Aliona Kostornaia about leaving Eteri Tutberidze - after the second broken arm they told me that I didn’t want to work

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“I always thought: I’ll be 18, I’ll get to the
Olympics (well, I hoped) – and that’s it, I’m done. Maybe I’ll help others, set programs – that’s it.
But first I broke one of my arms: at the end of training I was doing a difficult element (triple axel), I couldn’t do it the whole training, and they told me to go and train it. I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t do it, and since it was the end of the training on ice, the coaches weren’t really watching…. Logically there should have been simple exercises, but I went to practice the difficult one.

That day we had an hour of choreography in the morning, then ice, which was supposed to be an hour and a half, but I think it was much longer. It actually lasted – an hour and forty-five, haha. Then we had stretching in the gym, a short break, General Physical Preparation and another ice. And then there was the end of that second hour and a half.

I remember this moment well: I had a very big fear of this element, I think I still have it now, because it’s pretty serious. I approach, let’s say, an older student, I say, “Look, if I don’t do this jump now, I’ll owe you something.” He says, “Yeah, go ahead.

I’m full of confidence, and I’m off. I go in, I think, “Shit, this should be okay now,” and I take off really well and land hard on my arm. It’s a normal fall, but my arm’s twisted. I realize, “Oh, man, that’s rough.” I jump up, I realize that there is no music on the ice, so I can’t cry, I can’t squeal – everyone is practicing, and I’m going to scream.

I was driving, swearing a little under myself, realizing that I would not go into this element again, because it hurts so much. I try to make the elements easier and realize that I can’t make myself, any movement even with my foot – my arm starts to hurt. I take off my glove, and my hand becomes wider, bluer and redder before my eyes. And this was before the pre-Olympic championship of Russia.

I go with my mom to X-ray – fracture, cast. I call one of the coaches and they tell me: “Okay, you don’t have to come tomorrow. I come three days later, and it’s very funny: they say that I had to ask permission to put the cast on. My mom and I still don’t get it. Who said that? No comment. We were a little bit shocked: how can you not put on a cast in a trauma center? They wouldn’t let me out of the trauma center.

I decided for myself that I would not do jumps, or I would break something else. I told the coaches that I would not jump today, they told me that I am a boor, I do not respect the work of anyone, neither parents nor coaches, how dare I refuse to work. Okay, I’m not used to it, they created the image of a boor, I’ll be a boor, what can I do, it happens.

I continued to come to the ice with the same cast for several days, my mother fully dressed me and tied my skates. There were a couple of days left before I left (for the Russian championship), I was still in a cast, I still couldn’t jump – I was removed from the competition. Well, that’s it, I went to treat my hand.

I watched the Russian Championships, except for the girls, only the results. I was so offended: the feeling when everyone is there, and you should be there, but you are not there.

The Russian Championship has passed, the Olympics have already passed, my plaster was removed. I go out on the ice, on the third day I go into a jump and break my left arm. They put me in a cast, three or four days later I go on the ice, and at the end of the training the coaches tell me: “You have several broken bones, you don’t want to work, you don’t care about us, we won’t work with you anymore.” It’s all like: we’re kicking you out.

It was predictable, I wasn’t too upset, I called the federation, explained the situation, and said that I wanted to skate. And they offered me a move to CSKA,” Kostornaya said in an interview with Laysan Utyasheva.

Source – YouTube channel of Laysan Utyasheva