“Professional sports will become the main enemy of the Olympic movement”

It remains only a few days before the start of the Russian Figure Skating Championship. For the first time in history, it will be held in Krasnoyarsk, from December 26 to 29, and according to its results, the composition of the national team for the European Championship 2020 will be determined.

At the same time, the composition of the national championship participants continues to change. In addition to Alina Zagitova, who suspended her sports career, singles Mikhail Kolyada (due to chronic sinusitis) and Alexander Petrov, as well as sports couple Ksenia Stolbova and Andrey Novosyolov (due to a partner’s injury) will miss the competition. Another loner Victoria Vasilyeva also withdrawn from the competition, in Krasnoyarsk she will be replaced by Anastasia Gracheva.

And as invited guests to the ice will come Tatyana Totmyanina and Maxim Marinin. According to TASS, the organizers of the tournament are preparing a big opening ceremony: in addition to the Olympic champions in pair skating, the Moscow ice show team and acrobat skaters from Brazil and Argentina will perform on it.

Meanwhile, many experts continue to discuss the high-profile statements of the Eteri Tutberidze team addressed to Evgeni Plushenko and Tatyana Tarasova. So, three-time Olympic champion Irina Rodnina spoke about scandals in Russian figure skating. In her opinion, the older generation of athletes was more fortunate, because in earlier times there was no Internet access, and the fans were less aggressive.

“Pierre de Coubertin also said that professional sports will become the main enemy of the Olympic movement. And so, we are faced with this. People are fighting for metal, ”said Rodnina in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda.

The debate on the issue of the fact that in evaluating the performance of the skater should play a decisive role: hopping technique or components. Even the famous football commentator Gennady Orlov shared his opinion on this.

“Artistic perception is closer to me, even though I am an athlete. Jumps should be harmoniously woven into the program ... There are many jumpers in the ballet, and Baryshnikov alone. Why? This is an artistic perception, image. I think the sport should go to this, ”Orlov noted in his blog on YouTube.

The commentator also admitted that he would not mind introducing an age limit in figure skating.

Meanwhile, Olympic champion Alina Zagitova, who took a break in her career, continues to speak at various events. Over the past few days, the skater managed to attend the Ivan Urgant show, as well as the KHL match between SKA and CSKA. In her Instagram, she wrote that she had never gone on ice before such a large audience - there were more than 60 thousand fans at the stadium.

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Publication by Alina Zagitova (@azagitova) Dec 19, 2019 at 1:57 am PST

The performance of the Olympic champion was also appreciated by SKA. As explained by the vice president of the club, Roman Rotenberg, he met with the athlete at the Olympics in South Korea and since then has been maintaining communication.

“Better than a performance by Zagitova, you can’t imagine a pre-match show,” Rotenberg said in an interview with Sport24.

It will be possible to see the Olympic champion in the near future in Tatyana Navka’s ice show Sleeping Beauty. The legend of the two kingdoms. " For this, Zagitova now even has to master the elements of pair skating.

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Alina at the training of Tatyana Navka’s show “Sleeping Beauty. The legend of the two kingdoms. " 💪🏻⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ——————————— ⠀⠀⠀⠀ # AlinaZagitova #AlinaZagitova ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ # ザ ギ ト ワ # ア リ ー ナ ザ ギ ト ワ ⠀

Publication by Alina's Fanpage 💕 (@teamzagitova) Dec 20, 2019 at 11:25 am PST

Experts continue to express their views on the decision of the skater to take a break in his career. So, according to sports psychologist Vadim Gushchin, fans of Zagitova perceived this event "as the death of a piece of themselves." The specialist is also sure that all participants in the recent skating scandals should ask each other for forgiveness.

“I would arrange a show where the leading participants in this dispute - the team of Tutberidze, Plushenko and others - would say to each other:“ Forgive me, ”Gushchin said in an interview with Sport Day to Day.

“It’s impossible to dissuade Trusov from jumping something complicated”

A few days before the start of the Russian championship, its participants continue to prepare for the tournament. About training athletes Tutberidze told the group choreographer Daniil Gleichengauz. So, according to him, Alyona Kostornaya in the near future should start staging the quadruple jumps. In addition, the coach noted the perseverance of Alexandra Trusova, who recently included a triple axel in her short program.

“We only recently learned it, and while the stability of execution leaves much to be desired. It was such a risk — a risk, but this is Sasha! Therefore, there is even nothing to discuss. It is impossible to dissuade Sasha from not jumping something more complicated, ”said Gleichengauz in an interview with the official website of the Russian Figure Skating Federation.

Another lone skater, Serafima Sakhanovich, spoke about her experience working with different coaches. Now she is preparing for the Russian championship under the leadership of Angelina Turenko, but at one time she trained with Plushenko and Tutberidze.

The skater admitted that when she decided to leave the Plushenko group, no one stopped her. The reason for leaving was the lack of money.

“When you live on 200 rubles a day with your parents, this is normal, but when you need to buy a dishwashing detergent, shampoo, it's hard. I ate instant porridge for three rubles from Crossroads and sweet tea so that there were at least some calories, ”the athlete said in an interview with Sport24.

Faced with financial difficulties, Sakhanovich Plushenko admitted that she can not afford to rent an apartment. He in response suggested that she either finish training or look for another mentor.

The skater also spoke about working with Tutberidze. According to the athlete, rumors that she does not protect her wards at all are not true. So, at the request of Sakhanovich to help with the four, Tutberidze advised her to take care of herself.

“She was also afraid that the triple would go wrong,” the athlete added.

Now the skater is planning to learn the quadruple salchow, but she is not in a hurry either, since she doesn’t have time to “roll him in before the Russian championship”. She also admitted that in the process of working on this jump, she really becomes a less stable triple. But the fact that another Russian figure skater Elizaveta Tuktamysheva learned a quadruple sheepskin coat at the age of 22 did not surprise her at all, since that one had “very easy jumps”.

Well, Tuktamysheva herself celebrated her 23rd anniversary on December 17. On Instagram, the athlete admitted that this is her favorite number.

“I sincerely do not regret anything. I am grateful to myself, to the people around me and to everything that happens to me, ”the figure skater wrote.

In addition, the other day Tuktamysheva attended a ball at the Yusupov Palace in St. Petersburg. The athlete said that it became for her an “adventure and experience.”

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Posted by Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (@liza_tuktik) Dec 19, 2019 at 10:09 am PST

On the eve of the Russian championship, Evgeny Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, who spoke in pairs skating, also spoke about their main goals. According to RIA Novosti, athletes dream of gold in the World Cup and the Olympics - two medals that they do not have yet.

“To achieve these goals, we need to create our own face, our image, our image. We are working on it now, ”said Morozov.