"We must look for shortcomings in ourselves": Bestemyanova and Zhulin on refereeing in Sochi, the triumph of Shcherbakova and Axel Tuktamysheva

Competitions of girls at the third stage of the Russian Figure Skating Cup were again not without controversy.

According to the results of the short program, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, who completed the triple axel, was in third place, behind Daria Usacheva and Anna Shcherbakova.

The student of Alexei Mishin could have fallen behind even more, but it turned out that due to a mathematical error, the judges did not add one point to her.

Nevertheless, after everything fell into place, the alignment in the leading three did not change.

Fans, experts and colleagues stood up for Tuktamysheva.

Evgeny Plushenko added fuel to the fire, who found himself in the center of the scandal even after the Moscow stage.

He criticized the judges for the fact that an athlete with a more complex program, unlike her rivals, could not count on high scores by default.

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Publication from Evgeni Plushenko (@plushenkoofficial) Oct 24, 2020 8:34 am PDT

At the same time, neither Mishin nor Tuktamysheva made any comments on the judicial decision.

The skater's only reaction was a repost on Instagram of the comment of one of the disgruntled fans.

Yet most of the experts agreed that the marks were given in accordance with the rules.

According to the 1988 Olympic champion Natalya Bestemyanova, the problem lies in the rules themselves, and not in the work of the referees.

“I guess it's not about the refereeing, but about the rules.

There are things that are not clearly spelled out.

Rotation cannot get higher marks than triple axel.

And Elizabeth was the only one who had this element in the short program.

This should have been noted, "Bestemyanova explained in a conversation with RT.

In turn, ice dancing coach Alexander Zhulin also emphasized that those who criticized the refereeing should wait until the end of the tournament, as the free program clarified the situation.

“The judges were great, they did everything right.

Mishin does not give high-profile interviews for a reason.

Earlier, I, too, foaming at the mouth, argued that Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov (Zhulin's wards. -

) were being condemned.

To this, Valentin Piseev objected to me that it was necessary to work better.

Lisa received a space point for her triple axel.

And then there was an error in rotation and under-rotation on a triple sheepskin coat in a cascade.

And the girls of Eteri Tutberidze cannot be spoiled, they do not want to lose a single point.

Therefore, it is necessary to look for advantages in rivals and disadvantages in ourselves.

This is the only way to success, ”Zhulin is sure.

At the same time, he agreed that the ultra-si elements should be evaluated higher, since much more effort and energy is spent on their development and implementation.

Changes in the rules will help to avoid ambiguous situations.

“For example, a skater performs a spin slowly without showing anything special.

The judge will not be impressed, and he added a point.

Another athlete will show something outstanding and get four.

Hence the difference.

Therefore, the jump is not the whole program.

But, again, this is not a question for the judges.

To change something, everyone has to unite and explain to the technical committee that a triple axel is worth 12 points, not 8.5, ”the specialist added.

In the free program, Shcherbakova, who performed the quadruple flip, rightfully took first place, and Tuktamysheva could not improve her position at once due to several mistakes.

At the same time, none of the skaters who claimed the medals of the stage avoided mistakes.

“Absolutely logical arrangement at the end of the tournament.

Of course, it upset that there were no clean skates in the free program.

Everyone was nervous.

On the other hand, this is the beginning of the season, the athletes are just getting in shape.

I was surprised that Usacheva trembled.

After all, she is very young and, it seemed, nothing should bring her down.

I was pleased with the stable axel of Tuktamysheva.

And, of course, Shcherbakova's fantastic quadruple flip.

You can write a tutorial on it.

Everyone has very beautiful programs.

It's nice to see such a high level in women's skating, ”Bestemyanova shared her opinion.

Zhulin also highlighted the performances of Shcherbakova and Usacheva.

According to him, the level of women's skating, despite the pandemic, has increased compared to last season.

“Perhaps many do not notice how complex the programs of Tutberidze's students are.

There is not a single empty space in them.

It is they who give a high second rating.

And the fall of Usacheva is simply explained.

Too much energy is wasted on numbers of this level.

They drag elements into the second half of the performances to get bonuses.

It was there that Daria was mistaken.

But here it is worth noting that the pandemic has made its own adjustments and no one is 100 percent ready now, ”added the 1993 world champion.

As for the competitiveness of Tuktamysheva, then, according to Zhulin, she needs to return to her previous form.

Although this will not give guarantees that the skater will count on high places.

“I respect Alexei Mishin, I really like Liza and her performances this year. I am more than sure that if she tightens up physics, loses a couple of kilograms, then everything will be in place for her. You look, and the quad will return. As a fan of this tandem, I sincerely wish that the person who has passed puberty could fight on equal terms with the Tutberidze girls. This is not possible yet. It can be seen that it is hard for her. But it seems to me that 15-16-year-old figure skaters won the European, World and Olympic Championships. Because, unfortunately, after adolescence, everything slows down twice, "concluded Zhulin.