January 20
Women. Results.1. Alina Zagitova (Russia) – 238.24.
2. Evgenia Medvedeva (Russia) – 232.86.
3. Carolina Costner (Italy) – 204.25.
4. Maria Sotskova (Russia) – 200.81.
Women. Free program.
1. Alina Zagitova – 157.97,
2. Evgenia Medvedeva – 154.29,
3. Maria Sotskova (all Russia) – 132.11,
4. Carolina Costner (Italy) – 125.95.
Alina Zagitova skated her free program to the music of Minkus from the ballet Don Quixote. It was with this program that last season at the junior level the athlete won all the most important victories. It is quite logical that the coaches decided not to change this program, leaving it for the Olympic season with an eye to the fact that the young figure skater will skate it more confidently.
Composer Ludwig Minkus wrote his ballet specifically “for the feet” of the dancers, initially making it very convenient for performance. Alternation of slow and fast parts, music that “drags” and charges emotionally. And the second half of Zagitova’s program musically helps the athlete perform difficult jumps. Zagitova performs all her jumping elements in the second part of the program.
At the Megasport skating rink, yesterday's junior follows a clean skate short program skated clean and free. True, the athlete herself said after the performance that she was critical of herself and rated her performance as a “B”, since there were shortcomings.
Seeing final results on the scoreboard, the winner’s reaction was restrained:
I still don’t understand what happened. But I'm glad. This will give me strength for the future.
Dancing. Results.
1. Gabriela Papadakis / Guillaume Cizeron (France) – 203.16.
2. Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitry Solovyov (Russia) – 187.13.
3. Alexandra Stepanova / Ivan Bukin (Russia) – 184.86…
6. Tiffany Zagorski / Jonathan Gurreiro (Russia) – 168.45.
Based on materials from the FFKKR.
Text Olga Ermolina.
Photo by Yulia Komarova.
We did not make it into the top three intermediate leaders, but became the best of the Russians /, following the French leaders /. Silver medalists of Sochi-2014 in this event and on at the moment third.
Good mood Moser
In the morning, at the official training session, the head of the group of all Russian couples represented at the tournament had good mood. The coach missed the Russian Championship due to health problems and subsequent surgery, but on Wednesday at Megasport she was fresh, smiling, and joked a lot.
In terms of positivity, Nina Mikhailovna that day could only be rivaled by Evgenia Medvedeva, who played Anna Karenina in the free program, then danced to the beat of some modern track that was played at the Megasport training arena, and then laughed during the draw in the company of Alina Zagitova and Kim Cheremski, who plays for Azerbaijan.
In the morning, Moser gave a couple of tips to the Italians Nicole Della Monica and Matteo Guarize, who periodically work for her at the capital's Inspiration skating rink, and then watched them at the side immediately after the clean skate of their Apennine competitors - Valentina Marchei / Ondrej Hotarek.
An uncertain throw with her partner landing on two legs left Della Monica and Guarise with only 64.53 points, Marchea/Hotarek had a clean triple jump, triple twist, throw and - 71.89. At that time it was not yet imagined that this mischievous duet would beat Tarasova and Morozov at home in a short match.
But the first of the domestic skaters to take to the ice were Zabiyako/Enbert, who completed their main task in December at the Russian Championship - they beat Kristina Astakhova and Alexei Rogonov and took third place, which will certainly allow them to compete at Olympic Games. The parallel jump did not become a standard of synchronicity, but it took place; after the release, the partner hovered in the air and landed softly. 72.95 points and at the end of the day this result became the second.
Champions "pearl tank"
Immediately after, the Second Concerto of Sergei Rachmaninov began playing in the arena, and . Since the beginning of the season, the guys have been willing to share their confidence, which was lost for the first time in the free skate at the Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, but even then, after leaving the ice, Morozov assured that he would rethink what happened with his partner by the time of the Russian Championship.
In St. Petersburg they took gold, and the whole week before the start of the European Championship, according to eyewitnesses, they were “pearling like a tank” in training. The guys who are criticized during the season for “boogie-woogie” in the free program, and for yellow colors in suits with black polka dots, are technically capable of discouraging both the opponent and the critic with the very first acceleration and quadruple twist. In the short on Wednesday, the quadruple was prohibited by the rules, and the triple came out as usual - as if with his eyes closed.
Morozov's jump cascade went well; Tarasova touched the ice with her hand as she exited, but stood her ground. Moser became thoughtful, but after her partner fell after the ejection, Nina Mikhailovna looked questioningly and anxiously at the pair’s coach, Robin Szolkowy. The usually cheerful German, who, according to Morozov, is not afraid of Armageddon itself, this time in kiss"n"cry he was sad, looking at the 70.37 points of his work evaluation. Already at that time, the champions found themselves “under” the lower-status Russians, and “under” the Italians, and in general, after all, they were fifth.
And the leaders are James and Cipres
The French James/Ciprés, who missed the Grand Prix Final, recovered from their partner's injury and scored 75.52 and took the lead. They could have been thrown off the temporary podium by Stolbova and Klimov, who completed the competition day. After a clean triple twist, Stolbova came out aesthetically after a throw that didn’t work out in training. It might not have worked out at the box office, but Ksenia’s ability to perform almost loop gave this element of beauty.
There is a first exhalation, but then Ksenia falls from a parallel jump, and Besame Mucho (the music of the couple’s short program) sounds in “Megasport” no longer proudly, but painfully. After the final pose, Fedor does not smile, Ksenia moves away from her partner, but after that they still hugged. 72.05 and intermediate third place.
Aliev - "plus-start", Kolyada and Samarin - "minus"
Earlier on Wednesday, the men's short program opened the competitive part of the European Championships. Initially, the chances of someone not from the strongest group to be in the top three did not look too great, but Denis Vasiliev from Latvia managed to surprise him.
However, the surprise - only with a minus sign - was rather presented by two Russian participants in the championship, two-time champion Russia and two-time silver medalist of the national championship. Kolyada, with a serious blemish, performed a four-turn lutz, but then made a grave mistake by doubling a quadruple sheepskin coat. He is 1.70 points behind Vasiliev and is fourth. And Samarin fell twice on the quadruple lutz and toe loop, ending up in intermediate ninth place.
But for the third Russian participant, bronze medalist of the Russian Championship, his performance in the short program at the European Championships was successful. Although he did a triple Lutz instead of a quadruple, he added a triple toe loop to it in the cascade, and then cleanly performed a four-revolution toe loop and a triple Axel. Aliyev is second, second only to the five-time European champion, who has almost certainly secured his sixth title - he is ahead of Aliyev by 12.49 points.
On Thursday, women will begin competing at the European Championships - they will perform short programs. All three Russians - Alina Zagitova and Maria Sotskova - will perform in the strongest group, as will their main rival in the fight for medals, Italian Carolina Kostner. On Wednesday, Medvedeva and Zagitova held their first official training session on the Megasport reserve ice, during which they did not make a single mistake. And in the evening the first set of awards will be drawn - sports couples will perform free programs.
Russians Natalya Zabiyako - Alexander Enbert take second place after the short program at the European Championships in Moscow. Olympic champions V team competitions, silver medalists 2014 Games Ksenia Stolbova - Fedor Klimov - third. European champions 2017 Evgenia Tarasova - Vladimir Morozov - 5th. The leader is the French duo Vanessa James - Morgan Cipres.
You often hear from coaches that you need to skate the short program cleanly. You can't win a competition with a short program, but you can lose a lot. A clear illustration of this was the competition of sports couples on the ice of Megasport. The first two places were taken by duets who completed their programs with virtually no errors. The other two Russian couples were not without their shortcomings. Ksenia Stolbova made a mistake on the triple toe loop, Evgenia Tarasova touched the ice with her hands on a parallel jump and fell from the throw.
The French Vanessa James - Morgan Cipres, on the contrary, gave a perfect performance, receiving their best points of the season - 75.52. This couple has improved recently and this is primarily due to the desire of the athletes themselves to radically change their careers. As the skaters said, a couple of years ago they were faced with a choice: either quit the sport or start all over again. And they decided to make a change, moved to the USA, and began training with John Zimmerman, a former student of Tamara Moskvina. Great desire, motivation and a professional coaching team contributed to the couple’s progress. This season the skaters won prizes for everyone international tournaments in which they participated. The five-time French champions missed the national championship due to injury.
It would seem that the absence of a strong pair from Germany, Alen Savchenko and Bruno Massot, at the European Championships should make the task easier for the contenders to get into the top three. But often the opposite happens. Strong opponents bring additional nerves and force you to mobilize more. And this Olympic season is shaping up in such a way that it is impossible to underestimate any of the competitors.
Russians Natalya Zabiyako - Alexander Enbert, who rose to second position in the intermediate protocol, started the first of three Russian pairs and after the performance they said that they had coped with the short program.
— We were pleased with the rental. Today everything turned out as planned. It felt good and rolled easily. Many thanks to the audience, from whom we received strong emotions, and to the support of the audience. The short program went well,” commented Alexander Enbert.
The athletes said that this season they quickly got into the competitive rhythm and this makes it easier to stay in shape.
— As soon as the Grand Prix stages begin, there is rarely a break of more than two weeks between starts. We competed in three Challenger Series tournaments, two Grand Prix stages, the Russian Championship, and now the European Championship. All the starts are in a row, you get used to it, you don’t want to break out. You know that there is always a plus or minus in shape. The competition is approaching, you’ve gained a little bit, the tournament is over, you don’t let yourself go too much, you remain in good shape. On the contrary, this is even good,” the skater explained.
Evgenia Tarasova - Vladimir Morozov competed in Moscow as European champions; a year ago they won in Ostrava. And, as you know, confirming your title is always more difficult than achieving results. Apparently, the psychological pressure that the Russian champions experienced made itself felt.
— I think that this is a disastrous performance for us. We prepared well for the championship,” said the partner.
“Everything was going well, both training and work here, but it didn’t work out at the start.” I don’t think that the fact that this championship is being held at home has affected the skating. This season there were many different competitions, both at home and in other cities and countries. I don't think that's the reason home championship. But this is sport. Let's prepare for free program- said Zhenya.
Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimova are separated from second place by less than a point. During training before the European Championships, they demonstrated ideal programs. But it’s not yet possible to show all this at competitions, to skate cleanly.
- The problem is in my head. In general, the rental turned out to be almost good. And if it weren’t for my mistakes, we completed the program easily. You need to think less, just go out and do it,” said Ksenia.
— Let’s talk about the free program later. Lately everyone has been asking, what surprises are you preparing? Better without surprises. “Ride purely for yourself,” the partner noted.
Sports pairs will present free programs on Thursday, when they will compete for the first set of medals at the European Championship.
European Championship 2018. Moscow (Russia). Couples
Short program
| Pl. | Qual. | Name | Nation | TSS = |
TES + |
PCS + |
SS | TR | P.E. | CO | IN | Ded. — |
StN. |
| 1 | Q | Vanessa JAMES / Morgan CIPRES | FRA | 75.52 | 40.07 | 35.45 | 8.75 | 8.68 | 8.93 | 8.96 | 9.00 | 0.00 | #13 |
| 2 | Q | Natalia ZABIIAKO / Alexander ENBERT | RUS | 72.95 | 39.61 | 33.34 | 8.36 | 8.14 | 8.39 | 8.32 | 8.46 | 0.00 | #11 |
| 3 | Q | Ksenia STOLBOVA / Fedor KLIMOV | RUS | 72.05 | 36.94 | 36.11 | 9.14 | 8.82 | 8.96 | 9.07 | 9.14 | 1.00 | #14 |
| 4 | Q | Valentina MARCHEI / Ondrej HOTAREK | ITA | 71.89 | 39.32 | 32.57 | 8.04 | 7.89 | 8.36 | 8.14 | 8.29 | 0.00 | #9 |
| 5 | Q | Evgenia TARASOVA / Vladimir MOROZOV | RUS | 70.37 | 35.91 | 35.46 | 9.07 | 8.75 | 8.61 | 8.96 | 8.93 | 1.00 | #12 |
| 6 | Q | Nicole DELLA MONICA / Matteo GUARISE | ITA | 64.53 | 32.96 | 31.57 | 8.00 | 7.64 | 7.79 | 7.96 | 8.07 | 0.00 | #10 |
| 7 | Q | Miriam ZIEGLER / Severin KIEFER | AUT | 63.94 | 35.30 | 28.64 | 7.14 | 6.96 | 7.39 | 7.14 | 7.18 | 0.00 | #8 |
| 8 | Q | Lola ESBRAT / Andrei NOVOSELOV | FRA | 57.48 | 31.60 | 25.88 | 6.64 | 6.18 | 6.50 | 6.46 | 6.57 | 0.00 | #7 |
| 9 | Q | Annika HOCKE / Ruben BLOMMAERT | GER | 57.05 | 31.13 | 25.92 | 6.46 | 6.29 | 6.54 | 6.57 | 6.54 | 0.00 | #4 |
| 10 | Q | Paige CONNERS / Evgeni KRASNOPOLSKI | ISR | 52.32 | 29.20 | 24.12 | 6.11 | 5.89 | 6.00 | 6.11 | 6.04 | 1.00 | #6 |
| 11 | Q | Laura BARQUERO / Aritz MAESTU | ESP | 51.46 | 29.23 | 22.23 | 5.64 | 5.21 | 5.75 | 5.57 | 5.61 | 0.00 | #1 |
| 12 | Q | Ioulia CHTCHETININA / Mikhail AKULOV | SUI | 46.57 | 25.63 | 20.94 | 5.43 | 5.07 | 5.18 | 5.25 | 5.25 | 0.00 | #2 |
| 13 | Q | Lana PETRANOVIC / Antonio SOUZA-KORDEIRU | CRO | 45.72 | 23.93 | 21.79 | 5.64 | 5.21 | 5.46 | 5.46 | 5.46 | 0.00 | #5 |
| 14 | Q | Sofiya KARAGODINA / Semyon STEPANOV | AZE | 41.58 | 23.80 | 19.78 | 5.07 | 4.82 | 4.82 | 5.04 | 4.96 | 2.00 | #3 |
Video of the short program
Vanessa JAMES / Morgan CIPRES
Natalia ZABIIAKO / Alexander ENBERT
Ksenia STOLBOVA / Fedor KLIMOV
Valentina MARCHEI / Ondrej HOTAREK
Evgenia TARASOVA / Vladimir MOROZOV
Nicole DELLA MONICA / Matteo GUARISE
Miriam ZIEGLER / Severin KIEFER
Lola ESBRAT / Andrei NOVOSELOV
Annika HOCKE / Ruben BLOMMAERT
Paige CONNERS / Evgeni KRASNOPOLSKI
Laura BARQUERO / Aritz MAESTU
Ioulia CHTCHETININA / Mikhail AKULOV
Lana PETRANOVIC / Antonio SOUZA-KORDEIRU
Sofiya KARAGODINA / Semyon STEPANOV
