"The best gift": how Russian figure skaters took the entire podium at the World Cup

"I rode here with a set of five quads and was not going to jump one less."

On the penultimate day of the World Figure Skating Championship, perhaps the most interesting sport for Russian fans ended - the competition among women.

According to the results of the short program, two domestic athletes got into the top three - Anna Shcherbakova and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva.

But Alexandra Trusova made a number of mistakes and took only 12th place.

However, the 16-year-old debutante of the planetary championship could well play back the gap due to five quadruple jumps declared in an arbitrary.

Unfortunately, it was not possible to carry out all of them cleanly.

Evgeni Plushenko's ward fell on a quadruple salchow and a quadruple lutz, and also performed a cascade of a quadruple sheepskin coat, an oiler and a triple salchow in a poor way.

Despite this, she received 152.38 points for her performance and soared to the final third place.

“I'm not happy with the rental.

I wanted it to be unmistakable.

In the future, as always, I will try to do everything cleanly, ”Trusova promised in the mixed zone.

Alexandra also thanked her family members and coaches for the support.

According to the skater, only the help of loved ones helped her to recover after a failure in the short program.

“There was a day and a half before the free program, and my parents often called and showed my dogs and my cat.

Evgeny Viktorovich supported me on the spot.

We

talked

with Dmitry Sergeevich (Mikhailov -

RT

) before the warm-up.

Everyone helped to tune in.

I am very happy about that, ”added the Russian woman.

As for the further plans of the bronze medalist of the European Championship, she found it difficult to answer the question of whether she would go to the World Team Championship, but stressed that she was satisfied with everything in working with Plushenko and she was not going to change the coach in the near future.

“The maximum attitude was towards the primacy of the planet in Stockholm, I concentrated on it.

I came here with a set of five quads and was not going to jump one less in any way, ”admitted Trusova.

Further, the girls on the ice "Ericsson-Globe" replaced each other, but no one could surpass the result of the Russian woman.

Only Tuktamysheva managed to do this.

In the course of her free program, she allowed a fall on a flip, but managed to pull herself together and ended up being ahead of her compatriot by only three points.

Realizing that the second World Cup medal in her career would not go anywhere from her, the athlete could not hold back her tears.

“I feel great.

I understood: there will be a medal, so I experienced such emotions.

I knew that I would never go below third place.

But before the World Cup I tried not to think about the awards.

The task was to skate well and steadily.

I am insanely happy with the outcome of the competition, ”said the skater in the mixed zone.

It is curious that Tuktamysheva in the morning did not perform an arbitrary program in training, but preferred to leave the ice faster.

“I skated it many times, did everything that was needed.

Everything worked out, and decided it would be better not to waste energy, but to finish early, ”- explained the winner of the World Cup.

She also talked about communication with coach Alexei Mishin after the end of the competition.

“Until we had time to talk to him, we exchanged only compliments, words of gratitude to each other.

There was no deep analysis.

Only words of joy, ”Tuktamysheva noted.

After that, the main intrigue was whether all Russian women would be able to climb the podium.

A series of blunders by Riki Kihira gave them this opportunity.

It remains only to decide the last question - who will win, Shcherbakov or Tuktamyshev.

Anna made a fall at the very beginning of the program, but she did not make more mistakes and surpassed the result of her older rival by almost 13 points.

“Resentment that it is not gold, no, the gap turned out to be quite large, I am glad that I am in second place, it means a lot to me.

<...> We are glad that this is how the competition for the Russian team has developed, ”Tuktamysheva admitted.

"The main thing is to watch the boys' performances"

At the press conference after the awards ceremony, the Russians also did not hide their joy and literally shone with happiness.

Each of them had their own reason for pride.

“In principle, I am happy that I have risen to the podium from 12th place.

I agree that this year has turned out to be difficult.

I am very glad that the World Cup took place at all.

Last year it was canceled, although everyone was looking forward to the tournament, "admitted Trusova.

At the same time, Alexandra once again called both her rentals in Stockholm unsuccessful.

In turn, Tuktamysheva noted that the World Cup silver will give her strength and motivation for the next season and help her fight for a ticket to the Olympic Games in Beijing.

“This year has turned out to be difficult for all of us.

I am glad that in the pre-Olympic season I was able to go to the World Championship and win a medal, ”the figure skater said.

And Shcherbakova, on the contrary, did not want to compare the Olympic Games with the World Cup.

According to the champion, these are completely different tournaments.

“This is a separate important step.

It's an honor to win here.

The victory should not be reflected in the next season.

We will work with renewed vigor.

Now I'm just very happy, ”Anna said.

Like Trusova, pupil Eteri Tutberidze, despite the final victory, found a reason for self-criticism following the results of the free program.

“I'm not happy with everything, but I fought to the last for every element, tried not to give anything anywhere.

I am insanely happy, I didn’t expect such a good outcome, ”added the champion.

Further, the journalists were curious how the Russians would celebrate their amicable hit on the pedestal.

All three admitted that they intend to attend the decisive competition of dancers and men on Saturday.

“We congratulated each other.

For everyone, these competitions turned out to be tough.

An extensive program awaits us tomorrow.

First, let's go to breakfast.

Then to the skating rink.

But the main thing is to watch the boys' performances.

This time we are insanely happy with the schedule, because our tournament will not be held on the last day, and we will be able to visit other sports, ”Shcherbakova admitted.

According to Tuktamysheva, the Russians on the final day of the World Cup will support not only compatriots, but also friends from other teams.

For Shcherbakova, it will turn out doubly special, because she will turn 17 on March 28.

She called the victory at the championship of the planet the best gift.

“Honestly, until I realized everything that happened.

Before the start of the tournament, I didn't want this moment to put pressure on me.

But, of course, this is the best birthday present I could give myself.

I couldn’t even imagine such a thing, ”the athlete admitted.

In turn, Tuktamysheva explained why she burst into tears after her own speech.

According to Elizabeth, due to the fall on the flip, she managed to say goodbye to the medal, and the final score awakened a storm of emotions in her.

“When I saw my scores, I felt great excitement.

These were sincere emotions.

I am a persistent person and, maybe, once in my career I cried before.

But it turned out cool.

I waited for it to be so overwhelming that I could not restrain myself.

It happened at the World Cup, "- noted the silver medalist of the planetary championship.

Finally, the girls were asked if it would be possible at the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing to fight for medals without quadruple jumps.

All three agreed that this would be problematic at the very least.

“If only for the bronze.

The level of women's figure skating has grown tremendously.

And for the coming off-season, the girls will still learn quads, and the competition will only increase, ”suggested Tuktamysheva.

For Trusova, this question caused only a smile, because she only tried to perform five quads in an arbitrary program, although she smeared two of them.

According to the skater, she needs these jumps regardless of the level of competition.

But Shcherbakova, on the contrary, noticed that sometimes it is necessary to abstract from the quads and not show excessive maximalism.

“When I was preparing for last year's World Cup, there was a desire to perform with the maximum number of quads for me - three.

This year I also wanted to jump them.

But in the process of preparation, difficulties arose.

I had to change everything.

When I realized that I wouldn’t be able to show three, I wanted to drop everything.

But then I realized that it was necessary to remove maximalism and squeeze everything possible out of the situation, ”the champion noted.