In September, right after the test skates, where Alexandra Boykova and Dmitry Kozlovsky demonstrated new Olympic programs, I asked Tamara Moskvina how, in her opinion, the Grand Prix series was significant for athletes this season.
“It seems to me that such competitions are important in any season, and especially in the Olympic one.
Any start on the eve of the Games is a test of the athletes' readiness, the dynamics of their form, and the readiness of programs.
It is imperative to compete, to compare oneself with others, to develop not only physical fitness, but also the inner confidence that everything is done correctly: the elements become more stable, the grades for the components grow, ”the coach explained.
With regard to the two pairs of Moskvina, the answer sounded especially relevant: the programs of both Boykova / Kozlovsky and the world champions Anastasia Mishina / Alexander Gallyamov did not sound too much at the box office.
Much more often, criticism was heard against the specialist, and the stages of the Grand Prix were to become just those starts at which the skaters had to prove the correctness of the Olympic choice.
Mishina and Gallyamov did it in Tokyo, winning the fourth stage of the series.
Boykova and Kozlovsky - a week later in Grenoble.
It was not the victories as such, but the feeling that the performances were beginning to "play" and make a much more powerful impression than it was at the box office in September.
When the competition within the country is as high as in Russian pair skating now, any performance of these or those athletes attracts attention in one way or another.
The last two weeks were no exception: during the NHK tournament, Mishina / Galliamov and two-time European champions Evgenia Tarasova / Vladimir Morozov were trying to figure out relations between themselves, and this week there was an absentee comparison of Tarasova / Morozov (they played on the Challenger in Warsaw on Thursday and Friday) and the second pair Moskvina.
According to the level of assessments, Tarasova and Morozov won against the St. Petersburg pair.
But more important here is that from the moment of their first performance at the Grand Prix stage in the United States, Boykova and Kozlovsky made a significant step forward: both programs looked much more well-trained in Grenoble, and most importantly, Alexandra regained her previous stability in emissions, although this element periodically let the athlete down over the past two seasons and indirectly became the result of technical tension in other elements.
If we recall the world championship lost by the European champions, Sasha coped with the emissions, but the jumps failed.
Actually, even at the first start in the Grand Prix in the United States, the problems did not seem to be completely resolved: a gross error in arbitrary rental happened first in a cascade with a triple salchow, and then in a flip ejection.
What, then, are the trump cards of the St. Petersburg couple, and are they there? Undoubtedly. Firstly, you will not refuse Moskvina in the ability to take your players to peak form for the main start. Even now, it is noticeable how both duos of the outstanding coach are steadily moving up.
Another start awaits Mishin and Gallyamova - at the final stage of the Grand Prix in Sochi, then all the strongest Russian duos will meet in the first face-to-face confrontation in the series finale. It may be more difficult for Tarasova and Morozov: they started the season earlier than others, and approached the first starts in a state of maximum readiness. Keeping in shape for several months is much more difficult than gaining it. On this occasion, even the vice-champion of the 1980 Games in pair skating, Sergei Shakhrai, expressed concern, noting that, in his opinion, the coaching staff of the pair makes a mistake, taking their athletes to test skates, as the main start of the season.
“You need to get in peak shape by February, by the Olympics, and not in August-September.
Moskvina, as a more experienced specialist, understands this, so Mishina and Gallyamov are only growing, while Tarasova and Morozov are descending, "the ex-skater added.
On the other hand, even if Shakhrai is right, one cannot but admit: Tarasova and Morozov had no other choice: after all their wanderings around the mentors, they finally found a strong coaching team, and it turned out to be necessary to show the goods with their face from the very first starts.
It succeeded, and now all of us can only observe the further development of the intrigue.
It is easier for Boikova and Kozlovsky in this regard: when the athletes understand that they are going upward, they have a second wind.
It is no coincidence that the characteristic brilliance that distinguished the athlete in the 2020 championship season appeared in Sasha's eyes.
Just like the Brazilian football saying, “You will score as much as you can.
We - as much as we want! "