Alexandra Ignatova (Trusova) returned to figure skating, amazing the whole world with a grandiose performance after a four-year absence and childbirth. RIA Novosti tells how Russian figure skaters shone at the first international tournament after the ban.
Guinness record again
Trusova, in her free program at the Kinoshita Group Cup challenger in Tokyo, appeared as a strong heroine based on the super-popular TV series “Stranger Things.” Her performance made the Japanese spectators stand up, many found it difficult to hold back their tears - this must have been the feeling of happiness from the opportunity to personally observe the story of the great athlete. Sasha, in kiss-and-cry, was surprised to tell her coach Eteri Tutberidze: “They (the fans) jumped up as if I had done five quads!”
But no, the five-quad has nothing to do with it - in the jumping set of ultra-si elements there is only a quadruple lutz. It was performed so superbly that it earned Sasha 15 points. And if we look into this issue, Trusova can definitely become a Guinness World Record holder again. Now as the oldest figure skater to conquer a quadruple lutz in competition. But that’s not the only reason they idolize her.
Even after the open training session of Tutberidze’s headquarters, Daniil Gleikhengauz said that the program was drawn up taking into account the maximum that Trusova can control at the moment. And she coped with this maximum brilliantly. There are reserves for growth, they will just open up as you get in shape. If you believe Sasha herself, she prepared for the tournament in Japan for only a month and a half.
In this case, we have before us an example of a unique sports breed - without weaknesses, with controlled fear and the ability not only to subordinate the entire space around him to his goal, but also to be, first of all, human. A beautiful girl, a young mother, a cheerful friend - all this is also about Alexandra Trusova. Her result is 146.14 for the free program, 221.06 in total and second place in conditions where losing is not a shame. Because the opponent objectively showed a higher technical difficulty and handled the non-jumping elements better.
“The emotions were even stronger than at the Olympics,” Sasha admitted to reporters. “She (Tutberidze) was very happy. I’m happy to see that she is happy with what I did. It’s been a long time since we were happy with everything.”
Who beat the Russian rocket
This Japanese car is called Mao Shimada. She is 17 years old and has not lost in 20 international tournaments in a row. The Kinoshita Group Cup was her debut adult tournament, but she did not flinch in the first head-to-head confrontation with Alexandra Trusova - she cleanly performed a triple axel and a quadruple toe loop. Based on the base, taking into account Sasha’s Lutz, they have almost the same cost, but in terms of premiums for the quality of elements and the second assessment, Mao has so far surpassed the Russian rocket. And after the short program, thanks to the triple axel, she also had an advantage. 152.48 for the free program and 231.32 for the total - this is Shimada’s result.
Russian Anna Frolova won the bronze medal in wrestling. She does not master ultra-si elements, so she simply relied on pure skating and another very high-quality production from the headquarters of Evgeniy Rukavitsyn and Olga Glinka - this time Anya embodied the role of Rose from the cult film "Titanic". I had to cling to the cascades, so the judges marked them as under-rotated, but still, based on a combination of factors, Frolova was several hundredths of a point ahead of another figure skater from Japan, Ami Nakai - she fell from a triple Axel and made a gross mistake on the cascade. Anna's score is 134.2 in the free program and 207.86 in total.
Russian Kamilla Nelyubova, who was in third place at the end of the short program, became fifth. She had to skate right after Trusova - perhaps it was difficult to cope with the pressure and concentrate on her performance after the ovation for Sasha. The very first triple axel turned into a butterfly, then Camilla lost points on several more elements. Nevertheless, she surpassed the final mark of 201 points for two programs - we can consider that her initiation into the top of women's single skating was successful. Considering her possession of the trixel, Nelyubova has very good prospects.
Rodin's sculptures come to life
In pair skating, Russian skaters took the entire podium - this was absolutely expected both before the tournament and after the short program. But it would be a surprise if the experienced, titled Alexandra Boykova/Dmitry Kozlovsky ended up losing to young rivals Ekaterina Chikmareva/Matvey Yanchenkov. The gap in the short program can be attributed to a small number of elements, but in the free program, where there is room to improve, both pairs achieved almost the same points.
Both Sasha and Dima, and Katya and Matvey made a mistake on the parallel triple sheepskin coat. Boykova/Kozlovsky had a worse toede and they even lost a little in the components, but in the end they won thanks to a clean quadruple throw. That very element, about the appropriateness of which there was so much debate, which was always a great risk of injury for the partner, for the first time turned out perfectly at the moment when it was most needed.
“A wonderful quadruple throw - no one, I think, did or does better. And I was pleased that Sasha performed the throw perfectly in all training sessions. It was a test for her, and I’m glad that they coped with it. Let’s not be modest, it was perfect. And I want to emphasize that Sasha does this throw, and she cannot enjoy it in the moment. And in this regard, I have the best places to observe,” Kozlovsky told reporters.
Such intense competition among Russian couples gives us the right to hope for further progress of the entire species as a whole. Considering that pair skating has stagnated for four years without our athletes, this is very good news.
The winners of the dance duet tournament were ex-Russians Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin, now representing Georgia. Our Vasilisa Kaganovskaya and Maxim Nekrasov took second place. A great success can be considered the fact that the free dance was left to Vasilisa and Maxim - they beat the Georgian duet by about a point. That is, neither the lack of their own international rating nor the advantage in skating skills of Davis/Smolkin prevented Anzhelika Krylova’s students from being quite convincing in the eyes of usually conservative dance judges. Their production by Benoit Richaud about two animated Rodin sculptures is real art.
