Pairs tournaments in Russia are held this season under the banner of the main troublemaker – Alena Kostornaya. Somewhere, the leaders of the national team – Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov, Alexandra Boykova and Dmitry Kozlovsky – are fighting for victory. But all eyes are on Kostornaya and her partner (and husband) Georgy Kunitsa: how will the newly formed couple skate and what will the daring Alena say to journalists this time? Will there be a scandal?
After the short program of the Russian Championship, Kostornaya and Kunitsa, as expected, did not make it to the top three and finished in the penultimate ninth place. They were only ahead of the couple Maria Shegai and Igor Shamshurov from St. Petersburg. The provisional leadership was taken by the impeccable Mishina and Gallyamov, Boykova and Kozlovsky are five points behind them.
There was still a surprise from Kostornaya
Even before the start of the tournament, Alena made a mysterious publication: the video showed a fragment with music from the “Angel” program. Kostornaya skated this production with the composition of Max Richter as an individual skater in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons. It was with her that she achieved her main titles: European champion and winner of the Grand Prix final. With “Angel” Kostornaya deservedly broke world records.
Kostornaya and Kunitsa repeated the initial pose of “Angel”, and then the change of program was officially known on the registration sheets of the Russian Championship.
This is not the first time Alena has returned to the forgotten past. At Evgeni Plushenko’s show in August, he and Georgiy presented two new exhibition numbers, and both songs had already met in Kostornaya’s career: “Romeo and Juliet”, a free program in the last youth season, and with Vivaldi , the figure skater skated. up to two programs (short “Winter” and free “Seasons”).
And in general, returning to old competitive motifs in a show format is not a new practice; Athletes often transform their old programs into performances for shows.
Kostornaya-single skater in the program “Angel”
Photo: Maria Kateshova, “Championship”
The opening pose at the Russian Championships gave me goosebumps, as did the costumes: Alena’s white dress with gray details and her partner’s matching outfit. The musical composition of “Angel” has changed: the iconic beginning remains, and the second part of the music is from Alena’s other program – the free program, which she presented only once – at the final of the Russian Cup under the direction by Evgeni Plüshenko. It is about the composition Wait for me, and that program was staged by Shae-Lynn Bourne and Sergei Rozanov.
Did familiar rhythms help Kostornaya? In reality, as on the Grand Prix stages, it is still not about the music, but about the training of the elements. The skaters again did not succeed in everything: the long-suffering triple spin was only of the second level, the triple loop throw was a fall, the track was the second level, and the toes were the third. Only the triple parallel flip, as well as the rotation and support, achieved the maximum, so the pair received the fourth level.
The broadcast of the Russian Figure Skating Grand Prix is available on Okko
“It’s a shame about the fall. The fall was due to ejection, and beforehand they did not want to make a difficult but beautiful approach. They did a lift, and from the lift, out of rhythm of course, she jumped and he threw her, each in her own way. We did not reach the pace, we were in a hurry and here is the result,” commented Tatyana Anatolyevna Tarasova on the First Channel.
Kostornaya and Kunitsa received 63.74 points. This is their worst result of the season: they obtained better qualifications in the Grand Prix stages. Even in Omsk, when Alena wholeheartedly destroyed the refereeing. This time the fight did not happen: Georgy’s nose began to bleed and the boys refused to comment.
How are the leaders?
The first among the two best skating couples were Alexandra Boykova and Dmitry Kozlovsky; Eteri Tutberidze’s new students released the third initial issue.
The beginning of the performance of “La Bogeme” did not go well: the partner took a step forward in a triple parallel loop. “It’s a shame that Sasha made a mistake on the circuit; she probably won’t forgive him. But I notice that they jump the loop and no one in the world jumps parallel to the loop,” laments Tatyana Tarasova. But the rest of the elements were performed perfectly: Alexandra performed a triple flip, the fourth levels received a triple twist, step sequence, tosses and rotation. Boykova and Kozlovsky received 78.95 points.
The broadcast of the Russian Figure Skating Grand Prix is available on Okko
Meanwhile, the main competitor, Alexander Gallyamov, posted strange GIFs on his Telegram channel during the competition.
“To be honest, it’s not interesting,” Kozlovsky admitted when told. — It seems to me that maybe this is some kind of Media League element. In any case, we do not know how it works and we do not monitor it, we are not subscribed, so we cannot comment.”
Mishina and Gallyamov took the start in the third warm-up, knowing the scores of their former teammates. And they succeeded: Nastya and Sasha showed the performance of the day, fulfilling absolutely all the elements to the maximum. They did not show the most expensive parallel jump, the triple Salchow, but there was no need to take risks.
The broadcast of the Russian Figure Skating Grand Prix is available on Okko
The cleanly executed “Ode to Joy” gave the skaters 83.01 points and a safe first place. Boykova and Kozlovsky trail by about five points, while Perm’s Ekaterina Chikmareva and Matvey Yanchenkov took third place.
Now the sports couples will have a competitive day off: they will play for medals only on Saturday, December 23.
How did the boys perform on the first day?
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