"The national team is the result": Zagitova and Medvedeva were not included in the Russian national team for the Olympic season

The Executive Committee of the Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKKR) has approved the composition of the national team for the Olympic season.

The women's team did not include two athletes at once, who were not so long ago the leaders of single skating - Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedeva.

This information was confirmed by the director general of the organization, Alexander Kogan.

“Zagitova and Medvedeva are not on the lists approved by the executive committee yesterday.

They were not included in the composition in accordance with the criteria of the Ministry of Sports, ”TASS quotes Kogan.

According to media reports, Kamila Valieva, Alexandra Trusova, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Daria Usacheva, Maya Khromykh and Anna Shcherbakova will compete for getting to the Olympic Games, which will be held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing.

Alyona Kostornaya and Elizaveta Nugumanova will act as substitutes.

Recall that Russia has the maximum quota in the women's tournament, so it will be represented by three figure skaters.

The final line-up will be formed after the European Championship in Tallinn.

Some figure skating fans might have been surprised by the fact that Zagitova and Medvedeva did not get into the team, which almost completely deprived them of their chances to go to their second Games. Past merits spoke in their favor - Alina in 2019 became the second figure skater in history to collect victories at all major international competitions, including the Olympics. Evgenia's assets include winning doubles at the continental and world championships - in 2016 and 2017 - and two silver medals at the Games in Pyeongchang.

At the same time, both athletes completely missed the 2020/21 season. The last time Zagitova went on the ice was in the Grand Prix finals in December 2019, in which she took only sixth place. On the eve of the Russian Championship, she announced a temporary suspension of her career. And although the skater has repeatedly emphasized that she is training in the same mode, and the pause concerns only competitive activity, experts expressed the opinion that there is no need to hope for a full return.

This statement, disappointing for the fans, was also confirmed by performances in ice shows, which Zagitova preferred during the break. So, in early November, she made mistakes on the show "In love with figure skating." The situation was repeated at the demonstration skates as part of the Moscow stage of the Grand Prix. Moreover, in both cases, problems arose on one of the skater's most beloved elements - the triple lutz. During the spring tour of the Tutberidze group, the Olympic champion also did not go without blots.

Unlike her classmate, Medvedeva did not announce the suspension of her career and even intended to take part in the 2020/21 season starts.

However, she limited herself to pre-season test skates, during which it was noticeable that the skater was not in her best shape - due to a chronic back injury.

At the same time, until the last moment, the fans hoped to see Evgenia at the stage of the Russian Cup, but the plans were interfered with by the coronavirus transferred in a rather severe form.

It will also be difficult for both of them to get into the Olympic team due to too high competition in Russian single skating.

Next season, three talented figure skaters Eteri Tutberidze, who took the entire podium in the Russian Cup final - Valieva, Khromykh and Usacheva, will have the opportunity to perform at adult international competitions at once.

According to the results of the past competitions, the newly-made world champion Shcherbakova and bronze winner Trusova are called among the main contenders for a trip to Beijing.

Do not write off Tuktamysheva, who continues to improve her skills and amaze fans of her talent.

In addition, a couple of years ago, figure skaters could count on triumph without the triple axel and quadruple jumps, which are not in the arsenal of either Zagitova or Medvedeva.

Now it will be extremely difficult to compete without them, given that each of the potential participants in the 2022 Olympics has at least one ultra-si element.

Commenting on the lack of the national team, Medvedeva noted the fairness of this decision.

According to her, there are athletes who deserve a challenge more than her.

“There are different situations.

You can skip a season, another, then come back and achieve results.

And there were many such examples in the world of figure skating.

Therefore, I reacted normally to the decision of the federation and do not plan to quit training, ”Medvedeva said.

View this post on Instagram

Publication from Evgenia Medvedevа (@jmedvedevaj)

"Life does not end with elite sports"

For experts, the absence of both figure skaters in the national team for the Olympic season was not a surprise.

Ice dancing specialist Alexander Zhulin explained that when forming the composition, the executive committee of the FFKKR was guided by the sports principle.

Three-time Olympic champion Irina Rodnina is in solidarity with his opinion.

“The team is determined by the results of the previous season.

What questions can there be?

The national team is not an elite club, the national team is the result.

Retirement?

It is up to athletes and coaches, "- quoted by Rodnina" Championship ".

Honored trainer of the USSR Tatyana Tarasova, in turn, recalled her words after the announcement of the suspension of her career as an Olympic champion.

“When Zagitova appeared on television, announcing a time-out, I said that we would never see this girl again.

What ugly articles fell on me!

They honestly earned a name for themselves that will work for them all their lives.

I want them to have a life, so that they have interesting performances.

So that people go to them and shout "bravo", so that life goes on.

Life does not end with high-performance sports, ”Tarasova emphasized.

As for Medvedeva, two-time Olympic champion Maxim Trankov suggested that the skater is unlikely to plan to compete in official competitions, since her summer training will be devoted to ice shows.

“I don’t remember that there was such a precedent in history, when, after participating in ice performances, someone returned to professional sports during the season and then won the Olympics.

This usually happens after the season.

The absence of Zagitova and Medvedeva in the list of the national team did not surprise me, ”RIA Novosti quoted Trankov as saying.

1988 Olympic champion Natalya Bestemyanova also noted that both skaters are focused on other tasks.

In her opinion, not being included in the team is a joint decision of Alina and Evgenia with the coaches and the federation.

“They are in demand in any shows, television projects and advertisements. They have enough work to do. The absence of Medvedeva and Zagitova in the application is absolutely obvious. Figure skating is one of the most popular sports in our country. And today, in addition to amateur sports, there is a professional skater career. The girls are now pursuing their professional careers. They will be doing this for many, many years, ”Bestemyanova said.