Medvedeva's New Year mood, Trusova’s dream and the hype around the ISU Prize: what is happening in the world of figure skating

Joke Tuktamysheva and appeal to Daenerys

Skaters feel the approach of the New Year, despite the busy competition schedule. So, the recipe for a festive mood with his Instagram followers was shared by two-time world champion Yevgeny Medvedev.

“I’m watching the Monster Corporation, and the New Year’s mood appears,” the athlete wrote.

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I’m watching the Monster Corporation and a New Year’s mood appears появляется. . . Watching “Monsters inc.” New Year mood: on✨

Posted by Evgenia Medvedev (@jmedvedevaj) Dec 2, 2019 at 6:34 am PST

A few days ago, the 2015 world champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva pleased her fans with a four-piece sheepskin coat, which she managed to complete in training. After that, many started talking about the fact that thanks to this element, 22-year-old student Alexei Mishin will be able to compete with younger rivals. At the moment, only Alexandra Trusova and Anna Shcherbakova own jumps in four turns among participants in adult tournaments.

At the same time, Tuktamysheva herself in a joking manner made it clear that it was too early to talk about the inclusion of a fourth sheepskin coat in the competition program.

“When the super difficult jump jumped, and now everyone asks to do it at the competitions,” wrote Tuktamysheva.

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Posted by Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (@liza_tuktik) Dec 2, 2019 at 11:34 PST

The winner of the two stages of the Grand Prix, Alexander Trusov, spoke about her dream. On the Olympic Channel page, she turned to the performer of the role of Daenerys Targaryen in the fantasy series “Game of Thrones” Emily Clark.

“I want the actress who plays Daenerys to write me somewhere. Or you could meet her, ”said the skater.

In the free program, Trusova performs under the soundtrack from this series - Pray (High Valyrian) Muse soloist Matthew Bellamy and The Night King composer Ramin Javadi. She admitted that she liked the plot of the TV show, however, some of the scenes seemed too shocking.

The dominance of Russians and the mistake of the organizers of the ISU Prize

The official website of the International Union of Skaters (ISU) announced the nominees for the ISU Skating Awards, which will be presented on March 22, 2020. Russian athletes who do not leave a chance to their rivals this season dominate here.

So, Alina Zagitova, Evgeny Medvedev, Alyona Kostornaya, sports couples of Evgeny Tarasov - Vladimir Morozov, Alexandra Boykova - Dmitry Kozlovsky and dance duets of Alexander Stepanov - Ivan Bukin, Victoria Sinitsina - Nikita Katsalapov will compete for the honorary title of the most valuable skater. Tuktamysheva was included in the list of applicants for the award for the best costume and the most spectacular program.

The President of the Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKKR) Alexander Gorshkov expressed satisfaction with the presence of a large number of domestic athletes in the long list of the award.

“It is difficult to judge what will become the main factor in choosing the best skater, because everything will depend on the priorities and criteria used in the determination. I must say that this is a confirmation of our leading position in this sport at the moment, ”RIA Novosti quoted Gorshkov as saying.

In accordance with the regulations, fans, journalists, as well as ISU members take part in the voting. The big excitement around the award led to interruptions in the site in the first days after the announcement of the nominees.

“Some problems with access to the voting system, apparently, arose due to the increased interest, very high popularity with the project. But now IT specialists from Switzerland are adjusting the system, ”said sports agent Ari Zakaryan.

However, an unpleasant incident is also associated with the competition. The suit of the Russian Anton Shulepov from a free program in which he performs under the soundtrack from the military drama Schindler's List was mistakenly included in the list of best outfits. The fact is that in its design elements of uniforms of guards and prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp were used, which caused dissatisfaction of the fans. After a new wave of criticism, the organizers were forced to apologize.

“ISU regrets that the wrong suit of Shulepov was put to the vote by mistake - from a free program instead of a short one. The mistake was corrected, and ISU sincerely apologizes for it and the negative feelings that it aroused, ”the statement said.

The ISU Skating Awards shortlist will be announced on February 10th.

Averbukh's forecast and Leonova’s opinion

Only a few days remain before the start of the Grand Prix stage, and experts continue to make predictions regarding the distribution of medals. Many of them agree that the Russians have the most chances for gold in the singles tournament. So, according to the famous choreographer Ilya Averbukh, the main struggle for a place on the podium will unfold between Trusova and Kostornaya, and Shcherbakova and last year’s winner Rika Kihira will compete with them.

“We have already seen that in the short program Alena can get a decent handicap if she performs it as fantastically as she did in Japan. In her short grade, she’s 10 points higher than Sasha’s. Kostornaya did not show perfect rental arbitrary, the second axel was not performed, which would increase her rating. Their overall result differs by one and a half points, therefore, of course, I’m sure that they can compete, ”Averbukh quoted the official website of the Russian Olympic team.

At the same time, he called not to write off Zagitova.

“Of course, Alina has a chance to be on the podium in the event of a clean performance of a short program. She can get good points, for 80 points, and be in the group of leaders. It’s another matter that there isn’t such a serious set in arbitrary as in the other three of our girls, ”the choreographer added.

Almost every stage of the Grand Prix this season was accompanied by dissatisfaction with the judges' ratings. Many experts noted that the jury deliberately underestimated points to prevent Russians from dominating the final.

At the same time, the 2015 Universiade champion Alyona Leonova emphasized that we are not talking about a biased attitude towards domestic athletes.

“Refereeing is not always what we want. But yes, I can say that at some stages of the assessment we were "pushed around." Especially Anechka Shcherbakova and Lisa Tuktamysheva. This season, the skaters looked more biased after each rental. Nati tried something under the microscope. It has always been and will be. I believe that everyone is treated like that. To the same Kihira - she is found to be underwhelmed where it would seem that they are not there, ”Leonova said on the Icebreaker Youtube channel blog.