From a rare chance to a testing ground for experiments: what is interesting about the Russian figure skating championship in Chelyabinsk

December 2020 did everything to make the Russian championship, which traditionally ends the calendar year for figure skaters, finally lost all meaning.

The consistent withdrawal from the tournament of the leading athletes in almost all types of the program convinced not only the fans, but also, probably, the federation that the competitions in Chelyabinsk had lost their qualifying function and new selection criteria for the national team should be reviewed and announced, leaving the national championship with the status of “more one start ”in a coronavirus year, not rich in sporting events.

Yet the CR is incredibly interesting.

What exactly?

The fact that he has to become completely different.

Championship Chance

The title of champion of the country has always been considered particularly valuable in Russian figure skating.

The same thing happened at one time in the United States in those periods when there were much more strong singles and singles than vacancies in the national team.

Even if the selection criteria are globally revised, it is unlikely that the FFKKR will go to deprive the champions of Russia of the right to represent the country at the World Championships.

This means that the most unpredictable skaters can get a chance to get to the main start.

In this case, the likelihood of sensations is increased by the fact that the positions of a significant part of even those leaders who will come to Chelyabinsk were greatly shaken by viral diseases.

Anna Shcherbakova, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Alexandra Stepanova / Ivan Bukin, Evgenia Tarasova / Vladimir Morozov were ill, and in general, it is probably easier to list those whose training regime was not seriously violated by COVID-19.

The main wave of cases fell just in December, which means that the athletes really did not have the opportunity to fully recover.

Championship polygon

The current championship is incredibly important for Sasha Trusova.

The skater this season is mainly criticized for her unbridled and not always justified zeal to perform the maximum possible number of quadruple jumps in an arbitrary program, but in fact, Trusova can be called the country's strategic weapon without any exaggeration.

She is the same joker of Russian singles skating who can play at any moment.

Even skeptics agree that if Sasha begins to accurately perform his entire breathtaking jumping set, not a single figure skater in the world will be able to compete with her.

And these words are applicable only to Trusova.

This season is the one in which any experimentation is appropriate.

And the level of stress, traditionally inherent in the Russian championship, turns these competitions into an ideal testing ground for testing their own potential.

After all, even if we assume that the world championship planned for March will not take place, this does not cancel Trusova's task as soon as possible to make her programs confident and stable.

Don't put off experimenting with jumping for the Olympic season.

Championship Application

Among all Russian figure skaters there are two duets (dance and sports), which stand apart in the current situation.

Alexandra Stepanova / Ivan Bukin have not yet appeared in public this season, so for them performing in Chelyabinsk is an application for their own future.

The main rivals of this pair, Victoria Sinitsina / Nikita Katsalapov, in a sense, broke away from their compatriots last season by winning the European Championship in Graz.

They also managed to write down another bonus in their asset in the form of an unofficial record amount of points for rhythm dance at the Grand Prix stage in Moscow (91.13).

The duet of Alexander Zhulin conducts the current season with the old short and new free programs.

Vika and Nikita are missing the Russian Championship, but in general terms it is already clear what can be expected from them, all the more so Zhulin said that he was thinking about returning the old free staging to the World Championship, if, of course, it takes place.

But Stepanova and Bukin have a chance to surprise, be remembered, make them talk about themselves as favorites, especially in Chelyabinsk they will become.

For Evgenia Tarasova / Vladimir Morozov, the start in Chelyabinsk is a great opportunity to try to stake out the title of the first pair of the country and thereby avoid re-selection, if we assume that it will be scheduled for February.

In principle, this is important for each of the four couples applying for three places in the national team, but it is more difficult for Tarasova / Morozov: in the current hierarchy, their positions look the most vulnerable.

Championship debut

Two premieres are to take place in Chelyabinsk, each of which is intriguing in its own way.

In women's single skating, the championship will be the first for Kamila Valieva, a 14-year-old figure skater, to whom the title of potential Olympic champion-2022 has already been firmly attached.

Even the six-time European champion Irina Slutskaya spoke about this.

“I don’t want to write out carte blanche for anyone, but with such a level of skating a place on the Olympic podium will be quite real for Valieva.

In juniors she has nothing to do for a long time - this is an axiom.

There, she has already won everything she can.

The figure skater masters in an adult company: her technical and artistic components are now at the highest level, "- quotes the words of Slutskaya Teamrussia.

It's hard to disagree.

And this means that an athlete for whom access to the adult level is still closed, and the victory will bring nothing but moral satisfaction, may well become the champion of the country.

The main debutant of the men's tournament is Mikhail Kolyada.

The list of his titles includes two victories in national championships, but both happened in his previous life, when Mikhail was young, skated with Valentina Chebotareva and sincerely believed that he had everything ahead.

Now, for the skater and his current mentor Alexei Mishin, this is the first truly serious start.

And if the coach no longer needs to prove anything to anyone, then for Kolyada the national championship is a great opportunity to show himself in all its glory and prove that everything that happened to him over the past year is for the better.

Championship gift

The tournament should have been held if only because no other Russian city has yet managed to surpass Chelyabinsk in terms of organization and hospitality.

Over the past four years, this is already the fourth major tournament (the city has once hosted the junior and adult national championships, as well as the stage of the junior Grand Prix series), and each was held at the highest level.

A separate cherry on the cake is the announced participation in the demonstration performances of the two-time world champion Evgenia Medvedeva.

Zhenya was forced to refuse to participate in the national championship due to the coronavirus transferred in a rather severe form, but, having agreed to come to Chelyabinsk, made it clear that she was more than serious about continuing the season.

And one can only regret that, having canceled the European Championship in Zagreb, the International Skating Union did not offer to move it to Chelyabinsk.

I am sure that the task would have been tough for the people of South Urals.