Konstantin Poltavets
Russia- Biography of Konstantin Poltavets
- Early Life and Career
- Choosing Russia
- The State of Russian Speed Skating
- Training Approach
- Future Goals
Biography of Konstantin Poltavets
Konstantin Poltavets is the head coach of the Russian national speed skating team. Born in Ukraine, he spent ten years working in the Netherlands before returning to Russia four years before the Sochi Olympics to revive the sport of speed skating in the country. Poltavets has worked with top skaters such as Jan Bos and Sven Kramer, and is familiar with modern training methods and not afraid to make tough decisions. In an interview with Sports.ru, he discusses his work, striving for excellence, and the future of Russian speed skating.
Early Life and Career
Poltavets was born into a sports-oriented family and his father was a speed skating coach. Initially, he did not plan to follow in his father's footsteps and instead focused on getting a good education, serving in the army, and working in various jobs. However, during a time when he had nowhere to train, he became involved in the creation of the Ukrainian and Russian national triathlon teams. This led him to move to the Netherlands, where he was accepted and helped to reach a level that he may not have achieved in the Soviet Union. Poltavets is grateful for the opportunity to work with masters of the Soviet school of speed skating and maintains contact with them to this day.
Choosing Russia
Poltavets had previously been invited to Kazakhstan, but ultimately chose Russia as his destination for several reasons. One factor was Vanja Skobrev's impressive performance in Vancouver compared to the rest of the Russian team. Additionally, Poltavets felt a sense of disappointment with the state of Russian speed skating and wanted to contribute to its improvement. He believes that now is a unique opportunity for the sport to return to the spotlight and wants to share his knowledge with both Dutch and Russian skaters.
The State of Russian Speed Skating
Poltavets believes that the decline of Russian speed skating can be attributed to several factors. While there are competent specialists in the country, they lack experience working at the forefront of the sport. He also notes that new Russian coaches are not adequately prepared and there is a lack of new training methods. In contrast, the Netherlands places great emphasis on the development of speed skating. Poltavets sees potential in bringing together the strengths of both the Soviet and Russian schools of speed skating and believes that the new head of the federation, Alexey Kravtsov, is on the right path by focusing on training coaches.
Training Approach
Poltavets combines the fundamentals of the Soviet training method with the Dutch emphasis on teamwork and the American focus on individualized training. He believes that it is important for skaters not to fear speed and incorporates activities such as track cycling and short track speed skating into their training to develop physical conditioning and technical skills. These additional activities help skaters adapt to different challenges and improve their overall performance.
Future Goals
Poltavets plans to join the Russian team in July after recovering from a foot injury. His main goal is to introduce new methods and improve the team's performance. He aims to create a unified program and foster collaboration among coaches and athletes from different regions of Russia. His ultimate goal is to win gold at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, recognizing that speed skating is a demanding and highly competitive sport.
