MOSCOW, May 10. /TASS/. Russia’s two-time 2018 Olympic silver medalist in figure skating Yevgeniya Medvedeva is very grateful to her previous Coach Eteri Tutberidze, who is a remarkable specialist, Brian Orser, a new coach of the Russian athlete, told TASS on Thursday.

The 18-year-old figure skater officially announced on Monday a decision to part with her Coach Eteri Tutberidze and start working with Canadian specialist Brian Orser. Speaking to journalists on Monday in Moscow, Medvedeva said she decided to move to Canada and train there, but never planned to change her citizenship to continue performing under the national flag of Russia.

In an interview with TASS Orser said that it was Medvedeva’s initiative to contact him and it was during the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea’s PyeongChang.

"She asked if I could have some time for a serious conversation," he said. "I figured out what it was about and we made arrangements about a private meeting."

"We had a long discussion about her goals, why she wanted to make a change, about her skating, her love for skating and the directions where she wanted to go," the Canadian coach stated. "When I talked to her, we both agreed that her coaching up until now has been very successful."

"She (Medvedeva) is very grateful for everything she learnt and she learnt a lot," Orser continued. "I have to say that Eteri (Tutberidze) has done an amazing work and not just with her (Medvedeva) but with so many skaters."

"Every coach wants to be Eteri, because she keeps producing amazing skaters," Orser said. "As a coach I have a lot of respect for her (Tutberidze), for what she has done."

"It’s amazing how she is taking women’s figure skating with all these girls and it is really quite remarkable," Medvedeva’s new coach said.

Orser also said he understood how difficult this situation may be to Tutberidze after her student Medvedeva decided to part ways and the Canadian specialist added that he encountered similar situations in the past.

"As a coach it is very difficult and I went through the same thing… that has happened to me too," he said. "It is not easy, it happens all the time and I lost many students…, but I always wanted the best for them."

"I have a lot of respect for her (Tutberidze) and at the same time, with Yevgeniya, I understand that she wants to make a change at this stage," Orser said. "I am excited for Yevgeniya, it was her decision for change."

"She is obviously not finished with skating, she loves to skate and she loves to compete," Orser stated. "At this stage she is just taking a new direction."

At the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea’s PyeongChang, Medvedeva won two silver medals - in team’s competition and in women’s singles. She is also a two-time world champion, two-time European champion and two-time winner of ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating finals.

The figure skater achieved all of the mentioned above awards with her former Coach Eteri Tutberidze, who coached her since 2007.

Canada’s Brian Orser, 56, works with two-times Olympic champion in men's singles Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan and two-times world champion Javier Hernandez of Spain, as well as with ladies' singles skaters Elizabeth Tursynbaeva of Kazakhstan and Sonia Lafuente of Spain.