11/22/2025
Evgeni Plushenko publicly responded to Kostyleva's mother for the first time:
Children need to be praised! Not told that they are 'crap,' 'fat-assed,' and 'won't succeed' 🤯
Dear fans and figure skating lovers, don't believe the latest 'Tales of the Vienna Woods'!
Lena Kostyleva is a fighter. She is the only girl who, with determination, landed a 3A-3T combination in the short program. And that was after a grueling 18-hour flight. Lena still hasn't recovered (her knee and hip are still not fully healed), she goes for treatment every day — as evidenced by the bills paid by the Academy. In Omsk and Moscow, Lena skated with an injury, as well as on three different rinks! Three! And, as you understand, we are not forcing her injured onto the ice! Lena is not 8 years old to be running around the ice doing 30 ultra-C jumps per practice. We regulate her workload so that she can preserve such an arsenal of ultra-C jumps and show them at senior competitions.
And Lena is not a robot, she is a human! You can ruin the girl because in the chase for medals and prizes, you no longer care about anything! Later, everything can be blamed on the staff, on her coach. You haven't once thanked our Academy for the entire last winning season! Not once! Although a lot was done in every respect. Athletes are not always in top form, but the incident in Omsk was simply a lack of concentration and fatigue; I went through the same myself in my youth while in great shape.
A child athlete needs to be praised at least sometimes! Not told she is 'crap' and 'fat-assed' and that she won't succeed. I have repeatedly forbidden the 'Tales of the Vienna Woods' from doing this, but to no avail, and I also forbade them from teaching coaches how to train, inserting their amateurish 'two cents' everywhere and always! Therefore, the 'Tales of the Vienna Woods' are blocked by me.
No one allowed themselves such a thing. And I won't allow it to anyone!
The Federation is fully aware of all this pressure on the athlete from start to finish! As are all the bodies overseeing children's lives in our country.
Upon return, I will give Lena a phone so that it will be her personal property, since her phone is regularly taken away so she cannot communicate with me and our staff.
This is not the first warning, but the last!
I have been silent for a long time. But apparently, it's time to start speaking and showing proof of my words.
P.S.: My mother also tried to coach me in childhood and thought she knew more than Mishin, and only when she fully trusted my coach did I win my first World Championship.
Panic over 2nd place at the Grand Prix, knowing the child's injury — is at least a strange reaction, especially knowing what stands behind 1st place in Moscow and 2nd place in Omsk, especially giving interviews left and right to all media about Lena's injury.
✍🏻 Source: Plushenko’s social media