Russian Grand Prix: Trusova intrigued, Samodelkina won

Samara brought coach Svetlana Sokolovskaya two singles medals at once

At the stage of the Russian Grand Prix in figure skating, which took place in Samara, Sofia Samodelkina achieved her first victory. The second with a loss of four points was Alexandra Trusova, the third – Ksenia Gushchina. And a guy in a hood came out to congratulate Sasha on the ice. Just climbed over the side to give flowers.

But the fifth stage is already considering the participants in the finals of the Russian Grand Prix in figure skating. Kamila Valieva – two wins in the stages, Sofya Samodelkina – first and second places, Alexandra Trusova – two third places, like Sofia Akatieva.

Sonya Samodelkina achieved the first victory of the season, although she did not cope with the declared elements of ultra-si: the quadruple came out with errors, the triple axel did not happen at all. Probably, Sophia could scold herself for hiring a free program, but this is how experience is gained. That’s why Samodelkina said that she was glad: she was able to withstand the free program, although she had to perform last, and it was emotionally difficult to complete the performances.

She also admitted that she does not want endless comparisons with her group colleague Svetlana Sokolovskaya: with the transition of Sasha Trusova to the CSKA ice, questions from journalists have increased. Sonya says that both she and Sasha would not want them to “make one girl: Sasha Trusova is one person, Sofya Samodelkina is another.”

The champion said that she had not yet thought about how she would spend the prize money. And she revealed the secret, confessing to a long-conceived one: “Two years ago I decided that when I get some money, I will buy a phone. Because my dad of the year since 2015 has been walking with the old one, which he has already rewound with tape. And two days ago, Sophia gave dad a phone for his birthday.

Alexandra Trusova quadruple jump, which everyone sees as a return to the intrigues of the athlete so beloved by the stands – how many ultra-si will we jump in the free program? – did not fulfill. Lutz, the most difficult of the quads, let down his first performer among women, did not come out in Samara, although the warm-up promised otherwise. And yet Sasha showed more assertive skating compared to the previous stage.

Alexandra herself agreed that the stage went better for her than the stage in Sochi. When asked if she really enjoys skating now (associated with the fact that she comes out to journalists with a smile), she succinctly replied: “The Olympics had an impact.”

Then she commented on the spectator’s exit to the ice: it was scary for him, because he could have fallen, without skates on the ice it’s not very convenient. This is how in the mixed zone there are questions, as they say, of a lifetime and momentary ones. Last but not least, the police took over.

Coach Svetlana Sokolovskaya summed up the performance of her students more emotionally: “Sonka is great. The place is good. Let there be such a victory – next time she will be ashamed to win with such a set. I am very happy for Sasha that she is back, working, continuing to skate and delight the audience. I believe she will return, do not rush, she will have everything.

In third place was Ksenia Gushchina, for whom this award is both joy and grief, because she could show more. Ksenia said that after the performance, her emotions split in half: sadness because not everything worked out and joy from the third place. The figure skater, who has been trained by Kirill Davydenko only since July after the athlete moved from Perm to St. Petersburg (she used to work with Olga Startseva in the Perm Territory), was dissatisfied with the way she performed the free program: you have to skate cleanly, like in training.

… Well, to the question of two competitive days in Samara, which suddenly appeared on the agenda, why there is no Channel One logo on the skater’s jacket (which was there until recently), Alexandra Trusova nevertheless answered. But like this: “Why is there no patch on the jacket? Let me just go.”