Samara welcomes the fifth stage of the Russian Figure Skating Grand Prix series

The season for Russian figure skaters is in full swing; the fifth adult stage of the Grand Prix series starts this weekend in Samara. There were losses even before the start of the competition: doctors did not allow Sofya Akatieva and Vladislav Dikidzhi to go on the ice. And if the figure skater who made a splash with his gorgeous skates at the stage in Kazan is unwell, but is going to go on the ice in Moscow in a week, then the audience may not see Sonya at all in the main part of the season.

Samara, which is hosting the fifth stage of the Russian Grand Prix series, has lost two top skaters at once. Vladislav Dikidzhi will not be in men’s single skating, and Sofia Akatieva will not be in women’s singles. Athletes are prevented from going on the ice by illness and injury.

Vladislav Dikidzhi just not only won in Kazan, but did it in the most ideal way: two clean skates with complex content. The result is that it was not just anyone who was beaten, but the champion of Russia, already a seasoned athlete, Evgeniy Semenenko. The adult debutant, a student of coach Oleg Tataurov, who at one time was a student of the Tatyana and Alexei Mishin family, Semenenko’s coaches, beat him by as many as twenty points. Both Zhenya Semenenko and Petya Gumennik, by the way, also studied in the youth group with coach Tataurov. But Dikiji is already his adult entrance to the competitions.

This is what the skater and coach wanted – to perform at two stages in a row. But a cold changed my plans. If she doesn’t mess up further, then Vladislav will still perform at his second stage of the Russian Grand Prix, which will be held in Moscow next weekend.

The champion of the previous stage is, of course, the loss of the Samara start. But Pyotr Gumennik, Alexander Samarin, Alexey Erokhov, Roman Savosin, Andrey Mozalev and Artur Danielyan are not just a serious group of skaters, but the most serious. But it’s difficult to make predictions here; the swing of the men’s singles with regular failures of leaders is known.

…Sofya Akatieva was highly anticipated on the competitive ice. Back in September, she performed at test skates only

with a short program. And she admitted then that recovery from the injury was not yet complete, the elements had not been restored. She said, as befits a Russian champion who has both quadruple jumps and a triple Axel, that her “ambition to win” has not gone away. And she wants to confirm her status, and most importantly, “to skate like a Russian champion.”

But this combination of two words – “stress fracture” – is always very annoying in figure skating. It’s far from new that a complex injury occurs as a result of stress and microdamage. The injury prevented Sonya from reaching the planned stages; and if the assumptions made by the sources are true, the doctors banned the skater from exercising for either two or three months. Both the time forecasts fall within the timing of the Russian Championship. Apparently, Sonya will not have to participate in the showdown between the country’s strongest figure skaters.

Daria Sadkova, who unexpectedly took off to the third step of the podium in Kazan, will perform in Samara. Yes, Kamila Valieva, who ended up in fourth place, also “took part” in this, but Dasha herself did a lot for success. In Kazan, she still did not submit to the quadruple sheepskin coat, but who knows how he will behave on the Samara ice. And there is no doubt that the ultra-c jump will be in the young skater’s application.

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Maya Khromykh will also appear at the fifth stage, to whom I would like to especially wish good luck. Her first start after a long break due to injury was perceived as a failure – fifth place. Enthusiasts immediately rushed to count: the last time Tutberidze’s students could not get on the podium of adult tournaments, having skated both programs, even at Skate Canada 2018 (Tursynbaeva became fifth, Panenkova – ninth).

We don’t have international tournaments now, and Maya last competed before this season in March 2022. Then came the fateful September 2022, when during training the athlete cut the tendons of her fingers and was taken to the hospital. Next – skipping all tournaments in the season. I restored one thing, another began, injuries followed. She said, returning to the competitions, that during the break she wanted to skate and perform “like girls.” I watched their training, and I myself “came with a cast, then with a belt, then with something else.” I just rode without load, “cried a lot at home and worried.”

This season, Khromykh was announced for the starting stage, but her return was postponed until the third start of the series. Maya steadfastly commented on her fifth place: “A week ago I was very scared, but I told myself that I had worked hard and was ready for this. My goal for the season is to reach the competition.” She joked and laughed, but it was clear that everything was not so simple.

“I realized that I can’t live without competitions, without training, without these emotions. I realized that I had to return, otherwise I would never forgive myself for this. I don’t want to achieve something, but I want to ride, I like it,” her words after her return. And yet: quadruples will be restored, although this goal is in the background. In the meantime, we need to “roll up the programs” so that they are stable and there is time for quadruples in training. “I will restore four revolutions; maybe not this season, but next, but I’ll try. I believe that everything can be returned.”

In ice dancing the following will perform: Elizaveta Khudayberdieva and Egor Bazin, Irina Khavronina and David Narizhny, Sofia Shevchenko and Andrey Yezhlov, Ekaterina Mironova and Evgeniy Ustenko, Sofya Tyutyunina and Matvey Grachev… The leadership of the national champions Khudaiberdieva and Bazin can hardly be challenged, but it is important progress of each duet: is it there or not?

…The season is going on, but the tournament calendar plans are also unexpectedly adjusted. The Russian Jumping Championship has been moved from St. Petersburg, according to the official website of the FFKKR, to Moscow. Now the competitions from Yubileiny will move to Moscow to the CSKA Arena in early December and will be held from January 19 to 22. But St. Petersburg will not be left without figure skating: there will be a team tournament in early March and a show program tournament “Russian Challenge” from March 8 to 10.