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Evgenia Medvedeva on Stars on Ice debut: “It’s such an incredible experience for me”

Interview and Photos by Francesca S., Team FSO Contributing Writer/Photographer

Figure Skaters Online caught up with Medvedeva at the Laval, Quebec show to talk with her about her Stars on Ice experience, her goals for training and her programs for next season.

Figure Skaters Online: This is your first experience as a Stars on ice Canada full cast member. What are you enjoying the most? How is your relationship with the rest of the cast?

Evgenia Medvedeva: It’s my first time skating as part of a cast, it’s such incredible experience for me as a single skater. As a singles skater, I only have to be aware about myself, so I was not used to feel around me for the people I should be skating with. Now I start to feel more as part of a team. I was a little bit worried that I could only skate alone, but it is good now. Our relationship with the cast is really good, we are friends and after shows and practices we spend time together, we go out for dinner, we have lots of topics to talk about.

FSO: What’s your favorite part in the group numbers?

FSO: Tell us about your exhibition programs, “7 rings” by Ariana Grande and “Beautiful Mess” by Kristian Kostov, very different from each other. Why did you choose them, and what do they mean to you?

FSO: You also already announced music choices for your competitive programs (Muse’s “Exogenesis” for the SP and Memories of a Geisha film soundtrack for the FS). Who choose the music, and what is your goal to show with these programs?

Evgenia: The choices are both mine. I thought about these two pieces for a few years. For “Exogenesis” I felt I wasn’t ready technically to skate to it, for Memories of a Geisha , I wasn’t old enough mentally, but now I think I am ready for both.

FSO: What would you like to improve for next season?

Evgenia: My main goal is to land a quad salchow. I will learn it as soon as I recover from injury. Recovery is going well, I am jumping already, I feel almost no pain. I’m careful and not jumping a lot, but I recovered all my jumps and even loop combos.

FSO: What has been the biggest lesson that you have learned from your coaching team this past season?

FSO : Everyone is impressed by your command of English. How and when did you start learning?

Evgenia: I started learning English in the first senior season, that’s about four years ago already. Since the first competition I started to speak English and that was horrible, because I only had a few words, but now I understand everything and can say everything I want to say, I feel free with the language. I just have no choice, most of my friends speak English, and I have to communicate with the coaches.

FSO: Did you have the chance to explore Toronto, and what do you like most about the city and living in Canada?

Evgenia: I love calm. In Moscow, you can feel the tension: someone is late, someone is thinking about their own business, people are worrying about things. I love Moscow; it’s the most beautiful city in the world especially at New Year’s time. In Toronto, people are smiling, someone can say “I love your shoes” in the street and you say “thank you, I like your jacket”; you feel free to talk to everyone. People are less stressed. People don’t recognize me in the street. But I’m Russian and I couldn’t live forever in Canada, I need my own culture.

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Evgenia Medvedeva: “I want to reach my full potential and become the best possible version of myself”

This is a season of change for Evgenia Medvedeva – taking her career into her own hands after the Olympics in PyeongChang and moving to Canada to train with Brian Orser.

But change can make you deal with a lot of vulnerabilities, and Evgenia sure looked vulnerable at this start of the season. But she also looked completely changed already in the way of approaching the music, the pace, the inner rhythm of a program, the speed, the flow.

It is still a long, difficult road ahead, the Olympic silver medalist admits: “For me to accept that in order to move forward I have to get used to the fact that not every competition is going to be good – it’s very hard, to be honest. But I’m getting help in realizing that, and I guess I’m starting to be calmer about it”.

And you do recognize Brian Orser’s coaching philosophy in Evgenia’s words, and notice that student and coach’s perspectives are starting to align, and that is clearly one more step into the right direction. You’ll see that for yourself – and understand that transformation requires time, and energy, and efforts – in our series of interviews with Evgenia and Brian .

We talked to Evgenia on the last day of 2018 Internationaux de France in Grenoble. By Sunday, the disappointment of not making to the Grand Prix Final for the first time in her senior career might have dissipated a bit.

A day earlier, she had finished her second GP event on the 4th place; to qualify for the Final she needed to win.

And so she understands this is all part of the process – and her focus is already on the Russian Nationals. She looks calm, collected, in control, she even jokes about her gliding qualities compared to those of her colleagues in Toronto. All in all, she’s the same wise, professional Evgenia we’re familiar with since her junior years, but, in other aspects, she seems fundamentally changed: she’s on a mission of rebuilding herself, of leaving no stone unturned – in order to discover, reach her full potential.

And she’ll take all the necessary time for it. Remember, she is only 19.

by Nadia Vasilyeva/Grenoble

Nadia Vasilyeva: Zhenya, when you are out there on the ice, before the program starts, what does the coach usually say to you? What can be said at that moment?

Evgenia Medvedeva: Mostly it’s words of support, of believing in me. “We are in charge”. That’s pretty much it, it’s not that many words. Everything has already been said during practice, so then it mostly goes without saying. I already know what Brian wants to say to me, and Brian knows what I’m thinking. Brian used to be a competitive athlete himself, so we have a tacit understanding.

Your programs this season are very interesting, and very different – would you share a couple of things about the process of creating them, about the music choices?

Yes, these choices are very unusual for me indeed, and difficult in some ways. In the future, there are many more changes to be expected – I’m not going to say what kind for now, let it remain a kind of project of mine for the next four weeks. [the interview took place on November 25 – Ed.]

I really like the free program, I feel it really deeply. Maybe we will change some parts of it, maybe we’ll leave it as it is, and just do the refinements. We haven’t decided yet, we’ll make the decision next week, about the changes or whether we need those changes at all.

I always wanted to skate to a tango, and it turned out to be exactly the kind of tango that I wanted. Slow and passionate at the beginning, bold and daring in the middle, and in the end it’s just… so full of passion! Well, of course, I wish I could also skate this tango clean…

Well, there will be many more possibilities for it…

I hope. And as for the short program, this music was suggested by David [Wilson] and Sandra Bezic. I wanted to experiment, but I didn’t expect the experiments to be so global. The working process was a lot of fun, but this image is so unusual for me, I mean really.

I guess everything was very different for you in comparison – the choreography process, the practices, everything…

Yes, everything is so different, the process of training, of life itself, even how I sleep – just everything! And mostly it’s a lot of fun. And by fun I don’t mean unserious, but that it’s so captivating – it makes you want more and more, create something else, try something new. Fun in a professional way.

And fun in a way that you’re enjoying it?

Your skating style seems different now too. When you step on the ice now, do you feel the same as before, or has something inside changed as well?

Something inside changed, yes. Some for the better, some for the worse. And for the bad things – we’ll fight with them, and the good things we’ll improve.

“I JUST HAVE TO SET MY MIND ONTO COMPETITION MODE”

Zhenya, did you know from the beginning that you wanted to train with Brian and Tracy, or did you consider some other options?

I knew at once that I wanted to train with Brian.

Did you have any expectations from joining his group, and did the reality meet them?

I didn’t have any expectations, I had some rough idea of how it was going to be. In some ways, it’s different, in some others, just as I expected. I can’t name anything in particular because I didn’t go to join the group, but I went to the coach [Evgenia tries to find the right words here] . It’s not exactly a duo, but…

One-on-one work?

Yes, the most effective work is when it’s one-on-one.

So you don’t interact within the group much?

Why not, we do. For example, we have this really great part of the practice called ‘stroking’, where we work on skating skills for the last 15 minutes of the practice. We just put on some music and the whole group, everyone who’s on the ice – we skate synchronously. And it’s a really great exercise because you look around and realize just how much better these guys are at gliding than you! [laughing]

Well, yes, but they’ve been training with Brian for how long…?

For much longer, yes. So I just catch up on this skating technique that they’ve been learning from very early age.

And I think I have this precious experience of working with both Russian and Canadian specialists, and it’s a really unique combination. And I really wish to learn to use both of those, these two components so to speak, so that they can merge into one, into something new. But it also takes time.

So the adaptation process is not quite over yet?

No, not really, and I think everyone can see that. Yes, it’s not so pleasant for me to talk about it sometimes, I don’t like to admit it, but I’m not the kind of person who doesn’t admit their mistakes. I see the mistake, I say – Yes, I don’t know how to do that, I want to learn.

And I won’t deny that I did badly. Because for now everything is really bad with me [smiling] . But I’m satisfied with my practices – public practices, I mean. It means that I can actually do all those elements that are planned in the program, I just have to set my mind onto competition mode. Something went wrong and we’re going to figure out what.

But how different is the jumping technique with Brian, did you have to re-learn some things?

I try to re-learn bad things into good things, and to keep the good things. In my case – I don’t speak for the others, but in my case Brian adapts to my technique. He doesn’t just make general remarks, like “jump higher, do this, don’t do that”.

But every athlete has their own technique, everyone has a different body, everyone has found their own way. And Brian makes corrections for my particular case.

Evgenia with Brian Orser and Tracy Wilson in Grenoble, during practice

Do you have any strategy, something that you focus on especially in your training? Or is it everything altogether?

It’s everything altogether. We work on the weakest sides – it’s mainly spins. But figure skating is everything combined, so if you put more effort into some things, and less into others, those lesser things then make themselves known in competitions, and everything goes bad. So you got to work on everything.

Brian’s perspective is a long-term one, he says the results really start showing after a year and a half of working together. Is it hard for you to get into such different rhythm, to accept the idea that you’ll have to wait for the result to come?

It is hard, yes. It’s hard to get used to this idea, but luckily I understand that.

What goals did you set for yourself this season?

This season I want to show a decent skate at Russian National Championships. And since I didn’t get into the Grand Prix Final, now I have more time to get it together and fix myself up for the Russian Nationals.

And what about long-term goals?

In the long-term I want to reach my full potential and become the best possible version of myself. Not a version of someone else, or some person that people want to see, or just put on some masks, no. I want to uncover and develop what’s inside.

There’s this idea that any person, and particularly an athlete, in order to move forward, he/she has to learn not only how to win, but also how to lose. What do you think about that?

To be honest, I don’t really like that saying [smiling] . Even if it sounds bad for my part. Over the span of… how many seasons, four? [she pauses, counting the seasons] I was always on the podium. One junior and three senior seasons. And most of the time it was first places. And now for me to accept that in order to move forward I have to get used to the fact that not every competition is going to be good – it’s very hard, to be honest.

But I’m getting help in realizing that, and I guess I’m starting to be calmer about it. It’s not like I don’t care now about where I place and how I skate! [emphasizing this part] No, not like that! But, I mean, those failures will push me so much, and they will haunt me so that I’ll just get up and keep moving.

So you’ll use them as motivation?

Yes. There are only two ways about it: either give up, or use them as motivation. No other option.

[interview by Nadia Vasilyeva, Grenoble/intro and editing by Florentina Tone/photos taken in Grenoble by Mila Iutskevych]

Evgenia skating to “Beautiful Mess”by Kristian Kostov

Brian Orser: “As a mature skater, you’re not gonna win every competition. Pick your battles”

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Exclusive: Evgenia Medvedeva reflects on difficult transition season, newfound love for Canada, touring with Stars on Ice

Speaking in a narrow hallway at the scotiabank arena ahead of this year’s stars on ice show in toronto, a relaxed evgenia medvedeva reflected on her first season with her new coaching team, her newfound love for canada and her first time touring in north america..

It’s been quite a year for Russia’s Evgenia Medvedeva .

Around this time last year, the two-time World champion and two-time Olympic silver medallist sent shockwaves around the skating world when news broke that she was leaving her longtime Russian coach, Eteri Tutberidze , to train under Brian Orser and Tracy Wilson at the Toronto Cricket and Skating Club .

In a difficult transition season that saw her uproot everything in order to move across the world with her mother, Zhanna , the Russian teenager certainly hasn’t had it easy. Speaking in a narrow hallway at the Scotiabank Arena ahead of this year’s Stars on Ice show in Toronto, a relaxed Medvedeva reflected on her first season with her new coaching team, her newfound love for Canada — which she considers solely her new “work” home — and her first time touring in North America.

As anyone in figure skating will tell you, a lot can change in a few years. After winning back-to-back World titles in 2016 and 2017, Medvedeva was easily considered the most dominant force in ladies’ figure skating and seemed primed for Olympic glory. However, the unpredictability of injuries and the unexpected emergence of a compatriot three years her junior ( Alina Zagitova ) quickly saw that title slip from her grasp.

Determined to prolong her competitive career for as long as she could, Medvedeva made the decision to switch to Orser a couple of months after the Olympics, and she struggled in large part to recapture the same magic of her first two senior seasons. Through all her struggles, the 19-year-old admits that she was able to discover a lot of things about herself, thanks in part to her strong support system.

“I can say that I’m a really, really strong person,” she said with a big smile. “Last season, last year, I’ve just been through a lot of things — not always good things — through some bad things, but yeah… Now I’m here and things are going as it’s going and everything is fine.”

For a period of time, that did not seem to always be the case in a roller-coaster first season with Orser and Wilson. After winning a silver medal at the Autumn Classic International , the Russian managed to produce an incredible free skate to recover from a disastrous short program to place third at her first Grand Prix event, the Skate Canada International . With a shot at qualifying for the Grand Prix Final at her next event in Grenoble, France, Medvedeva barely missed the podium and, with it, her chance to qualify for the prestigious six-skater event.

A month later, Medvedeva returned to Russia to skate in her first competition on home ice since switching training bases at the incredibly competitive Russian Figure Skating Championships . With Orser by her side, the Russian didn’t know what to expect. When she made the unexpected switch last spring, she had inadvertently ended an unspoken trend that had become second nature for most of her compatriots: successful Russian skaters always stay in Russia. By becoming the sport’s first prominent Russian to leave the country to train with a non-Russian coach, Medvedeva did not know what sort of reception would await her in her unofficial homecoming. The result was better than anything she (or Orser) could have ever imagined.

Despite another disappointing short program that saw her sitting in 14th place going into the free skate, Medvedeva still received a hero’s welcome after both programs, which helped to finally put her at ease over a decision that she had mulled over for more than six months. With a 7th-place finish at this year’s Nationals, the 19-year-old left her homeland with a greater sense of purpose.

“That was really unexpected for me and so unexpected for all our team, ’cause Brian was, like, shocked a little bit and he would say that he never saw something like this in his life — that support, that energy that the crowd gave us at Nationals,” she said, beaming. “It’s really amazing and [at] Nationals, I started to feel confident in myself and started to understand that the real crowd really loves me.”

Due to her placement at Nationals, Medvedeva was not immediately selected by the Russian Figure Skating Federation to compete in the World Championships , but after winning the Cup of Russia , she became one of the three Russian women sent to compete this past March in Saitama, Japan. Despite sustaining an injury to her thigh, the two-time former champion managed to win the bronze, earning new personal bests in both the short and free programs in the process.

Evgenia Medvedeva skating to Kristian Kostov’s “Beautiful Mess” at the Stars on Ice show in Hamilton on May 4, 2019.

A couple of months later, Medvedeva says she feels much better now and just needs some time and practice to recover all of her triple jumps. While she struggled to find the words to describe the kind of technical strides that she has been making in the last 12 months with Orser and Wilson, the former World champion admits that she does feel like a completely different skater now than when she dominated the sport. “My body’s changed and the whole feeling of figure skating has changed for me in a good side,” she remarked.

“And I continue to improve my feeling of competitions ’cause the old ways that I went to competitions before, it doesn’t work at all anymore, so I have to find new ways to prepare myself mentally and physically ’cause I’ve got a totally different body, a different mind and sometimes I’m trying to go back to my old ways but it doesn’t work!” she said, laughing.

“So, yeah, I will continue to find it and I know Brian and Tracy will work [with] me and help me with it.”

Evgenia Medvedeva skating during one of the group numbers at the Stars on Ice show in Toronto on May 3, 2019.

For someone who has already tasted success at such an early age, it goes without saying that this was the most difficult season of Medvedeva’s career. Once considered the heavy favourite at every event that she entered, the Russian now finds herself returning to the same competitions as a sort of dark horse, which she says is something that she is slowly learning to take in stride, along with the little things that she continues to learn about herself every day.

“I’m proud of that I’m not gave up and I’ve been in situations where I’ve really thought to give up, but I’m lucky that now I’ve got a lot of people around of me who always support me and will support me in all decisions that I will do,” she said, when asked about what she is most proud of looking back on her difficult season. “There’s all my friends, all my coaches — Brian, Tracy especially — [and] my mom, who is living with me here and put everything into my figure skating. That’s amazing to have a lot of many people like this because not everyone has that person [or support system].”

With the help of this crucial support system, as well as an incredibly diverse group of training mates at the Toronto Cricket and Skating Club, Medvedeva admits that she has gradually become more comfortable with the idea of living in Canada. As an avid coffee drinker, she raved about the simplicity of Tim Hortons . While travelling from Ottawa to Laval for this year’s tour, she even ate her first Beavertail, a classic Canadian fried dough pastry that is shaped like a beaver’s tail. ( “[The] guys just bought a box of Beavertails and they said, ’Ah, she’s Russian! She never tried it!’” )

While travelling from Ottawa to Laval for this year’s Stars on Ice tour, Medvedeva got the chance to eat her first Beavertail, a classic Canadian fried dough pastry that is shaped like a beaver’s tail. | Photo courtesy of Stars on Ice

While she has learned to appreciate some aspects of the Western world, Medvedeva has stated repeatedly in past interviews that she has no intention of representing any country other than her motherland and in many ways, she still considers herself to be completely Russian.

“I can feel a difference [between Canada and Russia] but in this difference, I’m trying to stay myself, I’m trying to stay Russian and yeah, I feel like work home here. I don’t feel like home home and yeah, I miss my country, I miss my language sometimes. I changed the language, even my main language that I’m talking every day.”

In a year of firsts for the 19-year-old, Medvedeva’s competitive career is not the only thing that has seen a refreshing change of pace. For the first time in between seasons, the Russian has decided to join the famous Stars on Ice tour in Canada, a 12-city tour that will finish in Vancouver on May 16. Asked about what the experience has been like before her fourth show in Toronto, a very exuberant Medvedeva exclaimed, “This is a lot of fun!”

“Who run the world? Girls!” Medvedeva’s female co-stars on this year’s tour include Canadians Kaitlyn Weaver, Kaetlyn Osmond, Piper Gilles and Meagan Duhamel.

“I was a little bit worried in the first few days ’cause I had to learn a lot — a lot of steps, a lot of material — and I just can’t see how [other] guys are learning so fast. I was really worried ’cause I’ve always been so slow in remembering something, but in the last day, everything’s fine and I just relaxed a little bit. We’re just having fun, especially the 90s number — that’s so much fun and we can feel like the crowd loves it.”

While skating show programs has been a nice change of pace for the two-time World champion, one would be remiss to think that she has not been conscientiously using the extra ice time between shows to perfect her jumps, particularly her triple salchow, which appears multiple times throughout the show.

Going forward, as someone who has become more known for her world-class artistry, Medvedeva is well aware of the current state of figure skating across all four disciplines, whose new scoring system has been designed to benefit those who attempt more difficult elements. It is a system that the Russian unfortunately knows all too well — after all, she was only 1.31 points away from capturing the gold last year in PyeongChang.

With her sights already set on going one better at the next Olympics in Beijing, Medvedeva has set a very ambitious goal for herself — one that she knows could take years to properly develop, let alone put to use in competition. “Quad salchow is my main goal for me for the coming season and I would like to land it clean — maybe step-out, maybe three turns, but somehow land it with no under-rotations,” she revealed.

“Now you can see how ladies start to do everything like this (jumping quads) and keep ladies’ figure skating [at a high level] and it’s really amazing. Not everyone [can do it], of course, but you’ll see sometimes a quad sal even looking like a trick. But there’s a lot of girls who still look like [young] girls and doing quads, and it’s really amazing and it’s our future of figure skating and this is life. Life is always improving in whole things and figure skating is improving too.”

“I’m ready to improve myself and I’m ready [and know] that learning quads can take a few years — same as triples. I didn’t learn all the triples or even one triple, like a triple flip, in one year — I didn’t. It was three years.”

Evgenia Medvedeva warming up for the Stars on Ice show in Hamilton on May 4, 2019.

As she attempts to develop one of the most difficult jumps in all of ladies’ figure skating, Medvedeva will also be looking to add new combinations to her repertoire next season, explaining that the process actually fascinates her and continuously pushes her creatively as a skater. “I can do a few combinations with the loop too, like not only salchow loop, but it’s much harder for me so I have to work on it to make it easy,” she said, referring to the new 3S-3Lo combination that she added midway through this season.

With the most difficult part of her transition now behind her, the 19-year-old has already announced on Instagram that she will skate her new short program to Matt Bellamy’s “Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 3” and her free program to music from Memoirs of a Geisha , a decision that she made entirely herself long before this year’s World Championships.

In terms of goals for the upcoming season, the 19-year-old kept things short and sweet but in a way that perfectly encapsulated the maturity that she has shown in the last 12 months: “I just want to find the way how to prepare myself and to learn as much as I can.”

With a strong support system in tow and the lessons of a roller-coaster transition season now under her belt, Medvedeva will be in for a real battle next season with the emergence of a very talented group of young skaters, but like a phoenix rising from her own ashes, there is now no question that she will emerge stronger than ever, poised to reclaim her throne atop the world of ladies’ figure skating.

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The story behind yevgenia medvedeva’s divisive ‘7 rings’ exhibition program.

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Yevgenia Medvedeva divided figure skating fans with her new exhibition program set to Ariana Grande ’s smash hit ‘7 Rings.’ Medvedeva is currently performing the number on the Canadian Stars on Ice tour while decked out in head-to-toe pink. She sheds a fur coach at the beginning of the performance and also mimics pop star Grande’s signature high ponytail.

Olympian Misha Ge choreographed the exhibition with Medvedeva around the time of the world championships, where she earned bronze. Ge chatted with NBCSports.com/figure-skating at an event in New York to explain the intent behind the program:

“We want to go a little more mature,” he said. “I give her few music options and she’s like, ‘I wanna try this,’ which she never done before: be more sexy, be more open, more funky. I feel like American audiences and Canadian audiences love it more, but European audience, they have so much question regarding it. I’m like, ‘OK, we doing what we can.’”

“I could understand [why] some people might not really understand it,” he continued. “To understand it, you have to watch Ariana Grande’s music video. People [who] didn’t watch it, they’re like, ‘why her dress so pink?’ ‘why is crop top?’ ‘why is it like that?’ I’m like, ‘Guys, watch the original musical video. We follow that!’ People didn’t say much about Ariana’s style out there, but people have some issue with Yevgenia’s style – but it was identical. We couldn’t make anybody happy but we do the best we could in that situation.”

The choreography was piece by piece as Ge and Medvedeva sent videos back and forth via long-distance. He said it was done under a time crunch, too, which added to the difficulty.

“Of course, it’s harder to produce the same quality that we did during competition when everything was on the ice.

“But she’s happy, she loves it. She enjoys it, which is important for a skater to grow when they try new stuff. She haven’t done those things.”

Ge also choreographed Medvedeva’s short program for the 2018-19 season, set to “Tosca” by Giacomo Puccini. He said he’ll be working with skaters across the United States for the upcoming season at the sectional, regional and national competition levels.

You need to read a lyrics of the song, watch it musical video, understand an American culture, then you might get what is the program about. — Misha Ge (@mishageofficial) May 5, 2019

MORE: Yevgenia Medvedeva responds to social media criticism

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Evgenia Medvedeva reveals details behind coaching change

The two-time figure skating world champion said in an Instagram live she wanted to work as "friends" with her coaches. "I left for this; to hear, and to be heard."

Evgenia Medvedeva outshone compatriot Alexandra Trusova to top the Ladies short program standings at the Rostelecom Cup

Evgenia Medvedeva has revealed her reasoning for leaving famed figure skating coach Eteri Tutberidze after the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games.

The Russian, who won silver in PyeongChang, moved to Toronto to train under Brian Orser and Tracy Wilson after she finished second behind teammate Alina Zagitova at the Games.

Now, speaking on an Instagram live with French skater Florent Amodio , the 20-year-old spilled the beans on her decision to leave Tutberidze, insisting the move was not motivated by wanting better results.

"I left Russia […] not to come the next season and beat everyone," she explained. "I did a lot in the sport. I won a lot in figure skating. So I left to work together with a coach like friends."

However, Medvedeva clarified that she did not see herself as "friends" with Orser and Wilson, merely that they work on the same level rather than coach and student.

"I don't know if it's right to say that we are friends with my coach," the two-time world champion said. "I really feel that we understand each other, we feel each other, and the main thing is that we hear each other. I left for this; to hear, and to be heard."

Evgenia Medvedeva and coach Brian Oser smile in the kiss-and-cry at the 2019 Rostelecom Cup. (REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina)

More "soul" in skating

Orser recently told the Olympic Channel that he felt Medvedeva was finally reaching her potential this season, saying: "When we did the Cup of Russia (Rostelecom Cup Grand Prix), I thought she probably had her best skate ever. It all came together, and it was incredible, it was athletic, it was beautiful."

The skater herself says working with the Toronto team has changed her style.

"I totally love jumping, that’s why I’m a singles skater. But at the same time, especially when I started to work with Brian and Tracy, I started to love skating. I put my soul into skating, doing performance."

Tutberidze has had a lot of success in her career and is known for pushing her skaters to do more jumps, with her "3A" posse able to pull off triple Axels and quad jumps.

However, one of them, Alexandra Trusova , recently announced that she would be leaving Tutberidze to train under Evgeni Plushchenko .

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“This is my story honestly told.” What is known about the new film about Evgenia Medvedeva

The world of figure skating held its breath in anticipation of the premiere of the documentary “Medvedev vs. Medvedeva”. From the title it is easy to guess who this tape is about: the two-time world champion Evgenia Medvedeva. Filming took almost four years, but the hard work was definitely worth it. The creators and the heroine herself promise a lot of exclusive material and honest, undisguised emotions.

The film has already appeared in the Kinopoisk database, a well-known Russian-language site about cinema, but it is too early to talk about the release of the picture – the date of the show has not yet been announced.

However, a little patience is a small price when it comes to a truly interesting and large-scale project. “Medvedeva against Medvedeva” is just that.

“An honest and frank story about the life of one of the most closed champions of our country”

The sporting career of Evgenia Medvedeva is not the first time that they have been reflected on the screen. So, in 2016, “Match TV” showed a short documentary “1 + 1”, in which fans were able to get acquainted with the victorious tandem of the figure skater and her coach Eteri Tutberidze. In 2018, another brilliant premiere took place – the Japanese television people told the story of how they beat Zhenya in the Olympic season. A stress fracture, a long recovery, a defeat by Alina Zagitova in Pyeongchang and endless love from the fans – the film turned out to be dramatic and very strong.

Evgenia Medvedeva

Photo: Alexander Safonov, “Championship”

However, the new documentary is much bigger than previous projects. It was filmed for almost four years, so Zhenya spent hundreds of hours under the cameras. According to the Red Square media group, which took part in the production of the film together with the athlete’s team, filming began in May 2019. That is, they covered a very bright period of Medvedeva’s life in Canada, where she was trained with Brian Orser.

“I got tired when they said around “Medvedev against Zagitova”, “Medvedev against Trusova”. I was not against anyone, but against myself. I changed my body, I conquered fears. I have always been Medvedeva against Medvedeva. I look in the mirror and work against this person, ”the Red Square press service quoted Medvedev as saying.

Photo: jmedvedevaj_official

It is symbolic that the filming of the film ended shortly before Zhenya’s birthday (November 19). Only then did the veil of the secret of the grandiose project fall.

“On the eve of Evgenia Medvedeva’s birthday, the very emotional filming of the documentary Medvedeva vs. Medvedeva. This is not an ordinary sports film, but an honest and frank story about the life of one of the most closed champions of our country, ”representatives of the project told TASS.

“Lots of unpublished material”

Of course, the news about the documentary excited Zhenya’s fans, and indeed the entire figure skating community. The girl intrigued with exclusive photos from training and performances, and she also said that the release of the picture is not far off.

“Soon the documentary “Medvedev vs. Medvedeva”, which we have been filming with the Red Square media group for almost four years. Work on the film began in May 2019, at the same time as the vlog “A Day in the Life of Zhenya Medvedeva” was launched on the blogosphere. So I let movie cameras into my life a long time ago. Soon it will be announced where and when it will be possible to see the film. Spectators will see the training and how new numbers are born on the ice, a lot of exclusive things, ”he quotes 7 days Medvedev.

On the matchup between Medvedeva and Zagitova at the 2018 Olympics:

Unfortunately, six months have passed, but the date and place of Medvedeva’s hearing against Medvedeva have not been set so far. Or, at least, not announced to the general public. And Zhenya herself managed to get a little confused when answering questions about the film. Suddenly there was a version that the shooting began in 2018.

“There will really be a lot of exclusives, because the filming of this movie started in 2018. There is a lot of unreleased material: from Canada you will see a lot of things, here already, “Ice Age”, all this can be observed. I think it will be interesting for the viewer. I probably still don’t understand the full significance of the event, so I treated it all like another shooting, reportage.

Probably yes, the film about Evgeny Medvedev sounds beautiful and pretentious, of course (laughs).

But I myself wonder what will come of it, because there is a lot of material that I don’t even remember. I mean, there are some childhood shots that were digitized from a healthy cassette camcorder. They digitized these videos, where I am very young, where I am two or three years old, where I just started skating. No one has ever seen these shots, and I’ve never seen them either.

So there will be a lot of interesting things. I still don’t understand what it is, but we’ll see, ”Medvedev shared his expectations on the Kvaksel YouTube channel.

Photo: Dmitry Golubovich, Championship

Obviously, the work on the film was very painstaking on the part of all the participants. And Zhenya, as the main character, of course, was constantly immersed in this process in one way or another. No wonder she forgets some details and numbers. It is much more important that the end result justifies all the work and effort invested. Although, perhaps, you don’t have to worry about quality – professionals took part in the project, and Zhenya herself is a well-known perfectionist and she will definitely check that everything turns out as it should.

A documentary with a view to a feature film?

Although the film’s release date is still unknown, it was featured on the popular Kinopoisk movie site. The poster was missing at the time of writing, as was most of the information. But it was learned that the tape is intended to be shown on television, which means that almost anyone can see it.

Perhaps Zhenya’s story will inspire some of the young athletes and / or help someone just cope with some life difficulties, provide inspiration on the path to a dream. The film does not have such tasks, but it certainly will not leave anyone indifferent.

“You know, probably, the documentary is not intended to teach anyone anything. This is just a story, a frank story about what happened to me in life, how I felt and experienced everything. Lots of new facts. I do not think that for someone it becomes some kind of benefit in life. This is just my honest story. And if someone comes to conclusions for himself, these will only be his conclusions. I do not have a goal to teach someone something, ”Medvedev told Gazeta.ru.

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“I’m not even crawling, but for now I’m walking.” Medvedeva’s best quotes about sport and life.

However, film producer Ilya Krivitsky believes that Medvedeva vs. Medvedeva is a motivational story about a real character. And it seems that this story has already inspired him to launch a feature film about figure skating. And who knows, suddenly Zhenya will play the main role?

“Figure skating is a beautiful and inspiring sport, the experience of this filming will help launch a great movie,” Krivitsky shared with TASS.

* This website provides news content gathered from various internet sources. It is crucial to understand that we are not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented Read More

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For Russian Exemplar of Grace, Olympic Hopes Require It

By Christopher Clarey

March 31, 2017

HELSINKI, Finland — Still just 17 years old, Evgenia Medvedeva already skates like one of the greats, as she made clear by defending her women’s title with steel and grace at the world championships here on Friday night.

But greatness in figure skating traditionally passes through the Olympics. And at this stage, it is not only uncertain whether Medvedeva, a lightly built, hugely gifted Russian, will succeed in extending her remarkable run of dominance to the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. It is uncertain whether she will even get the chance to compete there.

Russia’s athletics programs rightly remain in the doghouse, and it seemed fitting that Thomas Bach, the International Olympic Committee president, was looking down from the Hartwall Arena stands as Medvedeva won gold and broke her own world records for total points and for points in the free skate.

Bach and the I.O.C. will ultimately decide whether the Russian team will be allowed to compete in Pyeongchang or be banned as punishment for the vast Russian doping program at the last Winter Games in Sochi.

Medvedeva knows the issue is a deeply sensitive one. Normally spontaneous and effervescent, she answered only after a long pause and a deep breath when asked on Friday night how she viewed her victory in light of the country’s recent problems.

“Well, that’s one of the most difficult questions I’ve had,” she said through an interpreter. “I think, well, I hope that all the work my coach and I are putting in brings something positive to the country, and it is sad to hear all the news and read the news. I think we should just support each other. I know from my experience what a great role support plays, and so you just should not give up and keep moving forward.”

Considering the I.O.C.’s reluctance so far to punish Russia as a whole, the odds appear to be in her favor. There is also the possibility that even if the I.O.C. does ban the Russian Olympic team, it could allow individual Russian athletes to compete under certain conditions.

But pressure is undoubtedly being applied, externally and internally. This year, the president of U.S. Figure Skating, Samuel Auxier, said at a news conference that Russia should be banned from the 2018 Games. U.S. Figure Skating later released a statement clarifying that those comments expressed Auxier’s personal views and not the federation’s official position.

Executives at many national antidoping agencies have also called for Russia to be excluded from international sports events, and the nation’s federation remains banned from international track and field.

This week, Craig Reedie, the president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, urged the I.O.C. to make a decision about the Russian team’s eligibility for Pyeongchang at the “earliest possible date” to end the uncertainty.

That would be out of institutional character, and the recent tension between the I.O.C. and WADA does not make a quick resolution likely, no matter how compelling the independent reports by the Canadian investigator Richard McLaren released last year that supplied evidence of widespread tampering of doping samples by Russian authorities.

What is clear is that Medvedeva, if she competes, would be one of the main attractions in Pyeongchang and the biggest Winter Olympic star in Russia who does not play hockey.

“She’s just pretty, uh, unstoppable,” said Ravi Walia, who coaches the 21-year-old Canadian skater Kaetlyn Osmond.

Osmond took a surprise silver medal behind Medvedeva on Friday, overcoming recent struggles with her free program. Osmond’s compatriot Gabrielle Daleman, 19, took the bronze medal, making it the first time Canada had placed two women on the singles podium at a figure skating world championship.

The United States had to settle for a fourth-place finish from 17-year-old Karen Chen and a seventh-place finish from the 25-year-old veteran Ashley Wagner, a silver medalist at last year’s world championships in Boston. Chen’s flawed but gritty performance in the free skate, which included a fall on her triple lutz, did let the United States secure the maximum three entries in the women’s event for the 2018 Olympics.

Though Daleman and Osmond skated after Medvedeva and skated very well, there was absolutely no doubt about who was going to end up the champion.

Medvedeva’s free program, performed to music from the film “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” was her latest tour de force under pressure: brimming with difficulty and her trademark lightness and flow. It was also free of major errors, with no hint of a stumble or — perish the thought — a fall.

“It’s just done with such ease,” said Tracy Wilson, the former Canadian ice dancer who is now a prominent coach and television analyst. “She takes off lightly and lands lightly, and it’s very natural. I just feel like it’s a connection with the ice, and it’s a timing. If you go at it too hard, you push it away. It’s like that perfect balance.”

Medvedeva does make it look easy, sometimes too easy to fully appreciate. But Friday was not that kind of night because of what happened to her Russian teammate Anna Pogorilaya, who skated just before her in the final group.

Pogorilaya, who took last year’s bronze medal behind Medvedeva and Wagner, skated to center ice looking regal, and then almost immediately went to pieces: falling repeatedly and looking on the verge of tears before giving up on her program after the midway point.

It made for excruciating viewing, even if the crowd in Helsinki, which has been engaged and upbeat all week, cheered her on without much to cheer about. When her program and the music finally stopped, she collapsed to the ice, resting on her knees with her head down and her arms extended, overcome with disappointment.

In tears as she skated off, she collapsed again when she got to the edge of the rink and had to be lifted by one of her coaches. She was helped to the so-called kiss-and-cry area, where she sat wiping away more tears with a tissue as the bad news arrived from the judges (she ended up 15th in the free program among 24 skaters and 13th over all).

As this was happening, Medvedeva was already on the ice, preparing to perform. A lesser competitor might have developed some vulnerabilities of her own after processing what her teammate had just experienced. But Medvedeva, fragile in appearance only, did not take the big hint.

She landed her open triple-triple combination and carried on from there, quickly eliminating any lingering sense of impending disaster. Her score of 154.40 points was a world record; so was her total score of 233.41.

“I sort of saw that something happened, but just before I compete I am so focused in myself I even don’t notice if someone is talking to me,” she said of Pogorilaya’s travails. “Everything outside I completely shut it out.”

That is quite a talent, one among many she possesses with skates on her feet, and the ability to block out distractions and outside trouble could prove particularly useful as the I.O.C. and others debate the issues that could affect a two-time world champion’s chances of being an Olympic champion, too.

Dasha Medvedeva makes honest confession about being married to Daniil Medvedev

Dasha Medvedeva has spoken about what it has been like becoming a parent alongside ATP Tour star Daniil Medvedev.

Medvedeva says that her husband has been heavily involved with her nutrition company RawQ Foods.

She said that he is ‘very involved and very demanding’ when it comes to new products.

Medvedeva would add that their daughter shares his strong character, which has made parenting interesting for her.

“He’s very demanding. We have something new coming out very soon. And he already knows what. And he’s asking all the time. So, he really wants to have it first. And to work with us, of course,” Medvedeva said in a video-recorded conversation with RawQ Foods co-founder Arina Kuzmina.

She describes Alisa’s character as strong and challenging but says that she has been delighted to become a mother.

Medvedeva adds that her husband has been very good at taking care of his daughter.

“It’s tough. She has a lot of character,” she joked. “And it’s fun to see also how Daniil co-operates with his own character. So, yeah… very, very fun.””It’s an interesting feeling for sure, but the happiest one.”

In September 2018, Medvedev tied the knot with Daria, his longtime partner. In October 2022, the couple welcomed their first child together, a girl named Alisa.