BO和卷毛最新的电话采访
First Kim, now Rippon: what does latest split mean for Orser?
By Philip Hersh
Coaching changes are so common among figure skaters that they rarely are newsworthy, per se.
Of course, there have been a few exceptions, most notably:
* MIchelle Kwan leaving her coach of 10 years, Frank Carroll, only a few months before the 2002 Olympics, where she finished third after having won world titles the two previous seasons.
*Kim Yuna leaving Brian Orser only a few months after winning the 2010 Olympics.
*And now Adam Rippon announcing last week he also was leaving Orser.
On the surface, Rippon's move is not startling.
He had joined Orser after only 1 1/2 seasons with Nikolai Morozov. And Rippon, the two-time world junior champion who only a year ago looked like the star of Generation Next in U.S. men's skating, decided to switch for the reason most skaters do: stagnation or decline in results.
But when you combine Rippon's exit with Kim's, they add up to questions about why Orser had lost two such talented skaters: one who had won everything with him as her primary coach over four seasons; the other, who seems to have enough talent to contend for national if not world and Olympic titles, but left Orser after 2 1/2 seasons.
To the notion that the combination of the departures is an indictment of him, Orser told me by telephone, ``I do the best I can. I believe in my athletes. I believe in my training. Yuna was Olympic champion, and I believe I had something to do with that. I also give credit to (coach) Tracy (Wilson) and (choreographer) David (Wilson). I didn't do it alone.
``Adam's leaving was his idea. Sometimes after a season that doesn't go as planned, they (skaters) make changes. I'm sure there were times Yuna wanted to change coaches, but they were in it for the long run, and they got the big prize. You have to be patient in this business.''
Unlike the Kim-Orser breakup, which devolved into a bitter feud played out in the media, Rippon and Orser have parted with no acrimony and mutual respect.
``He is a very talented skater, and I wish him the best,'' said Orser, two-time Olympic silver medalist.
Both Orser and Rippon attribute their split to differences in training philosophy after a 2011 season the skater began with an impressive victory at the Japan Open in September. Rippon faded slowly but inexorably after that.
He took fifth at nationals for the second straight year, even though this season's field did not include Olympic champion Evan Lysacek and three-time U.S. champion Johnny Weir.
Rippon's result at nationals looked even worse when Richard Dornbush, 11th in 2010, and Ross Miner, who missed the 2010 meet with an injury, moved up to second and third, respectively, making the team that will compete at the delayed World Championships beginning April 25 in Moscow. Rippon also finished fifth at Four Continents after winning that event in 2010.
``I feel I improved this season, but my results fell short,'' Rippon said.
Orser and Rippon agree the skater's decline over the course of the season needed to be addressed - and that differences in how to do it could not be resolved.
``The reason I made the change is I thought the strategy of training had to be changed,'' Rippon said.
``Adam and I discussed the season and the challenges we had,'' Orser said. ``I had some ideas with conditioning, and they (Rippon and his advisors) said they were going to stick with their off-ice plan, that it was fine for them.
``It wasn't fine for me. I had some other ideas to help him complete at the level I know he can, sports psychology and other tools most elite athletes use.''
Neither would give specifics about the training ideas, but in listening to both, it seemed clear Rippon felt he was allowed to peak too early, while Orser thought the skater's ideas about what constituted off-ice training were part of the problem.
``I wanted to reevaluate the way I was paced,'' said Rippon, 21, of Clarks Summit, Pa.
Curiously, Rippon has decided to keep training at the same rink where Orser is skating director, the Toronto Cricket Skating & Curling Club. His new primary coach will be Ghislain Briand, who has been working with Rippon there for a couple years. Rippon said he also will make a few trips to Colorado Springs, as he did last month, to work with Kathy Casey and Christy Krall.
``I think it will be a little awkward but I'm ready to deal with it,'' Rippon said.
One reason Rippon decided to stay put was to limit the effects of the coaching change.
If I were to move, it would be another whole year of transition and adjusting to a new place,'' he said.
Orser said he approached Rippon when he returned from Colorado recently to discuss the awkwardness issue.
``I want things to be as smooth as possible,'' Orser said. ``I want him to feel at home here.''
Rippon already has experienced discomfort at the Cricket Club, even if it didn't directly involve him. The tension between Team Kim and Orser that lasted several weeks before and after their split last summer pervaded the atmosphere in the rink.
``Of course it was hard in the summer with the media battle between Yuna and Brian,'' Rippon said. ``It affected all of us at the club a little bit.
``It was an awkward few months., We all felt the loss of a really big presence when Yuna left. The energy and dynamics at the club changed.''
Kim had extraordinary potential and a world junior title when she arrived in Toronto before the 2007 season. As she moved from there to world medalist in 2007 and world champion in 2009, becoming a superstar in her homeland, the pressure on her grew exponentially. That she handled it with the aplomb to deliver a performance for the ages in the Olympics is a testament to both her mental strength and the preparation Orser gave her.
With Rippon gone, Christina Gao is the only elite skater Orser still is coaching. In the past two seasons, Gao, 17, of Cincinnati has finished fifth at nationals twice and gone from 8th to 4th at world juniors.
``Slow and easy wins the race here,'' Orser said of Gao's progress. ``We're looking for next season to be great and a perfect setup for the next two years.''
Even if he may have been less patient, Rippon felt the timing of his difficult season and change also was perfect.
``If there is a year to learn in the four-year Olympic cycle, the first year is the one,'' he said.
Orser, who has been coaching elites barely five years, also felt he has learned something from last season, when his reactions to some of Rippon's subpar performances, especially body language in the ``Kiss and Cry'' area, raised eyebrows.
The coach had drawn lots of positive attention -- and cameras -- for the unfettered joy in the way he mimed Kim's programs while standing at the rink boards as she did them on the ice.
``One of Brian's positive qualities is he is personally invested in and affected by how his students skate,'' Rippon said, ``The problem was if I wasn't skating well, I felt he was upset as well. His emotional state, I just fed off that.''
When told Rippon felt that way, Orser said it would spur him to curb his enthusiasm.
``It's just human for my coach to be disappointed if a skater doesn't do the best he can,'' Orser said. ``I made it clear to him I was never disappointed in him. I take responsibility, so I get disappointed with myself.
``The bottom line is I have to be less emotional when my skaters don't skate well. But every coach who believes in a student will be disappointed when they don't skate well.''
In the end, Rippon following Kim out the door may add up to nothing more than individual problems in their relationships with Orser. Future results may or may not prove each made the correct decision.
But Orser's bottom line will always include being the coach who was at Kim's side when she won the biggest prize in their sport.
大致意思是，与金妍儿不同，两人是友好分手的。主要是训练理念上发生了分歧。另外卷毛觉得BO过于情绪化，在他出错时能感到教练对他的失望，这更加破坏了他的自信。 |
摸脸哥，加油喂，每个人都是为了自己的梦想。换教练也没什么的，这个教练知识学到了或者觉得在这个方面自己可以了，想换个其他教练帮助自己其他方面，应该是这样子吧。
提升卡
置顶卡
沉默卡
喧嚣卡
变色卡
抢沙发
千斤顶
显身卡
................................
~~哇哈哈哈哈哈~~~