Performances by Trusova and ultra-si Boikova with Kozlovsky: intrigues of the stage of the Russian Grand Prix in figure skating in Sochi

The Sochi tournament is the very case when it is better to refrain from any forecasts.

While it looks like a mystery stage, and, in fact, this is the main attraction of the event.

Not to mention the fact that every return of skaters to the Olympic ice is shrouded in a veil of a very special responsibility.

Everything is clear with the main star of the tournament: this is Alexandra Trusova.

It was she who became the main newsmaker of Russian sports after the Beijing Games, and this is recognized even by those whose idols are completely different athletes.

Fans of other figure skaters, especially those who will not officially tie up with figure skating, of course, will not agree, but this is their own business.

As for Sasha, after summer experiments with different types of sports disciplines, she changed her coach and programs, so now it is unlikely that anyone will undertake to predict in what way Trusova will appear on the Iceberg Olympic ice, whether she will return her famous quadruple jumps and whether it will be so as good as in February at the Beijing Games.

Choreographer Nikita Mikhailov, who staged both programs for Trusova after joining Svetlana Sokolovskaya's group, hinted that the audience would see for themselves how much the figure skater had changed in the new productions.

But there are several prerequisites at once that it is not worth waiting for incredible transformations.

Firstly, the vice-champion of the Olympics, on the eve of her first start, was treating her back (due to an injury, she managed to present only one program at the September open rentals).

Secondly, Sasha has grown up, and the main task that she may face is rather to restore quadruple jumps as much as possible, and not to shock the audience with a new style and choreography.

Thirdly, Trusova has not competed for more than six months, and the start in Sochi will be a starting point for her.

And that always adds to the excitement.

There is also a "fourth".

Sofya Samodelkina and Adelia Petrosyan will oppose Alexandra.

Both figure skaters are serious rivals, and the silver medalist of the Olympics will probably have no easier time than Kamila Valieva, who last week barely took her legs off the young student of her own coach Sofya Akatieva.

Samodelkina should be specially noted.

She, like Trusova, changed her coach, moving to Sokolovskaya from Sergey Davydov, grew up, and even admitted during open rentals that the most difficult thing is to get used to the new body and, accordingly, restore the usual coordination (read - jumps).

And in terms of ultra-si, Sofia has not only quadruples, but also a triple axel.

In summary, we can say that the audience will definitely not be disappointed: the intrigue of the women's tournament is guaranteed to be as intense as possible.

The main newsmakers of the sports couples competition are the 2020 European champions Alexandra Boykova and Dmitry Kozlovsky.

The athletes missed the skating and the subsequent Panin-Kolomenkin tournament due to minor injuries, so they had to get in shape at the second stage of the St. Petersburg Cup, which took place last week.

After him, the partner admitted that she had to skate the free program on the moral and strong-willed because of fatigue, and the artistic component was far from perfect.

Nevertheless, on the eve of the second stage of the Grand Prix, the skaters' coach Tamara Moskvina remains optimistic, referring to the good shape of the wards in general.

True, the question of whether the couple will present the quad twist and throw, which they actively learned in the summer, remains open.

At first glance, Boikova and Kozlovsky have no competitors of a comparable level in Sochi, but this is only if the couple does not make gross mistakes.

Among the declared participants there are quite strong Anastasia Mukhortova and Dmitry Evgeniev, who have a fairly strong jump set and a year ago recorded a victory at the Junior Grand Prix in Kosice.

While Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov, as well as Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin, were the leaders of Russian dances by a wide margin, the second wave was in a noticeable shadow.

This season is interesting primarily because there is simply no one leader in dancing.

And this always activates the desire of athletes to stake out certain positions for themselves.

If we talk about personalities, Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva and Yegor Bazin, as well as Irina Khavronina and Dario Chirizano, are the very new wave, whose rivalry is simply obliged to bring Russian ice dancing to a new level: too equal and tough competition is already visible in several duets at once, two of which (Anabel Morozov and David Narizhny, Vasilisa Kaganovskaya and Valery Angelopol) have already been remembered by the public at the first stage of the Grand Prix.

Khudaiberdieva and Bazin, despite the short experience of joint performances, last year became third in the pre-Olympic national selection, which in itself speaks of the potential of the couple, and Khavronina and Chirizano opened the current season as one of the most promising young duets: in 2020 they won the Youth Olympic Games, and last season they won two stages of the Junior Grand Prix.

In Sochi, each of the tandems will fight for their place in the sun, and when it comes to dancing, it's always beautiful.

The men's tournament is, first of all, the appearance of the hero of the Olympic team tournament Mark Kondratyuk to the public.

Before the start of the new season, his mentor Svetlana Sokolovskaya vaguely hinted that she expected a breakthrough from the pupil: “We must prove with Mark that the brilliant performance in Beijing was not an accident?”

At the open rentals, Kondratyuk presented two new programs, but the free program did not work, in connection with which an emergency decision was made to replace the production.

The new one was staged by Ilya Averbukh, so the premiere show will take place in Sochi and it will be extremely interesting to see how Mark managed to get used to the role.

Peter Gumennik, Alexey Erokhov, and Artyom Kovalev will certainly try to do everything possible to make Kondratyuk's path to victory as thorny as possible.

All three master quadruple jumps and it is obvious that it is the pirouettes in the air that will decide the outcome of the competition, and not the programs themselves.

Exactly as it happened at the first stage in Moscow.