A series of breakups of dance couples, which has already become a trend of the past offseason, continued. Dario Cirisano has already lost his second partner in 2023. In January, Irina Havronina, with whom they won the 2020 Youth Olympics, went to David Narizhny, and now his duet with Czech Denisa Tsimlova has broken up. The athletes announced this on social networks.
"This is our day of meeting and parting. We smile, but it's our hearts. We don't say goodbye, we say goodbye to each other – not as sports partners, but as good friends. Thanks to Denisa for this wonderful period of my life, I am very glad that we had the opportunity to live it. Thank you, and thank you a thousand times for her smiles, for her positive attitude, despite the difficulties that accompanied us, for understanding. I really appreciate it," wrote the Russian figure skater.
Athletes have been skating together since April. After the first steps together, they went on an internship at the Montreal Academy, where Romain Hagenauer became their mentor, and the Beijing Olympic champion Guillaume Cizeron often appeared at training sessions and shared his experience and advice. Tsimlova and Chirisano planned to play for the Czech national team, and the corresponding request was sent to the Russian Figure Skating Federation. However, Darijo's request was not granted there. In this situation, the skater had to wait for the end of quarantine, which, according to the rules of the FFKKR, should be two years from the date of receipt of the request for the transition.
Following this, an attempt was made to move to the Italian national team, especially since the skater was born in Crotone. Most recently, in early September, Cirisano flew to Moscow - probably to personally discuss this issue with the leadership of the federation. However, as follows from the statement of Tsimlova, the athletes again faced failure. It was after this that they decided to break up.
"It's really sad and difficult for both of us because we wanted so much to show our programs in competitions... In addition, we are very good friends. But, unfortunately, Russia did not let Darijo go either to the Czech Republic or to Italy, so we could not participate in competitions together. It was a shock for us. I will support Darijo in his future performances in Russia, and, of course, we remain friends," the Czech wrote in her account.
She also said that she remains in the sport and will look for a new ice satellite.
Chirisano will do the same, who, apparently, will return to Russia. But if in the spring, when Darijo left in search of a better life for Tsimlova, there were practically no options for continuing his career, then after the turbulent off-season, the situation changed dramatically.
"There are quite a few good girls in Russia right now, and if Cirisano decides to come back, he will have a good choice. But, in my opinion, first of all, Darijo should think about what he wants himself - to continue skating or, maybe, to do something else. When he decides, then you can start choosing a partner: try to ride, see if you like the person in character, whether it will be possible to work together. Because until you try, you won't know if there is a prospect, "said former European champion Sergei Novitsky in a conversation with RT.
To date, there are at least three most obvious candidates for the role of the dancer's partner: Vasilisa Kaganovskaya, Sofia Tyutyunina and Elizaveta Pasechnik. The most likely choice seems to be in favor of the latter: she is now definitely free, young people are well suited to each other in height, besides, Elizaveta trains with Alexei Gorshkov, who at one time worked with a pair of Cirisano and Havronin. According to Novitsky, this may serve as one of the additional arguments in favor of Pasechnik, but it is unlikely to be decisive.
Some fans of figure skating expressed the hope that in the end Darijo will be paired with Vasilisa Kaganovskaya. Although the girl began trying to skate with Maxim Nekrasov, the appearance of a new duet has not yet been officially announced, and the experience of recent months shows that in Russian ice dancing everything can be turned upside down in just a couple of days.
At the same time, Tatyana Tarasova spoke quite sharply about the future of Chirisano. According to her, it is not needed in Russia.
"It is necessary to ask Kogan why he was not released (to the Italian national team. — RT). We have pre-season junior rentals here. You need to think about it. And where Chirisano will go - I literally don't care. That's all," the famous coach said in a comment to Match TV.