The Russian figure skating team, competing at the Olympics in Pyeongchang as the “Olympic Athletes from Russia,” took third place in the overall standings of the team tournament of the 2018 Games based on the results of the first day of competition.
February 9th at " Ice arena Gangneung" short skates for men and sports couples, which brought Russian fans such different emotions.
The start of the tournament for the domestic team turned out to be terrible, to say the least: Mikhail Kolyada, who had recently scored more than 103 points in the short program, was unable to cope with the enormous pressure, making mistakes almost everywhere.
Thus, the 22-year-old athlete fell from a quadruple lutz, failed to perform a quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop cascade, and then also failed to complete a triple axel.
As a result of this, Mikhail received a terrible 74.36 points for himself, ultimately becoming only eighth out of ten participants, which brought the “Olympic athletes from Russia” only three points to the total “piggy bank”.
Such a start forced some to start sad conversations about the absence of the current champions of the team tournament (in Sochi confident victory, we remind you, the team with Yulia Lipnitskaya and Evgeni Plushenko in its composition won the final of the competition - according to the regulations, after four short skates (later dance couples and women will also perform), only five teams will be able to get through.
However, unpleasant situation was quickly corrected by the duo Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov: the European champions showed an excellent performance, becoming the only couple to receive more than 80 points from the judges (80.92).
Thus, according to the results of the first competitive day of the team tournament, the Russian team ranks third in the table, having 13 points - the same number as the Japanese, and the Canadians are currently in the lead with 17 points.
The worst in the coveted top 5 so far are the Italians - 10 points.
After defeating their rivals, Morozov expressed hope that the Russians would subsequently be able to catch up with their competitors in the fight for gold.
“This is just the beginning, there will still be short programs and free programs. I hope we can catch up."
- reports the words of the partner “R-Sport”.
It is noteworthy that the domestic pair managed to become the best in the short program even taking into account Tarasova’s minor injury - the day before she received a hip bruise.
According to the skater herself, the injury did not interfere with her performance in the team tournament.
“Yesterday during training I fell and hurt my hip. The doctors are working, I feel pain, but it didn’t bother me during the program,” Evgenia said, adding that she and Vladimir “saw and heard fans from Russia in the stands and it was very pleasant.”
When asked whether Tarasova, who is the captain of the team, will help Kolyada not fall into a minor mood after failure in short rental, Morozov said that he “can handle it himself.”
As for the couple’s plans for the Games ceremony, they, according to Vladimir, are forced to miss it.
“We would like to go, but we have competitions, we have to choose,” he concluded.
It also became known that the couple will definitely not perform in the free program - Russian team here you will have to make one of two replacements provided for by the rules.
“Zhenya and Volodya will definitely not perform in free program team tournament. They will have to compete in an individual tournament, it will start immediately after the team one,” said the pair’s coach Nina Moser.
The athletes will be replaced by either Natalia Zabiyako/Alexander Enbert or Kristina Astakhova/Alexey Rogonov.
In addition, the specialist, commenting on the performance of her students, assured that they can show even more impressive results.
“Thanks to this performance, the mood after the men’s tournament lifted. How they rode! They overtook all their rivals, and with best result season. Or maybe even better,”
— Moser reports to TASS.
Let us add that the team tournament will end on February 12, when the final skates of the finals will take place.
You can find other news and materials on the page in Pyeongchang, as well as in the groups of the sports department on social networks
On the night from the second day of the team figure skating tournament to the third, Russia's chances of competing for gold increased. The main forces in single skating - Canada, the USA and Japan - decided to make replacements. There was no doubt about Alina Zagitova, and Mikhail Kolyada had the opportunity to rehabilitate himself for his failure in the short program. In company with the American Adam Rippon and the Japanese Keiji Tanaka, he looked much more preferable, and the Canadian Patrick Chan, with his not the most difficult program, was not an insurmountable obstacle.
Kolyada only needed to perform at her best and skate her free program cleanly. The bronze medalist of the European Championship simplified it a little, replacing the quadruple Salchow with a sheepskin coat and redistributing the jumps in the second program. Kolyada did not refuse the quadruple lutz, but fell on it again, and the subsequent sheepskin coat was three turns. But the Russian skated the rest of the program cleanly and with the enthusiasm inherent only to him. The final score was 173.57 points - this is below the average level of Kolyada. All that remained was to wait to see how their rivals Rippon and Chan would perform.
The American, who made his Olympic debut at the age of 28, did not perform a single quadruple jump. Although his performance was flawless, the judges made it clear that they would not encourage him. Rippon was located right behind Kolyada, losing to the Russian by 0.59 points.
But Chan was rewarded for his efforts. Although he couldn’t handle the axels and loop, which is why the technical score was lower than Kolyada’s, the Canadian received generous components. The total score for the rental of the song Hallelujah was 179.75 points. Chan did not become an Olympic champion in Sochi, but he stayed in figure skating for another four years and did it in Pyeongchang. His team was already seven points ahead of the Russian team, and this gap could no longer be recovered.
- Mikhail Kolyada
- globallookpress.com
Women
Alina Zagitova, and then Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Solovyov had only to skate for fun and show what they were capable of before their personal competitions. The 15-year-old Russian woman received the last starting number and could first see what her rivals had prepared.
American Mirai Nagasu performed a clean triple axel - this is on Olympic Games Only the Japanese Mitori Ido and Mao Asada succeeded. At the same time, Nagasu became the oldest among them. The winner of fourth place at the Olympics in Vancouver was able to leave behind Japanese Kaori Sakamoto, Canadian Gabrielle Daleman and even Italian Caroline Costner in one jump. The participant of four Olympic Games was able to perform a triple Lutz for the first time in several years, but in the middle of the program she failed several jumps and ended up only fourth.
At the same time, Nagasu’s score was still not some kind of prohibitive - with 137.53 points, she would not have entered the top five of the Grand Prix final, if we talk only about the free program. Zagitova had in reserve an element even more valuable than the triple axel - a triple toe loop - triple loop cascade. The Russian woman performed it superbly in her debut performance at the Olympic Games, and then went on from there. A wonderful performance of the program to the music from Don Quixote brought the 15-year-old athlete 158.08 points. Only the world record set at last year's World Championships exceeds these figures.
After the girls’ competition, it became finally clear that Canada won gold and Russia won silver. The US and Italian teams still have to compete for bronze in dance. Upset by this prospect, American figure skater Ashley Wagner, who failed to qualify for the Games, criticized Zagitova on Twitter.
“I respect the competitive approach. But I can’t accept this production. This is not a program. She killed time in the beginning and then just jumped around in the second half. This is not a performance. I understand that the judicial system allows this, but figure skating That’s not the point,” Wagner said.
- Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Solovyov
- globallookpress.com
Dancing
The dance competitions turned into an exhibition tournament, and this only enhanced the performances of the skaters. Apart from the Japanese duo, who fell twice during the performance, the rest of the participants took turns creating a sensation.
Italians Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte once again caused regret among fans by the fact that this is their last season. Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Solovyov successfully brought to life their complex artistic images, which earned them 110.43 points.
On their second attempt, the Russians failed to get past Maya and Alex Shibutani from the USA. Brother and sister scored 112.01 points thanks to their technical training. The team dancers' tournament closed with the performance of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who repeated the record of Yillis Glafström and Evgeni Plushenko; only these skaters were able to win four Olympic medals.
The Russian team won the second medal in Pyeongchang, and at the same skating rink where the first bronze was won. Silver awards received Mikhail Kolyada, Evgenia Medvedeva, Alina Zagitova, Evgenia Tarasova, Vladimir Morozov, Natalya Zabiyako, Alexander Enbert, Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Solovyov. Soon they will all have a chance to replenish their piggy banks - individual competitions will be held almost every day at the Olympics.
Team competition– not news in figure skating. For the first time, the International Skating Union (ISU) included them in the World Championships program in 2009 in order to stimulate countries to develop all types of sports. figure skating. And now the team championship is ready to make its debut at the Olympic Games, increasing the number of medals up for grabs from four to five.
INNOVATIONS
The main difference between the upcoming Olympic team tournament and those held as part of the World Championships is the even distribution of the load between all four types, while at the World Cup there was a clear bias towards single skating. It was they who did most of the work in extracting precious metals, since the team consisted of four singles skaters - two men and two women, one couple and one dance duet. As a result, countries where these species were especially developed received an advantage. At the Olympic Games, each country can field only one representative in men's and women's singles, as well as pair skating and ice dancing. Not counting replacements, but they will be discussed separately.
SELECTION OF PARTICIPANTS
Selection for the Olympic team tournament took place based on the results of the 2013 World Championships, as well as the Grand Prix series of the 2013/14 season. The ranking of countries was compiled based on the results of the performances of their best representatives in each of the four types of figure skating at these tournaments. In case of a lack of rating points, the results of the 2013 European Championship, the Four Continents Tournament and the junior championship were taken into account. In addition, only those athletes who have qualified to participate in the individual championship can compete in the team championship at the Olympic Games.
An exception can be made only for those countries that have no representatives at all in any of the species. For example, the Japanese team failed to qualify for participation in the Olympics as a couple, and the British team had a shortage in the men's singles. Nevertheless, both of them got a chance to start in Sochi, using an additional quota. In this case, the team may not field its participant in one of the disciplines, but does not have the right to compensate for the deficiency with an additional unit in the remaining three types.
POINTS SYSTEM
Representatives from 10 countries will compete in the team competition. These included: Canada, Russia, USA, Japan, Italy, France, China, Germany, Ukraine and Great Britain. First, all participants in all four events will skate short program, but skaters from only five countries who have scored greatest number points. The points of each single skater and each pair are taken into account, awarded according to the following scheme: 1st place in the discipline - 10, 2nd place - 9, 3rd place - 8 and so on. Final result Olympic team tournament will be determined by adding the points scored in the short and free programs.
REPLACEMENTS
Each federation has the right to make no more than two substitutions between the short and free programs. Of course, provided that its skaters managed to earn more than one Olympic license in those events where replacement is expected. Otherwise, there will be no one to change it to. So, for example, in men's single skating, the Russian national team can only be represented by one skater -. But in the other three types, the FFKKR is free to make two substitutions, giving some athletes the opportunity to perform in the short program, and others in the free program. This can be done both with the aim of unloading the skaters, and to achieve maximum results, if someone is better at the short program and someone at the free program.
COMPOSITION OF THE RUSSIAN TEAM
Initially, it was known that Russian leaders And will help the team only in the short program, and then focus on preparing for the individual championship. They will be replaced in the free program Ksenia Stolbova and Fyodor Klimov, who recently became silver medalists at the European Championships. In the men's singles, as already noted, no replacement is provided, and in both types of the program he will perform. And finally, the FFKKR decided to use the second replacement in ice dancing. A short dance will be performed Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Solovyov, arbitrary – Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov. For girls, the entire burden will fall on the shoulders of a 15-year-old Yulia Lipnitskaya. This distribution can only be explained by the federation’s desire to achieve the maximum result in the team tournament - that is, a gold medal. And since the wards Alexandra Zhulina a month before the Games they decided to change the free dance, then such a decision was the only possible one.
MEDAL CONTENDANTS
Since the Japanese team, which is in fourth place, according to the ranking, has two weak links - in pair skating and ice dancing, it is assumed that three countries will compete for medals in the Olympic team championship: Russia, the USA and Canada. And here the composition of the Russian squad looks the most balanced - in all four events our skaters are capable of finishing in the top three. While the USA does not have the strongest pairs, Canada does not have the strongest singles. The rest will be decided by the arbitrators and Lady Luck.
Team figure skating competitions - relatively recent sport, including performances in different types figure skating and evaluating them together.
It is designed to promote the development of all types of figure skating, since The overall result depends on the athletes’ assessments in each stage teams.
History of the emergence and development of team figure skating
Officially International Union speed skaters ( ISU) this sport was included in the world championship program for the first time in 2009 in April in Tokyo in the arena Yoyogi National Gymnasium.
It was planned that the team championship, which was called World Team Trophy, will be held once every two years.
The tournament is unusual in that, along with the ISU, it is organized by the Japanese Figure Skating Federation with the support of the television company Asahi that commercializes sporting event. The next time such a competition was going to be held in 2011 again in Japan, Yokohama, in April. But in March, major natural and man-made disasters occurred in Japan, and the World Cup was postponed to next year.
By 2018, 5 such championships were held — in 2009/12/13/15/17, and everyone in Tokyo, on which The Americans won three times and the Japanese twice.
In general, it was Japan that played a special role in the development of team figure skating, since the prototype of modern competitions was the one held there since 1997 entertaining tournament Japan Open. It was not of an official nature, and teams of popular athletes were formed not by country, but, for example, by part of the world.
Starting with the Olympic Games (OG) 2014 in Sochi, this event became Olympic. Then the Russian team managed to win gold medal. The first Olympic champions in this sport were Evgeni Plushenko, Yulia Lipnitskaya, Tatyana Volosozhar - Maxim Trankov, Ksenia Stolbova - Fedor Klimov, Ekaterina Bobrova - Dmitry Solovyov and Elena Ilinykh - Nikita Katsalapov. On the last in 2018 At the Olympics in Korea, our team won silver in this event, and the Canadians won gold this time.
Photo 1. Performance of Russian figure skaters Tatyana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov as part of the team figure skating competition at the 2014 Olympics.
Team figure skating rules
The rules of this sport are slightly different depending on the type of competition - World Cup or Olympic Games.
Types, what is it
Both types of competitions feature men's and women's single skating, sport skating and ice dancing, that is, everything four classic types. The difference is that for the World Team Trophy Each team has 2 singles and singles, 1 sports pair and dance duet.
There is a certain bias towards single skating, the reason for which is the significant participation of the Japanese in organizing the event.
Traditionally, Japan is strong in singles, but lags behind in sports skating and dancing, so preference is given to representatives of single types of figure skating.
At the Olympics, all four types are equally represented: one representative each single male and women's skating, sports couple, dance duet.
Thus, olympic competitions in this sport they are more balanced.
How many stages
The number of stages in both versions of the competition is the same - two each. Participants perform in short and free program. But if the same athletes take part in both programs at the championship, then substitutions are possible at the Olympic Games, and not all teams are allowed to the second stage.
How participants are selected
At the championship World Team Trophy each program presents 6 teams, A at the Olympic Games first compete in the short program 10 teams, and then 5 best Based on its results, they perform in a free program and compete for medals.
On team championship world select the strongest skaters of their country who have the highest ISU rating for pairs and dance duets, as well as two best single skaters among men and women. In addition, these athletes must be included in the top ten in its form based on the results of the previous World Figure Skating Championships.
Attention! In case unjustified refusal from the participation in these competitions of the selected single skater, single skater, pair or dance duet, they lose the right to speak in the show demonstration performances and competitions throughout the year, and other measures are also applied to them.
In the event that the selected country refuses to participate as a whole team, the team from the next ranked country is invited to take its place.
The selection of participants for the Olympic Games is based on the results of the previous World Cup and recent stages of the Grand Prix series. To determine the country's rating, the results of the performances of the best representatives are taken in four types of figure skating at these competitions.
Photo 2. Russian team figure skating team at the Olympics in Sochi in 2014.
Sometimes there are still not enough rating points. In this case, the results of other well-known competitions are also taken into account, for example, European Championship, Tournament four continents, junior championship. Of course, only those athletes who, based on their results, qualify for the individual championship of the Olympics can compete at the Olympic Games.
There may be cases when one event is not represented in a team due to the fact that the athlete was unable to qualify for the Olympic Games. Then the team has the right to take advantage of an additional quota and take part in the competition. At the same time, the country does not field a representative in this event and cannot compensate in any other way for the lack of a participant, as well as, accordingly, points. It should be borne in mind that the team applying for participation in team competitions must obtain a license in at least three types of skating.
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How points are awarded
In team competitions, when summing up the results, it is not the points themselves scored by the skaters based on the results of the performance that are taken into account, but points awarded to them for this.
At the World Figure Skating Championships, points are awarded for both the short and free programs according to the following principle: in singles competitions for first place - 12 points, for second - 11 And so on until twelfth place with 1 point.
In competitions of couples and dancers for first place - 12 points, for second - 11 and so on until sixth place with 7 points. The points of all team members are added up for both programs. According to them overall result The places of the participating countries are determined.
At the Olympic Games, points are awarded according to the same principle in the short program: for first place - 10 points, for second - 9 and so on, for tenth - 1 point. For representatives of the five best teams based on the results of the short program, the free composition is assessed as follows: first place - 10 points, second - 9 and so on, fifth - 6 points. Sum of points for two programs of all team representatives and determines its position.
How are replacements carried out?
At the Olympic Games one participating country has the right to perform between the short and free program no more than two substitutions subject to the presence of athletes who have received Olympic licenses in the type of figure skating in which this replacement occurs.
This rotation allows for a larger number of participants to be involved., provide an opportunity to reduce the load on leaders, demonstrate maximum results, because often various reasons Short and free programs can be performed better or worse by athletes.
Russian figure skaters won silver in the team tournament at the 2018 Winter Olympics. In an interview with Gazeta.Ru, this achievement was commented on by the head of the Russian Figure Skating Federation, Alexander Gorshkov, and the honorary president of the organization, Valentin Piseev. The latter also responded to American athlete Ashley Wagner’s criticism of Alina Zagitova.
Russia won silver in the team figure skating tournament at the Olympic Games, losing to the Canadians. The International Olympic Committee has already congratulated them on this result. How do you evaluate such an achievement?
President of the Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKKR) Alexander Gorshkov:
In the situation we were put in, second place is a victory. I can’t say whether this is an achievement or not, but, in any case, it is a victory.
Honorary President of the FFKKR Valentin Piseev:
We must congratulate the team on the silver medal. Considering that our team is young and promising, this is not bad. Everyone tried: some succeeded 100%, others less. I think that if everyone managed to show their best, we could take gold. But sport is sport.
So I convey my congratulations. All the guys are great. They have good prospects both at this Olympics and in the future. Our figure skating is now in very good condition.
Today, women's singles also showed a free program. Alina Zagitova won with a margin of more than 20 points over American Mirai Nagasu, who became second.
A.G.: - Alina is great, just like our girls in general.
Zhenya Medvedeva skated her short program beautifully, breaking her own world record. And today Alina has already shown her class, for whom - you can imagine! - This is the first season at the adult level. And immediately such an achievement is a plus at the Olympic Games. Here we can only express congratulations. The girls' nerves are not steel, but they are all great.
V.P.: - Both Medvedeva and Zagitova are unique girls. There will be a lot between them interesting competition in the individual championship. The rivals are also not asleep. What the American Nagasu showed looked very confident. But I still think that ours will be better - and which one of them, Medvedev or Zagitova, will show in the competition.
American figure skater Ashley Wagner expressed the opinion on her Twitter that Zagitova’s program looks chaotic, because at the beginning almost nothing happens, and then there are a lot of jumps. “This is not a program, this is not a performance,” Wagner wrote. What arguments could be used to respond to this criticism?
V.P.: - There are rules that give advantages to skaters who perform the most complex elements, in particular jumping, in the second half of the program.
For Wagner, it is surprising that Medvedeva and Zagitova strictly follow these rules. They are so ready that they can do it all in the second half. The American is not able to structure her program in this way, so it must be strange to her how it can be done this way. But, it turns out, it’s possible, you just have to be Zagitova or Medvedeva to do it.
- What about couples?
A.G.: - Bobrova and Solovyov performed well in dancing. And in the free program of sports pairs, Zabiyako and Enbert performed well, who had the fate of performing in team competitions. You know that we did not receive an invitation to the Stolbov Games, and their duet with Klimov could not take part in the Olympics.
But these are very experienced athletes - Olympic champions team tournament and silver medalists individual competitions in Sochi 2014. According to the plan, they were the ones who were supposed to skate the free program in Pyeongchang, but it turned out like this, and Natasha and Sasha had to replace them.
How would you rate their performance? Why do they often come third in international competitions?
A.G.: - It’s difficult to explain why the guys only came third. The judges give the scores. There is both a technical part and an artistic component of the program. Due to my position, I cannot evaluate the refereeing. But, of course, Tessa and Scott are very experienced athletes, Olympic champions in Vancouver 2010 and silver medalists in Sochi 2014. It is very difficult to compete with them.
As for the Americans, our guys fought with them, and if they lost, it was only a little.
V.P.: - In ice dancing, the Canadians were clearly better than both ours and the Americans. Bobrova and Solovyov performed confidently - both in the short and in the free program (especially in the free program, which makes a very strong impression). Did the Americans beat the Russians in the fight for second place? They have more experience, they are more titled athletes.
