“Russia was simply betrayed.” Interview with the famous figure skating coach

figure skating coach Valentina Tyukova Together with her husband Valery Tyukov, more than 38 years working in Perm, they trained dozens of figure skaters for the Russian national team. Among their students are many world champions in juniors, winners of the Youth Olympic Games in pair skating, as well as two-time Olympic champion Maxim Trankov.

In an interview with , Valentina Fedorovna spoke about significant progress in training conditions in Perm, where the Russian junior championship is taking place from February 15 to 17, and also shared her attitude to the change in sports citizenship, sanctions against Russia and the prospects for our skaters to return to the international scene.

“Before, athletes were simply robbed, offered a salary”

– Valentina Fedorovna, can Perm now be considered one of the centers of development of figure skating in Russia?

– Without a doubt. We have organized many competitions in recent years. The Russian championship is held for the second time, recently there was a stage of the Russian Grand Prix, competitions for the prizes of Tatyana Anatolyevna Tarasova. Perm welcomes athletes and coaches very well.

It is important that many local athletes participate in all competitions in our city. At this championship, for example, four pairs from the Perm Territory and only one skater, Taisiya Shcherbinina, perform. Three of our couples participated in the Russian Championship, and with great success. In the Grand Prix finals, we will have two pairs in the juniors and two in the masters. And single skaters have Victoria Fedyanina.

– In the past, you often complained about the lack of ice. Is there any improvement in this problem now?

– Now we have a successfully working group under the leadership of Pavel Slyusarenko. This is our student with Valery Nikolaevich (Tyukov, husband of Valentina Fedorovna, – “”). Thanks to the help of the Start school, the sports training center and the sports ministry, Pavel’s group has grown considerably. We have trainers Egor Zakroev, Alexander Popov, Tatyana Tudvaseva, choreographer Ivan Malofeev, and they invited a specialist from Moscow to help direct the programs. There is also an OFP coach.

Now we have ten couples, however, some have recently broken up, but this is a normal process. There is enough ice cream for everyone, everything is wonderful in this regard. We train in two groups. The same coaches work first with some athletes and then with others, so that everyone is comfortable. Compared to what it was a few years ago in terms of ice and infrastructure, it has become much better.

– Is it useful to keep the athletes in their region of origin? Yet before often skaters from Perm left for the capitals …

– Well, how did you leave? They flew! Persuaded, offers wages. Previously, apart from money for food at the training camp, almost no funds were allocated, but now the guys enter the national teams, they receive a salary, the federation helps a lot with equipment. In terms of financing, it has become much easier, and now they are already thinking much more seriously: whether to start from there, where there are results and where you can earn money. Almost all of our guys are newcomers, they need to rent apartments, to feed themselves, so the financial moment is really important.

We are getting closer to the results we have achieved in St. Petersburg over the years. Thank you to our entire team of coaches. They work very thoughtfully and attentively. If something isn’t working for a young couple, the coaches do both the carry and the throw. This kind of work is sure to bring results.

“After everything Russia has done for the world, we are treated like this”

– At the Russian Junior Championship, your students also claim the best places, but in no case will they go to the World Junior Championship. How do you personally experience this situation?

“I don’t see anyone guilty in Russia. Okay, at the Beijing Olympics we went under the white flag, but when our Paralympians weren’t allowed to participate in the Games, that’s beyond the limits of what’s acceptable. America and Europe always say how important the rights of all people are to them, but here they have buried us.

I think Russia was simply betrayed. We have won the war, freed so many people from intimidation. We often visited competitions in Poland, visited the most gloomy places and saw with our own eyes what was happening there. And our guys saw. And after all that Russia has done for the world, we have such an attitude.

– Now, in your opinion, is it worth agreeing to participate in competitions in a neutral status?

– A very difficult question. Guys need to perform, because the era of sports passes very quickly. Therefore, it is necessary to act, but at the same time it is necessary to actively seek the return of full status.

– In this situation, many athletes are faced with the question of changing citizenship. How would you react if your student made such a decision now?

— Thank God I don’t know of such cases in my group. If I find out, then, of course, I will deter. My husband and I were offered to work in Japan, but since we arrived in Perm in 1985, we didn’t even think of moving. There were many opportunities to stay abroad, but Russia is our land and we try to pass it on to athletes and children. Everyone has the right to choose, but personally I am against this practice.

– In recent days, many have noticed a change in the rhetoric of IOC boss Thomas Bach. Do you believe that the situation will soon change for the better?

“I think in the end there will be adequate heads. I have been working for 56 years, for 40 years I have traveled to international competitions, communicated with athletes and coaches from all over the world. In personal communication, everyone admits that without Russia these are kindergarten competitions. Nevertheless, foreigners have always admired ours, reaching out and trying to learn from Russia. Now their level has dropped sharply. And why fall back, when you can still win, without complex elements?