Evgeny Platov, the former world and Olympic figure skating
champion, is convinced that his charges, Sinead and John Kerr, have the quality
necessary to achieve medal success at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Platov, who was in Edinburgh for a whistle-stop visit prior to
flying over to Gothenburg with the Kerrs for this week's World Championships,
has been working with the Scots for the last 18 months and says he has witnessed
great improvements in their performances.
"They are not kids, they are smart people who have set
themselves lofty goals and are determined to make them happen," said Platov,
who, in tandem with his Russian partner, Oksana Grishuk, accumulated an
astonishing haul of 22 consecutive championship victories, including four world
crowns, and two Olympic triumphs at Nagano and Lillehammer between 1994 and
1998. "Usually, you have to push a bit to keep people's motivation up, but that
is never a problem with John and Sinead.
"That's why we have set ourselves a target of a top-10 finish
in Sweden, and, as of next season, they are going to be appearing in more
competitions, so the build-up to the Olympics really starts here.
"Maybe, at the outset, it was a bit daunting going in against
the best Russians, but there's no fear factor any more, because they have
climbed the standings on merit, they deserve to be where they are, and the next
step is chasing medals next year and in 2010."
John Kerr also feels that the moment has arrived for the couple
to break into the spotlight. "We were a bit disappointed with 11th last time
around, and we certainly feel we have the ability to do significantly better
than that," said the younger sibling. "You can never predict what is going to
wow the judges but we are going over there with the attitude that anything from
sixth to 10th is a realistic target and we definitely believe we will do better
than in 2007."
Platov shares that opinion and he is not someone inclined to
soft soap. "Week-in, week-out, they are working away, for six, seven hours every
day and their attitude is first-class," he said. "They have the mentality of all
good champions that, no matter how well they skate, they could always have done
better."
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