Farewell to the Wolf and the White Raven: the silver medalist of the Pyeongchang Olympics announced the suspension of his career

Ice King’s successor

Perhaps the only exception is Evgeni Plushenko, whose name has been associated with men’s figure skating in our country for many years. Having fulfilled his dream in Turin and becoming an Olympic champion, the student of Alexei Mishin really put his career on hold the next season. Everyone was waiting for the appearance of a successor, and even applicants appeared, only Plushenko returned. And twice.

After Sochi, where Evgeny, together with his partners in the Russian national team, became the first Olympic champion in figure skating in team competitions, everyone understood that there would be no third coming of the Ice King. The successor problem came to the fore.

Just at that time, Kolyada appeared on the ice proscenium. In 2003, he won the Russian championship among juniors, and at the junior world championship he was the best among Europeans. In the new Olympic cycle, a student of not the top St. Petersburg coach Valentina Chebotareva managed to prove the validity of his claims to the role of the leader of the national team. He twice became the champion of Russia and the bronze medalist of the European Championship. And at the 2018 Olympics, Mikhail was entrusted with the right to play for the Russian team in the team tournament.

Olympic disappointments

Pyeongchang brought Kolyada continuous disappointment. In the short program of the team tournament, he took only 8th place among 10 participants and was declared the main culprit for the failure of the Russian team, which won only silver after the Sochi gold. Although Russian skaters could compete at the 2018 Olympics with a powerful Canadian team only in some incredible scenarios.

After an obstruction, an athlete with a less strong character could break down. The carol was not broken. At the World Championships in Milan, which took place immediately after the Olympics, he won bronze, letting two medalists from Pyeongchang go ahead. In Milan, Mikhail seemed to be trying to prove the accident of his failure in Pyeongchang.

And yet the “Olympic sediment” made itself felt. Kolyada’s performances at the main starts of the season resembled Russian roulette. He either took risks by including quadruple jumps that were not worked out to perfection in his programs, or he limited himself to a minimum set of complex elements.

The season turned out to be the most successful, in which both short and free programs were set to music from cartoons. Interestingly, in reference books for foreign competitions, one of Mikhail’s programs was listed as “Tango”. Only all the boys and girls, as well as their parents, who grew up on “Well, wait a minute!”, Recognized the melody from three notes, as well as the image of the Wolf, embodied on the ice by a mischievous boy. Although Kolyada had already turned 20 by that time.

Experiments to find his own style, which lasted for several years, were not crowned with creative finds. The St. Petersburg figure skater tried both the classics and the “Chaplinian”, and Elvis Presley, a win-win at all times. Only in any image was seen the Wolf from “Well, you wait!”. Although this was not the main problem. The highest potential, which was noted by all figure skating experts, Mikhail, by and large, failed to realize in any of the seasons.

To top it off, Kolyada was overtaken by a series of injuries and illnesses. He, unlike Plushenko, never created the most favored nation treatment at the competitions. Mikhail arrived at the Russian Championship in Saransk, where he was selected for the European Championship – 2017, having barely brought down the temperature. By this time, a new generation of figure skaters had come to the fore. Many put an end to Kolyada. Who needs an unstable and unpredictable figure skater as the leader of the national team, who has not found his own style, and is also prone to injury and illness?

From Chebotareva to Mishin

It was then that Mikhail realized that in sports life everything needed to be changed. Three years ago, he left Chebotareva, with whom he trained from the age of five, to the group of Alexei Mishin. This in itself was sensational. After all, the Professor for several years assured that Kolyada was not his skater and he would never take him into his group. Mishin not only took the “not his” skater into his strong group with the highest internal competition, but also proved that Kolyada is capable of the most complex images. And about the Wolf from “Well, you wait!” should be remembered as one of the stages of a career.

In the very first season of joint work, Mishin invited Ilya Averbukh to put on a program for Kolyada to music from the film “Nureyev. White Raven”. It was immediately called a masterpiece. For Averbukh, who staged a number to this music in the Ice Age show for Yana Khokhlova and Vyacheslav Chepurchenko, the idea of ​​​​the program was clear. At the same time, Mishin did not pursue complexity, limiting himself to a minimum set of quadruple jumps. And still the program was called a masterpiece.

Mishin rarely comments on the performances of his students. In the case of Kolyada, he was completely laconic. He only noted Mikhail’s exceptional ability to work in training, in which he was not noticed before moving to the Professor. And the Professor also emphasized that the “Kolyada project” is designed for two seasons, before the Olympics in Beijing.

It is difficult to say what results it would bring if it were not for extreme conditions. In the first season of joint work, Kolyada became the champion of Russia for the third time, but he could not test his competitiveness at the international level. Due to the pandemic, at the only stage of the Grand Prix, the St. Petersburg figure skater had to compete only with athletes from the republics of the former Soviet Union, led by the bronze medalist of the European Championship 2020 Maurice Kvitelashvili.

“Project Kolyada” completed, life goes on

A beneficial effect on Mikhail, by his own admission, was a change in family status. For a long time he kept the name of his chosen one a secret. Even there was information that the three-time champion of Russia married a Hungarian figure skater. It became a cold shower for the fans. Only Daria Beklemishcheva is not a Hungarian figure skater. She started figure skating in Lipetsk, and then moved to St. Petersburg to Chebotareva. They have known Michael since childhood.

Realizing the lack of prospects in single skating, Beklemishcheva switched to pairs. And she really skated for Hungary with Mark Magyar. Although Beklemishcheva was number one in Hungary, there were no prospects of breaking onto the podium at major international competitions, and Daria chose to go through life with such a reliable partner as Kolyada. He himself emphasized that any issues, including professional ones, can be discussed with his figure skater wife.

At the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm, Kolyada took fifth place, and, coupled with the successful performance of his group partner Evgeny Semenenko, this made it possible to win three quotas for Russian figure skaters for the 2022 Olympics. But the Olympic season for Mikhail frankly did not work out. An interesting short program to the music from The Nutcracker was put on by Averbukh, but for the free program Mishin chose Schindler’s List. But the American Jason Brown also skated to this composition. At the Russian Championship qualifying for the Olympics, held in St. Petersburg, Kolyada took second place, which gave him a pass to the national team.

Only Mikhail did not go to the European Championship in Tallinn. As it was officially announced, due to injury. And then he missed the Olympics. I passed a positive test for coronavirus – and did not wait until the last, hoping for a negative one, as Alexandra Stepanova, who represented our country in ice dancing, did. The term of the “Kolyada project” announced by Mishin ended, but Mikhail remained in the Professor’s group. Only for the entire past season, he not only performed, but retired from the competition due to injuries and illnesses. At the same time, he was quite in demand in the show, remaining a favorite of the public.

The news about the suspension of a career did not become a sensation. Mikhail did not dare to announce the end, although it is almost impossible to compete with the new generation of Russian single skaters with their current technical arsenal. And no one will create the most favored nation treatment, like Plushenko.