“It's very nice that the girls came to support me”
The Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Moscow ended with the triumph of Russian athletes. The hosts of the tournament not only won gold in all types of programs, but also took silver in three of them. The only exception was the competition of dance couples, where Victoria Sinitsyna and Nikita Katsalapov became the only domestic athletes on the podium.
Traditionally, the greatest attention was focused on the women's singles tournament, where relations were clarified by Alexander Trusov and Evgeny Medvedev. Athletes already crossed at the Grand Prix stage in Canada, and then success was accompanied by the young pupil Eteri Tutberidze. She won first place, and two-time world champion - only fifth place.
This time the rivalry turned out to be much more intense. Trusova was inferior to the more experienced opponent after a short program, but she managed to tip the scales in her favor with a magnificent performance in an arbitrary. According to the results of two rentals, she scored 234.47 points and was almost nine points ahead of Medvedev. Moreover, Alexander was not even embarrassed by the fact that she had to go on the ice immediately after Eugenia.
“I never watch who stands before me. I don’t hear the marks, so I go and don’t know who skated. This makes it easier for me, ”admitted the athlete at a press conference.
Thus, Trusova won the second stage of the Grand Prix and guaranteed herself participation in the final of the competition, which will be held in Italian Turin from December 5 to 8. At the same time, the skater herself admitted that at the moment she was not completely satisfied with herself.
“I am glad that I won this Grand Prix and made it to the finals. But I did not skip my programs cleanly. I will work and try to be better, ”said Trusova.
In the course of the free program, Trusova cleanly performed the quadruple lutz and sheepskin coat, the second in a cascade with a triple sheepskin coat. At the same time, Alexandra admitted that the hardest thing is given her a triple axel.
“It is different in that it is performed from the front. I don’t know why, for me it is more difficult. But I teach him, ”she assured.
As it became known, her friends in the Tutberidze group and, in combination, rivals Alyona Kostornaya and Anna Shcherbakova, as well as Kamila Valieva and Maya Khromykh came to hire Trusova. According to the athlete herself, she was very glad to see them in the arena.
“It is very nice that the girls came to support me and watch the competition. We have a day off in our group ... After the start, we haven’t talked yet, but my phone, of course, is torn, ”concluded Trusova.
As for Medvedeva, the silver medalist at the Pyeongchang Olympics thanked her mentors Brian Orser and Tracy Wilson for their support and admitted that she did not consider silver at the Grand Prix stage in Moscow a birthday present for herself. November 19, Eugenia will turn 20 years old.
“No, I did my job. What I wanted to do, what I live. I can’t say that this is a birthday present ... People knew how many failures, setbacks and difficulties I had. And now they see my successes and are happy, ”Medvedev said.
It is worth noting that in the course of an arbitrary rental, the skater received a “minus” for the triple lutz, again performed from the wrong rib. At the same time, Eugene herself admitted that she was trying to fix the flaws in the technique.
“Lutz has become much better. I do not pretend to have a frankly external rib, but many perform it in the same way as I do. I understand that I have the stigma of an inner rib on this jump, but the situation is changing, ”said Eugene.
At the same time, Medvedev also said that she continues to work hard to include in the program her first jump in four turns.
“I have already said that I’m doing my best to show the audience the quadruple salchow. I don’t have a specific date when this can happen. This is the same as asking when I will finish my career. The main thing for me is to maintain my health, because I am not ready to jump on broken bones. My body is fragile, I have to follow the daily routine of what I eat when I go to bed and so on, ”the two-time world champion admitted.
According to Medvedeva, she is currently on her way to returning to her ideal form. She said that Orser warned her that this process would not be quick and would take at least a year and a half.
“I believed him and followed his plan. Why so long? There were many factors that would hinder any person. A difficult period in life. They attributed to me words that I did not say, there were a lot of things. I'm not the kind of person who complains, but let's face it - it was hard for me. But after the World Cup, a turning point occurred, and now I feel much freer, ”Medvedev added.
At the same time, she admitted that she did not think about the struggle for getting into Turin.
“Let's count the points - fifth and second places ... When everything was won, there was no thought in my head that I won’t get into the final — I went out, skated and made my way. But now I am more professional in everything, I don’t get ahead of myself, ”concluded Eugene.
Unlike compatriots, Stanislav Konstantinov again failed to demonstrate high-class skiing. As at the stage of the Grand Prix in the USA, she took only the penultimate, 11th place.
“Of course, I’m very disappointed with myself because I didn’t feel 100% confident at the workouts, but I did my job. After America, I led intensive training. The performance here was in question, but in training she proved to everyone that she deserves to be here, ”Konstantinova said.
She noted that after the fiasco on Skate America, she did not want a repeat of the story in front of her native fans. In this regard, an open rental was organized for specialists who gave her the green light at a performance in Moscow.
“I didn’t expect such a rental, but I see improvements and progress. I hope that I can look decent at the championship of Russia. It’s hard to compare myself with the girls who ride nearby, but I hope that I will walk this path with dignity, ”the girl concluded.
“We managed to overcome ourselves ”
Alexander Samarin continued his successful series. If in Grenoble he showed the second result, he won gold at home. The Russian won gold and joined Trusova, guaranteeing a ticket to the Grand Prix finals.
“There were mistakes and gross ones. I am glad that I managed to qualify for the Grand Prix Series Final. A good result for this part of the season, ”said the athlete.
At the same time, he admitted that he was very happy for his compatriots Dmitry Aliyev and Makar Ignatov, who took second and third places respectively.
“Yesterday I said that it would be very cool if the three of us took places on the podium. This has not happened for a long time, these are sensations making their way to goosebumps. Our three tricolors are very cool, ”added Samarin.
Aliyev admitted that he could not fully reveal his program, but was pleased with the silver medal at the competitions in Moscow, and Ignatov said that he did not set himself the goal of getting on the podium. And this is not surprising, given the fact that Makar is a Grand Prix debutant, and among his rivals were Sema Uno and Nam Nguyen.
“Calculations in the head - it knocks me down. Today I dreamed that I was running on the train, woke up when I was at the checkout. You just have to keep doing what you get. And this is not the maximum, I have something to work on, ”Ignatov added.
The company Trusova and Samarin in the Grand Prix finals will be two domestic duets. After success in China, Victoria Sinitsyna and Nikita Katsalapov got the upper hand in Russia, thanks to which they qualified for competitions in Turin. Their example was followed by Alexandra Boykova and Dmitry Kozlovsky, with the exception that they won their first victory in Canada.
“We are very glad that we selected the adult finals, earned a ticket there. He said earlier that we had no passing stages, no easy rivals, and we are glad that in a sense we managed to overcome ourselves, a certain barrier, ”said Kozlovsky.
At the same time, Boykova admitted that her release on the ice was preceded by a serious emotional shock.
“It so happened that I lost a loved one. And she skated for her in a short program, ”concluded the skater.