MOSCOW (Reuters) – Olympic silver medallist Evgenia Medvedeva has parted ways with Canadian coach Brian Orser and returned to Russia to train under her former coach Eteri Tutberidze, the RIA news agency reported on Wednesday.
The twice world champion left long-time coach Tutberidze to join Orser’s team after she was upstaged by her training partner Alina Zagitova at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
Orser, a two-time Olympic silver medallist, coaches some of the world’s top figure skaters, including Japan’s double Olympic men’s champion Yuzuru Hanyu.
The 20-year-old Medvedeva’s return was warmly welcomed by Russia’s figure skating community.
“I think this is a very correct and reasonable decision on the part of Zhenya,” Maxim Trankov, a retired pairs skater who won Olympic gold in 2014, told RIA, referring to Medvedeva using the diminutive form of Evgenia.
“It’s wonderful to see a great coach and a great athlete reunited.”
(Reporting by Gabrielle Ttrault-Farber; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)
