“The heaviness appeared in Zagitova’s jumps”: Zhulin about the Grand Prix stage in France, the Kostorna phenomenon and the progress of Samarin

- Was it expected that the first three stages of the Grand Prix will be won by the students of Eteri Tutberidze - Anna Scherbakova, Alexander Trusova and Alyona Kostornaya?

- Yes of course. Another thing is that they still had to roll back cleanly, to do everything that they planned. According to their scores, it was clear that they are now a new trend in figure skating. I am very glad that this happened.

- Is it possible to say now that they are the main contenders for places in the Russian team?

- Sure.

- How would you rate Kostornaya’s performance at the stage in France?

- Alena for me personally is the embodiment of all the best in figure skating. She has fantastic skating, gliding, presentation, excellent technique, phenomenal spans ... She performs cleanly every jump. If I were a judge, I would always give her “+5” or “+4”. If Kostornaya also learns the quadruple jump, and preferably two, then she will become an invincible skater. She has virtually no weaknesses, so she is quite competitive with Shcherbakova and Trusova. But if Trusova performs four quadruples, then it will be difficult even for Nathan Chen and Yuzur Chania.

- In the short program, Kostornaya for the triple axel still lowered the score, and she earned less points than she could with a double axel. Should she continue to do this element?

- It’s better to decide for trainers who see her every day. If Alena makes a triple axel nine times out of ten, then it can and should be included in the program. Without a shortage, her score would be even higher by five points. Risk is a noble cause, but coaches know better. Any performed jump in competitions gives confidence for the future. If Alena didn’t twist this time, then she’ll definitely screw it next time.

- Alina Zagitova became the second in France. Did she have a chance to win?

- There were chances, but the claimed hopping content was weaker than that of Trusova, Shcherbakova, Kostornaya. By this, she at one time beat Evgeny Medvedev. I noticed that a certain heaviness appeared in her jumps, they become very close to under-twisted. This is a very dangerous trend.

- What can Medvedev, Zagitov and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva count on if they are now inferior to young athletes?

- Of course, all three are now insanely hard mentally, because they are faced with a new phenomenon for figure skating. However, everyone went through it. I would like to wish them patience, health and success. But the Tutberidze trio will be very difficult to fight.

- They were already world and European champions, Alina also has Olympic gold. Maybe they no longer need to prove anything?

- This is a wrong concept. There is always someone and what to prove. Take Cristiano Ronaldo, who won everything in football, but he comes out motivated for every game and comes to training before everyone else. It depends on the person, on his desire to stay in sports.

Just why then does Yuzuru Hanyu ride? In general, then it is not clear. The guy set himself the task of learning the quadruple axel, and for this he is killed every day, plows six hours a day, gets injured. This is admirable. Although you have to be realistic - if he cleanly performed all his content and occupied third or fourth places, he could have finished.

- How do you rate the performance of Alexander Samarin at the Grand Prix stage? For the first time he became the silver medalist of these competitions.

- I am very happy for Sasha and his coach Svetlana Sokolovskaya. They walked with great tenacity to perform quadruple lutz and flip in both programs. Someone could tell them that this should not be done, it is too complicated, it is better to simplify and be content with some places. But their idea worked, in short hire Samarin was even competitive with Chen. Sasha is on the right track. He is not yet such a “wheelchairman” as Nathan and Yuzuru, so he needs to take something. The fact that he wants to be in the top three, and not in the sixth or eighth place, is a matter of respect. I wish him only to add and add.

“Are Chen and Hanyu still out of reach for Samarin?”

“Samarin will force them out if they fall four times.” Chen and Hanyu are the same phenomenon in men's skating as in women's Trusova, Shcherbakova and Kostornaya. They move their view to some incredible height. Not only are they such jumpers, but also phenomenal wheelchairs. I was generally shocked by Chen’s path at the end. It seems that the program has just begun, and he has already jumped 128 quadruple jumps and triple axels. In addition, he is still studying at Yale University, training at six in the morning (talking with the coach. - RT ) by phone. One gets the impression that he and the coach do not need, although this, of course, is a joke.

- Syoma Uno is playing without a coach now, and he failed in France ...

- It is very unfortunate that, in my opinion, he made the wrong steps in his life. Still, the coach must be with the athlete. It’s just that at least a person should stand nearby, who will be more visible from the outside. And he comes out alone and lands on his head. Uno's equipment was not very good before, but now it has completely disappeared. Perhaps some kind of pride leaped ... If I had trained now at Tutberidze, I would have beaten Trusov, but don’t understand what was happening to him. I wish him to find his specialist, he is still a talented and unique skater.

- For the successes of girls, fans rarely notice the achievements of young sports couples. It came as a surprise to you that in three stages they have already won two gold and two silver?

- For me, all these couples are well-known: the world champions among juniors Anastasia Mishina - Alexander Gallyamov, and Daria Pavlyuchenko - Denis Khodykin, and Alexandra Boykova - Dmitry Kozlovsky. It is important to remember that for the time being the Chinese couples, the French, Alyona Savchenko has finished. There is a good situation to make a breakthrough in pair skating. I really like Boykova and Kozlovsky this year. Unfortunately, Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov are not yet encouraging, and the remaining couples have great prospects, they have a great desire, they are engaged with excellent coaches.

- Today, juniors “shoot” right after the transition to adult skating, and when in pairs to wait for a breakthrough?

- Pair skating is another sport, not everything is decided by jumping. Pavlyuchenko and Khodykin included a triple flip in their program, but he does not give them big points, especially since he can be torn down at all. The emphasis should be on paired elements, on supports that cost more than jumping. Pair skating is a very harmonious discipline, and at a young age you can’t “shoot” it. You must first gain experience.

- In ice dancing, fans are waiting for the debut of Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapova at the Grand Prix tournament, which will be held this week. Are they ready for the competition in China?

- Yes, the guys ride well. I like the way they work, they add. They do not make discounts for themselves, because they have such rivals this season ... In France, Gabriela Papadakis and Guillaume Sizeron looked cool as always, which does not make me very happy, but as a professional I can admit that this is a couple of the highest level. But from this we will have more zeal to at least get closer to them.

- Your wards will correspond to the level set by the other couples?

- Hope so. Judging by the starts at which the guys have already performed, they looked pretty well, they scored good points. Let's hope that in China they ride with dignity.

- This season, in rhythm dancing, it is imperative to perform under musicals. How do you like this requirement?

- Dances should be positive enough, we don’t want everyone to perform under Carmina Burana or something like that. Musicals are fun and good. Fortunately, they told us on time that music from films can also be used, because otherwise it would be difficult to choose. There are a lot of good musicals, but the search circle was initially narrow. Everything that I see this year seems pretty to me, everyone has good dancing.