Another famous figure skater left the group of Eteri Tutberidze. On her Instagram page, the coach announced her breakup with European champion Alena Kostornaya. According to her, the athlete demanded that a number of other skaters not train at the same time with her on the same site. To this, Tutberidze refused.
“They come to us sweet, kind, with open eyes, who want to achieve results, prove to themselves and others. Time passes, we work productively and sometimes achieve colossal results. And then ... It seems that the outside world affects our dear and kind. There are more and more new conditions for the continuation of joint work (like an increase in payment for love), ”the coach wrote.
Tutberidze said that earlier similar requirements were put forward by her other famous students - Yulia Lipnitskaya and Evgenia Medvedeva. They also refused to go on the same ice with younger athletes and eventually moved on to other specialists. However, Tutberidze assured that she did not intend to change anything in her work.
“Once Julia put forward a demand not to go on the same ice with Zhenya. We tried to satisfy all the conditions - it didn't help. Then Zhenya refused to skate with Alina (Zagitova - RT ). And now from Alena we have received a whole list of girls non grata. That's where we parted with her ... Are we going to change something in our training system? Not. We are doing everything right. I am sure that among those who are with us, there are also solid, loyal, resistant to external stimuli, "Tutberidze finished her post.
A little later, the coach wrote in the comments to whom Kostornaya would go. According to her information, the skater will join Evgeni Plushenko's group. According to Tutberidze, the two-time Olympic champion agreed to cooperate with the new ward back in May. She also said that Kostornaya did not inform her about the transition. At the same time, the skater has already been delivered two programs for the next season, which, according to Tutberidze, would be liked by both the judges and the fans.
Recently, this is the second case when one of the main stars of the Tutberidze group leaves for a two-time Olympic student. In the offseason, the bronze medalist of the last European Championship Alexandra Trusova did the same. Then many associated the unexpected parting with the unstable performances of the athlete in the past season, as well as with the unwillingness to remain in the shadow of their classmates.
Kostornaya trained under the guidance of Tutberidze at the Khrustalny skating rink since 2017. The reason for the transition to her group was an unsuccessful performance at the junior championship of Russia, when the future world record holder became only 16th. Kostornaya wanted to improve her results, and after watching Tutberidze agreed to start working with her.
The first successes were not long in coming. Kostornaya immediately successfully debuted at the stages of the Junior Grand Prix, winning gold and silver. In the final, she became the second after Trusova. Soon, 14-year-old Kostornaya competed in the adult championship of Russia and unexpectedly took third place, leaving only Alina Zagitova and Maria Sotskova ahead. Kostornaya completed her first year under the leadership of Tutberidze at the World Junior Championships, where she again became the second after Trusova.
At the next Russian Championship, held in December 2018, Kostornaya made a splash with Trusova and Anna Shcherbakova. The three of them climbed the podium, although they were still juniors by age. At the same time, unlike her classmates, Kostornaya did not rely on quadruple jumps. She fascinated fans and judges with pure and "adult" skating, which no other young figure skater showed.
In the 2019/20 season, Kostornaya was supposed to make her debut at international competitions at the adult level. Before that, she learned the triple axel and reached a qualitatively new level. She had the opportunity to beat her rivals with quadruple jumps. After two victories at the Grand Prix stages, she passed Shcherbakova and Trusova in the final tournament. At the same time, she set a world record for the amount of points scored, which still holds. Then Kostornaya added the silver of the Russian championship and the gold of the European championship to her regalia. In her first adult season, she never suffered a defeat at international competitions.
Kostornaya's successes are associated not only with her work under the direction of Tutberidze, but also with the programs that were created by choreographer Daniil Gleichengauz. It was he who was the author of all the main productions of the skater after her appearance in "Crystal". It is known that in the new season, in the free program, Kostornaya was supposed to skate to the song Lovely performed by Billie Eilish and Khalid. Now, when cooperation with Gleichengauz will inevitably end, it is highly likely that Kostornaya will have to prepare new programs under Plushenko's leadership.