Defeat due to jumps and bronze with a margin of 14 hundredths point: how did Russian couples win two medals at the European Championships

A small number of participants in the European championship in figure skating in the doubles tournament has declined even more before the free skate program. On the eve of the rather powerful Austrian duo Mariam Ziegler - Zeverin Kiefer surprised many experts, taking only seventh place.

Skaters were not upset about the result. The next day, the press service of the International Skating Union reported that the Austrians are being withdrawn due to emotional stress - a rare enough reason for refusing to fight in such an important tournament. But later it turned out that Ziegler and Kiefer are still worried about the death of their trainer, Jean-Francois Bellester, and cannot recover from his loss. The specialist, who had raised the Olympic champion Bruno Masso since he was seven years old, died a month and a half ago.

In the fight for medals left ten pairs. Of the Russian participants, the hardest thing to claim was Darya Pavlyuchenko and Denis Khodykina. The young couple, who did not immediately become a full participant in the European Championship, could not, at the second attempt, produce the perfect rental. The Russians were summed up by emissions - there was a blot on the flip, and a drop on the rittberger partner. In total, the pair scored 185.92 points, which for them personally should already be passed stage. The main reason for this result was the lack of experience.

“Not everything turned out from what we wanted to do. Both rolled were unclean. But there are reasons, we did not have enough experience, this is still a debut at the European Championship. We are happy that we had a chance to visit here, ”said Khodykin.

“There was not enough psychologists. Somewhere unfinished something. I will calm down a little, I will come to myself, we will analyze the miscalculations. Nervous because anyway. This is what we do all the time. Naturally, you always want not only to show yourself, but also to do a good job. You will worry about it, be nervous, ”Pavlyuchenko added.

The pair were in the lead before the strongest warm-up, but it was obvious that they would have to make room. The last group was opened by Anastasia Boykova and Dmitry Kozlovsky, and their production under The Nutcracker immediately electrified the hall. The performance turned out to be bright, as in the Russian championship, but with a huge black blotch - Kozlovsky spoiled the parallel cascade.

The total score of 205.28 points, which became a personal record, was not at all pleased by the Russians. Going to the journalists in the mixed-zone, Dmitry began to break down because of questions about the sensations from the rental and the atmosphere at the tournament. He still pulled himself together and patiently continued the conversation, but after a couple of minutes, the couple began to glance more and more at the TV, where Nicole Della Monica and Matteo Guarize were showing awaiting ratings. The Italians had enough of their mistakes, so before the announcement of the final result there was silence.

And then something happened that Kozlovsky himself immediately called a miracle. Experienced Italians lost 14 hundredths to yesterday's juniors. Pupils of Tamara Moskvina at their first European Championships immediately won a medal.

“This is a miracle. I would not forgive myself if we lost. Thank God. Fate forgive me for the mistake. She gave a chic lesson, terribly strained and sorry. A miracle happened. Sometimes athletes make such mistakes that they can not explain. During the jumps, I was wrong no more than twice in my entire career and I can say that an accident happened today, ”the skater said.

At that moment, upset Italians passed through the mixed zone, for whom Kozlovsky asked for forgiveness. He later explained why.

“I understand that, to some extent, it is indecent for newcomers to win from established athletes with extensive experience. Cool, but indecent. I still made a gross mistake. We ride with famous athletes, the best in the world. We understood that we have a chance for a medal, and it would be obvious if we performed all the elements perfectly. But there was a mistake. 14 hundredths in our sport is a wave with one hand, even with one finger, ”said the athlete.

Boikova expressed confidence that the medal at the first European Championship has become well-deserved.

“Personally, I am very pleased now. This is not a miracle. I think we deserve it. Our coach Tamara Nikolaevna is always in control. For her, it was one of many European Championships. She always knows what to do for success, and we trust her, ”the athlete said.

Finally, the couple invited the fans to their exponential number, which will be shown on the last day of the tournament, and at that time a joyful hum of fans came from the hall. It was their leaders who performed their free program after the first day of Vanessa James and Morgan Sipre.

The stands for the Russians were suddenly mad because of the French, and this was deserved. They made only a small mistake on the parallel Salchow, and the rest of the program was rolled back perfectly. Soon on the scoreboard two new world records were highlighted. The total score of James and Sipre was an incomprehensible 225.66 points.

The last were Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, who still had chances to win with perfect skating. But very soon, this hope disappeared. Once again, Tarasova started having problems with jumping, and the couple gave something awkward instead of a cascade. Like Boikov and Kozlovsky, the rest of the leaders of the Russian team played at the same high level as the French. But two ripped jumps created a gap of seven points, and France was presented with the first victory in pairs since 1932. Russia, the first draw of the medals of the European Championship in Minsk brought silver and bronze.

“There was one mistake, as in the short program. I do not know whether there is a pattern or not, what is the reason for them. In general, we worked very well, we made the first jump perfectly, both shots. We are happy skating. But two mistakes, yesterday and today, punished us. We will prepare for the World Championship as hard as now. We will try to localize all our mistakes and correct them. We will work more, ”commented the silver performance of Morozov.