Zagitova's plans

Alina Zagitova was 21 years old. The Olympic champion of Pyeongchang met him in Dubai, but did not arrange magnificent celebrations, as she caught a cold shortly before the important date. But she also did not want to spend her birthday in bed, so she still went to a restaurant with her friend Kristina Shoshina. The skater wore a short black sequin dress, complementing it with a choker with a spectacular rose. The girls chose an unusual institution that positions itself as a gastronomic immersive theater that combines haute cuisine, contemporary art and visual storytelling. The serving of each dish there is a whole performance.

The athlete was very impressed and enthusiastically shared it on social networks. In addition, she published a traditional holiday post in which she thanked the fans for their support and shared her plans for the next year.

"I can't believe I'm 21! I think I was only recently surprised at my twentieth birthday, but it turns out that a whole year has passed. So much has happened in this short time! I am grateful to every event in my life, because they all taught me something. I want to promise myself to continue to develop both in the professional field as a journalist and in the creative direction. I will not limit myself to only one performance with a song, there are still so many interesting things in the world!" wrote Alina.

And, it seems, Zagitova's next experience will be fencing. Recently it became known that the figure skater will hold an exhibition match with two-time Olympic champion Sofia Velikaya at the Day of Moscow Sports on July 1.

True, the famous saber player herself was not aware of these plans.

"This is the first time I've heard about it, no one has contacted me," the Great TASS said.

Last year, Zagitova held an open boxing training session with Oleg Saitov at a similar event. Upon learning about the new undertaking of the figure skater, the former boxer praised Alina.

"That a person does not stand still is great. A person cannot be talented in one thing. And Alina is a talented person. She took up boxing, and now she will succeed in fencing. Boxing and fencing are somewhat similar. Both there and there you need to feel the distance. Fencing is one of those sports that is close to boxing. Alina, go ahead! With your head held high!", - quotes the words of Saitov "Match TV".

Engagement in the air

Georgy Kunitsa and Alyona Kostornaya are going to get married. The former European champion received a marriage proposal some time ago during a balloon flight. The girl did not hesitate to agree, although she fell, in her words, "into a small stupor."

"I began to suspect something when Gosha began to run away from me so that I would not climb into his bag. I used to always put my phone in it, and then I asked why he took it. "Yes" answered immediately, because I realized a long time ago that this is the same person and I definitely won't change my mind, "Sport-Express quotes the athlete as saying.

Marten, in turn, shared that he decided to take this step a couple of months ago, after which he bought the rings and planned the solemn moment.

"I like to be creative with everything. It seemed to me that this option is very romantic and unusual. Not in Paris, on the Eiffel Tower, so in a balloon, "said the skater.

At the same time, according to George, he was nervous and afraid of being refused. Fortunately, his fears turned out to be unfounded, and now the young people are preparing for the wedding. Interestingly, they have known each other for many years, since childhood, when they trained together in the group of Eteri Tutberidze. But then the guys did not communicate with each other at all: both were completely absorbed in sports, and did not even think about their personal lives. It wasn't until last fall, when their duo began to take shape — at first only to perform on shows — that their communication became closer. And only after some time, the working relationship was reborn into a romantic one. According to them, it happened so gradually that it is even difficult to single out a specific moment.

"We were just going to a rehearsal in St. Petersburg ... We went somewhere, they took up the pen there, there was something else..." - recalled George.

50 chocolates Kondratyuk

Another popular couple from the world of figure skating, Alexandra Trusova and Mark Kondratyuk, shared their memories of their first meeting. It happened during a training camp in Kislovodsk, where the skaters went in 2021 during the pandemic. According to the vice-champion of the Olympics, she seriously prepared for the trip, since the shops did not work due to quarantine - "only ice and a room." In addition, the athlete eats only "certain sweets", so she brought supplies with her. And at some point, a whole group of skaters gathered at the vending machine, where you could buy snacks.

"Artem Kovalev is the only one who found some cash. But he could not buy anything there, the bill did not accept the machine. And Artem really wanted a chocolate bar. Mark comes up and says: "And I took 50 chocolate bars with me ..." And he continues: "The fittest will survive." To which I replied that I took 50 packs of marmalade, "Alexandra said with a laugh.

According to Kondratyuk, he did not know that in Kislovodsk there would be such a difficult situation with purchases, but somehow he predicted.

"We were there for only five weeks, and only at the end did the buffet work. But those 50 chocolates saved me. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be sitting here now," the athlete said.

Meanwhile, now Svetlana Sokolovskaya's group is holding a training camp in Altai. Trusova is taking a session at the university these days, but she joined the team for a short time between exams. She managed to train, and go with other athletes for a walk on ATVs, as well as rafting. The skaters generously shared their photos on social networks. One of them is stylized as a picture of a year ago from Egypt, to which Sasha and Mark announced their romantic relationship. On it, the couple poses with their backs, sitting in an embrace against the backdrop of the Altai Mountains.

  • Figure skaters Alexandra Trusova and Mark Kondratyuk perform at the anniversary show of Evgeny Plushenko "35 years on ice" at the VTB Arena stadium in Moscow
  • RIA Novosti
  • © Alexander Wilf

Boykova's impressions

Alexandra Boykova in her blog is happy to report on interesting events from her life. The athlete's latest posts are not directly related to figure skating - she shares her impressions of trips and cultural events. So, in the midst of discussing the couple's breakup with Tamara Moskvina, the athlete talked about the tour of the Russian national team to Mongolia. And now Alexandra shared with subscribers the emotions of visiting the exhibition about the history of Russian ballet. According to her, the organizers were very creative in presenting the information.

"I really liked the idea of linking the reign of this or that emperor, politician with some kind of ballet movement. Such associations help me better understand and remember the historical line of the exhibition," Boykova emphasized.

And most of all, the skater liked the part of the exhibition that is devoted to clothes for performances. The exposition presents a large collection of various ballet tutus, women's and men's costumes of different years.

"Finally, you can see the finest work of the finishing masters! I especially remember the dress of the Swan Princess and the black exquisite dress of Maya Plisetskaya to Anna Karenina, "Alexandra admired.

  • The exhibits presented at the exhibition "The First Position. Russian Ballet"
  • RIA Novosti
  • © Alexey Danichev

Kostomarov's recovery

Roman Kostomarov continues to recover from a serious illness that almost cost him his life. The former figure skater was hospitalized in Kommunarka with pneumonia in early January and is still there. According to media reports, the athlete underwent a series of amputations due to the death of tissues in the limbs.

"Roman is gaining strength, continues to train - pumps muscles, it takes time. For now, he will remain in the intensive care unit. The mood is normal, "TASS quoted an anonymous source as saying.

When the athlete's body recovers from the illness, and the wounds after surgery heal, he will be able to produce prosthetics of amputated limbs. According to some sources, this will happen no earlier than August, according to others, the athlete can be transferred to another clinic for prosthetics at the end of May.

Meanwhile, actress Valeria Lanskaya, who was paired with Kostomarov in the project "Ice Age" spoke about the first conversation in a long time with a former figure skater.

"I'm going to be tuned a little bit and I'm going to work again. Here are his words," Lanskaya said on the NTV show "The Secret of a Million".

Pride of Krylova

Angelica Krylova summed up the results of the first adult season of her students Vasilisa Kaganovskaya and Valery Angelopol. In her opinion, the transition from the junior level was successful, although at first the athletes were not too ready for it. But from start to start, their self-confidence grew, as well as the number of positive reviews from experts.

"I was very pleased when specialists, leading coaches of our country began to compliment us. It's great when they see your work. As a coach, I have constant doubts, but that's okay. Yes, we didn't risk anything, these are very young guys. But we wanted to be talked about – it happened, and this is my main award as a choreographer," Krylova said in an interview with TASS.

The coach also assessed the prospects of her pair in the coming season, taking into account all the changes that took place in the spring, including the change of coaches by some duets. So, she stressed the importance of the return of Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin to the ice, and also expressed the hope that Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva will be able to cope with the problems that haunted her this year.

"I see great potential in Lisa, but at some point there was a certain turning point. It has become a little different this season. I'm not saying that she and Yegor were bad, I'm saying that she herself is not her own. But it is these two pairs, which we have just talked about, that will be of particular interest to me next season - these are Stepanova and Bukin, Khudaiberdieva and Bazin, "Krylova emphasized.

The specialist also expressed her opinion on the sensational topic of the last month - attempts to create same-sex couples in figure skating. As you know, Gabriela Papadakis and Madison Hubbell decided to stage a joint dance program to convince the ISU to allow such duets.

"I think it's just PR. I don't think they will perform. But now Canada, the United States, Europe are going crazy on this issue, hence this experiment. Let's put it this way: it will be interesting to see, but still I don't believe in it. For commercial shows - why not, you can ride like this. But I still want to see natural aesthetics," concluded Krylova.

  • Vasilisa Kaganovskaya and Valery Angelopol
  • RIA Novosti
  • © Alexey Danichev