Figure skater Samsonov said that at first the coaches did not believe in the seriousness of his injury.

Figure skater Daniel Samsonov In an interview with , he recounted how the coaching staff’s attitude towards his injury had changed over time.

In 2020, Samsonov was diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter disease, a joint disease. In two years, student Eteri Tutberidze has undergone three operations.

– Let’s go back to your break period. Remember the timeline of events. After which tournament did you have to go on forced leave?

— The last tournament was the 2020 Russian Championship. In addition, because of my right knee, I did not go to the World Junior Championships, after which there was surgery and a difficult recovery. Then I competed in the Moscow Grand Prix stage in the fall of 2022, and my left knee seized up as I prepared for the second stage. I had surgery again and returned to training in April. On average, I didn’t play for a year and a half.

— How did the coaches react to your injury? Did they think the knee was causing them severe pain, or were they told to endure it?

— In 2020, after the Russian Championship, I started to feel pain, but I didn’t attach much importance to it. The pain didn’t go away, it only got worse every day. I held out until the last minute, because the World Championship was supposed to be my first serious tournament. A week before departure, we contacted the federation who were waiting for a response from us.

At first, the trainers didn’t believe I had such severe pain. They played me some music to praise, but I collapsed at the first item. He approached the bench and sobbed in pain. A week before leaving, I realized I couldn’t walk or walk on a daily basis.

I realized I couldn’t play. I didn’t want to make simple jumps, embarrass myself and let the country down. It was better to give first reserve Ilya Yablokov a chance. The coaches said I could skate with this pain, they say, everyone has schlatter, everyone puts up with it, and you put up with it. But the pain was so intense that I couldn’t ride.

— When did the attitude of coaches change?

“When serious work started on my knee, the coaches thought about it and realized how much pain I was in.

When the problems with the second knee began, everyone treated me attentively, reduced the load and no longer took risks. After the second operation, the coaches supported me. “Once I came to the rink on crutches and everyone was very happy to see me,” Samsonov told .

This season, 18-year-old Samsonov took part in two stages of the Grand Prix, took fifth place in the Russian Championship and qualified for the Spartakiad of the Strongest.