Tatiana Tarasova:
"I Work Only with Those Athletes Whose Talent I Can Bring up to Perfection"

 She has had more than 30 years in the training profession, 11 Olympic Champions under her tutelage, unforgettably choreographed routines, miles of torn nerves, and twisting paths, leading up there, to the triumph. There have also been her birthday last year, with athletes and friends that came from all over the world, induction into the Olympic Hall of Fame, and something you just can't find words for – seeing her when she stands at the board looking on. And her trainees are skating out there. For the gold medal. The idea of interviewing one of the greatest coaches in the entire figure skating history came to my mind together with the idea of building our federation's website – about a year and a half ago. But to interview Tatiana on the phone was an idea of a lesser caliber. We thought she would be coming to the first appearance of the Stars on Ice show in Tel Aviv in February 2007. After that, up in arms with the materials I got from reading her books "The Beauty and the Beast" and "Four Seasons", I came to the Europeans in Zagreb. But circumstances allowed us to meet only in Gothenburg. Finally, I hear a resolute and very friendly tone:" At this place tomorrow at 10". Needless to say I was there much earlier the next day.

A talent has to be brought out

-Tatiana, you have trained more Olympic Champions than any other coach. How can one see that this particular athlete can become a champion? There has to be much more than just luck for this kind of "arsenal".
-I work only with those athletes whose talent I can bring up to perfection. Only. I have received requests for training from many skaters. When Katya Andreeva and Sergei Grinkov (two-time Olympic Champions in pair skating) asked me to train them, I refused. I thought they were already perfect, and I couldn't add anything to that perfection. My job is to help a talent reveal what was latent in it before.

"I don't have to be calm, I have to be confident"

-But I am still trying to figure out – what is the secret behind your inevitable success?  Some mystic energy?
-Energy is important, but there is also the training process, which has no substitutes. I am always with my trainees – on and off the ice. We exchange a flow of energy. It goes both ways. Sometimes I feel they are running on empty and I can't do anything about it. It happens too…
-You are an emotional person, yet, an athlete has to see you calm before the routines starts. How can you manage that?
-I don't have to be calm – I have to be confident. Andrei Bukin used to tell me "I love your confident gait so much!"
-You mentioned Andrei Bukin, the 1988 Olympic Champion in ice dance with Natalia Bestemianova, and I recalled her words about you in the film "Scorching-Hot Ice". She said:" When Tatiana finds a talented athlete, she will be back into training." Is that so?
-The dialectics of training is such that it is both wisdom and young age. Too much energy is needed to do it. But I am choreographing routines for skaters. This year I built Mao Asada's routines.
-I did notice that she became more artistic and now I know who put a hand to it (I smile at her). I also remember how you did wonders with Shizuka Arakawa and turned her into sheer grace on ice.

24 hours a day all year round

-Are Olympic Champions born or made?
-Both. You can't go that far without what nature endowed you with.  But this has to be brought out. The professional's task is to bring this talent out and help the athlete fight for gold. This is achieved through 24-hours-a-day work all year round.  And through endless self-sacrifice. When I started working with Irina Moiseeva and Andrei Minenkov (1975 and 1977 World Champions in ice dance), I was very young, but I already knew they would grow into champions. I just knew it. I also choreographed a whole gamut of routines for Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko (1992 Olympic Champions in ice dance) when they became professionals. Whole stadiums rose to greet them after those routines. It is always transformational and inspiring to work with true talent.

A Coach or a Teacher?

-I have been closely following up on your interviews and TV appearances. In one of your TV interviews you were speaking about Brian Joubert and said the following: "I am more of a teacher than of a coach. My task is to show an athlete how to perform an element, and after that the athlete is on his own." What can you say about it now?

-It is more important to be a coach. It comprises the roles of a teacher, a psychologist, a friend, and a choreographer. It is being a mentor who determines the direction looking for innovative ways that will transform both the athlete and the sport. And the athlete has to be prepared in such a way that at the hardest test of his or her sports career he or she will be able to be on their own out there in the rink – to pass this test, grind the nerves, twist them into ropes and climb along them up to the ultimate victory.

Patience, Knowledge, Intuition

-Could you describe in one word the most important character trait a coach needs?
-It is patience, knowledge, intuition. Intuition, knowledge, patience. The order can be arbitrary. You can't use just one word.

I loved working with Galit and Sergei

-You have worked with our most celebrated skating duo – Galit and Sergei. What can you say about them?
-I think I have been with them my entire life. I was an advisor for Galit when she was training with her first partner; later on I was training her and Sergei together with Zhenya Platov (2-time Olympic Champion in ice dance). I loved working with them. It is a rare combination of talent and the ability to work hard. They didn't win many medals, but this sport is not only about medals. We created interesting routines that captured the audiences.

I Believe in Fate

-In a talk show you once mentioned that a fortune teller predicted who your husband would be. Do you believe in fate?
-Yes. But if a coach starts thinking that everything is predestined, nothing will happen. We can’t tell the future, and this gives us the freedom to act, create, and transform this world.

To Find the One and Only

-Tatiana, and here comes the last question of this interview. I have asked it many times, and I am happy I can ask you. How do you see the beauty of figure skating?
-It is not outer beauty. It is the inner beauty of the person and the movement. It is the ability to find the one and only music that will capture you, open you up for self-expression and let you interpret it in the best possible way.

Postscriptum

I saw her off to the lifts and went to watch that day's competition.  I felt a strange flow of energy. Indeed, training is important. But she gives energy, subconsciously, being unaware of it. She didn't have to prepare me for a competition. Thank You, Tatiana. I will keep this energy inside as long as possible.