Katarzyna

Thank you, I’m happy you all liked the project. And I’m sorry for sending individual information on the outcome of the project so late. For those who are interested how Adian is doing, he recently gave an interview, which can be found here: http://www.absoluteskating.com/index.php?cat=interviews&id=2017adianpitkeev Unfortunately the part on Adian’s back sounds pretty depressing. On a positive side I think one day he will become a pretty good choreographer, he can compose his own music, improvise on the ice and skate a complete program, he can write poems – so he seems to be a very creative guy. I’m really looking forward how programs choreographed by Adian will look like. Here is a link where he skates the program that has been mentioned in the article: https://vk.com/adyanpitkeev?z=video91675664_456239299 Pictures of masterclass with Victor Adoniev in December: https://vk.com/album-58643094_248892104 And here Adian plays on the guitar music composed by himself: https://vk.com/wall-58643094_2049?z=video-58643094_456239029%2F4ea6e3be529a3cf5ac%2Fpl_post_-58643094_2049 This type of music is not my cup of tea, but it’s incredible how much he improved over the last year. In the above mentioned interview he also makes reference to Yuzuru in a very positive way: “Did you consider reusing the old programs? You knew them so well and after the injury it would have been easier for you to perform them. -No, we didn't. When they reuse old programs it usually means that the skater hasn't made any progress from where he or she was. I won't speak about what is happening now but personally for me it is not interesting to watch old programs, except Yuzuru Hanyu's ones.”

On Friday the scrap book respectively the scrap books have been given to Adian. I received so many messages from you that I actually had to make two books (= 88 contributions and Adian has evidence that he has fans on every continent – most fans were from Russia, U.SA., China but also fans from Brazil, Mexico, Vietnam, Egypt or Australia participated). This is really great – thank you all who made it possible that this project to became very special. To surprise Adian a bit more at (just in case he had noticed something is going on which he luckily didn’t) we also asked Elena Buyanova and Sergei Voronov to sign the book (Sergei’s words being once more proof that Eteri’s statements why he left her were total nonsense – when reading I was so angry about her. ) And at the opening of CoR Stephane Lambiel also wrote something nice for Adian. As I received so many contributions (and also asked people to contribute till the very last minute) the project unfortunately became a bit chaotic: I had planned to give the book my friend Tatiana Flade at ONT in Bratislava who should then give it to Adian at CoR. But I simply didn’t manage to get everything ready. So I changed plans and went to CoR and thus had a chance to be present when Adian received his book. Elena Buyanova helped us a lot with giving tickets to CoR and telling him he should attend. Adian’s reaction to the present was just priceless – he seemed to be almost shocked that so many people wish him well. And when we told him Stephane wrote something ins his book he asked “for me????” (No Adian, in your book but for Plushenko ). It’s just incredible how modest he is. And shy (I’m a shy person as well, but I’d consider myself a crazy extrovert person compared to him ). It was great I got to know him in person, what a sweetheart. I’m very happy that thanks to all of you Adian received a great present which I hope will also boost his confidence a bit and show him support to continue as a dance. So thanks again to everybody participating in this project. This was the third scrap book project for me (though with prior ones I did only the organizational part, not the setting up of the book) and with the response and getting to know other fans of Adian a very special one. Certainly it was a lot of work, but every second invested was worth it. I’m very happy it could be realized and that Adian has been given a nice memory on his single career and that he knows he has dozens of fans behind his back wishing him well. Here are a few pictures concerning the preparation of the scrap book and the handing over: The books: https://vk.com/adyan_pitkeev?z=photo-58643094_456239046/wall-58643094_2026 Sergei signing: https://vk.com/adyan_pitkeev?z=photo-58643094_456239047/wall-58643094_2026 Stephane signing: https://vk.com/adyan_pitkeev?z=photo-58643094_456239048%2Fwall-58643094_2026 Adian with his surprize: https://vk.com/adyan_pitkeev?z=photo-58643094_456239049/wall-58643094_2026 https://vk.com/adyan_pitkeev?z=photo-58643094_456239050/wall-58643094_2026 https://vk.com/adyan_pitkeev?z=photo-58643094_456239051%2Fwall-58643094_2026 And a few pics of him at CoR with fans and friends: https://vk.com/figureskating_love?z=photo-64888695_456264911/album-64888695_00/rev https://vk.com/albums-58643094?z=photo-58643094_456239044/photos-58643094 https://vk.com/albums-58643094?z=photo-58643094_456239043/photos-58643094 https://vk.com/albums-58643094?z=photo-58643094_456239040/photos-58643094 https://vk.com/albums-58643094?z=photo-58643094_456239052/photos-58643094

I got your letter today! Thank you so much for your contribution to this project.

Zhulin is about 1,76, Averbukh 1,78 according to wiki (though when meeting him in person and judging from the pictures I have when standing beside him, I think it might be “only” 1,76) so I don’t get the height factor either. But it seems to be an issue for Adian, as before closing down his ask, he mentioned he wants to be taller. And that was right before it became public that he is trying ice dance. About moving overseas – I don’t think this depends only on Adian’ will. Though moving abroad might be additionally difficult for him due to personal reasons: Adian is a shy guy, it’s difficult for him to socialize with people he doesn’t know. But it’s mainly a matter of financing it. Adian’s parents are not oligarchs, who could easily finance him a skating career overseas. So I guess skating for another country would only be possible for Adian if housing & medical insurance would be sponsored for him. Plus he would need the possibility to earn money with coaching to afford this living. Actually in my country we have a height wise suited junior ice dance girl, whose coach is desparately looking for a new parter, who shouldn’t be taller than 1,76 (!), as the girl is tiny. So I asked him about “importing” Adian and he right away mentioned that financing would be a major problem.

Unfortunately my „secret source“ is not in Russia at the moment and also won’t attend the test skates this year. So I can only provide the info I got on two Russian boards and there it has been mentioned that Adian might skate in shows as doors for dance seem to have closed for him. To me it looks like in view of his age, Adian is demanded to learn ice dance within a few weeks. However, I don’t understand the „age“ thing either, because even if Adian switched late for Russian standards, he has proven that he can compete under pressure and master the demands of being a competitive athlete. Things you can’t teach easily. And I too think Adian has a lovely blade quality. Zhulin for example switched to dance at about the same age than Adian. But in Russia for Adian it is hard to find a partner: Adian is not tall for an ice dancer (1,75 – 1,76) and he has a slight figure – so an ideal build for single skating, not so much for dance. He really needs a tiny girl as a partner, but it’s Russia: tiny girls usually move to pairs skating. That’s why he was probably paired up with Alisa – there was simply no suited girl with ice dance experience available. But then pairing two singles in my eyes was not a good idea from the very beginning. For example I can not even imagine how they did lifts: this is not only the boy doing the work, it’s the girls who have to keep body tension. Now when both skaters were beginners, I wonder how they did it. I can also imagine that coaches consider it as risky to take Adian because of his back history. And switching countries – I’m not so sure if Adian himself would like that. With no dance experience I don’t think any of the bigger skating federations would take the risk. And if you skate for smaller, less influential countries, results are not that likely to happen. With that he could have stayed in single skating and opted to skate for another country as well. Adian mentioned he could do jumps up to triple axels, but he couldn’t do quads any longer. Competing e.g. for Austria he would easily win nationals with that content and probably place top 10 at Euros. I of course still hope that Adian might find a way to continue with ice dance, but chances seem to be very slim now.

Sallycinnamon - thank you very much for letting me know and for supporting this project and of course Adian. I look forward to receiving your letter and will of course confirm you its receipt.

Well, since I obviously very much like Adian (well, I’m doing a scap book project for him) I have to jump in here. Adian’s injury was neither caused by lack of talent or bad technique. Actually till his back injury really started to bother him I always thought that of all Russian skaters his jumps were most close to Yuzuru’s beautiful jumps. As far as I know his injury was caused by overtraining during intensive growth sprints combined with lack of proper off-ice conditioning and not timely taking care of proper treatment (= overtraining while being injured). Just check pictures of topless Yuzuru – Tarasova once said he is 50 kilos with boots, but you can see there definite abdominal and back muscles, like with any other skater in Brian Orser’s group. And then check similar pictures of Adian. The lack of core strength is obvious. While this approach might work with light girls doing triples, in particular before they hit puberty, it does not with guys and quads. And by the way that’s what I observed as most career ending – not any injuries caused by any jumps, technique whatever, but not treating injuries timely and properly.

Unfortunately I have to point out that according to Russian boards (http://fso.forum.cool/viewtopic.php?id=69&p=13#p20331) things look very uncertain in ice dance for Adian. I thought I should mention it as messages I already received included many wishes for Adian AND Alisa, but according to rumours on Russian boards they don't skate together any longer. Well, pairing up two singles was a big risk from the beginning. So unfortunately it looks like chances for Adian to continue in dance are very slim now. Therefore if you like to send a message for Adian not mentioning Alisa and not focusing much on ice dance, but wishing Adian well in general for his future will be the most safe way to still make him proud on his sadly very unfulfilled skating career and to give Adian a good feeling that many people still support him and wish him well for any of his future plans. If ice dance won’t work out, maybe he can skate in shows. Thanks in advance for supporting this project and most important for supporting Adian.

Fay & sallycinnamon: thank you for publishing, your positive response and for supporting this project. I set up a site on tumblr with information on this project in English and Russian language: https://katiafigurnoekatanie.tumblr.com/ There is also a Q&A section, where I tried to cover some questions raised frequently (e.g. that if you don't speak russian, you might send your messages to Adian in English language, etc.) and also some additional information: https://katiafigurnoekatanie.tumblr.com/image/163217047231 So those who would like to dedicate a few nice words to Adian, wish him well for the future – please participate (creative fans may of course also send drawings, collages, etc.). Thanks!