Adian Pitkeev Fan Project

[Fay]

I received this email today, which I found extremely moving. I'm sure to write a few words of encouragement to Adian, but I'd also love to welcome the planet satellites to join this project! You can post your good luck wishes over here, PM them to me or send them directly to Katarzyna.

 

 

Dear Fay,

As I think Adian is a skater you like too, I would like to draw your attention to the fan project initiated for him: as Adian had to r**** from single skating we would like to give him a present of his fans in order to thank him for the joy he brought to us with his skating, for his hard work and how he was pushing progress in Russian male skating despite his short career in this field.

This is also an opportunity to wish Adian success for his possible dancing career. So it will be a nice way to show Adian support for the big challenge he undertakes right now, but also to wish him well for his future life in general.

Therefore I’m collecting e-mails and letters with good luck wishes for him as well as photographs and drawings, which will be put together in a scrap book as a surprise for him. In case you don’t have much time, a simple PM / mail with a few nice words will be great as well. Please remember it’s all about showing support, no matter in which way, every single good word counts.

You can send your contributions either by PM, e-Mail: [email protected] or to my snail mail address:
Katrin Flaschka
Berchtoldgasse 4/5/16
1220 Wien
AUSTRIA

If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Your participation will be highly welcomed.

The deadline for any contributions is 20th August 2017

Best regards,
Katarzyna

[sallycinnamon]

This is such a great idea, thank you for this thread, @Fay.

 

I'll definitely take part in the project and send a letter to Adian through Katarzyna.

[Katarzyna]

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!

[Katarzyna]

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. 

[sallycinnamon]

Thank you for the updates @Katarzyna. I've sent you a letter by snail mail. 

[Xen]

On 4/8/2017 at 2:36 AM, Katarzyna said:

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. 

...Okay, but he's at least looking for another potential ice dance partner right? It won't be the first time someone from singles switches to ice dance (aka Australia), and Adian does have nice footwork and edgework. He's also pretty young, and switching to ice dance won't delay him too much age wise. If not in Russia, has he considered going overseas? Male ice skaters are a rare commodity....

[Katarzyna]

21 hours ago, sallycinnamon said:

Thank you for the updates @Katarzyna. I've sent you a letter by snail mail. 

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. 

[Katarzyna]

2 hours ago, Xen said:

...Okay, but he's at least looking for another potential ice dance partner right? It won't be the first time someone from singles switches to ice dance (aka Australia), and Adian does have nice footwork and edgework. He's also pretty young, and switching to ice dance won't delay him too much age wise. If not in Russia, has he considered going overseas? Male ice skaters are a rare commodity....

 

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. 

[Xen]

45 minutes ago, Katarzyna said:

 

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. 

It's too bad he's not willing to move overseas. 

175-176 is not a bad height for ice dance, and at his age he might still grow a bit more. I don't get the "build" arguement since you can always work towards getting the build. And it sounds like people forget there are smaller, lighter ice dance guys, such as Victor Kratz, Gwendel Peizerat, and even Vanagas. There's got to be a 15-16 year old, 160-165 cm girl somewhere in the world who would take the chance....

[Katarzyna]

On ‎11‎.‎08‎.‎2017 at 10:18 AM, Xen said:

It's too bad he's not willing to move overseas. 

175-176 is not a bad height for ice dance, and at his age he might still grow a bit more. I don't get the "build" arguement since you can always work towards getting the build. And it sounds like people forget there are smaller, lighter ice dance guys, such as Victor Kratz, Gwendel Peizerat, and even Vanagas. There's got to be a 15-16 year old, 160-165 cm girl somewhere in the world who would take the chance....

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. 

[yuzuangel]

4 hours ago, Katarzyna said:

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. 

Oh that is so sad

[Katarzyna]

 

On ‎10‎.‎08‎.‎2017 at 11:04 AM, sallycinnamon said:

Thank you for the updates @Katarzyna. I've sent you a letter by snail mail. 

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

 

[Katarzyna]

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

[yuzuangel]

@Katarzyna Wow! Amazing, thank you so much for doing this!

[kaeryth]

No @Katarzyna, thank YOU for being such a sweet and thoughtful fan. Thank you for all your hard work and effort in making sure Adian knows he is loved by the FS community.