Coach Zhulin rules in dancing at the Russian Championship: but there is also resistance

Before the start of the Russian Championship, at a press conference, the President of the Figure Skating Federation, Anton Sikharulidze, gave a description of each type of Russian figure skating: what is happening and can it be compared with world successes. About ice dancing, which opened the competition in Chelyabinsk, the Olympic champion said this: we are worried, we don’t see progress, we can’t say that “we are world leaders in dancing.” We also “discuss every day” how to improve the situation; one of the incentives is “healthy competition.”

There is competition always and everywhere. At any start – from the yard to the very peak in big sport. This is the essence of competition, this is progress and the key to success. It was about her, after the rhythm dance that they won in Chelyabinsk, that the leaders of our ice dancing, Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin, spoke about. And it so happened that they were also talking about “healthy” competition and not so much.

Dancing and judges are a topic that worries fans and athletes, it seems, forever. Not only on domestic ice, but now we are only talking about it. And usually there is a complaint of this kind: they inflate the ratings of our leaders, so much so that in absentia they beat almost all their foreign rivals.

In Chelyabinsk the opposite seemed to happen. Sasha Stepanova and Ivan Bukin did not allow themselves to make mistakes in the rhythm dance; the judges simply had to evaluate what was there. And it’s interesting that Alexandra, like some other dancers, noted a certain “restraint” of ratings. Stepanova and Bukin scored 86.90 points for rhythmic dance on Thursday, which is less than at the Russian Grand Prix stage in Moscow.

Sasha’s explanation was as follows: “They said that we don’t have enough competition in Russia, apparently this is how it is created.” Alexandra told us why it is important to get marks no higher or lower than those that the skaters scored. There is still a parallel with foreign athletes, it is clear that scores should not be compared, but still “they are looking at them out of the corner of their eye, so we want to find out what was wrong.” Overall, I managed to get a buzz from skating. Both Sasha and Ivan were pleased with themselves, but “there is a question.”

Ivan Bukin also noted that the grades, but not the performance, left a vague impression. “It seems like they skated better, but they got less marks here.” The skater called the Russian Championships his peak; one can get different grades on the way to it, but everyone tries to approach the championships in excellent shape. And what and why might there be stricter standards of judging? “Everyone is progressing, everyone is working, but I don’t want the competition to be somewhat artificial.” That’s why I want to find out from the judges what was wrong, “so that we can go to training and work 300 times harder.”

Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin are the undoubted leaders of our dances; they have already become champions of Russia twice in their careers. Chelyabinsk this year is already their tenth start; last year they did not compete; Sasha gave birth to a daughter. The duo is training today in Alexander Zhulin’s group. But throughout their career they worked together with Irina Zhuk and Alexander Svinin, and with them they became prize-winners of European championships. And after the Olympic Games they decided to “restart” their career with a different coaching staff.

It was the students (and very young ones) of the coaching group of Irina Zhuk and Alexander Svinin who opened the Russian Championship. Sofia Leontyeva and Daniil Gorelkin caused some sensation because they ended up third in the first part of the competition, beating more experienced dancers in the rhythm dance. Sonya admitted that getting the first starting number in the draw was a surprise (rather, not entirely welcome), but now she thinks that it is a great honor and a great responsibility to open the tournament.

This is the first Russian championship of the duo, they say that they wanted to give everyone a positive feeling, “we did it, we opened the tournament well.” And Daniil Gorelkin was also glad that the adult Russian championship is a completely different atmosphere compared to the junior championships. “Simply magical – we enjoy it.”

Well, Tatyana Tarasova, who again returned to commentate the main start of the skaters, said about the debut of the duo simply: it is with such skating, at this age, with such coaches that they enter the elite.

In second place after rhythm dance, this was already “planned”, were Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva and Yegor Bazin (they also restarted the career of Alexander Zhulin). The current Russian champions received 83.29 points. They said that they were happy – both themselves and the team. Egor noted that they wanted, and did it, to skate “carefully, strongly, widely, with emotions.” Lisa held back her emotions in her assessments of herself: it’s only the middle of the tournament, but maybe she wanted to “ride more relaxed.”

Khudaiberdieva also did not answer the traditional question about refereeing. “I can say something now, of course, but Egor is already pinching me in every possible way, so, it seems, you want to express something, and then you think: “yes… (why) is it necessary?”

It’s true, there’s absolutely no need. Moreover, there is a free dance ahead, all emotions must be thrown into it, carefully controlling them, but pretending that there is no control. The same should be done by Irina Khavronina and David Narizhny, who made serious mistakes and refused to comment. And the same Elizaveta Shanaeva and Pavel Drozd, who said that they feel: there is where to grow, where to strive. And all the dancers who can (and should) repeat these words.