Vladimir Kovalev Владимир Ковалёв (URS) - 1979 World Figure Skating Championships, Men's LP (CAN CTV
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 20 апр 2010
- Vienna, AUSTRIA - 1979 World Figure Skating Championships, Men's Long Program - Vladimir Kovalev of the Soviet Union placed 4th in the Long Program but managed to win the Gold Medal here with strong performances in both the Compulsory Figures and the Short Program.
Спорт
Вспоминаю молодость, талантливый, красивый фигурист .
I know that after 1980, Kovalev began his coaching career in the USSR. I think he coached there or in Ukraine through 1990 or 1991. (He coached Kira Ivanova while also being (reportedly) simultaneously romantically involved with her for a time, which I have to say that if true did not showcase the very best judgement on his part; I'm sure he could have found another respected Soviet coach to take over that coaching role if Kira and he were determined to stay involved personally. It's not my place to harshly judge - grown ups who work together do of course fall in love at times - but that whole situation could definitely have been handled better for both their sakes and careers. At the very least such a personal relationship would have caused issues and conflicts between them and the USSR skating federation. I mean, even though Kira was an adult, she was still his student and probably 8-10 years younger than him. Well.... easy for me to preach I guess. It was probably a very complicated personal and professional dynamic with the pressure of producing competition medals hanging over everything else). After the early 90s, I believe Kovalev moved on to coach the Greek figure skating team or to lead/ direct some of their efforts. Not sure where he went after that or if he retired from coaching. Maybe he returned to Russia or Ukraine to coach again, but I haven't seen him affiliated with any skaters. Kovalev could be a much better free skater than he is often given credit for: the proof is in this very video. He made great improvements to his style with a renewed commitment to his choreography here later in his competitive career when he was 26 years old. Not an easy feat. He had a much more dynamic and engaging presence in 1979 than in past years with better flow, speed and higher triple jumps. Again, not easy improvements to make at this stage in the game, but he did it. Looks like he planned to open the program with a triple loop, but doubled it; in the end he wound up completing four triples here and several double Axels which is more technical content than he had in recent previous years. He was sometimes in the past criticized for not engaging the crowd, but the audience here was definitely on board; those whistles at the end are not because the audience thought the marks were too high, but because they thought the marks were too low. Yeah, his landings and edge work could be a little scratchy (or as John Curry described his technique, "rough rather than fine"). But I think that was more due to the nerves of competition, because he was much smoother in exhibition performances (where his sometimes criticized camel spins also looked very good). Check out his exhibition performances at the 1977 Worlds. I never knew what exactly happened in his final 1980 season which he approached as the reigning World Champion. According to John Curry's own commentary for British television's coverage of the 1980 European Championships, Kovalev skated well at the 1980 Europeans just a few weeks before the 1980 Olympics and was maintaining the improvements he had made in 1979. He had solid compulsories and a good SP at those championships, while maybe not skating the FP quite as well as originally planned (he kept the same FP from 1979). He finished in third place winning the bronze medal behind Cousins and Hoffman, but it definitely wasn't some complete disaster nor did he look out of shape as is commonly reported. Not sure what happened in those intervening few weeks before the Olympics that led to his withdrawal after an uncharacteristic 5th place finish in the Lake Placid compulsories. Maybe a serious, undisclosed injury...very unfortunate of course for him and also for figure skating fans. Kovalev must now (in 2021) be in his middle to later sixties, so he has plenty of opportunities to look forward to in his coaching career if he so chooses - Jutta Muller was still coaching young juniors at age 90 in a television special that I saw recently! (And she looked as stern, focused and determined as ever 😊). Maybe we will still hear of Kovalev one day again as the coach of some sensational skater, with that skater having picked up from him some of the special Kovalev flair that is very evident in this video.
Kovalev is now 70 years old (was born in 1953). He is living in Kaluga, a city in Russia. His American wife died several years ago and was buried in Russia. He is living alone. His life nowadays is simply.
Как все меняет время! Когда-то Владимир Ковалев казался мне непревзойденным, сильнейшим. Сегодня смотрю на все это ... И как в сравнении с нынешними достижениями все это смотрится очень скромненько и даже примитивно. Но это, конечно, не отменяет достижений наших спортсменов в то время и не умаляет любви к ним. А вот тот факт, что нынешние фигуристы ушли вперёд в технике намного дальше, неоспорим
Красивый, элегантный, статный
This was a very dynamic and sophisticated performance, with sensual and playful choreography that was very appealing. For all the naysayers, he finished fourth in this portion of the competition and won the gold medal on the strength of his solid compulsory figures and his top ranked short program.
I'd take Vladimir Kovalev's refined and sexy style over the frenetic, pointless skating of Scott Hamilton or the over the top Kurt Browning and Philip Candeloro.
Если мне память не изменяет Ковалев стал ЧМ на этом ЧМ.
Тогда, на олимпиаде в 1980 году Ковалёв тяжело заболел корью прямо во время соревнований. Вот так всё прозаично: годы тренировок вдруг перечеркнула внезапная болезнь.
I'm sure he was a great figure skater. And he had some good triples for 1979. But the camel spin he looked like a beginner! Can't believe he won the Worlds with that. Also I think the commentator Johnny Esaw must have been mistaken when he said that Brian Pockar finished second in the short program. Pockar finished 13th overall so I find it hard to believe judges would have given him 2nd in the SP. I think Esaw must have meant Scott Cramer who I believe did very well that year
Johhny said that Brian Pockar finished seven, not second in the short program
Yes, I remember reading somewhere that Scott Cramer was second in the SP, not Brian Pockar (who did an unusual triple one-foot salchow/double flip combination that season)
The 1970s were full of male competitors who could not hold their free leg high enough that it looked good. On better days, Kovalev (Kovalyov?) could sometimes get his higher, so it was level (parallel to the ice), which looked pretty good if the camel was rotating fast enough. It didn't look good level when doing a spiral. But you're right, it's not something you'd ever expect to see in a world champion.
Under the pressure of competition, sometimes a skater will drop the free leg during a camel because their balance feels off. Another thing they'll do because of nerves is to get up on the toe pick too much during a camel spin. A friend of mine who was at one time 2nd in the world as a junior would often get up on his toe pick slightly at US Nationals doing camels as a senior. In practice, he never did it. In practice his camel spins were beautiful, and his positions about as good as they get.
The number of skaters with bad basic positions was one of the many reasons I was anti-compulsory figures during ancient times. Skaters sometimes trained thousands of hours by the time they reached the highest levels, yet compulsory figures did nothing to help them have good basic positions, including just being able to bend the knee really deeply while maintaining a beautifully extended free leg. Granted, compulsory figures could impart discipline and develop concentration, but a lot of the qualities attributed to them were myths.
I think it was Tenley Albright who was good enough at figures that she trained them for only one hour a day, but I knew skaters who spent three hours a day on them and most higher level skaters spent at least two. I thought that instead, skaters would be better off stretching and doing strength training for 30 minutes a day, to attain the flexibility and strength to do these positions. The elimination of figures from competition helped in that regard.
Of course, in the last 20 or 30 years the way to train skaters to avoid injuries as much as possible while building the right kind of strength and flexibility has gotten more sophisticated, at least at the elite levels.
Kovalev had some other quirks in his skating. His jumps had a jerky quality to them.They never floated high and were never perfect like those of Robin Cousins in the 1980 Olympics. At times Vlad could throw himself into his choreography, doing dance with some conviction, but it looked a little peculiar and unrefined. It was entertaining though.
During the time Kovalev was a competitive skater, and oh so handsome, and in top form, he was arrested for public drunkenness in Red Square. I know this how? Dick Button told the story during a skating competition on TV while announcing Vlad was the next to skate.
Poor Dick had it so bad for Vlad. I'm not sure whether Dick wanted him so much it hurt, or perhaps just wished he was young and handsome like him. Either way it was simultaneously comical and unsettling, probably because it mirrored my own feelings.
Vlad withdrew from the 1980 Olympics because he was fat, out of condition, and/or injured and couldn't jump in practice. Here is what it says in his wiki:
After observing his practices, an American reporter asked Kovalyov this hilarious question at the pre-competition press conference, "Aside from the fact that you are the best-looking male skater in the competition, do you think you have what it takes to win here?" Kovalyov burst out of the conference, never to be seen in public again as a competitor.
I wonder if he was touchy about being good looking.
judging in figurse staking has always been a shiteshow. corrupt jduging. they so called great rodnina and zaitsev never did a throw jump of any kind whilst east german couples were doing two in the long program and some were thrown triples. farcical to say the least.
HE WAS GOD AWFUL
How can one judge give a 5.9 for technical merit with such a major mistake at the end?
Probably because Vladimir did 4 triples, and Cousins only 3 triples.
That is true and a good point but Jan Hoffmann did more triples than both, and much more difficult ones and didnt get a 5.9 for technical merit. The judging of the mens long program was just confusing a bit all around, although the final long program placings and final overall placings were probably right.
Jan did also 4 clean triples (remember, only clean triples was counted in free), last 3T by Jan was with hand touch at landing. And remember what this judge, who give 5.9 for Kovalev, was Tatiana Danilenko from his home country, USSR ;)
Wasn't Danilenko also the judge who gave Fadeev ridiculous marks in 1986?
The 5.9 is out of bounds, but I believe the hand down on that ( I think) double or single Salchow seems more like a grave, major mistake because it happened right at the end and sticks in one's mind. If he had slipped and put a hand down on a very minor element at the start of the program and then went on to skate a great, otherwise error-free routine with all his planned triples, I think you would discount the mistake in your evaluation to some extent. That's just my opinion. Some sort of deduction should be taken to be fair and accurate, but that mistake doesn't define this performance for me.
Sure, he's hot, but even his hotness doesn't justify the 5.9 for the Technical Merit. It's not like others performed poorly...
@nondescriptnyc I saw rare tape of Ondrej Nepela at the 1971 Worlds,he was very handsome.Then at the Games in Sapporo,he wasn't as good looking.He had lost weight,hair was longer and he had the big sideburns.
Wanna see a good looking skater with the body of a Greek god? Search RUclips for several-times world roller champion Luca Lucaroni. His skating is mesmerizing also.