Tatyana Tarasova needs no introduction. Suffice to say that she coached Yagudin to an Olympic gold medal in 2002. Unfortunately, the skater announced his departure from eligible skating, but Tarasova?stable is already nurturing new talents.
Q. How true are the reports that Yagudin will coach France抯 Brian Joubert?
Partially true. Alexei is very busy, so he will consult Joubert, rather than coach. Alexei performs a lot and gets a load of invitations from skating shows, and it抯 really great that he agreed to help Joubert when he has the time. I think that would be an interesting thing for him. You see, Alexei is having a hard time severing ties to eligible skating - although his days are jam-packed, they have no competitions or contests, and it抯 hard for him to adjust. Coaching will let Yagudin stay in the eligible skating environment, plus he actually enjoys coaching. I think that in time he will exhibit the same panache with coaching that he showed in skating. You mark my words, Yagudin will make a wonderful coach. Right now, he is a great artist.
Q. Is Joubert so impressed with Yagudin that he is trying to copy his idol as best he can?
That抯 par for the course. For instance, in the past we had lots of pairs copying the Protopopovs, and presently we still see pairs reminiscent of Moiseeva and Minenkov. True champions always make the path that others try to follow. Today Brian is the same smiley, open-hearted, talented and slightly plump boy Alexei used to be, with the same impulsive personality. Of course, he has to have his own way and his own programs, however, that抯 up to him, his coach and Alexei, who will be part of the trio. I am very happy that Alexei already has had similar experiences. He is helping me with coaching Andrei Griazev and accompanied him in a Junior Grand Prix event. He is going to travel to Grand Prix Final with Griazev as well. Surprisingly, Yagudin has only three free days in between performances, and he will be spending this time with his student.
Q. Did Alexei ask for your advice before leaving eligible skating?
Alexei and I have a wonderful relationship, but decisions like these should be made by the skater independently. He is a grown man and master of his own destiny. He did a lot for eligible skating, and the reason people gave him standing ovations is not because his quads were perfect. Yagudin has a performer抯 talent that will certainly be useful in his future work. When he was saying goodbye at Skate Canada, the audience was bawling so loud that you couldn抰 hear the music. They were treating him like their own child, and this was his reward for his suffering and hard work.
Q. Would Alexei leave if he wasn抰 injured?
Of course not. He could have skated longer. This is why I ask God for my students?health in my prayers.
Q. Presently you are working with skaters from other countries, for instance, Sasha Cohen. Is it different working with foreigners?
There are no differences in working with true talents ?you just do your job, and this applies to Sasha as well. She works very hard, and I work very hard for her. She never makes me say the same thing twice. If you only knew how hard-working this tiny thing is! She is flexible as it is, but she does an hour of stretching after each practice. Sasha has class and brains. She doesn抰 just take it from you, she makes it her own.
Q. You said once that you like working with students who have no limits. How does Griazev fit into this?
He is only 18, and we need to wait. Yagudin and Plushenko are wunderkinds. They developed very early, but not everyone can do that. Griazev does quads, he is very artistic and skates well. But his best is still ahead of him.
Q. You are also working with ice dancers, like Kulikova and Novikov. Are you happy with their results?
Yes, very much so. They抳e been skating together for 8 months, and no one could have showed these results. There is also another promising pair in Russia, just as I promised.
Q. Last season, you als
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