Figure Skater's Mother Accuses Coaches of Stopping Food Allowance
The mother of figure skater Elena Kostyleva published a series of serious statements accusing her daughter«s coaches of having her meal allowance payments stopped. The posts appeared on her Telegram channel.
In her posts, she asserts that after Lena left the «Gorki» training base on 30 November, School of Olympic Reserve No. 1 stopped accruing her entitled meal funds. According to her mother, this happened at the request of the Plushenko Academy«s administration, even though the skater, as a member of the Russian national team, formally remains a student of the school until the end of the season.
The publications state that the reason for the 15-year-old athlete«s departure was a lack of result-oriented work. Her mother claims the coaching staff did not work on restoring her jumps, did not run her programs, and did not allow work on them, which, in her opinion, was »deliberately« aimed at failure at the Russian Championships.
The athlete«s mother also states that Lena wanted to take part in the ice show »The Sleeping Beauty«. She says the salary from the show would cover five months of rent for their apartment.
In her emotional posts, mother Irina Kostyleva called the actions related to the cancellation of payments «petty,» «mean,» and «low,» and also stated that if the situation does not change, she is ready to appeal to the Governor of Moscow Region, Andrey Vorobyov.
«Out of spite, they will take away every penny owed to the child. They»ve taken the food away from a child. It«s a disgrace… 1,000 rubles ($11 at current rates) for the meals of a girl who made history in figure skating. And the Plushenko family quietly kept silent about it,» the skater«s mother said.
To clarify the situation, the Voronezh1.ru editorial office sent an official request for comment to School of Olympic Reserve No. 1 of the Moscow Region. They promised to respond soon. As soon as we receive a reply, we will publish it immediately.
The conflict between the skater«s family and her coaching staff became known in late November. Evgeni Plushenko and his wife Yana Rudkovskaya made accusations against Irina Kostyleva of abusing her daughter; a video was even published allegedly showing the mother using force against the athlete. Irina Kostyleva categorically refuted these accusations, stating that the true goal of the pressure was to break Lena»s career and force her parents to sign a terrible contract. Amid this scandal, the family was forced to leave Moscow and move to Voronezh due to the daughter«s illness. Read more about the story in our coverage.
