“Everything will depend on the cleanliness of skiing”: the duel of Shcherbakova and Tuktamysheva will decorate Skate America

The humiliating defeat of Tuktamysheva and decisive changes in the program

The new season in the world of figure skating may turn out to be one of the most interesting in history. First of all, this applies to women's competitions. Indeed, several Russians will compete for awards of the highest standard: Alina Zagitova, Anna Shcherbakova, Alexander Trusova, Alyona Kostornaya, Stanislav Konstantinov, Evgeny Medvedev, as well as Elizaveta Tuktamysheva.

And already in the framework of the starting stage of the Skate America Grand Prix, Tuktamysheva, Shcherbakova and Konstantinova will fight for a place on the podium. However, the struggle for victory is likely to lead Elizabeth with Anna.

The opposition of the 15-year-old debutant of the Grand Prix and the experienced figure skater with great interest expects the whole world of figure skating. It is curious that their paths crossed quite recently - at the pre-season tournament in Bergamo, and then Shcherbakova was ahead of her opponent by four points at once.

The failure of Tuktamysheva did not end there. Immediately before the trip to Las Vegas, she suffered a much more serious defeat at Finlandia Trophy, where she lost 17 points to another young ward Eteri Tutberidze Alena Kostornaya. However, some felt that judges rated the pupil of Alexei Mishin too harshly.

After this, Elizabeth, according to rumors, could not restrain her emotions and pushed her opponent before the award ceremony. However, the 22-year-old athlete herself denied these interpretations.

Now Tuktamyshev is waiting for a fight against Shcherbakova, even more technically savvy. Realizing the complexity of her position, Elizabeth decided to change and abandoned the cascade of triple flip - triple sheepskin coat in a short program. The usual combination of two triple sheepskin coats returned to its place. Because of this, Tuktamysheva will lose 1.1 points in the base cost of the elements, but, most likely, will win due to the purity of execution. In a free program, on the contrary, Russians expect only complications.

“If you want, you can do a lot. Already have thoughts that we will change. Add soon. Change short program? This is normal practice, especially at the beginning of the season. If for the sake of progress you need to take other music - this is done calmly. We are moving for the better, therefore, we don’t feel sorry for the acquired elements, ”Tuktamysheva quotes“ Sport Business Online ”.

A unique element of Shcherbakova and the debut at the Grand Prix

Not without minor changes and Shcherbakova. The most important of them is the intention to perform two quadruple Lutz in an arbitrary at once - solo and in a cascade with a triple toe loop, which no one had done at official competitions before. It seems that Russian girls are once again ready to rewrite history. At the same time, Anna has already demonstrated that this is not impossible for her. So, at the Cup of Russia in Yoshkar-Ola, she pleased the audience with two Lutz in four turns.

However, in training in the USA, she successfully made the promised cascade, but fell when landing from a solo lutz.

Speaking of rivalry with the 2013 world champion, Shcherbakova admitted that she was trying to ignore this.

“So far, I’m only thinking about what I have to do in order to be competitive. What to improve, what to work on. We know who knows what, and no one wants to be left behind. I have to fight on ice, but this does not mean that I am obliged to behave abruptly in life. These are completely different things ... You need to be able to switch, ”Shcherbakova said on the air of Channel One.

As for Konstantinova, then for her this primacy will be largely decisive. At the last championship of Russia, she took fourth place, but did not shine at major international competitions. The only major achievement was silver at the competitions in Helsinki, which was not enough to qualify for the Grand Prix finals. At that tournament, she lost only to Zagitova, 0.15 points ahead of Japanese Kaori Sakamoto. This time, two more Japanese representatives will compete with her - vice world champion Wakuba Higuchi and Kaori Sakamoto, as well as American Brady Tennell and Korean Eun Soo Lim.

As for other species, Tiffany Zagorski and Jonathan Gureiro will compete for medals in ice dancing. Last year, the Russian duo took the honorable third place in the USA. Also, Sofia Shevchenko with Igor Eremenko and Ivan Bukin with Alexandra Stepanova, who the fans will see for the first time this season, will come out on the ice.

In the competition of couples, Russia will be represented by young Daria Pavlyuchenko and Denis Khodykin, and among single men, the debutant of the Grand Prix, Roman Savosin and Dmitry Aliyev. The latter at the end of September pleased the fans with a victory at the Nepel Memorial in Slovakia, and a little earlier he took silver at the already mentioned Lombardia Trophy. But it will be difficult to compete for gold with current American winner Nathan Chen. Rather, it will be done by the Chinese Boyan Jin.

"Every skater this season should surprise"

Meanwhile, rivalry between Tuktamysheva and Shcherbakova is awaited not only by the fans, but also by experts. In particular, the first world champion from Russia in the women's single skating, Maria Butyrskaya, suggested how their duel could develop.

- Objectively, does Tuktamysheva have a chance of winning?

- Of course, they will fight. If you do not believe in yourself and in success, why go out on the ice at all? And Lisa in the free program has two beautiful jumps with triple axels, one of which is in a cascade with a sheepskin coat. A short program is more complicated. So everything will depend on the purity of skiing, whether the judges will put the pluses for certain jumps. It is one thing to declare the elements, it is another to fulfill them on ice.

- Shcherbakova introduced two quadruple lutz into the free program at once, solo and in a cascade with a triple toe loop. Previously, no one did this at official competitions. Can she do it?

- It looks very impressive. It should turn out beautiful jumping with a span. Yes, no one has done this before, but take another 15-year-old figure skater, Alexander Trusova, who completed four quads in a single rental. Therefore, there is nothing to be surprised. Shcherbakova and Trusova are peers, they have not yet taken shape physically and they will have to compete with each other. So every figure skater should surprise this season. The one who surprises the most will go to the World and European Championships.

- Anna is only 15 years old. Would she flinch?

- Despite his age, Shcherbakova is a fairly experienced skater. She has a lot of serious tournaments. Let's not forget that she is the current champion of the country. Anna definitely should not tremble. She knows how to speak in front of a large number of fans, and understands that it is necessary to qualify for the Grand Prix finals.

- Many discussed that Tuktamysheva allegedly pushed Kostornaya in Finland. Does she lose her nerves?

- I do not believe the rumors. For the first time I hear about it, but Lisa is a very open person, and she can delve into it only in herself. Tuktamysheva always thinks only about her work, and I will never believe in my life that she could do this. Moreover, she could lose her nerve a long time ago, but she continues to go on the ice and with each season complicates her program. Lisa is a strong and interesting figure skater with a big name.