Skill to Rent – Figure Skating News – Winter

The past season in figure skating marks the beginning of a new Olympic cycle. We have not seen athletes who finished their performances after the Games in Korea, so many new names have opened up for us, both in Russia and in other countries. For us, the season was very confident in terms of results. Of course, our rich history of figure skating has been a great success, but the current results – the most impressive recently.

I want to start with women. Here we have the strongest position. Everyone will remember the long discussion about who to send to the world championship – Medvedev or Tuktamyshev. The board decided in favor of Eugene. Probably, it was reasonable and correct. Although very sorry for Lisa, who has proved that it is too early to write off. He will also be seriously competing with young athletes who are now entering the international adult arena. I am talking about Alexander Trusova, Anna Shcherbakova and Alena Kostornaya – the winners of the last Russian championship, who will start their course in major competitions. Well, and of course, honor and praise Zagitova, under not very simple conditions, who won the gold medal at the world championship. After winning the Olympics, Alina had to face many things that had never happened in her life: meetings, receptions, crazy attention from the press and its sponsors. But she was able to bear the burden of responsibility and show her high level at the right time.

Medvedev, meanwhile, has found himself in a difficult situation related to the change of coach. I did not support this decision and my opinion has not changed: she should not have left, but it is her destiny and her choice. Eugenia is a good person who has crossed this path with dignity.

Last season, our main rivals – the Japanese – failed. But that does not mean that they will continue to make such gifts. Thus, despite the good results achieved in women's skating, we must continue to progress and progress. We can say that the level of the next Russian championship can be even higher than that of the World Cup, because the competition between Russian figure skaters is incredible.

Pair skating has always been a shocking discipline for Russia. Since the 60s of last century, our country has always dominated this discipline, with the exception of the Olympics of 2010 and 2018. We now have money Tarasova and Morozova at the world championship.

This season they have encountered some difficulties in the form of a change of program and coaches. This is not conducive to normal preparation. Their results are good, but Eugene and Vladimir are able to do more. Instead, they should choose a mentor because uncertainty does not help. I have to thank Maxim Trankov, who led the duo all season long. Of course, it was not easy for him because of various circumstances, but we saw the fruits of his work at the world championship. There are now opinions that Tarasova and Morozov should return to their former coach, Nina Moser. The decision must take the guys. Granted, Moser herself said that she wanted to take a break. I am sure that there is in our country a coach able to take this pair under his direction and to achieve a high result.

See also: Elizaveta Tuktamysheva: Empress of Russian Figure Skating

Also note the stable performance of Zabiyako with Enbert. We were happy and the third our couple Kozlovsky / Boykova. It is nice to note that coach Tamara Moskvina came back into the arena and was not at her best at the time, having prepared a very interesting duet for the future with her colleagues. In general, our athletes have performed in this discipline with dignity.

Regarding ice dancing, our strength has always been to conquer the highest places in two pairs. This has happened more than once in the history of national sport. And I was very happy that at the last world championship our two pairs – Sinitsina / Katsalapov and Stepanova / Bukin – after rhythmic dance market in second and third places, respectively. This is a very important point – this can be seen as a revival of our ancient traditions of the dance school. This season, Russian couples have acquired a lot of technical and performance skills and have prepared interesting and competitive programs. The skaters themselves thought they could take high positions. Yes, we are still lagging behind the French couple Papadakis / Sizeron, but we are ready to give them serious competition. Everything will depend on the possibility of preparing other interesting programs that will please both athletes and spectators. Couples must develop an individual style, their own orientations and show the world their own face. And of course, you have to be very careful about compliance. Sometimes our improvisation makes it difficult to acquire the desired positions. Now you have to consolidate this success.

Our toughest discipline is men's skating. We are far behind our rivals. We are behind in the stability of running programs and the most complex elements. We have a lot of work in this direction.

In my opinion, it is useful to review the athlete preparation process. How good are we in women's skating? They have a lot of competition at every training session and in fact, there is a competitive process. And what about men? An athlete trains with a coach, another – with another. And all are prepared separately. It turns out that the best Russian figure skaters only meet on the ice. I think that it is necessary to practice more common training among men so that they constantly feel the competition. And in some cases, when the results make you wait a long time, you have to think of radical measures.

In general, I would like to congratulate the athletes and coaches for this successful end of season and wish them new achievements and new victories.

The author is the honorary president of the Russian Figure Skating Federation, an honored coach of the USSR.