Alla Piatova: ‘Apparently Alena couldn’t cope with the heavy load of responsibility’
Today, January 23, was the last day of the European Figure Skating Championships held in Tallinn, Estonia. The competitions concluded with ladies’ free skating. The reigning world junior champion and Russian Nationals silver medalist Alena Leonova didn’t justify the hopes set on her and went down from 5th place after short program to 7th overall. On seeing her score she ran past reporters, not trying to hide her tears. It was left to her coach Alla Piatova to answer All Sport news agency correspondent’s questions.
‘Apparently Alena couldn’t cope with the heavy load of responsibility’, stated Piatova. ‘In such cases she often gets too strained and thinks too much about performing jumps. That’s why after the first half of the program, which didn’t go off very well, Alena lost speed and wasn’t at ease. She didn’t skate the second half in her usual manner, she was approaching the elements heavily, slowly, without the lightness and easiness needed. It’s my explanation, if you ask for it. It’s true, both at the morning practice and during the warm-up Alena was doing well. Everything was all right. Neither she nor I can understand why she felt so tired then. Was it because of the responsibility? Everyone feels responsibility on the ice, it’s not an explanation that could satisfy us. The task is hard, but it’s hard for everybody. During the upcoming Olympics the pressure will be even harder, and Alena must be ready for it. Of course, last year it was easier for her, as she was pursuing another object. Now it’s all very serious’.
‘Alena will leave for the training camp in Canada on February, 11’, Piatova continued. ‘During this period I’m going to let her have a rest, a mental one in the first place. She needs to rid herself of the strain caused by the many events she has entered. We will continue working on her technique and the jumps she does mistakes on. And then she will start getting in shape for Olympics. We’ll have about ten days to overcome the jet lag. Her legs must be ‘light’, not worn-out, by the start of the competitions. We won’t introduce any more changes into the programs. Enough of that! We’ve been correcting them up to the European Championships! The season will end soon, yet we keep on correcting things. Now everything that’s needed is to skate the programs well. Their difficulty level is competitive enough’.
