Shcherbakova will miss the Russian Challenge

The lineup of participants in the “Russian Challenge” show program tournament has become known.

As the organizers noted, due to the huge number of applications, they had to increase the number of rooms - instead of the planned 18 there will be 23. In addition, five reserves have been formed.

If castling is not required, the audience will also definitely see these programs, but outside the competition.

The absence of Alina Zagitova and Anna Shcherbakova, who competed last year, was noteworthy.

The winner of the Olympic gold medal is prevented from skating by injury.

But her colleague explained her verdict with a “tight schedule.”

The current national champion Adelia Petrosyan and her teammates in the coaching group Alexandra Boykova and Dmitry Kozlovsky were not on the list.

Among the current skaters at the tournament, which will be held in St. Petersburg, will be Dmitry Aliev, Pyotr Gumennik, Mark Kondratyuk, Andrey Mozalev, Sofya Muravyova, Daniil Samsonov, Evgeny Semenenko, Anna Frolova, Ksenia Sinitsyna, as well as Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov, Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin, Elizaveta Shanaeva and Pavel Drozd.

In addition, viewers will see a new couple of dancers on the ice - Vasilisa Kaganovskaya and Maxim Nekrasov.

Alexey Yagudin, the winner of last year’s “Russian Challenge”, will again join the fight, and among the veterans he will be accompanied by Maria Petrova and Alexey Tikhonov, Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin.

It is Roman Kostomarov’s wife and partner who are called the main favorites of the competition.

According to figure skating fans, the jury will not be able to remain impartial in assessing the couple, given everything that the family of the Olympic champion in Turin has had to endure over the past year.

At the same time, fans are looking forward to the opportunity to see athletes again in action who ended their careers (or paused them) not too long ago.

These are Mikhail Kolyada, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Evgenia Medvedeva, Stanislava Konstantinova, Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov, Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov.

“There is an idea, there are directors, there is a costume and attributes of the act.

We will start betting immediately after the Channel One Cup.

The main thing is that there is an understanding of how to transfer our idea to the ice,” R-Sport quotes Tuktamysheva.

  • Anna Shcherbakova

  • RIA News

  • © Ekaterina Chesnokova

Zagitova cloned a tree

As Zagitova noted, she has many activities outside the ice.

The girl is preparing to open her school in Kazan, so she often visits her small homeland.

She attended the opening of the Future Games, and also visited a drilling rig in Almetyevsk as an ambassador of Tatneft.

The figure skater was given overalls, a helmet and was shown the work of the drillers, which made an indelible impression on her.

“I am revealing to you the profession that I am mastering.

Of course, it’s hard for me, because drillers do difficult men’s work, so there’s no place for girls here.

However, I came to see how it all works.

Real men work here,” Alina shared in her Telegram channel.

Zagitova also visited the Higher School of Oil and looked into one of the oil company’s biological laboratories, where she took part in a master class on tree cloning.

The experiment was successful, and now the athlete has her own triploid aspen sprout.

The figure skater plans to watch how the seedling she created with her hands will grow and develop.

Khudaiberdieva and Bazin celebrated their anniversary

On February 29, Elizaveta Khudayberdieva and Yegor Bazin celebrated the four-year anniversary of the creation of their dancing couple.

Especially for the memorable date, the partner shared details of how their first joint auditions went.

The story turned out to be a detective story to some extent.

According to Elizaveta, she secretly went to Tolyatti to see Yegor, from whom she received an offer to unite in a duet.

“At Moscow skating rinks, rumors and photographs would have spread even before we went on the ice.

And we absolutely didn’t understand whether we would look good together, whether it would be comfortable.

I remember how Valentin Kuzyaev met me at the service entrance and we, like special agents, ran with a suitcase to the trainer’s room so that no one would see me.

A funny story, in general,” Match TV quotes Khudayberdieva.

The skater also noted that skating was very difficult, but gradually she and the young man understood and accepted each other “with all the obvious advantages and unconditional disadvantages.”

In addition, both initially paired up for more than one Olympic cycle, so they were determined to continue working together.

In addition, the former Russian champion gave advice to skaters who are just starting to form a duet.

“Take seriously the fact that you are entering into an “agreement” to ride together.

Accept the fact that your expectations may be dashed against the rocks of simple bad luck.

Anything can happen.

And most importantly, sit down together and talk.

Without parents, coaches and other people.

Talk through all your obligations and categorical “nos” in work.

Talk.

Words through the mouth.

This is important,” Khudayberdieva emphasized.

Elizaveta Pasechnik and Dario Chirisano, who teamed up last October, could benefit from Elizabeth’s advice.

The duet, training under the guidance of Angelika Krylova, first appeared before the public during the “Cadet Ball on Ice” at the Moscow GUM Skating Rink.

  • Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva and Egor Bazin

  • RIA News

  • © Alexander Wilf

Valieva intends to compete for Olympic gold

Kamila Valieva, in an interview for a documentary on the Japanese channel NHK, spoke about her plans to continue her sports career.

The figure skater, disqualified until the end of December 2025, intends to once again compete for Olympic gold.

“Of course, in terms of sporting achievements, you need to try to be just as good, perform just as well, and win competitions.

Of course, I want to get and win Olympic gold.

But I really want to show as different images as possible on the ice, so that they are touching, and sometimes funny, and some more strict,” TASS quotes the girl as saying.

In the meantime, Kamila is prohibited from participating in competitions and training at the expense of the state.

For a long time it remained unclear whether a figure skater could perform in commercial ice shows.

But, judging by her statement during the World Youth Festival, this question received a positive answer.

“We are currently developing an interesting show in China.

I will say immodestly that I will play the role of the main character, and the rest of the action will take place around me.

Amazing dancers, artists, musicians will come, all this will be on stage.

We are preparing a very large-scale action, I hope everything will work out,” Valieva noted.

Also, Eteri Tutberidze’s ward admitted that what happened at the Olympic Games in Beijing forced her to reconsider her attitude towards sports rituals.

“During the Olympic season, I had a ritual - to go out on the ice with my left foot and do a certain warm-up.

But after that you understand that not everything in your life depends on rituals and there is no need to exaggerate their importance.

Then you find support not in them, but within yourself,” the skater emphasized.

  • RIA News

Memoirs of a student Tutberidze

Meanwhile, Anastasia Kuryavina-Kuchuk, one of Tutberidze’s first students, spoke about the times when she studied under the guidance of the famous coach.

Their collaboration began in 1998, when the specialist just got a job at the Silver Sports Palace.

As the former figure skater recalls, she was transferred to a specialist along with Polina Shelepen.

According to Anastasia, she remembered Eteri Georgievna as a very emotional person with crazy energy on the ice.

“She was always heard and seen.

We were afraid of her.

To be honest, I'm still afraid.

Not in the sense that she will offend, but, you know, how it happens... trembling excitement in front of a person!

But what’s important is that Eteri Georgievna loved us.

She loved all her athletes madly, sincerely and generously.

She helped us in various situations, including outside of sports.

I once had a problem: I got into a serious accident.

So the coach supported both morally and financially,” shared Kuryavina-Kuchuk.

She also stated that she always treated the coach like a second mother - with love and respect.

“She was constantly nearby, went to all the competitions, set me up and motivated me.

Her mother, Eteri Petrovna, also supported her.

Yes, Eteri Georgievna is strict, tough, demanding.

In this regard, she always kept the image so that we remained on our toes.

But I understand that everything is for our own good,” emphasized Tutberidze’s former pupil.

  • Coach Eteri Tutberidze during training before the competition

  • © Vladimir Pesnya

Volosozhar announced pregnancy

Tatyana Volosozhar recently told fans good news: she and Maxim Trankov are expecting the birth of their third child.

The family of Olympic champions already includes a daughter, Angelica, and a son, Theodor.

The former figure skater shares details of her new pregnancy on social networks.

In particular, according to her, each expectation of the baby was different.

“Firstly, with Angelica I didn’t have toxicosis, but with Theodore I still had to suffer.

Secondly, every time I am drawn to completely different products.

During my first pregnancy I wanted tangerines.

I don’t know how many of them I actually ate then.

In the second, I constantly wanted sweets!

I have never eaten as many chocolates in my entire life as I did then.

And now I want everything red: tomatoes, raspberries, apples, etc.,” Tatyana wrote on her page.

At the same time, she emphasized that she tries to be careful about her diet.

According to Volosozhar, losing weight after childbirth is very difficult, so it’s better not to gain it at all.

“Monitor deficiencies under the supervision of a doctor, since you may be craving certain foods precisely because of this.

Well, maintain a balance in the diet of all important microelements and once again find the strength to give up unnecessary things,” the Olympic champion emphasized.

In addition, she jokingly asked her subscribers if they were ready to determine the gender of their unborn child by the shape of their tummy.

And most fans agreed that she was expecting a boy.

  • Figure skaters Maxim Trankov and Tatyana Volosozhar with their daughter Anzhelika at the figure skating competition for the Channel One Cup.

  • © Alexander Wilf

Kostomarov took up extreme sports

Meanwhile, Roman Kostomarov continues to delight fans.

The other day he managed to achieve a new important success - he went snowboarding on prosthetic legs.

The Olympic champion posted a video on social networks where he carefully slides down a mountain in Sochi under the supervision of an instructor.

"Hi all!

Hooray, I'm snowboarding!

It wasn’t easy, but I did it... And you can do it!

Health to everyone!” he captioned the post.

And later, the former figure skater performed at the marathon of the “Knowledge” society, as part of the World Youth Festival.

There he said that his family motivates him to play sports, despite his disability.

“I’m not the kind of person who lies on the couch - I’m used to moving and doing extreme things.

I won't return home until I get back on my feet.

I told myself about this while still in the hospital.

I worked for several months to get on prosthetics and come home with them.

This, apparently, is the sports core that is embedded in me,” TASS quotes Kostomarov.