The worst world championship in the last five years. Total starfall. The World Figure Skating Championships in Milan have lost many heroes Figure skating world championships women results
If we evaluate the World Cup on the basis of maintaining quotas for the next season, and this is precisely the task that the president of the FFKKR called, then it can be considered successful. In pairs and women, we still have three vacancies left, the dancers still have two, and the guys were able to win three. However, the overall impression of the championship still remains painful - primarily due to the unsuccessful performance. Falls Olympic champion in the free program, in which she frantically tried to catch up with the music, were comparable to a horror film.
If Alina had saved at least one of the three jumps from falling, then she would have stood on the podium with a silver medal - everything would have been psychologically easier. How could this happen? There are a number of reasons: the athlete’s physical growth, fatigue from the Olympic season, and a training schedule that was disrupted after returning from Pyeongchang. The absence of a woman who would share the burden of responsibility with Alina and draw some of the attention also played a role. It can be argued that in December last year, Zagitova won the Grand Prix final without Medvedeva. But then it was only the first half of the season, Alina was not yet the champion of the country, Europe and the Olympic Games and did not have time to go through a head-to-head confrontation with Evgenia twice. By the way, the December performance was not ideal either.
PROGRAM WITH INITIAL RISK
For all the outstanding results of her three senior seasons, Medvedeva also had her share of falls, but this never led her to failure. And it's not just about more experience and more sustainable nervous system. Not one of Medvedeva’s six competitive programs during her adult career was staged at such a crazy pace as Zagitova’s Don Quixote. If she fell, Evgenia had time to get up, recover and continue skating, rather than chasing the music. Alina's free program Initially, she did not leave the right to fall, and was beaten to such an extent that even thoughts about it did not arise. When the fall in Milan occurred from the first cascade, it was no longer possible to stop this chain.
It is possible that at some point Alina encountered a psychological barrier: after all, the starting signature cascade of triple lutz and loop did not work out right away in Pyeongchang and at the Moscow show of champions, and at the world championship the lutz ended in a fall. Fortunately, the season is over, the Olympic champion will be able to recharge her batteries and decide how to continue her journey. Was it possible to leave Alina to rest at home and send another skater to Milan to maintain quotas? Taking into account the removal of Medvedeva and the inclusion of Stanislava Konstantinova in the team instead, who ultimately took 19th place, theoretically, or could have played instead of Alina. But hardly any of the girls could show a result higher than 8th position.
JOY AND BRONZE KOLYADA
Joy came to us from where we did not expect it - from the male side single skating. and , who finished third and seventh respectively, returned three men's vacancies for the following season after many years. And Kolyada entered himself into the history of our men's singles: the first medal since 2011 and the second since 2004. If we talk specifically about the quality of skating, then in comparison with the European Championships, our guys seemed to have changed places: Dmitry took risks in both programs, and Mikhail in the short program decided to return to a reliable option with one quadruple sheepskin coat. What the famous coach called “girl skating and content from 20 years ago” brought Kolyada 100.08 points in the short program and allowed her to become second in its results, less than 2 points behind the leader. In the free program, it was not possible to repeat the same brilliant performance - again three quadruples (lutz and two sheepskin coats), from which Mikhail was only able to perform a sheepskin coat, and even then with difficulty.
In the free program, Chen saved the impression from the warm-up performance of the strongest. In it, he fell three times, the same number of times - trying to perform six quadruple jumps, and the two-time bronze medalist of the world championships, the Chinese, fell even five times. Against this background, Kolyada, with his two falls, looked like a model of composure. As for Aliyev, who became, the assessment of his performance depends on the approach. If assessed locally, he should be offended by an error in the short program that cost 10 points. With them, Dmitry would confidently occupy fourth place, and maybe higher. But globally, Aliev turned out to be on top - he landed a quadruple Lutz twice, and only he and Chen succeeded in this in the free program.
OPTIMISTIC DYNAMICS
Second place, as well as fourth, coupled with seventh place, look optimistic. Although the last two duets could have taken higher places, in the short program the judges withheld their scores, and in the free program our pairs could not do without mistakes. For Evgenia and Vladimir, this championship was an opportunity to rehabilitate herself for a disappointing fourth place in the individual tournament in Pyeongchang. But the chance to win the championship also depended on Olympic champions. The German couple did not provide it with a brilliant free skate for a world record. But the dynamics of our couple’s performances at world championships are very pleasant: debut 6th place, then 5th, last year’s bronze against the backdrop of an injury, silver at the end of a difficult Olympic season, next year gold suggests itself.
UNFULFILLED HOPES
When they announced their non-participation in the World Championships, there was still hope for the return of three quotas in dance. There was a feeling that, already in the status of the first couple of the country, they were able to compete for getting into the top five. For this, more than three points were missing, lost due to lost difficulty levels and a penalty point in the short dance. As a result, in the absence of two world leaders, they managed to take only seventh place.
But our other duet can take their debut eighth place to their advantage, because, according to technical assessment, in the free dance they were able to beat not only their national team partners, but also the Americans who came in fifth. There is also a sad circumstance for us: this season the silver medalists of the championship, the Americans, won the right to be in the group of the strongest pairs. This means that even a possible departure will not free up higher places for our dancers. Taking into account the fact that Bobrova/Soloviev will miss the next season, a battle is expected not only for the status of the country’s first couple, but also with foreign couples who will also want to take advantage of the leaders’ departure.
Here's the first story - if not tragic, then absolutely heart-warming: the public's favorite, people's figure skater of Russia Evgenia Medvedeva, Unfortunately, he will not perform in Milan 2018.
This news, which became a fact literally a week before the start, gave rise to many versions. Up to apocalyptic. They said, for example, that Zhenya, realizing the weakness of his position in competition with the young Alina Zagitova, I was thinking about changing my citizenship. Or that the injury that became the official reason for Medvedeva’s refusal is nothing more than a routine excuse, but in fact the athlete, having lost the Olympics, is going through a deep personal drama...
“Apparently, people are just worried about me in this way, these are their emotional messages,” Zhenya perceives the “information fire” philosophically. - I am very grateful to everyone for increased attention and love, but, apparently, some did not seriously think about the fact that I love Russia and will only compete for my country. You cannot sow panic and make such stuffing.
So this is all nonsense. Rumors, gossip. Zhenya, unfortunately, really has an injury, and a serious one. Doctors classify it as a “stress (aka fatigue) leg fracture.” The reason is untreated damage caused by constant training loads. It was because of foot pain that Zhenya missed the December Grand Prix final and the Russian Championship. Preparations for the Games in Pyeongchang also went through pain, although, according to her, the problem did not affect the quality of the athlete’s performances.
Be that as it may, now jumping work is an absolute taboo for Medvedeva. Unfortunately, the season is over for her.
“Such an injury can occur in an athlete at any time,” says sports doctor Eduard Bezuglov.“And it’s not always possible to understand what really is there: a fracture or severe inflammation.” Bone swelling is treated with rest: it cannot be removed if the athlete continues to jump. If we are talking about a person returning to sports, then we must understand that not a single stress fracture can be cured in a month. It can’t be cured in two months, or in three. If you just give your leg rest, the pain will go away fairly quickly. But as soon as a person with such an injury begins to train seriously, he will completely break this leg. Full recovery after surgery takes four to five months. Without surgery, you may not skate for three months, but then you will still get so sick that any triple (and especially quadruple) jumps will be out of the question.
Alina has become an adult
In any case, in women's single skating, Russia is ahead of the rest. The name of the 2018 world champion can be named with an extremely high degree of probability now: fifteen-year-old superstar Alina Zagitova, Olympic champion in Pyeongchang.
But the fight for the bottom two steps of the podium turns into serious intrigue. Among the 37 girls (more precisely, among 36, because Zagitova is called a “special force” even by the most cautious of observers), we will highlight the Canadians Caitlin Osmond and Gabriel Daleman, champions of Pyeongchang in team competitions, and the unfading Italian Caroline Costner. Caroline turned 31 in February: longevity unthinkable in today’s times! If eighteen-year-old Medvedev, against the background of the ongoing youth expansion, is cautiously called a “veteran,” then what can we say about Costner! By the way, she won her first title (European champion) exactly 10 years ago...
The second and third numbers of the Russian national team - Maria Sotskova and Stanislava Konstantinova. If Sotskova is known quite well to a wide circle of figure skating fans, then Konstantinova is worth mentioning separately. Stanislava is 17 years old, she is from St. Petersburg. Vice-champion of Russia among juniors last year, she took fourth place at the Junior World Championships in Sofia. Medal plans for Milan are probably too daring a task for her.
“Stasya came fourth at the Russian Championships this season, and she knew very well that she was the first alternate to participate in the World Championships,” says the figure skater’s coach Valentina Chebotareva.“She prepared, realizing that such a situation was possible. Stasya will try very hard. I would like her to skate both programs cleanly, she can do it. It will be interesting to see what place it will take in purely performed performances.
Women in mourning
Three superstars were immediately removed from the men's competition. Firstly, the leader of the world season, two-time Olympic champion, Japanese Yuzuru Hanyu(he was tormented by injuries). Secondly, three-time world champion and Pyeongchang champion in the team, Canadian Patrick Chan who declared his reluctance to go to Milan, without specifying the reasons (there is an opinion that Patrick soberly assessed the level of complexity of his program and realized that he was no longer able to fight the new generation of “super jumpers”). Thirdly, the bronze medalist of Pyeongchang, Spaniard Javier Fernandez, who wished to rest after a difficult season.
The losses can be said to be irreversible. Well, so much the better for our Mikhail Kolyada and Dmitry Aliev: In this situation, both have a chance to get on the podium. Or at a minimum, the Russian quota for the 2019 World Cup can be expanded to the maximum. To do this, the sum of places occupied by Mikhail and Dmitry should not exceed 13.
And yet our guys are not among the favorites. This short list is headed by the Olympic silver medalist, Japanese Soma Uno, Chinese Jin Boyan.
Relaxing in couples
But in pair skating Olympic champions will be presented: Alena Savchenko and Bruno Massot(Germany) decided not to ignore Milan 2018, although the coaches advised them to take a break. But silver (Chinese pair Sui Wenjing - Han Cong) and bronze ( Megan Duhamel - Eric Radford Canada) Pyeongchang medalists decided to rest.
Russians not admitted to the Olympics will not perform in Milan Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov: this time - due to an injury that Ksenia received during one of the training sessions. In this situation, Savchenko and Masso should become the most serious competitors Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov. Second Russian application - Natalya Zabiyako and Alexander Enbert, third - Kristina Astakhova and Alexey Rogonov.
Dancing also lost its Olympic gold shine: Canadian couple Tessa Virtue - Scott Moir is thinking about ending his career, and one of the signs of these thoughts was missing the World Cup. “We returned to sports to win the Olympics, and this task is completed,” the Canadians said.
The bronze medalists of the Games will also not perform in Italy. Maya and Alex Shibutani(USA). Couples will defend Russia's honor in dancing Alexandra Stepanova - Ivan Bukin and Tiffany Zagorski - Jonathan Gureiro, and the main contenders for the highest title are now considered Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron(France), who took second place in Pyeongchang.
World Figure Skating Championships schedule (Moscow time)
- 21 March. 12:45. Women. Short program
- 21 March. 20:45. Sports couples. Short program
- March 22. 12:00. Men. Short program
- March 22. 20:55. Sports couples. Free program
- March 23. 13:00. Dancing on Ice. Short dance
- March 23. 20:30. Women. Free program
- March 24. 12:00. Men. Free program
- March 24. 17:20. Dancing on Ice. Free dance
Winners, medalists and Russian participants of the 2017 World Championship (Helsinki):
1. Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan)
2. Soma Uno (Japan)
3. Jin Boyan (China)
8. Mikhail Kolyada (Russia)
11. Maxim Kovtun (Russia)
1. Evgenia Medvedeva (Russia)
2. Caitlin Osmond (Canada)
3. Gabriel Daleman (Canada)
8. Maria Sotskova (Russia)
13. Anna Pogorilaya (Russia)
Sports couples
1. Sui Wenjing - Han Cong (China)
2. Alena Savchenko - Bruno Massot (Germany)
3. Evgenia Tarasova - Vladimir Morozov (Russia)
5. Ksenia Stolbova - Fedor Klimov (Russia)
12. Natalya Zabiyako - Alexander Enbert (Russia)
Dancing on Ice
1. Tessa Virtue - Scott Moir (Canada)
2. Gabriella Papadakis - Guillaume Cizeron (France)
3. Maya Shibutani - Alex Shibutani (USA)
5. Ekaterina Bobrova - Dmitry Solovyov (Russia)
10. Alexandra Stepanova - Ivan Bukin (Russia)
In 2018, the World Championships figure skating takes place from March 21 to 25 in the Italian city of Milan. The Russian national team is represented by 15 skaters, they took part in such disciplines as women's and men's singles programs, ice dancing, as well as pair skating. There will be 4 sets of medals awarded at the championship.
Figure skating results 2018 World Championships women, pairs, men: results of single skating
The gold medal in women's single skating was won by Canadian athlete Kaitlyn Osmond, who scored 223.23 points. The second position was taken by the Japanese Wakaba Higuchi - 210.90, and the third place was also secured by the Japanese participant Satoko Miyahara, she earned - 210.08 points. The performance of Russian athletes was a complete failure. The girls fell one after another during their performances. Thus, distancing yourself from the medals of the 2018 World Cup. And as a result, Russian Maria Sotskova with 196.61 points became 8th, and Stanislava Konstantinova became 19th, she replaced Evgenia Medvedeva, who was unable to take part due to a leg injury. The most shocking performance was the performance of Olympic champion Alina Zagitova, who at the beginning of her performance managed to fall 3 times. The girl tried with all her might to rehabilitate herself, but she failed, and as a result, only 5th place in the World Championship. In the men's solo performance, USA athlete Nathan Chen won with a score of 321.40. The second was the Japanese Soma Uno with 273.77 points. The bronze medalist was the athlete from Russia Mikhail Kolyada, who scored 272.32 points, but his teammate Dmitry Aliev secured 7th position with a score of 252.30. It is also worth noting that the men’s solo performance was not without falls.
Figure skating results 2018 World Championships women, pairs, men: winners of performances among duets
In the free program among sports pairs, the German duo Alena Savchenko and Bruno Massot won with a score of 248.84. The second ones were Russian athletes Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov scored 225.53 points. The third position was taken by the French duo Vannesa James and Morgan Cipres - 218.36. Russian couple Natalya Zabiyako and Alexander Enbert took 4th position with a score of 207.88. But the 3rd duet Kristina Astakhova and Alexey Rogonov were even less lucky, they became only 8th with 202.16 points. In the free ice dance, athletes from France Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron took first place with a score of 207.20. The duo from the USA, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, came second with 194.64 points. Third place went to Caitlin Weaver and Andrew Poje from Canada – 192.35. Unfortunately, a couple from Russia, Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin, came 7th with 184.01 points, and Tiffany Zagorski and Jonathan Gureiro took 8th place with 180.42.
58 - Internal news page
The Russians have two medals: Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov won the first silver in their careers in pairs skating, Mikhail Kolyada received a bronze award in men's singles.
5:06 25.03.2018
The World Figure Skating Championships ended on Saturday in Milan, Italy, with a dance tournament, won for the third time in their careers by the French Gabriela Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron. Russia remained in this type of program without awards, however overall result The team's performances should be considered worthy. The Russians have two medals: Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov won the first silver in their careers in pairs skating, Mikhail Kolyada received a bronze award in men's singles.
2018 World Figure Skating Championships. Milan, Italy).Russian national team composition:
In three types of program Russian figure skaters provided the maximum number of quotas for next championship world (three each), in dance, like a year ago, they won two vacancies.
The last one is remembered
Papadakis and Cizeron updated all three world records in Milan, which became another achievement for the duo, in addition to medals: despite the fact that the French collected all the highest titles for three years (the only exception was the Olympic Games), a record result in the short dance never did not previously belong to them. Now dance records look like in the following way: 83.73 points in the short dance, 123.47 in the free dance and 207.20 in the two programs.
The French free dance, of course, brightened up the current world championship - the performance of many leaders in the other three disciplines turned out to be frankly disastrous in Milan.
The dance tournament was a benefit for Canadian coaches Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon and Frenchman Romain Haguenauer: second place was also won by their wards Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue, who had never stood on the podium of a major tournament (the duo was ninth at last year’s World Championships). The dancers became US champions for the first time this season, and in Milan they beat Canadians Caitlin Weaver/Andrew Poje, who became bronze medalists.
Russian athletes Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin and Tiffany Zagorski/Jonathan Gureiro are in seventh and eighth positions. Both duets exceeded their personal bests in the free dance, with the second of the couples adding four points to their best personal result.
Bronze with little blood
18-year-old American Nathan Chen became the world champion in men's single skating on Saturday. Showing in free program best result season in the world, he was ahead of Olympic vice-champion Shoma Uno by 47.63 points.
The celebration also happened on the Russian street: Mikhail Kolyada became third, Dmitry Aliev - seventh, and with these results the skaters provided Russia with the maximum number of quotas at the next world championship, which was a big surprise: Russian singles skaters had not had the opportunity to compete at the world championships with a full team for many years .
“I’m dissatisfied with the performance (of the free program), mistakes were made, but according to the second assessment, according to the presentation, I liked everything. There are, of course, questions about the technical part. But the season is over. I think I performed quite well here at the World Championships,” said Kolyada to the press service of the Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKKR).
“My coach and I decided before the World Championships that we would skate such programs, a lighter version of the short program,” the athlete added. “Only three weeks have passed since the Games, and not everyone has time to recover in such a short period of time. And only now is the realization coming what happened at the Olympics. The season was quite long and intense, but today I felt it was quite easy for me. After short program I tried not to think about places and medals. If you think about it, you can go crazy."
Chen repeated his Olympic achievement, performing six jumps in four rotations in a free program, and established new record season for free skate and the sum of two programs (219.46 and 321.40).
The second Russian participant, Dmitry Aliev, became seventh, performing three quadruple jumps in his free program.
“These are my first three quadruples in a free program that I managed to do,” the skater told the FFKKR press service. “In general, I’m happy with the performance, with the exception of the butterfly on the Axel, which I could not have done because I had the strength. I felt that I was tired. But I could have jumped. This is my first season at the adult level. I myself understand that I can work and compete with the guys who are on the podium. For me, these points that I received today are not what I am going for "I want to earn more, rise higher, for this I need to work harder and skate cleaner."
Shock therapy
The final of women's singles, which was supposed to be triumphant for Russia, turned out to be the most painful. Canadian Caitlin Osmond became the world champion for the first time, but Olympic champion Alina Zagitova and five-time champion Europe's Carolina Costner, who according to all forecasts were supposed to compete for gold and silver at the world championship, remained fifth and fourth.
With the exception of the “double Axel - triple toe loop” cascade, performed with a slight blemish on the landing from the second jump, all other elements of the free program were performed by the Canadian to the pluses, she scored a fairly high amount of points in two skates (223.23), but it’s worth admitting that the skater would hardly have been able to compete with Zagitova if the latter had not experienced force majeure in the form of three falls.
Olympic champion Oleg Vasiliev told RIA Novosti that he was not surprised by Zagitova’s defeat.
“The problem, first of all, is that after the Olympic Games Alina’s training regimen was greatly disrupted. When a person is, as they say, “put on the rails,” he will go normally, despite the stress. But when work is thrown off that well-worn daily schedule, which was the case for many months, when an athlete jumped a hundred or two hundred jumps every day, it was enough to skip training several times to get out of this standard,” the specialist said.
“When you have a huge amount of continuous work behind you, it creates inertia, which kind of pushes you forward when you go out to compete. Zagitova’s victory at Olympic Games- this is precisely the result of the hard, brutal work that she did. And then there was a pause, and there was less work. In this case, you have to concentrate more. This is a very difficult thing - to gather for the maximum result when there is no tenfold reserve,” the expert explained.
According to Vasiliev, at a certain moment the Olympic champion “panic set in.” “Zagitova fell on the first jump, and since her jumps in the free program go one after another at a very high pace, there was no time to understand what to do. Panic set in. That’s all that happened,” he concluded.
Elena Buyanova's ward Maria Sotskova finished eighth, performing a free program with a fall on a triple Lutz, and the third Russian participant Stanislava Konstantinova, who made her debut this season in senior competitions, took only 19th place, calling the experience terrible.
Sixfold Alena
The most brilliant performance The championship was the free program of Olympic champions Alena Savchenko/Bruno Massot in pair skating. The 34-year-old added her sixth top world title to her collection, while her partner became world champion for the first time. The skaters completed their free skate with a world record and won against defending champions Europe Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov about twenty points.
The skates are put away in their cases, the suits are in travel bags. Skaters from all over the world leave Milan with different moods. For some, the World Cup turned out to be excellent, for others it was a failure. Russian fans also had mixed feelings. Kolyada was technically weaker than her opponents, but received a medal, Zagitova was stronger, but failed. Tarasova and Morozov were good, but there was a gap to gold, and there was a brick wall between the dance couples from Russia and the podium. “Championship” together with an Olympic medalist and famous choreographer Ilya Averbukh understood the results of the tournament and looked into the future with optimism.
– Ilya, what was the main event of the World Championship in Milan, in your opinion?
- For the first time in long years we have a prize in men's singles skating. Misha Kolyada performed great, and Dima Aliev took a big step forward. In this regard, Russia can send three athletes to the next tournament. This is a very serious achievement, since we have not had such a quota for a long time. This will definitely encourage all the Russian guys and give them more motivation, since their chances of going to the European and World Championships have increased.
– I suppose second place in pair skating is very close in importance?
- Certainly! I really want to praise our best couple– Evgeny Tarasov and Vladimir Morozov. They performed in Milan in their own strength. The German duo Savchenko and Masso are now objectively stronger, and our guys have beaten all other opponents. Yes, there was no Chinese pair that won silver at the Olympics, but the competition was still huge. And second place at the World Championships is a big foundation for the next four years. It was clear that after the Olympics the guys showed seasoned skating. This season has been a step forward for them in many ways, and I think next year we will see this couple seriously mature.
After the Olympics, Tarasova and Morozov showed seasoned skating. This season has been a step forward for them in many ways, and I think next year we will see this couple seriously mature.
– What happened at the World Championships with Alina Zagitova?
– Much has already been said about its relative failure. I emphasize – relative, since the main start of the season was, after all, the Olympics, and Alina became the champion there. And this season she won the Grand Prix final and the European Championship. What happened to her at the World Championships? This is a sport: psychology, physical fatigue, and changes in anthropometric data all took their toll. There is hardly any point in discussing all this in detail again now. But this is not a tragedy, definitely. The most important thing in the current situation is how we will see Alina at the beginning of the next season, because she is going through a difficult moment, a transition period. Even if she won the world championship, victory would not insure her from these difficulties. Maybe the defeat will even serve as a cold shower and motivation for the next season, it will show that you shouldn’t rest on your laurels and need to prepare for the next starts.
There are no invincible Russians. Why Zagitova failed the World Championships
Alina Zagitova fell, got up and fell again. She had no more strength.
– You said about seasoned skating in relation to Tarasova and Morozov, but it seemed that all the Olympic participants, except Zagitova, performed in Milan more maturely and confidently.
- This is true. The Olympics gave the guys a lot in terms of experience. Alina, perhaps, just did not have enough such experience - she seemed to panic after the first unsuccessful jump. But Tarasova and Morozov, the guys, felt this experience. The Olympics gave them a lot in terms of confidence and understanding themselves on the ice. And now we have a very good, young team. We have not lost our position and can confidently look into the coming four years.
– First numbers Russian team criticized for weak technical aspects of their programs. First of all, we are talking about Kolyada, of course, but others also suffered. Do you think our top skaters have potential for growth in terms of technique?
– Yes, I see good prospects. We have the strongest team in women's singles skating with a huge level of competition. We have every chance to fight and win gold in pairs skating - Tarasova and Morozov will progress. That is, in two forms we are already close to gold. In men's single skating, we actually let our opponents go somewhat, but there is still optimism. It can be seen that both Misha Kolyada and Dima Aliev perform quadruple lutz, show the most difficult jumps, but so far cannot do them with proper stability. But I think we can fully count on a revival of men's singles skating. In dancing, it will be the most difficult to break through the wall, but even there everything is not hopeless - there are chances.
Slippery ice. Kolyada fell less often than his rivals and earned a medal
Competitors with complex programs fell and fell, but Kolyada performed well with simpler ones and won bronze at the World Championships.
– By the way, what about dancing at the World Championships? How would you rate the Russians' performances?
– I’ve liked the couple of Stepanova and Bukin for a long time. I think that they are competitive, if not with the champions from France, then with everyone else - for sure. It seems to me that they are still being held back a little in this American-Canadian sphere, but I think the guys will still have a chance to break through. I can’t help but be happy for the pair of Zagorski and Gureiro: getting into the top ten right away is very good result. If next year the pair of Stepanova and Bukin remain number one, I believe that they will be able to take a leap forward and begin to return our dances to a leading position. Moreover, we have another talented couple: Sinitsyna and Katsalapov. The guys have enormous potential, but they lost a lot this season due to their unsuccessful performance at the Russian Championship. I hope they'll catch up next year.
The most important thing is what we will see of Zagitova at the beginning of the next season, because she is going through a difficult moment, a transition period. And even if she won the World Championship, victory would not insure her from these difficulties.
– There is an opinion that the judges at the World Championships in Italy were sometimes too weird. Was there anything out of the ordinary or was everything about as usual at such tournaments?
– Everything was in moderation. Probably, this topic could have been discussed when Caroline Kostner took first place after the short program, but then she really skated brilliantly. It was a wonderful performance by an outstanding figure skater at home ice. The judges are real people, they could have taken this into account and added a little to Caroline. But this is normal - this happens at all tournaments. In general, I would say this: whoever dashed for what got it in the end.
– What specific performance at this World Championship do you remember most?
– This is definitely Savchenko and Massot. Their free program is a real event! Everything else at this tournament is, first of all, figure skating, and only then something artistic. And this program of the German couple can be called real art!
