2023-09-12 08:20:00
Missing figure skater Alina Gorbacheva — the most alarming event of the off-season. The 16-year-old athlete might not be found for more than a day: the Russian junior champion spent the night in the entrance, and the next day she was found in one of the Moscow cinemas. What makes this story special is that Alina has been living with her coach for several years. Sofie Fedchenkoand parents do not take such an active part in raising a girl.
After the incident, Gorbachev did not disappear from the public sphere; the girl runs social networks – she shows her life in “circles”. The skater also said that she was “ashamed of her action.” At the same time, the coach Sofia Fedchenko I have not previously commented on the situation in detail. Sport24 correspondent Konstantin Lesik got through to Fedchenko and found out what and why happened on August 28 and 29 and what will happen to Alina next.
— You agreed to an interview only 2 weeks later…
“The last thing I want is to discuss the situation that happened and bring personal things to public attention.
But, unfortunately, I have to break the silence. There are more and more conjectures and conjectures, the media and bloggers are stirring up interest in the situation, publishing an unimaginable number of fakes and rumors. A huge wave of negativity is pouring on Alina, me, and our entire team. And if we, adults, can not pay attention to such things, then the child’s psyche, and especially Alinina, is subjected to a great test.
— What was the reason for Alina’s action? Who is guilty?
“I consider myself one hundred percent to blame for her impulsive act.” We had a conflict. Household, absolutely unrelated to sports. After a long conversation, I outlined to Alina my position regarding her living with me and my guardianship over her. She said that she was not ready to bear responsibility for her life and health if certain rules were not followed. She emphasized that she can continue skating at the academy, and this will not affect the training process in any way. But as for life, she needs to move in with one of her relatives or rent a separate apartment, having previously informed her mother.
– What happened following?
— Afterwards we had to go on the ice. I said that we would agree at the end of the training.
— So Alina came to the skating rink for training?
— Yes, she came. I was warming up on the jump rope, I passed and saw her in the corridor.
— At what point did you realize that something was wrong?
— On the ice, 20 minutes following the start of the session. I began to worry that she was warming up for a long time and went out into the hall to look at her. Did not find. I called and the phone number was unavailable. At first I thought that she was somewhere in the ice, the net there was difficult to catch. Another 15 minutes passed. And then I got scared.
I ran to look at the cameras at the exit and saw that she had left the skating rink 20 minutes ago. The phone is also unavailable. I called my mom. She said that Alina was missing and that she should file a report with the police. She called LisaAlert so that they might quickly join the search. At the same time, we drove and ran around the area, then we began to look for an opportunity to look at the cameras in the nearest residential complexes.
– You say “We”. Who was with you?
— Vlada Danilkina, Nikolai Stepanenko (First Deputy General Director of the National Aero Club of Russia named following Chkalov), Maxim (Nikolai’s assistant), parents of athletes from my group.
At regarding 3-4 in the morning Alina’s mother arrived with her husband and the police. By the time they arrived, we already had videos of Alina and her route, which ended in the park. The police took a long time to fill out the papers, Ekaterina (Alina’s mother – Sport24) sat there for regarding five hours.
We ran around the area all night hoping to find Alina; we visited all the hostels. By morning they were able to get into the temple to also look at its cameras; they saw that she went to the river, and they were even more scared.
— Were you afraid that suicide might happen?
– God forbid! No, there were no such thoughts. We were afraid of crime, there is a construction site nearby, there are a lot of migrants, homeless people often visit the beach. Well, in general it was scary, I didn’t expect such behavior from her and didn’t understand what she planned to do next.
The search was complicated by the switched off telephone and all means of communication. Plus she has her own bank accounts, her own iCloud, and she had cash with her.
We have complete trust, so I didn’t even think regarding controlling her every step, I just didn’t need it, she usually asks for advice herself and tells everything.
— This morning everyone was scared because they found socks on the beach…
— The socks are definitely not Alina’s. I think the reporters themselves planted it to create a sensation. We walked around the shore 3-4 times that night. At 6 am there were still no socks. They appeared at regarding 10-11, immediately following the media learned regarding the situation. Correspondents immediately came running, they even arrived before the investigators. But maybe there was some advantage in this. Active actions by the police began precisely at this time.
“Then a video from the cafe appeared. Did you feel better at that moment?
– No. It felt better when we met and hugged. I finally let go when Alina the next morning told me regarding the motive for her action.
— Your phone number was listed everywhere during the search for Alina. But the journalists reproached you for not answering. What if a person called who actually saw Alina?
— Ekaterina caused a stir in the media and indicated my work number. All this only hindered the search; they cut off my phone with stories that Alina had been seen or found, but no specifics were given. Journalists asked what emotions I had, whether I would continue to work with her, and many other things that there was no time to talk regarding. Soon I turned off my work number. The people who were actually looking for Alina had my personal phone number (investigators, police, LisaAlert), while everyone else had 112 for such purposes.
— Did mom have a desire to take Alina with her following everything that happened?
“I can’t know what she was thinking regarding, but Catherine didn’t express any ideas out loud.” After such stress, I considered it necessary to create the most calm and comfortable situation for everyone. I invited Alina’s mother to live in my apartment until all the emotions subsided and Alina told me what prompted her to do such an act, and then make decisions. Ekaterina lived with me for several days, then flew off on vacation. Alina is with me now.
— And if we return to the causes of the conflict?
“This is not even a conflict anymore, but a disagreement.” At 16 years old, these are no longer children, these are teenagers, they have hormones, puberty, they want to do everything their own way. This is normal, I understand and accept it. But you understand me, when you take responsibility for someone else’s child, it is a doubly responsibility. I have been raising Alina since she was 12 years old.
Her education, medical care, recreation and everyday needs are in my control area; I must be sure that everything will be fine not only in sports. We have never had problems with discipline in training and, I hope, never will, but in life anything can happen. The upbringing process is very difficult.
– But why did she run away? This is a very serious step.
– This is an impulsive, thoughtless step. We didn’t have time to finish speaking before the ice. It turned out that the situation had not been resolved, and the issue of relocation hung in the air. Alina said that at that moment she thought that if she ran away, then there was no need to move anywhere. And following a couple of hours, the emotions subsided, and she realized that she had only made things worse, she was afraid that now I would definitely not agree to answer for her. In general, a vicious circle happened.
– So Alina wants to live only with you?
– I will not answer this question, because these are family problems and problems that arose not two weeks ago. I have no right to discuss this.
My task is to give her everything I can and help her to succeed in life not only as an athlete, but also as a person. Sports will end someday, you need to be able to live following it!
— The first post on social networks and video from Alina seemed unnatural to many. Like, adults wrote the text for her. How was it really?
“The next morning Alina said that she was ashamed of her action. She realized what she had done and doesn’t know how to behave now, she’s afraid of the public’s reaction. She talked for a long time with a psychologist, he advised her to turn to people with her thoughts, and in general to communicate more often and more, at least on social networks, in order to stop hiding from the situation and get through it faster. I am very grateful to him for this advice, because following the video she felt much better, and following a couple of days of “circles” she came to her senses.
“You didn’t force her to apologize?”
— Why do I need it? I don’t think she’s to blame for anything. Feelings of guilt and feelings of shame are two different things.
– What now? Are you afraid to continue to bear responsibility following this offense?
– All people make mistakes, Alina and I are no exception. There was a very long conversation, and not just one. Now everything is in its place.
— Have you changed your approach to working with Alina following everything that happened?
– No, this is not necessary. She is very independent in training and decides a lot herself. In our team, the athlete’s opinion is always taken into account, from a very young age. I don’t think it’s right to put her and other children in some kind of strict framework.
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