The triple axel effect: Tuktamysheva bypassed Kostornaya and Valieva in the short run at the Finlandia Trophy

The season in figure skating is gaining momentum, and the fans waited for a full-fledged competition with the participation of Russian figure skaters. The first international platform for their meeting was the Finlandia Trophy tournament, which previously hosted the competition of male singles and sports pairs. Before, it was possible to see several contenders on the same ice at once for getting into the Olympic team only at test skates or stages of the Russian Cup.

Coincidentally, all three of the country's main “trixelists” arrived in Espoo - this is how the fans call the athletes who can do the triple axel. They were Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Alena Kostornaya and Kamila Valieva. Recently, Sofya Akatieva has also entered this list, but she still performs at the junior level, and these three girls were united by the fact that they would soon face a fierce battle for getting into the Russian national team. And it was necessary to convince the judges that it was she who was worthy of a trip to Beijing now.

The first Russian participant on the Finnish ice was Valieva.

She appeared in public in a new peach-colored dress, which replaced the previous lilac outfit from the show "Champions on Ice", in which she was at the test skates of the Russian national team.

The program to the music of Kirill Richter, in which a 15-year-old figure skater runs after a butterfly embodying her dream, was supposed to be her debut at international competitions.

But the first performance at this level was not perfect.

Valieva tried to perform a triple axel and fell from it, in addition to everything else, without finishing the jump.

The student Eteri Tutberidze was never able to officially enter the club of “trixelists” - so far she has shown this element, which is the most difficult for short programs, only at internal starts.

For the rest, the rental of Valieva could only evoke positive emotions. A triple flip and a cascade of lutz - the skater not only performed the toe loop accurately, but also complicated all the jumps due to her raised arms. Signature rotations with amazing plastic also remained with her. Valieva nonstop followed her image, and this was no less important for the young athlete than the fulfillment of the entire technical program. The judges rated the performance of the Russian woman at 74.93 points - the debut at the adult starts was one hundredth more successful than the victorious hire at the World Junior Championships in 2020.

Kostornaya's performance in Espoo could also partly be called a turning point in her career. This was the first exit of the European champion after returning to Tutberidze. Through the efforts of her coaching staff, Kostornaya managed to restore her triple axel during the Olympic season, which she demonstrated at test skates and at one of the trainings at the Finlandia Trophy. If she performed this element already at the competition, it was possible to again talk about the return of the 18-year-old figure skater in pursuit of Olympic tickets.

But the final return of the triple axel, first shown here two years ago, still had to be postponed. At the beginning of her program, to the blues composition Am I The One, Kostornaya made two turns instead of three. Later, the skater admitted that the coaches asked her to replace her. The judges did not react to this in any way and simply stated that instead of one jump, another, lighter, but performed according to all the canons entered the program.

The rest of the rental also did not cause any complaints, besides, Kostornaya also complicated her last jump in the cascade with her raised hands. Her technical grades were almost four points higher than Valieva's with her fall on a triple axel. Kostornaya also won the battle of the components - according to three criteria out of five, she received at least nine points. The final score was 78.61 points - with this result, the return of the skater can be considered successful.

What the Tutberidze skaters did not succeed in was eventually able to do their main competitor from the group of Alexei Mishin. Tuktamysheva went on the ice in the last warm-up and began her performance to the music of Astor Piazzolla with a clean triple axel. After that, it was extremely important for the 24-year-old skater to maintain concentration and bring the program to the end - at the stage of the Russian Cup in Syzran, where the signature element also turned out to be a feast for the eyes, the rest of the short skating caused only disappointment.

But Tuktatysheva managed to do everything she had in mind. Both the lutz-toe loop cascade and the triple flip turned out to be no less bright than the element that opened the performance. It was clear that Mishin's student would win an intermediate victory. It remained only to find out with what kind of margin, and first of all in relation not to Kostornaya, but still to Valieva, who has something to surprise her rivals in the free program.

The final result exceeded all expectations.

Tuktamysheva scored 81.53 points and broke her personal record for short programs, which she had held since April 2019.

The most surprising in her assessment was how generously the judges awarded the athlete for the components.

Tuktamysheva yielded to Kostornaya only nine hundredths of a point, although in the past there was a whole gap between them in this direction.

For the transfer of music and image, the vice-champion of the world received 9.25 points from the judges at all - this is a fantastic indicator that figure skaters almost never achieve.