Will Valieva’s disqualification prevent Tutberidze from becoming the best? Choose a coach for the season.
Daria Kiryukhina April 3, 2024, 11:30 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Eteri against Alexei Mishin, Tamara Moskvina, Evgeni Plushenko and others.
No matter how talented and hardworking a skater is, achieving high results practicing without a coach is an impossible task. Olympic champion Nathan Chen himself, who practiced independent training due to his studies at Yale University, constantly consulted with Rafael Harutyunyan via video link and regularly visited his training camps.
Behind the boards at competitions, coaches are often even more concerned than their students when practicing the program. They live every moment of the performance as if they themselves were on the ice. It is impossible to overestimate their role in the careers of athletes. Each medal is the result of the effort of both parties.
The end of the season is an excellent occasion to remember those who diligently led the skaters to medals and titles. And, of course, choose the one that most deserves the title of best at this moment. Below are 15 nominees, vote!
You have already chosen the best dance duo and sports partner.
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Rating: Best figure skating coach 2023/2024 season
Photo: Dmitry Golubovich, “Championship”
Alexey Mishin
Alexey Nikolaevich’s student Evgeny Semenenko won the title of Russian champion for the second time and then confirmed his leadership among our men in the Spartakiad of the strongest in Magnitogorsk. At the same time, the single skater manages to combine training and competitions with complex studies at a medical university. Without Mishin’s careful work this would hardly have been possible.
In February, Channel One released a documentary about the Professor, where he revealed new sides and, as always, impressed with his wisdom and philosophical vision of the world around him.
Photo: RIA Novosti
Tamara Moscow
Under the leadership of Tamara Nikolaevna, Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov won almost all competitions this season. Only in the Russian jumping championship did they win bronze, but they also added a special prize: for performing the best throw. Moskvina’s competent work traditionally dates back from rental to rental of Nastya and Sasha. If at the first tournament they were not yet in good shape, at the Russian Championship and at the Spartakiad of the Strongest they shined to the fullest.
And how they illuminated the “Russian Challenge” tournament program! Their fantastic demonstration program based on the movie “12 Chairs” delighted the audience and certainly deserved a place among the top three winners.
Photo: Getty Images
Tatiana Malinina, Roman Skornyakov
Former Russians Tatyana Malinina and Roman Skornyakov have raised a truly exceptional single skater for the United States: their son Ilya Malinin has been exciting the figure skating world for two years, performing a phenomenal quadruple axel in competitions. And yet, this season Ilya’s achievements are especially impressive.
The American won gold in the Grand Prix final, where he was the first in history to jump a quaxel in the short program, and won the title of world champion, skating impeccably both days of competition in Montreal. In the free skate, the athlete flawlessly performed six quads, including a luxurious quadruple axel, and set a new world record in technical score: 137.18 and points in the free skate: 227.79.
Photo: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
Benoit Richaud
Frenchman Benoit Richaud is best known as a brilliant director with an innovative vision for figure skating programs. But also in the technical field he deserves to occupy a place at the forefront. His collaboration with his compatriot Adam Xiao Him Fa was very effective. The skater won most of his starts and at the World Championships he made a big jump from 19th place after a short position to third place in the final standings. Benoit himself later admitted that he encouraged Adam to keep fighting and said he believed in him.
“Everything is within you. You just need to let it go. I believe in you. And we are going to fight and fight if you want to be a true champion,” Risho shared in the World Championships press area after Adam Xiao Him Fa’s skate.
Photo: RIA Novosti
Sergei Davydov
Sergei Davydov’s student, 14-year-old Lev Lazarev, was by no means childishly spectacular this season. At the Russian jumping championship, the boy took second place and received two special awards: for the best solo jump and a five-element waterfall. At the Russian Championships, Lev lost to his eternal rival Fedotov, but in the final of the Russian Junior Grand Prix he won the long-awaited gold. Under the guidance of Davydov, the skater confidently masters the most difficult ultracs and believes that he can learn the quadruple axle.
Photo: RIA Novosti
Eteri Tutberidze
Tutberidze’s players have been spectacular this season in both adult and youth tournaments. Adelia Petrosyan became the Russian champion and winner of the Spartakiad of the Strongest, and 13-year-old Margarita Bazylyuk not only won the Russian championship, but also defeated everyone, including her older colleagues, in the show jumping tournament. And outside the competition, the young athlete performed a unique cascade of two quads: quad Salchow – oiler – quad Salchow.
The Khrustalny guys also made us happy at the tournaments. Daniil Samsonov made a surprising breakthrough at the end of the competitive year, skating as the best in the free program at the Channel One Cup. 14-year-old Arseny Fedotov won gold for the second time at the Russian Championships and, like Bazylyuk , turned out to be the best in the jumping tournament. But our strongest men opposed him!
Alexandra Boykova and Dmitry Kozlovsky, although they did not achieve the desired leadership among sports couples, nevertheless, of course, they had a successful season. At the Russian jumping championship, figure skaters fearlessly attacked the quad throw and came close to conquering an incredibly dangerous element.
Photo: Harry How/Getty Images
Sonoko Nakano
Japanese specialist Sonoko Nakano led Kaori Sakamoto to her third world title in women’s singles. Despite the absence of our girls, it was not easy to achieve it. Kaori and her coach did an incredible job maintaining excellent form throughout the season and confirming her top seed status time and time again.
Kaori’s victory in the Grand Prix final was especially costly for her, as she failed last year. But now she has almost achieved all the most important titles in figure skating. The only thing she lacks in her is the title of Olympic champion.
Photo: RIA Novosti
Alexander Zhulin
Under the direction of Alexander Zhulin, Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin returned to ice dance competitions this season. The vibrant dance duo missed an entire year due to their partner’s pregnancy, but immediately regained their leading positions in all Russian competitions. Before, Sasha and Vanya had not trained with Zhulin, but he quickly found a way to get closer to them and now diligently takes them to new sporting heights.
The group of the famous specialist was replenished with another strong duo: Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva and Yegor Bazin. The skaters firmly took second place at the Russian Championships and at the Spartakiad of the Strongest, proving that their move to Zhulin was not in vain.
The seemingly promising union of Elizaveta Shanaeva and Pavel Drozd, unfortunately, suddenly fell apart. However, the athletes managed to be remembered by the public for their interesting performances and were very close to conquering the third step of the podium at the Russian Championship.
Photo: RIA Novosti
Pavel Slyusarenko
It is impossible not to wonder how Pavel Slyusarenko manages to raise several beautiful sports couples at once. Ekaterina Chikmareva and Matvey Yanchenkov won bronze at the Russian Championships, Yulia Artemyeva and Alexey Bryukhanov demonstrated a cosmic quadruple turn and showed the third result at the Spartakiad of the strongest, and Elizaveta Osokina and Artyom Gritsaenko won the vault tournament in the individual competition, even surpassing Mishina/Gallyamov and Boykova/Kozlovsky.
In addition, Slyusarenko helps Eteri Tutberidze’s team with the greenhouses, although for this he has to come to Moscow from Perm, where his famous school is located.
Photo: Toru Hanai/Getty Images
Carolina Costner
The famous Italian singles skater found herself on the other side of the board, beginning to collaborate with the Japanese Yuma Kagiyama. The skater spent a long time recovering from a serious injury, but now she is again conquering the heights of this sport. At the Four Continents Championship, Yuma had no equal, and at the World Championship she lost only to Malinin and confidently took silver. With Costner’s support, she reinvented herself on the ice and tried an original and modern look in the short program.
Photo: RIA Novosti
Oleg Tataurov
Oleg Tataurov’s pupil Vladislav Dikidzhi was a real discovery last season. Having broken into senior competitions after a youth career, the skater instantly made a place for himself in the sun. In most competitions, he surprised with his incredible stability in jumping and at the Russian Championships he lost only one point to Semenenko. By the end of the season, Vlad learned the quad axis and learned it confidently during training. He also bet with Alexander Gallyamov that by the end of the summer he would make a five-revolution jump. Without a competent coaching approach, he can hardly dream of such success.
Photo: frame of the transmission.
Svetlana Panova
Svetlana Panova’s student Ksenia Sinitsyna always stood out at competitions for her incredible gliding and understanding of music, but it was this season that their joint efforts gave good results at competitions. Ksyusha won one of the stages of the Russian Grand Prix, she took bronze in the Spartakiad of the Strongest and should receive two more bronzes after reviewing the results of the Moscow stage and the Russian Championship.
It is known that Ksyusha is studying the quadruple jump, but the coach does not rush her and relies on stability. This strategy allows an adult girl not to crumble in the face of dangerous elements and calmly develop in sports.
Photo: RIA Novosti
Evgeniy Rukavitsyn
Although the men from Evgeniy Rukavitsyn’s group did not get on the podium at the Russian Championship or the Spartakiad of the Strongest, his new student Anna Frolova did manage to do so. At the Spartakiad in Magnitogorsk, the figure skater won silver and throughout the season she was invariably pleased with her excellent and stable performances.
On the international stage, Rukavitsyn distinguished himself thanks to Anastasia Gubanova, a representative of the Georgian national team. The single skater took second place at the European Championships, a highly controversial point behind the victorious Luna Hendricks.
Photo: Dmitry Golubovich, “Championship”
Svetlana Sokolovskaya
The Spartakiada of the strongest in Magnitogorsk was marked by two very striking events related to the pupils of Svetlana Sokolovskaya. Mark Kondratyuk triumphantly took silver and returned to his Olympic season form: he fought in the free skate in every jump and almost surpassed Semenenko, losing to him only in the components. Alexander Samarin unexpectedly announced his retirement, causing sadness among many fans. His tandem with Sokolovskaya was one of the audience’s favorites. The coach believed in Sasha until the end and was there in the most difficult moments.
Photo: Dmitry Golubovich, “Championship”
Evgeni Plushenko
Although this season did not see the senior debut of Evgeni Plushenko’s strongest junior Veronica Zhilina, Sofia Muravyova alone defended the honor of her native “Angels”. At the Russian Championships she won silver performing two magnificent triple axels in two programs. The road to this success was difficult. At the Russian Grand Prix stage in Moscow, Sonya fell three times from the treacherous ultra-c: once in short and twice in free. However, careful preparation for the main tournament paid off. Plushenko was very proud of his student and definitely saw a touch of gold in her silver.
Who did you recognize as the sensation of the season?
Classification
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