New Year celebration

Domestic athletes celebrated the New Year 2023 on a grand scale and shared vivid photos with fans on social networks.

Alina Zagitova posed at the Christmas tree in a spectacular miniskirt, and also danced an incendiary dance with her sister Sabina.

Many figure skaters took part in photo shoots especially for the holiday.

So, Alexandra Trusova was photographed at the Christmas tree with her four-legged pets, and Evgenia Medvedeva was photographed with the symbol of the year, a rabbit, in a little black dress with a boa.

Congratulating the fans, the two-time world champion wished everyone a lot of love.

“People often ask me what is the meaning of life, thinking that there is no answer to this question.

Indeed, everyone has a different answer, but for me it is love.

It should be everywhere - love for your work, for animals, for family, for figure skating, for sweets and so on.

Love is everywhere, and if we do not surround ourselves with this feeling, then for me personally, life is wasted.

Love and be loved,” said Evgenia.

Eteri Tutberidze celebrated the New Year in the USA with her daughter Diana Davis and her partner Gleb Smolkin.

In social networks, the honored coach of Russia wished everyone “less hatred in the soul,” as this feeling is destructive.

“More love and respect for people and life.

Love destroys artificially created boundaries.

I really hope that next year will unite people regardless of race, nationality or passport color, ”Tutberidze wrote.

Kamila Valieva, a few hours before midnight on December 31, together with her friends, dancer Eva Uvarova and gymnasts Angelina Melnikova and Elena Eremina, went to the VDNH skating rink.

The figure skater said that she usually celebrates the New Year with her family in Kazan, but this time she was forced to stay in Moscow because of her participation in the ice show.

Nevertheless, the grandmother came to the athlete from Tatarstan so as not to break the old tradition.

“We always put up a Christmas tree at home, decorate the apartment, hang garlands.

Thus, we create a New Year's mood and bring the long-awaited holiday closer.

On December 31, my mother and I always go to some New Year's concert or performance.

And on January 1, we spend almost the whole day on the street: we go sledding down a hill or go skiing into the forest.

This is our long tradition.

In general, we try to spend the New Year holidays actively, ”the figure skater shared in an interview with 7 Days magazine.

Valieva's thoughts about the future

Also, the Beijing Olympic champion in the team tournament told how she started figure skating.

According to Camila, her parents brought her to the section at the age of three and a half, and the girl was accepted on the condition that she would not gnaw on ice.

For a long time, in parallel, the figure skater was engaged in rhythmic gymnastics and ballet, but then she had to make a choice.

“I think if I had chosen rhythmic gymnastics at one time, I would just be doing it now.

And ballet ... Before you go on stage, you need to work hard at the barre.

And being engaged in figure skating, in a year or two you can participate in competitions.

But I always wanted to dance, and in a variety of styles, ”said Valieva.

The figure skater also admitted: if the transition to the Eteri Tutberidze group had not happened in 2018, she could have quit sports.

The girl also thinks about what her life will be like after the end of her career.

She does not rule out that she will choose the path of a coach, but for now she wants to test herself in a variety of guises. 

“I am now at such an age that every day I want to try something new: to ride in a pair, and to be a presenter, to act in films, and to play in the theater ... By the way, lately I have often been asked if I want to become artist.

Probably worth considering.

Why not?

I love to try new things and am open to suggestions,” said Camila.

Virtue and Radionova's engagements

For Elena Radionova and Tessa Virtue, the New Year will probably become a new page in life.

Both former figure skaters spoke about their engagements.

So, the Russian athlete got engaged to CSKA footballer Konstantin Kuchaev.

“The best thing that happened to me in 2022!

I said “yes,” Elena wrote on the social network under a joint photo with her lover.

It is known that the couple has been dating since 2020.

Three-time Olympic champion Virtue, in turn, agreed to the proposal of Toronto hockey player Morgan Riley.

She also published a joint photo with her future husband on the social network.

“Bye, 2022… You were special,” said the skater.

Meanwhile, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva shared her memories of her relationship with Andrei Lazukin, whom she met for several years.

According to her, they saw no problem in the fact that they had to spend a lot of time together both in training and outside of them.

On the contrary, according to the athlete, mutual understanding and support reigned in their pair, because they were engaged in one thing and understood each other perfectly.

“I can’t judge because I didn’t have relationships with people not from sports.

But it certainly didn't bother me that we were both doing the same thing.

It is said that it is better to have different jobs so as not to annoy each other.

On the contrary, I was pleased in the company of a young man on the ice and at home.

But we didn't skate together.

We skated on the same ice, but we had different activities, because everyone did their job, ”RIA Novosti quotes the figure skater.

Show time

New Year holidays are traditionally a hot time for figure skaters.

The vast majority these days perform in all kinds of ice shows and performances.

Especially for the holiday, Evgeni Plushenko presented a new production - the fairy tale "The Snow Maiden", in which the main roles were played by Alexandra Trusova and Mark Kondratyuk.

As at the Plushenko anniversary show in November, the vice-champion of the 2022 Olympics soared under the dome of the arena without insurance, and besides, she delighted the audience with elements of pair skating, including a double ejection.

The performances captured the athlete so much that she even complained about their small number.

“Today the final show “Snegurochka” took place.

It's very sad that it's over.

It was incredibly interesting for me to participate.

Thank you very much Evgeny Viktorovich and Yana Alexandrovna for the opportunity to be in a fairy tale, ”Trusova wrote on the social network.

But the work on the ice did not end there, because Alexandra also takes part in another production of Plushenko - "Swan Lake".

The Russian rocket plays the role of Odile, previously played by Adelina Sotnikova and Elena Ilyinykh.

As producer Yana Rudkovskaya noted, the performance, which premiered five years ago, has been redesigned: it has fewer elements of ballet and more complex jumps.

According to her, this is an important clause of the contract with the participants, and the troupe even has a special employee who counts the elements performed.

“Dima Aliyev did a quadruple sheepskin coat yesterday, [Alexander] Samarin performs a triple axel every show.

That's why we invite them, we love multi-turn jumps.

People, knowing our shows, go to the extreme.

We still don’t ride in circles, we have our own history.

It's just that other shows don't take that seriously, don't require that many jumps.

They also have the right to do so," Rudkovskaya said.

History of Shanaeva and Drozd

Sometimes ice shows play a more important role in the life of skaters than just a way to earn money.

So, the dancer Pavel Drozd said that at the end of 2021, participation in the performances of Tatyana Navka helped him keep in shape and not end his career while he was left without a partner.

After the collapse of the duet with Anzhelika Abashkina, the skater spent several months in search of a new partner, and only after the December Russian Championship did he learn about the separation of Elizaveta Shanaeva and David Narizhny.

“She was a very bright partner.

We did not know each other personally, but I watched the junior competitions, I liked this junior pair.

Thanks to fate that it happened.

We called and decided to give it a try.

I am very glad that Liza believed in this opportunity, and the coaching staff, and I, and we all went the same way together, ”the skater shared in an interview with Sport24.

Athletes who took second place in the recent Czech Republic said that the formation of their duet was not easy.

According to Shanaeva, for the first three weeks of joint training, they could not skate in parallel due to different speeds, and solving this problem required enormous physical strength from her.

“At the end of the workout, when I tried to sit up correctly, push with all my might, I just fell, because I was no longer on my feet.

I push, and my legs are already wadded.

It was very difficult, ”said the athlete.

At the same time, Elizaveta did not agree with the opinion of her partner that, in such a context, the silver medal of the debut Czech Republic is a cool result for their couple.

“I'm going to the start for the first place, and for me there is only gold.

Everything else is “well, thanks, but I wanted the first one.”

Yes, even considering that we are a debutant couple, we still want to win, ”said the 19-year-old figure skater.