Fans of Evgenia Medvedeva rejoiced on the first day of the Grand Prix stage in Moscow - their favorite skater was able to win the short program for such prestigious competitions for the first time in two years, and even with the best result since the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang. Medvedeva scored 76.93 points for her rental to the music of Muse, which could be called a very good result for an athlete who knew during this time the bitterness of the most offensive defeats.
But at this moment, the finest hour of the two-time world champion was to come to an end. Ahead of her was waiting for an arbitrary program in which the victory was given in advance to Alexander Trusova. And there were good reasons. The student Eteri Tutberidze was going to perform four quadruple jumps, which give such a great advantage in points that it cannot be won back even by the maximum possible components.
Of course, it could not be ruled out that Trusova herself would not fulfill her plan. So far, four quadruple jumps at official starts remain fantastic. At Saturday morning's training, the skater could not convince herself that she was able to combine all the elements together - she doubled the lutz and fell on one of the cascading sheepskin coats. However, as the example of Anna Shcherbakova shows, even two pure quadruples are able to give a convincing victory over rivals who do not own such jumps at all.
The opening duel before the final duel Medvedeva and Trusova made Stanislav Konstantinov. The day before, she took only 11th place in the short program. In arbitrary, the Russian woman did not allow falls, but there were still too many mistakes and errors in the jumps. Konstantinova remained the penultimate, beating only Finnish Emmy Peltonen.
By the time Medvedev entered the ice, Japanese Satoko Miyahara held the lead. But she could not be considered a dangerous rival. More recently, she claimed to be in the Grand Prix finals, but the athlete who won silver at the stage in China with her graceful skating didn’t come to Moscow. Even in the short program, Miyahara made too many mistakes, and in the free program she again did not avoid falls. Not having scored 200 points for both rentals, the Japanese could not hope to get into the top three and a trip to Turin.
In Medvedeva, however, the mood was only for the medal and in no case for the bronze. Confidently and easily, she spun on the ice with the first notes of music and entered the triple lutz. The jump turned out to be clean, but from the wrong rib, for which the judges immediately expressed their complaints. But they no longer gave negative ratings. Medvedev completed the entire program with a full set of jumps, returning Megasport three or four years ago, when she and only she ruled the world of female figure skating.
The audience’s delight knew no bounds, and the ice had to be cleaned of scattered toys for a long time to come. Of all the gifts, Medvedeva left herself a huge Japanese fan - an interesting alternative to the giant toy bears that have recently accompanied all women's competitions. The last salvo of laudations from fans was made after the announcement of ratings. Medvedeva earned 225.76 points, exceeding the personal record set at the World Cup.
Competition closed Trusov. She could not rewrite history and perform four quadruple jumps. The first salchow not only turned out to be underwound, but also ended in a fall. But Lutz and two cascades with sheepskin coats were performed with a bang. After that, Trusova tried to return to the Lutz - Rittberger cascade, which she had abandoned the day before, and again made the worst mistake for the skaters. But all this was unimportant - the athlete's advantage was already transcendental already. Trusova’s point counter stopped at the highest point of 234.47 points. Next time, she will try to show a full set of quads already in Turin, where for the first time at an adult level she will meet with her friend from the training group Anna Shcherbakova.