Translated material
Covered with "Blizzard"
Totmyanina and Marinin are in the lead after the short program
The figure skating tournament started with competitions between sports pairs in the Olympic Turin. After the short program, two-time world champions Russians Tatyana Totmyanina and Maxim Marinin are in the lead. The Chinese Dan Jang - Hao Jang are almost four points behind them, and another Russian pair - Maria Petrova and Alexey Tikhonov - closes the top three.20 duets who qualified for the Games following the results of the last World Championship in Moscow were allowed to participate in the White Olympiad. Among them are six Russian participants: Totmyanina - Marinin, Petrova - Tikhonov, Yulia Obertas - Sergei Slavnov. Even before the start of the Olympic tournament, Tatyana and Maxim were named among the real contenders for gold. This season, Oleg Vasilyev's team not only pleased with stable results - they were not inferior to anyone. Totmyanina and Marinin won all the stages of the Grand Prix in which they took part, became winners of the finals of these competitions, and did not allow anyone to overtake them at the January European Championship. “The main task for us is to approach the Olympics in optimal shape,” coach Oleg Vasiliev said at the beginning of the season. And, apparently, his students succeeded.
With their skating in the short program, Totmyanina and Marinin cleared up all questions. No wonder that after the announcement of the scores, Maxim did not hide his joy: “This was our best rental of the season.” The Russians skated the short program, set to the music “Blizzard” by Georgy Sviridov, flawlessly. Lifts, spirals, rotations, step patterns corresponded to the highest, fourth level of difficulty. Add to this a clearly executed parallel jump - a triple toe loop. The Russians received 35.93 points for technique, 32.71 for program components and a total of 68.64 points, which brought them to first position.
One of the main competitors of Oleg Vasiliev's pair last season was the leaders of Chinese pair skating Xu Shen and Hongbo Zhao. The Chinese missed this season due to a partner's injury. In the summer, he underwent surgery on his Achilles and, as he himself stated, was only able to perform a triple toe loop at the end of January. However, it was not he, but his partner who made a mistake on this jump in the short program - after the execution she touched the ice with her hands. And at the end of the program, the partner himself made a mistake on the todes, and all this resulted in a low overall score for the bronze medalists of the Salt Lake City Games - 62.32, which dropped them to fifth place in the intermediate protocol. Although it should be noted that their program, set to the music of Sergei Rachmaninov, was replete with interesting, original finds. However, the couple lacked the freshness, lightness and artistry that had distinguished them in recent years.
Compatriots Dan Jang and Hao Jang provided insurance for the leaders of Chinese skating. In this box office, they surpassed themselves in terms of technique and artistry, for which they received the best score in their career - 64.72. “I don’t think about Olympic medals,” my partner said after the skate. “Our task in Turin is to maximize our potential.” The Russians Maria Petrova and Alexey Tikhonov are only half a point behind the Chinese. Their short program to the music of Handel is without a doubt the best of their joint performances. If it weren’t for the partner’s blot on the parallel triple sheepskin coat, the Russians would have been able to rise higher.
The seventh place of the German pair Alena Savchenko - Robin Zholkov, who had a brilliant season and even beat Petrova and Tikhonov several times, was a complete surprise. Obertas and Slavnov had an unsuccessful start in Turin. They are currently positioned behind the Germans, 8 points behind the leaders.