subject.
I'm surprised that they held Sasha up as an example and compared the others to her, I love Sasha but it didn't seem like she was the coaches' favorite at that camp. I really would have assumed that Anna would be the favorite. I feel awful for these girls
Me too but Sasha works very hard and I’ve seen many interviews with many coaches where they all say that she can train for hours without stopping and she’s determined to reach her goal. I mean look at her body it’s just all muscle. Obviously they want someone like her who can train 38 hours a day, even if not everything about her skating is where it should be ( skating skills, spins, basically everything but jumps ) she still plows. And I’m sure Anna works hard but when you have a body like Anna’s which is so frail it looks like it could break with one jump, you’re not going to be training like Sasha
It's textbook manipulation, using Sasha's diligence to set an example for others, and use others' artistic to undermine Sasha (Sasha's dance teacher says Sasha told her that people say she can't do anything).
yeah, basically Sasha is set as an example because she's self driven, she plows and no one needs to drag her to work. That doesn't mean she's the coach's favourite though.
She said she wanna try a quintuple jump...😏
Sasha I feel was only favourite for such a time because she was the only to do quads but now who knows. Just wishing Aliona all my love 🥰❤️
In other part of the interview they were talking about how the athletes don't have a say in anything and the importance of going to the psychologist and that there is need to be one in every coach team. She really emphasized that in all this training craze she didn't have any life skills and that she couldn't get all papers needed for her transfer by herself, she didn't know of some of the papers existence, before all was done by adults around her. No one was preparing them for this and there were no responsibilities or accountability outside of training ring. As the example she told that one of the girls thrown a fit to her mother that her skates had to be sharpened in Sochi city in one exact place by the tomorrow training session, meaning her mother had to fly to different part of the country and back in less then 24 hours, she didn't tell how it ended but the point was that skaters have to be responsible and take accountability for their actions but if everyone treat them like robots they don't comprehend how to be autonomous mature human beings, as the result we see this drained lost teenagers which cant navigate real life, its no wonder that they all cling to sport so much because no one taught them about real life literary, and that the work has to be done to create such training environment.
And there was a funny moment when she said that all men who trained her sucked and are incompetent, after that she can only train with female coaches=)
The funny think is sasha was actually set up to be bronze anya (anna/aina) as 2nd and Kamila as first still confuses me when sasha was told that she be first if she landed her quads as anna was ettri 2nd fave and i think it was something more personal with anna then Kamila
It’s so hard to hear everything Aliona said even if we already kinda knew it, also to know from her that Anna got it the worst makes so much sense and is disheartening because even if she still is the hardest working, the loyal and most obedient, is pretty clear that non of her team was glad she won Olympic gold, and based on her tv reaction I doubt she is as happy as she should be, I’m really hoping a part of her starts to question if all of this was actually worth it. On a final note I’m trying to be positive and think all of this late events are leading to the end of team tutberitze™ but considering how much the Russian politics are involved in this I find it hard, either way this fandom never rests and neither do you so thank for ur videos
here is my opinion on the 3A. Ana is the "hardcore-obedient but hardworking child" that's why she's Daniil Gleik's favorite. Dude's probably jumping with joy inside when she won the OGM. Trusova is the "hardworking but stubborn child" She is Eteri's "suppose" crowning glory if she had won the OGM with those quads. Later on, she probably got so disappointed the way she acted after getting silver. Kosto is the "rebellious stubborn child with talent but won't listen to coaches so she's the bad apple". Real talk - Kosto just have something in her that when she skates, just so looks so good. Crappy choreo and technique doesn't matter when she skates cause she just owns it. I remember the first time seeing her romeo and juliet and that ending pose and the expression is just--- 🔥😩❤️👌. I wanted to cry. Its like a very rare talent. Maybe she can be an actress. I felt same with Misha and his carmen.
Sicuramente ha un talento teatrale e drammatico che non deve andare perduto
I can confirm about the Danii G part. He was practically the first one who ran and congratulated Anna (as shown in a SK media's footage).
I've always LOVED Aliona...she always gave me rebel vibes, and this just proves that she seeks for freedom and art
Poor my girl Sascha. The only thing she wants is evolving in figure scating, she is the true hero. But nobody is on her side, neither coaches, nor students
What are you talking about ? She’s Eteri’s favorite
@@ColorTheory-ki3rc you must be blind if you think shasa is eteri's favorite
A quest is when you gather somewhere in nature, usually and have basically live-action dnd. It can go on for days, or even weeks. It was really popular in Russia in the 2000s and late 90s
God I love the context this adds. Aliona didn't watch the olympics because she was LARPing, love that for her
I hope that you cover Vincent Zhou's ESPN article that he did that really exposed the abuse he's gone through in training and also that Rudy Galindo tweeted about it saying he saw Vincent's mom abusing him at the San Jose rink and that the cops were called once, and that he's "felt so bad for Vincent all these years" meaning the abuse must have happened when he was young 🥺
Yike this gave me flashbacks to my russian violin teacher who shamed my mom for not being as toxic as the other moms and for not knowing enough about violin. And she made my mom take notes during lessons and scolded her for not screaming at me enough at home when i practiced (which my mm did quite a bit of even tho she had no music knowledge). My violin teacher was like awarded the best violin teacher on the east coast by the american violin teachers association or something too. I hated violin and quit after putting years of my life on it
so sorry you had to go through this :(((
hope you're feeling happier now 💗
@@juliatrindade1353 aw don't be sorry
omg so excited for part two of that video!! It literally got me into figure skating
I feel so bad for Aliona and all eteri girls that have gone through this. Also life is hectic no need to apologise for sickness and other personal problems
Don’t feel bad,cause they don’t . They are the best
Why do you feel bad? They are famous because of this. A big sport isn't a joke. It's hard work that requires a lot.
Interesting. I know the case is different with Alina because it seems her parents, at least her mom, dead not a toxic parent like these others. And Eteri intentionally kept Alina away from her family so she could focus solely on her training. Then when her mom was allowed to see Alina again, Alina became “like a baby”.
This really reminds me of my ballet experience, not counting the part with the parents. My mother isn’t like that at all.
I am currently fifteen of age, I had to quit ballet when I was fourteen, due to a foot injury on my left leg.
I used to dance at my country’s most prestigious ballet academy, I was a pre professional ballet dance in training, en pointe.
I had danced in pairs twice, and have basically done solos, and normal acts.
The amount of training I would do was horrific, even to me. I remember that I would do what ever it took, for me to become and stay number one.
Prior to when I started dancing in the academy, I was the most flexible girl in my school. And when I did come to the academy, I immediately knew what I was not doing enough.
Not to mention, I started ballet very very late. Only when I was turning thirteen did I start ballet, yes I did dance ballet for a year when I was around four, then I moved countries, I also did a little bit of figure skating and hip hop for three years, I did also do one year of competitive swimming.
I trained all day everyday for seven plus hours, literally. I would go to drastic measures to increase my flexibility quickly. I would hold a single stretch position? For minutes until the pain went away, I sat in the splits for approximately an hour. I would do quite the dangerous stretches. I also remember two occurrences when my hip like almost came out of its socket? I remember feeling this rolling sensation, and I also heard it. I remember it being really scary and painful afterwards.
I also never like ever took breaks, all my free time would go to either stretching, conditioning, or repetitively trying to perfect variations, and repeating the class variations, also always taking notes, and reading them, and I would always be working on my arches, technique, pointe work, pirouettes and so on.
So I would only actually rest when I would 1. Get injured or 2. Get really sick, because even if I was mildly sick I would still attend class and train hard.
Health wise, I lost my menstrual cycle. I don’t know about the other girls, since I didn’t dare to ask around.
Now the teacher’s I love a strict teacher that teaches discipline. However, the teachers that I had I would hold my tears back.
We were constantly compared to each other, belittled, we’re told “it’a either this or nothing”, even told that we weren’t good enough, also forced to do tenacious stretches, when we were doing grand allegro, we would be screamed at. Screaming at us to jump higher, do it properly, if we wouldn’t then we would get kicked out or forced to do some strenuous activity, we would be humiliated in front of everyone .
When we we’re stretching we would be “assisted” to such lengths that it was just scaring.
I have had a lot of injuries, one of my most hazardous injuries was again, my left side, my hip. Maybe it was after those two incidents but I couldn’t and still cant move my leg around cleanly, there’s one point when it gets stuck. And when I try moving it, it just does this bone-y sound and feeling, and it really really hurt.
I really overworked myself, I soon realised how traumatised my body was. Mentally and physically, I was always in competition with the other girls, I had no moment of rest.
I would dance en pointe for three hours plus, I bled I have bunions, blisters, everything imaginable. I would do pirouettes again and again, after one major fall I was literally so afraid to do pirouettes. I couldn’t just do nothing about it, if I wanted to progress and have my dreams come true then I had to keep doing it again and again.
I had no social life, no friends not even at the academy. Don’t get me wrong I wanted friends but I don’t know, it was as if I was a different person. My mindset or my character was and honestly still is, so competitive. That I simply saw every other girl as someone who was standing between me and success.
With time I actually started falling out of love with ballet, and with the injuries I had. I spoke with my mother, and decided to leave ballet for good.
I honestly really miss it, I cannot stand looking at my pictures, clothes, equipment, my bar, marley floor, and of course pointe shoes.
I of course still listen to my most beloved genre of music, classical. Yet I avoid all familiar ballet acts, and I also avoid videos of ballet.
It really breaks me inside, sometimes I cannot help but think. Why did I quit? That I was so stupid, that I missed every aspect of it. The pain no longer mattered, the anguish and tears. I just wanted to go back in time, but I still know that I made the right choice. For my health, my body is traumatised, injured most likely for life.
I know that I did the right thing for myself, but I still sometimes have these “episodes”. When I will have a mental breakdown, I will weep for so long, and even hyperventilate. I even for some reason dog in with my nail into the skin of my thumb, it helps me to cope I suppose. Sometimes I even draw blood, still it helps me.
I am currently really invested in horseback riding, specifically in English and as my main discipline I chose dressage.
I will also be competing soon, and will have my very own horse soon.
I know that my experience is incomparable with the girls mentioned in figure skating. But as a Russian girl who has gone through in my words hell, I simply could not hold back from writing.
If anyone has any advice for me, about how to just leave ballet. Or perhaps help with coping, I would be really fond of hearing from you. And if anyone has a similar experience, then that will also help.
I sincerely apologise for my writing system, and my grammar as English is not my mother language, thank you for your time tough.
Thank you for sharing your story.
I feel really proud of you for making such a mature decision, it must have been really hard. When in doubt maybe consider whether you would want a loved one to continue engaging in that sport, even if it were to destroy their physical and mental health, social life, and love for it. Wishing you good luck and all the best❤
As i said many times, is clear how Eteri wanna Kamila to win it all, the team event and the individual. She likes Kamila, you can watch it in many many fan videos. AFTER KAMILA SCANDAL
Daniil want Anna to win and Sergei Sasha. Eteri dont care about Annas gold at all,
btw Russian media this days have Kamila and Sasha as icons and her stars, not even Anna
Lets see if Anna retires or not, i see Kamila winning again if Russia competes
OF COURSE THERE ARE MANY IMPORTANT TOPICS, BUT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT FS
This is what I am so sick of with the Russian press. They have bullied Anna continuously and continue to disregard her Gold. But I hope at least Anna rakes in her endorsements for going through all this horrible shit.
@t I can see Sasha there
The reaction to Anna Scherbakova's win reminds me of the reaction to Zamolodchikova's floor routine and eventual gold at Sydney. The entire team ignored her. They exoected Svetlana Khorkina to win. (To be fair Khorkina gave up her vault spot for Zamolodchikova to win gold there and cheered her on loudly).
@@danielamontano2336 I think our only concern how long her body will hold up with the multiple quad routines, but yes I believe she has another season or two in her
I feel bad speculating about a teenage girl’s weight, but after lipnitskaya came forward (and after daniil’s comment about loving that Anna could get full on “only two shrimp”) I would bet that she has faced some struggles with eating as well. I wonder if kostornaia was referencing something like that when she said Anna got in the worst.
Who needs hater when your mother is the biggest in your life! I'm so sorry for her. She went through so much awful things 💔
I think that if parents are like Aliona's then they are welcomed & encouraged by Tutberidze, meanwhile parents who show concern or in Tutberidze's words are a "distraction" then they are kept apart from their children.
In any other country Sascha could be like a female version of Yuzuru Hanyu and participate in several Olympics, its a shame that in Russia you can be replaced in any moment by younger scaters while participants from other countries arent even close to your level
In terms of skating, Sasha is more like Nathan Chen. Lots of quads and technical ability, well loved and critique about artistry
I don't think she said that Anna got it worse. Anna just endured it while Aliona wasn't having it.
And why would they have thought that Sascha gets gold? While Anna has won way more competitions than her.
I wonder why Aliona keeps trying to skate somewhere if she doesn't like it. There is so much else she can do.
I think she mentioned she liked the adrenaline of it all and she always seemed to love performing for the audience.
I'm an elite gymnast and my coach HATES when parents get involved with our training, however, some parents still do to this day. So I find it strange that Eteri welcomes the parents to come and tell their children what to do, I'm not surprised that she allows them to come and add pressure and yell at them, I mean this is Eteri we are talking about, but the fact she lets them create training plans? But seriously every single person in these YOUNG girls' lives has failed them, no one is there to protect them and it just breaks my heart to hear and see what these girls have to go through to 'be the best'
Your videos always make my day better!
aww im so happpy! Glad you enjoyed it ❤🤗
you know, probably the saddest part is that danil also loved Alina and we all know how efing bad she had it, how much shit she went through: verbal abuse, comparison with Evgenia, she was set away from her mother, etc. Then she became olympic champion and probably thought that everything she went through was worth it. Then coaches, especially danil, did the same thing with Anna and now after she won the title, she probably also thinks that it was worth it (as you said in the video). I wouldn't be suprised if danil thinks that that is a good tactic to rise an olympic champion and is going do it again and again and again...
Anna is very smart. I think she knows that when someone is toxic, it’s not her fault, she knows how to separate messed up comments from good advice, that’s why she endure the most. She has the most strengthened mindset of anyone I know. That’s pretty impressive and that’s why I think she deserved that gold. But this doesn’t come out of nowhere, maybe she has a good supportive system. Family, therapist, I don’t know, but good for her!
Remember that Alina Zagitova also broke both an arm and a leg around the same time after only a,short time with Eteri-it was after this AND having to relearn how to walk and skate that Eteri kicked her out for “laziness” telling her she was a skater who needed to train 12 hours a day to be successful, and also told her during the 2019 season when she went through a massive growth spurt and increased in height a pretty significant amount over a short time span (her leg length increase was insane) and struggled as a result, and also as a result, was diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter disease in her knees (which were always taped up that season and after) that she would be in pain no matter whether she took a break or skated and should just push through, owing it to the fans and her status. The same remark she gave before her disaster out Russian Nationals free skate after suffering a chemical burn on her ankle following a mild sprain at the Grand Prix final before nationals, from the compress and topical rub not being sufficiently diluted before grandmother applied it-that despite layers of scorched raw skin, she should skate. I remember the flinching when falling out of the spiral in her step seq where she grabbed her boot by the ankle and flinched and stumbled out of it. The sad part is that with both of these difficulties and painful conditions, Alina never blamed them or her rapid growth spurt for her failures or mistakes, rather that she didn’t want it enough or train hard enough. It was Daniil when asked, who shared about her ankle burn after nationals and fans got ahold of the pictures of her raw inflamed ankle burn, yet stopped short of blaming her uncharacteristic mistakes (the non jump errors she’d never made prior) on the injury or pain stuffing it in a skate must have caused and also rejected suggestions she should have withdrawn to heal. Completely disturbing! How Eteri calls any of these girls lazy or insulted Alina’s desire to step away from competition and enjoy her successes with the family she lived without for so long to achieve her success is beyond me. Eteri separating young girls from their mothers so they won’t be mamas girls and seek comfort from mom due to the stress of high impact training is gross! People shitting on Alina for wanting to step away after 3 senior seasons of success so she could have a life and enjoy her earnings with the family she missed is ridiculous!
I saw other girl saying (don't remember who) that when Eteri is alone she is a kind person but it changes when the guys are around.
I wonder if she feels she has to be that type of person to maintain her authority because there seems to be a power struggle between the coaches (especially with Daniil)
I can believe that.
I can believe that.
yes, after aliona told about this situation, where eteri was alone with her and asked why she wants to leave and what she can do to stay. I thought the same. I will not support eteri, but I could imagine, that she is nice with the girls when they are alone… and not with daniil and the other men (I can’t spell his name)
@@chayenne2103 Sergei is actually a nice guy (well he was when we were friends anyway!)
something i wish you would comment on: it seems that russia is still promoting valieva as the queen even though sherbakova won the gold. they ignored her at the olympics and from what i'm seeing they are ignoring her now. and by the way this is the second olympics where kostornaia at her best would have taken the gold!
No one is ignoring Anna. She is distancing herself from the ceremonies and celebrations since they involve Putin and other state officials whom she most likely wants to avoid, for obvious reasons.
Because most people dont think Anna deserved a first place with her program, to be completely honest Sascha and Kamila are waaay better than Anna
That’s not true at all. Kamila fell a lot at the Olympics. Sasha has barely ever beaten Anna as a senior because she has zero components. That is supposed to be half of your score. Anna can jump quads and she has amazing musicality, interpretation, and performance
I just watched the podcast in russian and the translation is pretty accurate, but there are some parts that have been avoided and this changes the whole meaning quite a bit.
How so? Would you mind elaborating please? If it changes the way we all look at certain things, I am very interested to hear what exactly and what info we're missing here
@@BlackSwanKathleen Ok, so there are numerous moments so it's hard to describe it in a few words. However, in my opinion, the most important parts are the relationship with her mother and that competition after she transferred to Plushenko. Ok, and maybe her childhood, the trainings in the Tutberitze team are important to mention too. As I said... Numerous moments... So, the first question was basically, how did you fall in love with fs and she said that at 4 she really didn't like it, but at her first competition she fall in love with fs and now she can't imagine doing anything else in the artistic part. Then, her mother. She wasn't yelling at her with bad intentions, but more to help her. In russian, she said the word yelling, but it was meant more like annotate, like a coach would do. She said that till now her mom dedicated her life to her in order for Aliona to manage her time, do well, and like to do all the paperwork and this kind of stuff that needs to be done. She said to Alena to do that list of exercises, couse the mom was understanding that these elements she needs, not what the trainers were asking her. Kostornaia basically said also that her mom was right and at the training, she was searching for the easiest way always, so she was this lazy and screwy type of kid. However, of course, that's not an excuse to isolate her... Also, the trainers would scold the parents if they would stay on the phone, during training. Such a creepy moment. Now she has an excellent relationship with her mom, from her words. And the competition. Everyone was convincing her to not go. She couldn't do the free or the short without pain. But Kostornaia insisted. She was the one at every part that said, I will definitely do it, or let's do one more although everyone was asking her to not. And to mention, the hosts and she were analyzing this bad behavior as the result of her horrible time at Tutberidze. Anyway, there is sooo much to discuss. There were so many details. But the general thought was very good demonstrated in the video.
@@mihaela1273 Thank you, that does clear up some things that I thought were strange or contradictory and gives me a better feel of what the conversation was like and how she feels about certain things. Thank you very very much !!
@@BlackSwanKathleen Of, course. I really like this community and enjoy very much discussing about all. 🥰
Finally a video that higlights what i love about Kosto. Im so tired of people saying she is over and that her only year of existance was 2019 basically. Kosto represents way more than that, and even now she is speaking up. She was on my top 3 but after this video i know she is my fave
Kosto Revenge !!!
This is really sad. I always thought Kostornaia was the only full ranged extremely talented skater after Yuna. The presence you mentioned was clearly there AND with astonishing skills and precision. It was so much better than any Russian skaters. Her 2019 performances were beyond everything. This is very, very sad to hear.
I did horseback riding for years and I literally fell off my horse and badly bruised my wrist without my mom, who was sitting in her car and had a perfect view of the arena, realizing it. I seriously cannot imagine a situation where my mom being involved with my training would've benefitted me in any way - she knows nothing about horseback riding.
Most skating parents know nothing about the sport either, but feel the need to stick their oar in about everything, like they even know what they're talking about lol.
My mum knew every single element in skating, but would have NEVER told me how to do something! That's what she paid my coach the big bucks for lol.
It always amazes me when parents willfully change things a coach tells them to do, even down to changing a skaters programme (no, I'm not kidding!)
Great video! The only thing I disagree with is that they thought Sasha would win after Kamila fell. As you said, Sasha doesn't win competitions. She hasn't gotten gold in her senior career. I'm not sure why they would think that would change now, at the Olympics of all places. Especially after her fall during the short program. I think they expected Anna to win if Kamila didn't.
I think she more so meant that they wanted her to win. They all like Sasha and wanted her to get gold with 5 quads.
@@candyc3314 i think they just wanted a Russian to win. They didn’t care which one. But what do any of us know really.
@@candyc3314 Also I think if they really cared about her getting gold they would have let her skate in the team. They didn't expect her to beat Kamilla and they knew she wouldn't beat a clean Anna with her short mistake. I don't think they were thinking of Sasha at all at that point.
@@sharabravo5996 i agree. damn coaches don’t care about any of these poor girls 😭
@@sharabravo5996 sasha lost to anna by 4 points if sasha hadnt gotten a q on her last quad she would 100% win
More often than not, behind every successful skater there’s a crazy tiger parent pulling the strings.
I feel so sorry for Aliona - family is so important for sanity. Someone give Zhenya Medvedeva's mom a medal.
Someone give Zhenya a healthy spine :(
@@martaszczesiak6606 THIS
@@martaszczesiak6606 I would give her mine but mine ain't that good.
@@allydr90 Same here.... :(
She has edge quality and skating skills that the others girls don’t.
I love your videos you and an Hungarian girl on Facebook are literally the only people making me watch figure skating Im a bit done with the explotation of these girls russian federation etc
I don’t think it’s fair to say Sasha hasn’t won anything in Seniors. Correct, she hasn’t won any first place spot while in seniors but she always pulls a medal!
She has won GP Cups. Its insane how it doesnt even count for her team thou
true... it seems the channel owner doesn't like sasha because she is used as an example, but it's not her fault
I agree. She's had an enormously successful career!!
@@sandrajesus3971 are you talking abt this channel owner? Becuz she doesn’t NOT like Sasha. Also Sasha herself is the one who says “I haven’t won anything” she said so during the press conference after the Olympics and after her break down. They asked her why she was upset and she said something along the lines of “ I haven’t won in major competitions in 3 years so I thought if I finally landed all 5 quads I would get a Gold, that didn’t happen so that’s why I am upset” - says Sasha while trying to hold back her tears. I think what the channel owner just meant and what Sasha herself means is that she just hasn’t won gold in competitions that “matter” aka in the competitions with the other top Eteri girls.
Paola…..I hope you feel better soon! I hope after Aliona takes a look at the whole situation, that she will decide to keep skating because she is so beautiful on the ice. However, I could also understand why she would want to leave skating since she has been emotionally and physically abused because of skating. I hope she writes a book!
I ended in tears after listening to the last part about Annya. Such a heartbreaking thing.
You can translate please the last part
Man, I love this channel.
I stopped following Women's skating a while back enjoying the men's competition more.
Recently I read a story about Vincent, it is really dark with a very toxic environment! So this is probably how skating and sports in general are, it is so sad!
It's not how they are in general. These are just extreme examples of pushy parents who take it too far.
@@lindatannock So his coaching is okay the Mother is to blame? Tiger Mom?
for some reason, no one tried to translate this part of the interview:
Z: So you are a gambler, very gambler, aren't you?
A: Yes. I love to play. I get excited during every workout. We often argue with each other during these training sessions. For example, I approach someone and say: “Look, if I don’t complete this element now, then I will owe you something.” I... Every day I lose something. But, then I try to recoup, of course.
...
I will say this: in order not to lose, I tried so hard that I broke my arm!
In other words, she broke her arm trying to win the bet. So in the same interview you can hear two different versions of what happened.
This is not good!! Gamble is dangerous!
I’ve read this part too :)) The first time she broke her arm she said it on her own UA-cam channel that it was due to a 3A attempt so I guess she was talking about the second time she broke her arm?
maybe the gamble involves her being able to do certain jumps or certain moves
This is the origin story of a Marvel villain.
The way these girls are trained is abuse . These girls are in complete burn out by 18 . Yulia Lipnitskaya had to be hospitalized for anorexia ! This coaches pupils look cloned, same bodies, same style etc Give me back the old skating days !!
I personally don’t find it odd that she started at 4. I’m not from Russia but almost everyone who trains under my coach started at around 4. I am actually the only person there who started relatively late (around 6 or 7)
Now I’m waiting for her to kick ass in whatever she chooses to do. Kudos Aliona
i feel like i'd be willing to learn russian just so i can keep up w all this drama
I really hope this becomes a scandal and blind followers of that team finally realize how horrible it is
BREAKING: The ISU is raising the minimum age for senior competition from 15 to 17 years old, after the controversy with Kamila Valieva!
Will the Russians cheat again? making a fake ids. This is relieveing and groundbreaking
omg so excited for this video
I hope that more and more people will see what's happening and begin to really be able to pinpoint abuse. These behaviors need to be recognized and called out for what they are. There is no sense in supporting this sick way of living. It's not just outsiders who think that nothing can ever be wrong, it's "ourselves" too. You can be a victim and continue living your life this way not because you are stupid, but for many other reasons. For example, it's all you know, or you are too kind. It can be for many reasons that you wouldn't even dare to label yourself as a victim. But for the sake of all people we have to SEE this and believe in our own authority over our own lives. Only recently I'm even beginning to realize myself how much I "let" other people hurt me in life, but neither when I was a child nor an adult do I blame myself for it. Nor does our own personal "allowance" necessarily release us from it. That's why we need to help eachother so badly. Recognize the tactics.
They probably hated that aliona didn’t follow their rules but was still winning because it contradicted their methods. It showed the younger skaters that they don’t have to follow what eteri says word for word.
At least Aliona after those years of abuse has a little peace now and can talk about it, I can't understand how a parent can put money and fame before their child's well being! And my heart goes to Anna who's still in that hell
Anna should get the hell out of there and move on with her life imo.
I wonder how much her mother was around when Aliona was training with Plushenko?
So she doesn't actually like skating. Interesting... I think she would be a great actress. Imagine her performing at the theater. She'd be amazing. Or dancing. I'm thinking jazz or musical theater, since she is such a performer. I think she would be great at those.
And this is why I call Alexandra Trusova not a nasty person because she broke down crying at the Olympics in Beijing, when she won silver. She knows that she will probably won't have a chance of trying again 2026, her body is very likely won't be capaple. She will come home and her surrounding will blame her for not being good enough. Although she is such a talent, but so tortured, like the others.
In any other country Sascha could be like a female version of Yuzuru Hanyu and participate in several Olympics, its a shame that in Russia you can be replaced in any moment by younger scaters while participants from other countries arent even close to your level
Hello, I love your videos. I'm a fan of figure skating and Russian drama, but I speak Spanish, so I don't know if it's possible for your videos to have Spanish subtitles active, it would be a great help, thank you very much.
You can click on subtitles and then on auto translate after that you will choose spanish
@@selenie2522 Yes, I know, but the subtitles in Spanish are not activated, only in English. :(
It breaks my heart that all of these girls have been so badly abused. I hope they can all heal from the trauma.
My own relationship with my mom got better when I moved out as well. If my daughter was lucky enough to make it to the Olympics or even an elite level competition I would be proud of her regardless of the result nor would I force her to train and compete injured - that’s what a mother is supposed to do.
I think that I've read somewhere that eteri team said to Kostornaia:" you used to be the European champion but you are nothing right now you are injured and everything. so goodbye you are leaving the team..."which honestly is...
i clicked on this so fast
3A tell all book WHEN
Pleassseee, a video of the parents will be great!!!
Pleasee, could yoh do that video about the parents? I'm so ingrigued about Alenas and Trusova's.
Eteri even said that Alina should have skated with a broken arm. Apparently Medvedeva was training with a broken arm 🥲
That shows what a strong character she is (Medvedeva)...
Alina had her arm and leg broken, not much can be skated
This is the reality for majority of skaters tbh... Toxic coaches, skating environments and even more toxic parents... My heart aches for all the skaters that can't see how beautiful and talented they are
I wouldn't agree that it's the majority, but I agree on the sentiment
@@lindatannock are you a skater too?
Well, knowing that in fact Sasha was the favorite puts her meltdown in Beijing into even more perspective. That team has been praising her and using her as the example, as the standard the other girls need to achieve despite the fact she hasn't won a major title since turning senior. The girls who were winning worlds, euros, gpf, nationals were put down and told to be more like Sasha. That must have given Sasha a false sense of security that if she was able to hit her quads that she'd win. Then for her to finally deliver on her program and still not win---no wonder she went ballistic.
Eteri and her team are deplorable people. And poor Alena--her mom was a total skid mark for a while there too. Imagine not being able to have a moment of peace unless you are sleep or studying. Lord, those poor kids... I'm glad she's out of that environment. At this point I'd love to see her continue to skate in shows as that seems to be what she really likes. Also, with the whole Russia-Ukraine war still going on with no end in sight, I'm doubtful the Russians will be allowed back into international competition for quite a while.
Three horsemen of the apocalypse 😂
I'm not surprised at all about the situation with Anna. I don't know why so many people said she's the one they chose for the gold when Eteri didn't even care about her once Sasha came back and Kamila became a senior. But it is quite shocking to find out about Alëna's mother. I figured Anna's and the rest of the student's parents are in with the teaching method, but never thought Alëna's would be. How did she raise Alëna to be so free-spirited and feisty when she's like that. Thanks for this video. I live for Anna and Alëna's friendship and support. If they're friends with Liza, it'd be the ultimate friendship among my favourites. I hope Alëna continues skating, even if not competitively. She's definitely a gem, so much natural talent for FS. I also hope Anna and Liza to continue for long because they're also really good but for different aspects.
Grazie gentile Paola. Aliona è una grande atleta ma soprattutto, dopo questa intervista, è simpatica geniale divertente, un vero "amore" tanto necessaria nel mondo un po' muffoso del figure skating. Le auguro tanta fortuna e felicità
Around the 23:00 mark you mention Zhenya probably didn’t have it as bad bc she was Eteri’s favorite, but I’m going to have to disagree in that ET waged war on her. And all of what ET said, we now now was proven a lie by other officials. Evgenia and Alina were also the first that were pitted against each other so badly, look at the Olympic video of it. Alina then had 3 replacements dangled in front of her. She was also a favorite of Daniil. The favorites are just more abused because they’re led to believe they’re cared for the most 😢
I suspect this's why Dr. Shivetzky (sp?) is there... He, as an Anesthesiologist, is probably doing nerve blocks and radiofrequency ablation to allow them to continue training/competing without feeling pain