Defeated Olympic figure skaters question coach’s loyalty

Agence France-Presse

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Canadian figure skaters Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir on Tuesday questioned the loyalty of their long-time Russian coach after losing their Olympic title to their training partners.

TURNCOAT? Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada perform in the Figure Skating Ice Dance Free Dance. Photo by Christian Charisius/EPA

SOCHI, Russia – Canadian figure skaters Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir on Tuesday questioned the loyalty of their long-time Russian coach after losing their Olympic title to their training partners.

Virtue, 24, and Moir, 26, lost their title on Monday night when Meryl White and Charlie Davis gave the United States their first title in the discipline.

Both couples train together at the same rink in Detroit under former Soviet ice dancer Marina Zoueva.

Moir admitted at times they felt that they were no longer the focus of the Zoueva’s attention, particularly after she missed their nationals, preferring to join Davis and White at the US championships.

“We were both pretty blunt with her in the fall and leading up to the Olympics. We weren’t happy and we felt that sometimes she wasn’t in our corner,” he said.

“We went to Marina on countless occasions and told her there was no way we would be happy with the silver medal.

“We’ve had some odd things happen this year that haven’t happened before. We expected that Marina would march with us and be on our team like she was in Vancouver … she wasn’t,” he said.

“Also not being at the national championships for the first time in our whole career was odd.”

“We’re mature enough to handle that and we understand that sometimes she was on the other foot.”

“She’s been with us now for 10 years and I really think that she loves us and she pours her heart into our choreography.”

Two-time world champions Virtue and Moir lost their world title last year to the Americans and also the Grand Prix final in December, with their style pleasing the judges less than Davis and White’s.

“We felt a little bit like we were in quicksand,” said Moir.

“We felt the shift, but we always peak late, so we had to trust in our training to have the performance we wanted in the Olympic Games.”

Moir added: “She’s not in any easy position. My Mom’s a figure skating coach and she always says to me ‘you know she (Zoueva) can’t win no matter what’ … well you know she does win no matter what.'”

“There’s always an angry set of parents and an angry set of skaters out there so she has a hard job.”

He said that Virtue and himself had to rely heavily on the federation for support.

Now both Zoueva’s couples have an Olympic gold and silver medal and two world titles each. The Canadian pair also picked up a silver in the team event and the US duo a bronze.

Virtue said it had been easier to handle the fact that it was Davis, 27, and White, 26, who won, particularly as the 17-year career of the couple mirrored their own.

“That bluntness with Marina was saying second wasn’t acceptable and we weren’t going to settle for anything less and she needed to bring her A game and in return we promised to do the same.”

As for Sochi being the swansong for the couple from London, Ontario, Moir added: “It remains to be seen. We don’t have a clue what we’re doing.” – Rappler.com

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