MOSCOW, 19 Nov - R-Sport, Andrey Simonenko. Russian figure skaters won four medals at the ending in Grenoble. Alina Zagitova and Maria Sotskova, Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin.
Zagitova and Sotskova jumped to the Grand Prix Final
Zagitova's victory in Grenoble was expected, but she could not do without problems. As in her first Grand Prix in China, the junior world champion fell in the short program - this time from a triple lutz. In order not to be left without a cascade, Zagitova tried to “attach” a triple loop to a three-turn flip, but here she made a serious mistake on the road.
However, Zagitova catastrophically did not lag behind her rivals, having scored 62.46 points, since the girls did not have clean skates of the short program on Friday. Canada's Caitlin Osmond, who took the lead, doubled her sheepskin coat in a combination with a triple flip, and also made a blot on her lutz. She scored 69.05 points and was 1.26 points ahead of Maria Sotskova, who was doing well, except for a flip without leaving.
Another Russian woman, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, was the last after the short program, 11th - having fallen from the triple Axel, she also “drove” past the Lutz.
Before the free program, it was clear that Zagitova's clean performance would allow her to rise in the table. Moreover, it is very likely that in the first place - according to the personal best result and according to the basic technical assessment, the student of Eteri Tutberidze is noticeably higher than her competitors. Zagitova performed before them - and as a result, she performed to the maximum, gaining record points for herself (151.34).
For rivals, this bar was too high. Osmond, as in her first stage in Canada, made gross mistakes in the free program and showed only the fourth result in this segment (137.72). But Sotskova, demonstrating a net rental, set a personal record - 140.99. This helped her to get ahead of the Canadian in the sum of the two programs and take the final second place. Thanks to this result of Sotskov .
Zagitova also qualified there, and, like the two-time world champion Evgenia Medvedeva, with the maximum amount of points.
“So far, at the moment, we can absolutely count on first and second places even at the Olympics, if only the Russian team would go there,” noted the well-known producer and choreographer Ilya Averbukh, commenting on the results of the competition for R-Sport. “I think it is possible take into account in our asset the positive fact that our rivals have not improved anything since the beginning of the season and so far do not show competitiveness with our leading girls.
“Zagitova’s problems in the short program are an exclusively psychological story,” the expert added. “Besides, she has a combination of triple lutz and rittberger in the short program, the most difficult of those that are being performed now. Perhaps its complexity is still putting pressure on Alina But in any case, she has already shown a brilliant result - the debutant of the season won two stages and got into the Final."
As for Tuktamysheva, who had no chance of getting into the Grand Prix Final due to a low result at the stage in China (seventh place), she fell from the triple axel in the free skate, as well as in the short one, and made a few more mistakes , taking the final ninth position.
“If we were talking about fighting for the Grand Prix Final, we would most likely remove the triple axel from the program altogether, so as not to risk and earn the required number of points with the light version of skating,” R-Sport said. "The figure skater's coach Alexei Mishin. - But we had no chances for the Final from the very beginning. So, we had to use the extra opportunity to try out the triple axel in competitions, which we did in Grenoble."
Papadakis and Sizeron: new records
In the competition of dancers at the French stage of the Grand Prix, there were clear favorites - two-time world champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Sizeron. There was no doubt about their victory even before the start of the competition. The main intrigue, rather, was the question - how many world records will the French beat on their ice?
On the first day of the tournament, the world record in the short dance Papadakis and Sizeron did not submit. The best total points in the history of performances in this segment remains with Canadians Tessa Virtue/Scott Moira. But the French managed to break away from other participants in the Grand Prix stage in Grenoble dramatically with their score of 81.40. The closest pursuers, Americans Madison Chalk and Evan Bates, scored 73.55.
Silver medalists of last year's Russian Championship Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin in the short dance received a score of 70.02 and took third place. Objectively, Caitlin Weaver and Andrew Poje had more chances to claim the podium, but the Canadian dancers broke the twizzles in the short dance, and this mistake became so serious that they failed to catch up with the Russians in the free box office.
Stepanova and Bukin, in turn, despite the clean release of both programs, could not come close to Chalk and Bates. Two bronze medals at tournaments in Moscow and Grenoble were the best result for the students of Alexander Svinin and Irina Zhuk in the Grand Prix series in their careers. But Stepanova and Bukin will not be able to get into the top six finalists - after five stages, the Russians take seventh place in the overall standings. Another Russian duo that performed in France, Alla Loboda/Pavel Drozd, took ninth place.
Well, Papadakis and Sizeron pleased the French public, surpassing their own world records in terms of total points in free dance (120.58) and overall score (201.98).
Tarasova and Morozov reached the Grand Prix Final themselves and helped their comrades
In pair skating, as expected, the struggle for victory in the French stage was between the Russians Evgenia Tarasova / Vladimir Morozov and the owners of the ice Vanessa James / Morgan Sipre. The first round of this fight was left for the students of Nina Moser - Tarasova and Morozov were ahead of the French in the short program by 4.66 points, but by the very assessment (77.84) they lost about three points to their best result.
This handicap gave the bronze medalists of the last World Championship the right to make a mistake in the free skate. And this handicap was required. The French performed a free program almost without marriage, making the only mistake on the quadruple ejection. The Russians, on the other hand, disrupted the jump cascade, plus made a couple of less serious blots. Thus, in the free skate Tarasova and Morozov, having scored 140.36 points, became the second, but retained the first line in total.
It is noteworthy that Tarasova and Morozov, having won in Grenoble, not only themselves, but also helped their compatriots and groupmates Nina Moser Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov qualify for the decisive tournament of the series. The champions of the Olympic Team Tournament, who have already competed at their two Grand Prix stages and won two silver medals, practically entered the Finals after the NHK Trophy tournament in Japan, and now they are there theoretically.
Samarin did not jump above his head
The only Russian participant in the French stage of the Grand Prix in men's single skating, in order to compete for reaching the Final, had to jump above his head and hope for the mistakes of competitors. And the competitors were serious - especially two of them. This is the two-time world champion Spaniard Javier Fernandez, who was eager to restore his reputation after the failure at the Chinese Grand Prix (6th place), and the Japanese Sema Uno, who won the Skate Canada (Samarin won bronze there).
In the short program, the student of Svetlana Sokolovskaya almost fulfilled the first part of this condition - he performed a skate with two jumps in four turns, one of which, lutz, however, turned out to be under-rotated. But Fernandez and Uno were still stronger. The Spaniard especially excelled, scoring 107.86 points with a quad sheepskin coat and salchow. Uno fell off a quadruple flip but did a four and three toe loop combo for 93.92. Samarin, with a score of 91.51, became third.
Arbitrary rental failed one hundred percent none of the favorites. Fernandez fell off a quad Salchow and a triple Axel, missed a couple more jumps, Uno also made two falls and two blots. The Japanese scored a little more points (179.40 versus 175.85), but the Spaniard got the gold at the end of the tournament. Samarin, in a free program, fell from a sheepskin coat in four turns and was fuzzy in three other jumps - and in the total amount missed Misha Ji from Uzbekistan,.
The final round of the Grand Prix, Skate America, will take place in Lake Placid November 24-26. The series finale will take place in Nagoya, Japan on December 7-10.
This season, figure skaters Evgenia Medvedeva, Alina Zagitova and Canadian Caitlin Osmond remained undefeated at the Grand Prix. The first will continue its successful streak in the December final, while the other two clashed at the stage in France. One of them, a young contender for an Olympic medal or an experienced vice-champion of the world, will have to experience the bitterness of defeat. Or both at once.
Although Zagitova had already won a Grand Prix event in China, she was given a spot in the first warm-up rather than the more prestigious second. In France, the girls were the first to be released on the ice, and the Russian woman performed in front of almost empty stands. Such a chamber atmosphere fettered the athlete when it came to performing jumps. She fell on a triple lutz and flunked a cascade of flip and rittberger. Zagitova had to be content with an unusual assessment for herself - she rarely received 62.46 points even at domestic junior competitions. Such a result is forgivable for a 15-year-old girl, but I really want to perceive her as a mature figure skater who will make a splash in Pyeongchang.
Osmond also had enough flaws, but not so serious. She performed a double sheepskin coat in the axel instead of a triple one, touched the ice on the lutz with her hand. But the music of Edith Piaf melted the hearts of judges and spectators. The Canadian did not reach the bar of 70 points under any circumstances, but she also lost less than one point to this psychological milestone. The difference between Osmond and Zagitova was less than seven points, and their duel will continue in the free program. The Russian woman is able to win back any backlog if she cleanly performs all jumps and cascades.
Between the two rivals there were three more girls, and one of them, Maria Sotskova, lost to Osmond by a little more than a point. She was one of two skaters who managed to perform a combination of two triple jumps. But the flip, which she returned to the program and did not perform earlier in Canada, did not work out for the Russian woman. With this jump, she could take the lead, but now she will try to win it on the second day of the competition.
The third Russian participant in the French Grand Prix was Elizaveta Tuktamysheva. To return to the previous level, when she was invincible in the 2014/2015 season, she does not succeed in any way. The girl had one formidable weapon left - the triple axel, which practically saved her in Beijing. But a new attempt to perform the most valuable jump turned into not just a fall, but also the fear of entering the lutz. The judges gave only 53.03 - there is simply nothing to compare such low scores with.
Dancing
The organizers did not give preferences to the main stars of the French national team Gabriele Papadakis and Guillaume Sizeron and put a short dance next in the competitive program. As it turned out, they can perform in front of the stands that are still not full at the height of the working day, as well as when the whole hall feeds them with positive energy. On the first day, Papadakis and Sizeron usually lose to their main competitors Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, but now the French are as close as possible to the Canadians. They broke a personal best and scored 81.40 points.
The Russians Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin tried not to get lost in their background and performed at a decent level for themselves. For this duet, luck is to overcome the milestone of 70 points, and they coped with this task. But now they need to set new goals, since Victoria Sinitsyna and Nikita Katsalapov performed much better in Japan. Free dance will judge them finally, but for now Stepanova and Bukin take third place after the short one.
A powerful North American school in France was represented by two duets from the USA and Canada. Madison Chalk and Evan Bates were as charming as ever, and for that they were in second place. But Caitlin Weaver and Andrew Poje unexpectedly rolled back to fifth - the mistake of a partner on twizzles became disastrous for Canadians.
Couples
Competitions of sports couples often turn into demonstration performances of one world-class duo, forced to compete with themselves. So it was in China and Japan with world champions Sui Wenqing and Han Cong, so it happened in France with Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov. Figure skaters from the Celestial Empire managed to firmly secure the status of the leaders of the season, but the Russians were ready to return it in a calm environment, where there is no pressure from rivals.
The wards of Nina Moser almost succeeded. They managed to get closer to the Chinese with the technical stuffing of their short program. If someday they decide to replace the ejection of the rittberger with a flip, then they will completely be ahead. But for now, the Russians do not take risks and prefer, with an ideal rental, to lose three points to Sui and Han in a correspondence dispute, rather than give them an even greater handicap. The skaters received 77.64 points - this is their best result of the season. Tarasova and Morozov would have scored even more if they had not been late once again to the beginning of the program, and this violation is punishable by the deduction of one point.
The closest rivals of the Russians were the French Vanessa James and Morgan Sipre. They scored 73.18 points, and now we can say that they are ready for the new season - such a result will help them shine at the European Championships, and the French team will perform a little better in the Olympic team tournament. Tarasova and Morozov should not pay attention to this, they have a free program ahead of them and a new challenge to the invincible Chinese.
Men
In men's skating, the stage in Grenoble brought together two stars of the first magnitude - the Japanese Shomu Uno, who will be the hope of the fans if Yuzuru Hanyu is injured, and the Spaniard Javier Fernandez, who failed the starts in China due to a sick stomach. But there was another athlete on the start list who could shine just as brightly. Recently, Alexander Samarin surprised many with a bronze medal at a stage in Canada. He got a taste and is now ready to repeat his success.
At least this is what I want to believe after a brilliantly performed short program. The 19-year-old skater jumped a combination of a quadruple lutz - a triple toe loop, backed it up with a quadruple toe loop, and in the middle of the rental he gave out an excellent triple axel. The judges responsible for the components are gradually getting used to Samarin and decided to encourage him after the technical jury. He broke a personal record and scored 91.51 points - this season, this is the eighth result among all the figure skaters in the world. The Russian has reached his limit with the current program and now he can safely learn new quadruple jumps.
And then why not take a swing, for example, at the result of Fernandez? In fact, the Spaniard, who forgot about all illnesses, differs from Samarin only in that he jumps salchow instead of a sheepskin coat. But at the same time, the judges love him endlessly and do not spare triples for allowances and a dozen for components. The two-time world champion received in France a chic 107.86 points even for himself - only Hanyu skated better this season even before the start of the Grand Prix.
Shoma Uno is nearing the end of his streak of five consecutive 300-point performances. The imperturbable Japanese began his short program with a fall on a quadruple flip. His triple axel did not quite turn out, and many members of the jury did not like the spins. Nevertheless, Uno has already made a name for himself, and Samarin is only earning it. The Japanese took second place behind Fernandez, winning a little more than two points from the Russian. It's hard to believe, but the fight for the silver of the French Grand Prix is still ahead.
MOSCOW, November 13 - R-Sport, Elena Dyachkova. Figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva reached the Grand Prix Series Final by winning the stage held in Paris. The Russian, who will turn 17 in a few days, secured her participation in the decisive round of the competition with the highest possible number of points scored - she had previously excelled at the stage in Mississauga, Canada.
Last season, which became Medvedeva's first "adult" in her career, the figure skater won all possible trophies - the Grand Prix Final, and then the Russian, European and world championships. After the victory in Paris, a new campaign will begin for Medvedeva - the defense of all previously won titles.
The record was 0.14 points short!
In the short program at the stage in France, Medvedeva lacked only 0.14 points to update the world record. For the net rental, the Russian figure skater received an incredible 78.52 points from the judges. In the free program, Medvedeva made a fall - for the first time in competitions since the European Championships in Bratislava. This time, the leader of the Russian national team did not submit to the triple lutz. But, despite this, the Russian woman retained the unconditional leadership, even if so far without record marks - 143.02 points for an arbitrary and 221.54 in total. For two victories in the Grand Prix standings, Medvedeva received the maximum possible 30 points and became the first single skater to secure participation in the Series Final in Marseille.
Tarasova and Morozov are second, but they qualify for the final
In the free program, the chances of Zabiyako and Enbert, who took second place in Moscow, to reach the final of the series became only theoretical - the partner fell on a triple sheepskin coat and could not complete the cascade, and instead of the triple salchow, which did not work out at the previous stage, this time the duo performed double. As a result, the Russian couple scored 121.20 points in free boxing, and a total of 192.56, missing out on the third step of the podium of the French Vanessa James / Morgan Sipre (198.58).
Savchenko and Massot were the penultimate ones on the ice and skated the free program with a lot of mistakes - first the partner broke the combination, then doubled the sheepskin coat. On the triple axel throw, the five-time world champion fell, and at the end of the program, the couple lost points after Savchenko landed with a triple salchow on two legs. But, despite all these flaws, the judges generously awarded the duo with marks for the components - 133.04 points for the free program and 210.59 in total.
Tarasova and Morozov had to show clean skating to reach the first place, but they were unable to complete this task. On the quadruple release, there was a blot of a partner on landing, which cost the Russian pair lost points, as well as an error on the cascade. The Russian duet lost the free program (130.70) to both the Germans and the French, but retained the second line in the sum of two rentals - 206.94.
Papadakis/Cizeron Premiere
The free dance, this time without scores close to the world record, was won by Papadakis and Sizeron, winning their first Grand Prix event of the season (193.50). The next start of the French will take place in Sapporo, Japan. Second place went to Americans Madison Hubbel/Zachary Donoghue (174.58), securing their way to the Marseille final - they had previously been second at Skate America as well. Third - Canadians Piper Gilles / Paul Poirier (170.78).
Fernandez - in the final
The two-time world champion Spaniard Javier Fernandez, like Medvedev, secured access to the Grand Prix Final with the highest possible indicator - a week after winning the stage in Moscow, he won the start in Paris. In the short program, Fernandez fell from a quadruple toe loop, but otherwise skated cleanly, receiving 96.57 points from the judges and taking first place. American Nathan Chen, who impressed everyone with his jumping ability at the Challenger in Finland, on the first day became the first figure skater in history to perform a quad lutz and a flip in a clean program, and took second place (92.85). The third was the bronze medalist of the Sochi Olympics Denis Ten from Kazakhstan (89.21).
In the free program, Fernandez fell off the triple axel, but kept the lead - 188.81 points and 285.38 in total. Of the five declared quads, Chen fell on salchow and sheepskin coats and became only fourth (264.80). Ten (269.26) climbed to second place thanks to a clean performance, and third place in Paris was taken by American Adam Rippon, who performed only one quadruple in the free program - a sheepskin coat, but was otherwise flawless (267.53).
Russian Artur Dmitriev, after an unsuccessful short program, in which he became only 11th (64.48), showed the seventh result (154.22) in the free program and eventually finished ninth at the French Grand Prix (218.70).
In the French Marseilles, the finals of the Grand Prix in figure skating ended. The "adult" Russian national team has two golds and one bronze, while the juniors have three golds, three silvers and one bronze. The world record of Evgenia Medvedeva, four quadruple jumps of Nathan Chen, the "golden" debut of Evgenia Tarasova / Vladimir Morozov - in the material "Lenta.ru".
The Grand Prix Final is the most prestigious figure skating tournament and, without exaggeration, the main event of the first half of the 2016/2017 season in the world of figure skating. Six best sports couples, six dance duets, the same number of single skaters and single skaters came to Marseille to determine the strongest in their types of programs.
sports couples
The first set of medals was played by sports couples. Russia in this form was represented by Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov and Natalia Zabiyako/Alexander Enbert. Both couples train in the group of Nina Moser, the coach of current Olympic champions Tatyana Volosozhar/Maxim Trankov, who, in turn, are missing this season due to the pregnancy of their partner.
Both Russian duets made their debut in the final of the Grand Prix series. But this did not prevent our skaters from performing well in Marseille, and for Tarasova and Morozov to win a tournament of this level for the first time in their careers. Evgenia and Vladimir twice became bronze medalists of the European Championship, they took fifth place at last year's World Championship. In Marseille, in the free program, they performed a quadruple twist, an ultra-c level element, and for the first time in their career they declared themselves so loudly. Although it is worth recognizing that the main rivals of the Russians skated far from flawlessly, the Chinese Yu Saoyu / Zhang Hao, who became second, lost to Tarasova / Morozov in the sum of two programs by just over seven points, and two-time world champions from Canada Megan Duhamel / Eric Redford were themselves on do not look like themselves, having ruined both the short and free programs.
The second Russian duo Natalya Zabiyako/Alexander Enbert finished their performance in the fourth position, which can be considered a success under the current conditions for the guys. Natalia and Alexander learned that they would perform in France a couple of days before the start of the competition, when Alyona Savchenko / Bruno Massot were forced to withdraw due to an injury to their partner.
Anastasia Mashina / Vladislav Mirzoev celebrated the victory in the junior tournament, Alexandra Boikova / Dmitry Kozlovsky (all - Russia) climbed to the third step of the podium.
Men
The men's tournament in Marseille took place without the participation of domestic athletes, which, of course, upset fans of figure skating from Russia. But, to tell the truth, even without our guys in France there was someone to look at. And in the conditions of the current competition in men's single skating, Russian skaters do not have to claim high positions at the moment.
The unequivocal hero of the Grand Prix final of the 2016/2017 season is 17-year-old American Nathan Chen. In the free program, the skater performed four quadruple jumps cleanly under "Polovtsian Dances", including two most difficult jumps performed for the first time in one program without errors - the fourth lutz in a combination with a triple toe loop and a quadruple flip. For the combination of the quadruple lutz-triple toe loop, Nathan Chen received a record score for one jump element - 19.9 points.
In the sum of two programs, the American lost only to Sochi Olympic champion Yuzuru Khan. The illustrious Japanese brilliantly coped with the short program to the track Let's go crazy, performed by Prince. In the free program, Hanyu also announced four quadruple jump elements, but he fell from one. Another Japanese, Sema Uno, who was injured in the short program and The defending world champion Spaniard Javier Fernandez finished fourth, Canadian Patrick Chan fifth, rounding out the top six was American Adam Rippon, who came out a year ago.
The performance of Russian juniors in the singles tournament can be considered successful. Dmitry Aliev became the first with a total of 240.07 points, Alexander Samarin, who won silver, lost a little less than four points. I would like to hope that at least one competitive figure skater from Russia will appear for the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, who will be able to compete on equal terms for places on the podium with the elite of the world's men's single skating.
Dancing on Ice
For the past two years, Gabriela Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron have been trendsetters in the most subjective form of figure skating. For two seasons, the French did not know defeat, systematically, step by step, approaching the main tournament of the four-year period as undeniable leaders. But this year, the plans of Papadakis and Sizeron were violated by the Olympic champions of Vancouver and the silver examples of Sochi Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir, who decided to return to the big sport.
The return of the Canadians turned out to be truly triumphant, they not only received exorbitant points from the judges, but also beat the seemingly invincible French in all respects. In Marseille, Virtue and Moir received a record 80.50 points from the judges for a short dance. Before the Canadians, no couple in the history of modern judging has managed to get more than 80 points for a short dance. Gabriela Papadakis/Guillaume Sizeron finished second overall, followed by US Maya Shibutani/Alex Shibutani in third.
The Russian duo Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitry Solovyov remained outside the podium, taking fourth place. But in the current realities, this result can be considered successful, given everything that the guys had to endure over the past few years - both the injury of the partner and the meldonium scandal involving the partner.
“Unfortunately, today they broke their signature element - rotational support,” Bobrova said after the end of the tournament. - Recently, in general, they could get out of any situation and make it. But today it didn’t work out, and it’s very disappointing, the judges usually put “plus three” for her. However, on the good side, we got not very low scores without this support, so we can hope that with it the scores will be even higher.”
In the competition among juniors, the Russian duet Alla Loboda / Pavel Drozd lost the championship to the American pair Rachel Parsons / Michael Parsons. The Russians lost to their rivals by less than one point.
Women
Over the past few years, the singles tournament has attracted the closest attention and aroused great interest among all lovers and fans of figure skating. In Marseille, four out of six participants represented Russia. Anna Pogorilaya, Maria Sotskova, Evgenia Medvedeva and Elena Radionova were accompanied by Canadian Caitlin Osmond and Japanese Satoko Miyahara.
The Japanese figure skater Miyahara demonstrated almost the best skates in her career in France, which eventually allowed her to climb to the second step of the podium. Evgenia Medvedeva, the winner of last year's final in Barcelona, was the first, as expected, although in the free program, the pupil of Eteri Tutberidze made a small mistake on the first flip. Moreover, for the short program, Medvedev received 79.21 points, setting a new world record. Anna Pogorilaya is on the third position, Caitlin Osmond is on the fourth, Maria Sotskova, the debutant of the adult Grand Prix final, is on the fifth, Elena Radionova is on the sixth.
In the junior tournament, Alina Zagitova, who trains in the group of Eteri Tutberidze, won the championship, another Russian Anastasia Gubanova became the second.
