Plushenko describes 'hell' of conflict with skater's mother

The scandal between the mother of 14-year-old Voronezh figure skater Elena Kostyleva and the young athlete«s coach Evgeni Plushenko has not subsided. Immediately after Lena performed at the »Plushenko«s Angels» show in Minsk, her coach made a statement. It was published on December 15 by the outlet RIA Novosti Sport.

The conflict flared up in late November. Plushenko and his wife, Yana Rudkovskaya, accused Kostyleva Sr. of abusing her daughter; even a video emerged showing Irina allegedly hitting her daughter. The skater«s mother, in turn, denied the beating allegations and claimed: Lena»s career is being ruined, and her parents are being forced to sign a terrible contract. At the peak of the conflict, the Kostylevs left Moscow for Voronezh due to the young skater«s illness. On December 11, they returned to the capital so Lena could prepare for her performance in Minsk. As Kostyleva Sr. wrote, at the training session after the return, Plushenko ignored his charge. More details can be found in our materials.

The main point in Evgeni Plushenko«s words is that he will continue to work with Lena for now. At least until spring, as stipulated by the agreement with the Olympic Reserve School (ORS).

«I am ready to work with my athlete. And my team is ready. I am not giving up on Lena. But we are not ready to work, cooperate, or interact with her mother. We are not ready to listen to this lies and slander. ... We endured and remained silent for a year and a half. We looked like some kind of pushovers, although that»s definitely not like us. I emphasize: we wanted and want to work with Lena, but from this false information from her mother, not only the school«s image suffers, which certainly doesn»t deserve it, but Lena herself. Also, we no longer want to see and hear her cruel treatment of the child on the premises where they live with us, and on our ice arena,« said the renowned figure skater.

Plushenko also confirmed Kostyleva Sr.«s account of Lena»s injury, but immediately noted: the injured athlete in Voronezh was «trained by who knows who and where.» At the training session after returning to Moscow, Evgeni allegedly suggested the girl perform some jumps, and she responded that she was still in pain.

«The athlete cannot train fully yet. To which the mother says that she actually doesn»t hurt anywhere. That she«s actually being lazy, and we»re discouraging her,« asserts Plushenko.

Also, according to him, in recent days in Minsk, Irina Kostyleva caused scandals. She allegedly «screamed outside the door» of Plushenko«s locker room and shouted during training and run-throughs. And after the performances, she forbade her daughter from performing further in the academy»s show.

«There is a certain emptiness. As I was told, with previous coaches Lena worked with, everyone has the same thing. Everyone ends up being bad and ruining the champion of everything. To be honest, more than with Lena, in my 8-year coaching career, I haven»t worked with any of my athletes. But for the mother, it was never enough, enough, enough... But whatever is done is for the best. ... They took away the girl«s last outlet. Tomorrow or the day after, the show team will make a decision on a replacement,» said Plushenko.

In his Telegram channel, he added that in 25 years in sports, he «has never seen such hell,» and called the situation outrageous.

Irina Kostyleva has already commented on Plushenko«s words — in her channel. According to her, she hasn»t spoken with her daughter«s coach for about half a year, so she couldn»t have caused any scandals for him in Minsk. The woman stated that during training there, she went out to her daughter on the ice only once, when Plushenko«s son Alexander allegedly had a tantrum.

«I went out only at one moment, ... persuading Lena to behave professionally. And not to pay attention to the partner»s tantrums. I was at the run-through for about twenty minutes out of four hours,« asserts Kostyleva Sr.

She also insists that Plushenko«s academy deliberately does not submit documents for Lena to be awarded the title of Candidate for Master of Sport (KMS, a Russian sports ranking).

«The true attitude towards Lena was expressed in the hindrance — not submitting documents for the KMS rank for a whole year. This is the collapse of their story about love for Lena. Which they built for a whole year. Considering that every KMS is a big plus for the school,» notes Kostyleva Sr.

Earlier, it was reported that between the parties of the conflict, some negotiations were allegedly planned to be held after the show in Minsk, but so far, nothing has been reported about them.