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http://www.sovsport.ru/gazeta/article-item/543050Elena Isinbaeva’s coach Evgeny Trofimov: It needs to all come togetherHe belongs to a rare breed of coaches. A philosopher, experimenter, and expert on one of the most spectacular and enigmatic sports, the pole vault. Maybe this is why fate introduced him to Elena Isinbayeva, who later became a two-time Olympic champion. Once with him and once without. Now they are back together and trying to get on top for a third time. On Saturday Isinbayeva begins her appearance at the London Olympiad.“MASCULINE” TECHNIQUE IMPOSED ON LENA– Evgeny Vasilevich, are you not confused by the erratic results of your student?
– No. I’m already at an age where it’s difficult to confuse me.
– Nevertheless, what’s going on with Lena? Is it nerves; problems with “physics”; flaws in her technique; what?
– Here's the thing. For eight years she worked and improved in one school. Then, after moving abroad, she got into another, where they treat the vault differently. Earlier her jumps were easy, free, on automatic. When she became a "remake", her problems began. Now, in stressful situations, she gets the "centipede syndrome": with which legs do I step? Eight years of one school, five years of another. The soul of contradiction gnaws at her. In training she’s doing everything right, but it shows during competition.
Abroad, they imposed a "masculine" jumping technique with counter-movement through her left arm, which couldn’t be done because her whole vault was based on the rhythm of her swing. Her crazy swing was her foundation! Now she stopped swinging, and therefore lost the "lightness" of her vault. When it’s possible to overcome this, everything turns out. In Volgograd, she jumped 5.10 in training for me. But in Monaco nothing worked out. In warm-ups Lena jumped 4.70 and cleared easily. But when the competition started, she again began to thrust with her arm. Her shoulders stop and the whole jump is a letter "G".
(NOTE: Here he's referring to the Cyrillic letter "G", which is "Г" -- i.e. an inverted "L" or a right angle.)Thus my task now is this: for three or four workouts to "clean up" her left arm and return it to the former version. There’s no need to touch her "Physics" further: she runs well and has added to her bench press too. The bench press correlates with swing speed...
– And is it a secret how much she presses?
– 78 kg.
– Maybe she’s ready for 5.10 - 5.15?
– She's ready, she’s jumped that. On her second jump in Volgograd she was at 5 meters. Then in the rain she jumped 4.90. And moreover, before the eyes of her manager, who came to see her jumping.
– This was a while ago?
– Five weeks ago. Then we had some little problems in the course of preparing, and we stopped jumping, which has introduced a small glitch related to our primary start.
FIVE METERS WILL SUFFICE FOR VICTORY– Had she changed a lot as a person when she returned to you?
– She’s the same Lena, only she’s not 22 anymore, but 30 already. And her dedication, which she had earlier, has returned. She reconsidered many things, and realized that there are friends, there are traveling companions, and there are false friends.
I’m pleased that she hasn’t lost the ability to mobilize at the right moment. I sometimes test her, saying: “You have one attempt left! Make it here!” Lena collects herself, a madness comes over her, and her result improves, by 50-60 cm with the shot for example.
– She puts the shot?
– No, I used it as a test. For example, pushing it forward with both hands…
– Has age strongly affected her?
– How should I put it… We can’t handle as much volume as before. We can’t compete as often. Therefore I organized our training in order to reach peak form in London.
– Why did the head coach of Russian athletics, Maslakov, say that after the Olympic games she’d be finished with vaulting?
– No, he meant that she’ll fulfill her Olympic games, and afterward the world championships, which will be in Moscow in 2013. And then, probably, she’ll have to really finish, because she has many plans for her life.
– What result will be needed in order to win in London?
– No less than 5 meters. But there’s the weather at any moment. Now the results are unpredictable. You see what's going on in London. Cold and rain constantly. Thus, here we’ll work not for the result, but for the prize. We don’t even need to think about world records.
– Are any of her competitors close to her results?
– They’re creeping up. There’s been a quantum leap. The Germans are already jumping differently. The Cuban, Silva, has appeared and can wedge her way into the fight. The American, the Brazilian, Murer, many have been added.
LENA IS FRIENDLY WITH MY WIFE– Does Lena strongly feel her failures?
– Naturally. She’s not used to losing, it’s unpleasant. But she understands everything well. I showed her the training map and said, "Lena, here’s the root of your mistakes! Our task in the remaining 10 days before the Olympiad is to deal with this and this – and you'll be fine."
– She was convinced?
– I hope so. The main thing is that everything comes together. Form and psycho-energetics.
– Time doesn’t go backwards, nevertheless. What would she have achieved if she hadn’t left you earlier?
– Why talk about that now? Fate decreed that she left and came back. The first she regrets, the second… She’s very glad. She’s returned to her own home. Her parents, sister and coach. She’s very friendly with my wife, Tamara Fedorovna. When my wife comes to our training, Lena’s results even improve.
– And nevertheless you said that her ceiling is much higher and that she could be jumping 5.15–5.20 by now, if not for her departure. It’s a pity after all.
- Yes, a pity… At the World Championships in Helsinki in 2005 she cleared 5.01 with a reserve of fifteen centimeters. Everyone gasped – it’s easy! And she jumped on the soft pole because of the cold weather.
– In your opinion, what makes Lena unique? She was a decent gymnast – and suddenly.
– Let go of the gymnastics, please. Because it’s possible to vault either with or without gymnastics. I had Chepeleva, the Olympic silver medalist in Australia. She came and said: “I want to vault like Lena.” And what happened? Not one of her motions was she able to transfer to the pole vault. The matter isn’t gymnastics, although Lena is a “Master of Sport” in this discipline. Her uniqueness is anthropometric, psycho-energetics, muscular memory, and a lot more. There’s a special monogram, where the chart shows all of a person’s important indicators. So here she is at a very high level in all of these areas. No links are missing. Here’s what’s important! This is her uniqueness.
PERSONAL DETAILSEvgeny Vasilievich TROFIMOV
Born in 1944 in the town of Kuznetsk (Penza oblast). Involved in coaching since 1966. In 1997 he began working with Elena Isinbayeva, who transferred to athletics from gymnastics. In 2005, the sportswoman left him to work Vitaly Petrov, but returned to work with Trofimov in 2011.
By the decree of the President of Russia in 2006, he was awarded the order “For Merit Before the Fatherland” of the 2nd degree. “Meritorious Coach of Russia”.