iNow that everyone has been revived after getting âgoodâ slaughtered by victuuri in ep.10, do you have some time to talk about Otabek Altin? The precious cinnamon roll and Yurioâs new friend?
Letâs get to know this Dark Horse.
So heâs 18, he was the first to qualify for GPF, won last seasonâs bronze and represents Kazakhstan. Â
Many of you might not even be aware of the existence of this country, so in brief: Kazakhstan is a post USSR country in the centre of Eurasia, right between Russia, China, Middle East and Europe continent.
So, why would Kubo-sensei even include someone from there?
The answer is Kazakhstanâs real life figure skating hero - Denis Ten.
the first skater to represent KZ in international championships Â
is from Kazakhstan but of a Korean origin
Olympic bronze medalist, World silver and bronze medalist, 4 Continents gold medalist, Asia Winter Sports gold medalist
cinnamon roll like you wouldnât believe how sweet
Otabek is definitely inspired by Denis, and therefore I will take his perspective to judge his background.
The thing about sport athletes in Kazakhstan is that theyâre ALWAYS self-made. Neither education system nor sports practice is well-developped here yet. Which is understandable since the country is still young (25 years of Independance, yay) and confused in many aspects. Thatâs not fine but we manage. That however does not change the fact that Kazakh sport education is a complete bullshit when compared to Europe, USA, Asia or Russia (with the exception of boxing and martial arts, probably).Â
Therefore if you are from KZ and want a world champion for a kid, these are the steps you need to take:
1. Sign them up for sports club early. No team sports, only individual. Team sports have no future here yet.
2. Once they start to show a talent, interest and/or competitive spirit send them to Russia. Russia has better coaches, facilities and programme. Russia is close, cheap and easy to travel to, and not emotionally stressing for the kid, since itâs the same environment there.Â
3. Once they come of an age to participate in a competition SEND THEM AS FAR AS YOUR BUDGET ALLOWS YOU. USA and Canada for figure skating. USA, Europe and Australia for swimming and tennis. Why? Because itâs one thing to train in your rivalsâ adobe, all of them young talented and ambitious, being coached by their coach, at the same time as them, and completely other thing to be enrolled in a kind of sports boarding school where the coach is from some France and other students are from all over the world, struggling to get better same as you. Goverment does not provide any stable scholarships for this, btw. Itâs all up to parents to find, choose and pay for. If you happen to have a kind, well-educated and persistant coach in KZ, they might win you some bonuses in a harsh battle against bureaucracy, but it will not be enough to cover for all or even half of it.Â
LAST YEAR!!!! You hear me?? He was 17, and already a bronze medalist when he returned to his hometown!!Â
That means that all the time before he spent overseas. Can you imagine that?? A 13-16 year old Otabek in another hemisphere from his home. Thatâs like half an equator, one ocean and 11-14 timezones away.Â
a l l  b y  h i m s e l f
struggling with language barrier (think he had time to perfect his English before? not likely), with harsh training and obligatory schoolwork - all on top of taking care of himself all by himself. Â
Can you imagine Otabek coming back on one of those days to an epmty room in a dorm and messages from his family. Calls might be very hard to time up with such time diference. His mom inquiring how he has been, if he eats properly and does his laundry in time, scheduling for skype calls, updating him on his relatives and friends, giving advice on treating colds and stomach ache, and all those other things that most of the boys his age get for granted.Â
My heart aches over thinking how lonely he mustâve felt.Â
And, he probably wouldnât be able to tell them, if anything would not go well. Because there would be nothing they could do from over there, it would only cause them to worry more. Even more than they already would have been.
So there was only one way for him: to suck it up, train hard, suceed and make them proud.
He is not trying to prove himself to himself as Yuuri, nor does he need to prove himself over others like Yurio. He doesnât want it for fame like JJ, he wants it for his family, his people and his country. Thatâs any Kazakhâs default mission in life - make your parents proud. Especially after he had returned home with a medal and proved himself to be capable of competing at the same level as Victor fucking Nikiforov and Christophe Jeacometti!!!!!! Him! A Kazakh boy of 17 years!! Kubo-sensei does not joke around when calling him a hero, because he is one! A hero and a history-maker, same as Phichit.
We havenât seen his coach or team yet, but I have a feeling that it would be the same situation as Denisâs. Meaning, he doesnât have one.Â
Denis Ten often travels (or used to travel) to the competitions by himself. There is no staff assigned to help him out. He is used to do trivial things like filling paper forms, booking time for practice, booking hotels, turning in audio tracks for the performance, etc. There have been numerous times when they had either messed up the music at the start of his performance or even played the wrong hymn during the awards ceremony. In his interview, Denis admitted to being totally lost at what to do at those time. Thereâs also no one to defend/protect him when something comes up, since thereâs no one from KZ who has a weight in figure skating world.Â
I have a distinctive feeling Otabek will be the same. Â
I mean, how the hell would he be comfortable enough to rent a bike and ride all over Bar-freaking-celona, with no fear to get lost/in trouble, if he wasnât used to this kind of responsibilities? Again, heâs 18.Â
At the same time Yurio is like:Â
Â
Therefore his friendship with Yurio is truly a blessing. They do have a lot in common, theyâre practically from the same background: the lifestyle in KZ and Russia does not really differ. Itâs the same culture, the same language (KZ is bilinguial: both Kazakh and Russian are widely spoken), a really similar mindset, educational system, environment, custom etc. Theyâre both outsiders in the current lineup, striving to make a name for themselves. Itâs almost the same as 5 years ago in that camp when both Otabek and Yurio were new to the rink in Saint-Petersburg. Thatâs what Otabek referring to, I think, when he says Yurio had eyes of a soldier. In that environment theyâd be both treated the same, you know. Otabek as a no one from nowhere and Yurio as a that guy from Moscow. Not even sure whatâd have been worse.
Also thereâs a post going around about bad realtion between Russians and Kazakhs, stressing that Kazakh is an inferior race to Russians - PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE DO NOT BELIEVE IT THAT IS NOT TRUE!!!!!!!Â
Our nations have always been close, we have a long and complicated history but the friendship between two countries and people is very strong.Â
There are some issues in terms of racism on both sides but it is very rare/obscure case and is usually triggered by something.
Therefore I ask you to support Otabek Altin and his friendship with Yurochka!
Please do adopt him! Please do dote on him! He really deserves and needs that!Â
and if you have some more feels to spare, please take a look at  Denis Ten too :3 Â
Thank you for reading,Â
with love from Kazakhstan
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