Conflict of interest: why Papadakis and Sizeron's refusal to participate in the European Championship could knock two Russian couples head-on

The reason why four-time world champions and five-time European ice dancing champions Gabriela Papadakis and Guillaume Sizeron refused to participate in the continental championship sounds more than logical.

As reported on Thursday, January 6, in the French Ice Sports Federation (FFSG), such a decision was made to avoid possible infection with coronavirus before the Olympic Games in Beijing - the main goal of skaters.

The absence of the French at the tournament in Tallinn seems to play into the hands of Russia: it actually guarantees gold medals to the domestic dance duo.

But which one?

Commenting on the removal of the most titled and charismatic couple in the world, Tatyana Anatolyevna Tarasova noted that it is difficult to answer this question clearly.

“I think that Sasha Stepanova and Vanya Bukin now have to try to win the European Championship and they can try to beat Vika Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov.

They do not ride well ... ", - quotes the words of the coach" R-Sport ".

Let's put aside the question of whether such an authoritative specialist should declare on the eve of an important start that one of the “friendly” couples is not in the best condition, but the words have been pronounced and they can be taken as a starting point.

If we assume that Sinitsina and Katsalapov, who withdrew from the December Chechen Republic due to a partner injury, are indeed still far from their best condition, the first thing to think is that Nikita and Victoria should do exactly the same thing as the French - to refuse to travel to Tallinn. And not out of fear of losing the title of reigning champions, but out of elementary common sense: the dancers have already won the European championship, that is, this title cannot be an end in itself for the couple, but in the light of the Olympics, there is a risk of severely spoiling your "resume" in the upcoming fight with Gabi and Guillaume.

For the French, the Games in Beijing are truly a lifelong goal, for which they stayed in sports for four years after extremely dramatic events for themselves. In Pyeongchang, if anyone does not remember, Papadakis and Sizeron missed the victory due to the fact that in a short dance, the partner unbuttoned the fastener on the dress. The couple took the first place in the free program, but they did not manage to win back the points lost in the first performance from Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.

The only place that Gabi and Guillaume can arrange in Beijing is the first one. In other words, the skaters will go to China to take theirs. Is it possible to assert that the absence of the European Championship is connected with the fear of losing to the Russian pair, as happened a year ago, when Sinitsina and Katsalapov overtook their rivals by 0.14 points? Unlikely. Both duos this season have already shown their programs at the Grand Prix stages, and the comparison that has developed as a result of their performances still works somewhat not in favor of Victoria and Nikita. Unfortunately, the free dance among the world champions is not yet the brightest: in this regard, Sinitsina and Katsalapov are inferior not only to the French, but also to “Romeo and Juliet” by Stepanova and Bukin. For those, in contrast to the charges of Alexander Zhulin, this season the programs turned out to be really Olympic - the most powerful in their entire previous career.

Here, by the way, it makes sense to remember that two years ago, the arbitrary by Sinitsina and Katsalapov was also not considered to be good luck: at the Russian Championship in Krasnoyarsk, the Zhulin couple bypassed Stepanova and Bukin only due to the significant advantage gained in the short program.

However, in the same season, shortly before the victory of Victoria and Nikita at the European Championship, the famous dance coach and outstanding director Marina Zueva emphasized: no program is brilliant in itself.

“Choreography is, first of all, performance, mood, quality of performance.

One and the same dance can look both outstanding in terms of staging, and completely unmemorable, "- said the specialist.

In other words, all of the above does not mean at all that Sinitsina and Katsalapov are not able to win in Tallinn.

Skaters have a lot of advantages that can be presented to the judges.

Plus titles.

Plus a lot of offscreen things: for example, motivation and willingness to throw all resources into coming to the Games as winners.

But arguing that the world champions will not be one hundred percent lower than their compatriots in Tallinn is probably also not worth it - the strengths of both duets are now quite equal, and, most likely, this is what Tarasova had in mind, saying that Stepanova and Bukin are able to compete for gold.

Simply, if a castling occurs between two Russian pairs, it will, first of all, greatly strengthen the Olympic positions of the French. And then, perhaps, we will have to admit that, without arriving in Tallinn, Gabriella and Guillaume killed two birds with one stone: they abandoned the unfavorable rivalry for themselves and pushed their opponents with their heads, forcing them to fight for victory with all their might a few days before the Games.

Maybe everything is much simpler, and you shouldn't look for a black cat in a dark room. Taking into account what is happening now, the risk of catching the virus by anyone and pulling a bunch of people into quarantine is quite large - it is no coincidence that competitions are canceled throughout Europe, which could become a very important pre-Olympic stage of preparation for athletes: the Universiade, the January stage of the World Cup in cross-country skiing, the January European championship in short track. And even those who have kept their competitions, no one can give any guarantees. The entire Russian speed skating team, having arrived at the European Championship in Heerenveen, pleased the entire Russian skating team under total quarantine.

There is no time for strategies.

And who knows if the words uttered by Bishop Ethelbert Talbot during the solemn mass dedicated to the 1908 Olympic Games in London will not become the true motto of the Games in Beijing: "The main thing is not victory, but participation ..."