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At the World Championships in Tokyo, the Russians were left without medals
The World Figure Skating Championships in Tokyo ended in complete fiasco for the Russian team. For the first time since 1962, domestic athletes found themselves without any awards. The results of the Russians’ performance in Tokyo can be called “catastrophe” for many reasons. After all, the consequence of failure will be that at the next world championship in Gothenburg, Russia will be able to field only one participant each in women’s and men’s skating. In another year, Olympic qualifications will be played out, and it will be quite problematic to restore former positions in the current situation.The Tokyo results eloquently indicate that Russia has lost its status as a trendsetter in this sport. Of the 12 medals awarded in four types of figure skating, the largest number are six (three gold, two silver and a bronze) by Asian athletes, four (two gold and two bronze) by Europeans and two (silver and bronze) by North Americans. It is worth noting that a third of the awards were won with the participation of domestic specialists. In women's skating, world champion from Japan Mikki Ando is coached by Nikolai Morozov, silver medalist Mao Assad is coached by Rafael Harutyunyan. Two-time world champions from Bulgaria Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviysky have been working under the direction of Natalia Linichuk and Gennady Karponosov for two seasons, and bronze medalists American dancers Tanit Belban and Benjamin Agosto are the wards of Igor Shpilband and choreographer Marina Zueva. However, this fact, which confirms the strong traditions of the national coaching school, can serve as little consolation in the current situation.
Before leaving for Japan, the President of the All-Russian Figure Skating Federation Valentin Piseev was cautious in his forecasts. According to him, Russian athletes could count on, at best, two medals - in pair skating, meaning Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov, and in dancing, relying on Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin. At the last world championship in Calgary, it was Petrova and Tikhonov who brought the Russian team the only bronze medal. This time, the veterans of the Russian team were not able to complete the entire championship distance. They withdrew after a short program, according to the results of which they took only 11th place.
Frankly speaking, in Tokyo, Petrova and Tikhonov could only hope for a miracle. This season has not been particularly stable in their performance. A year ago, the athletes announced the end of their sports careers and only at the urgent request of the federation leadership agreed to skate for another year. At the same time, they began to actively participate in commercial projects. Such a split and change in priorities could not but affect the couple’s results. True, the Russians came second at the European Championships; earlier at the Grand Prix stages in Paris and Moscow they won gold and silver, but Chinese couples did not take part in these tournaments. In a head-to-head competition with the strongest skaters in the world, in the Grand Prix final, Russian veterans took the last, sixth place. Apparently, Petrova and Tikhonov will finish their performances in amateur sports, albeit on a minor note. Given the current balance of power in our pair skating, it will not be surprising for Olympic champions Tatyana Totmyanina and Maxim Marinin to return to amateur ice.
As for the dancers' tournament in Tokyo, its results became even more discouraging for the Russians. After the compulsory dance, Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin were third, after the original dance they were fourth, and at the end of the free dance they dropped another position lower. With clean performances of programs filled with the most complex elements, Russian dancers were actually removed from the pedestal with low technical scores. To make it clear what we are talking about, judging in figure skating under the current system is carried out by two teams - the first, which includes three technical specialists, and the second, made up of 12 referees. It is the technical trio that determines the level of complexity of the elements. Judges from the second team evaluate the quality of their performance. The final grade directly depends on the level of complexity of the elements. At the World Championships in Tokyo, almost all elements of Domnina and Shabalin were rated as second and third levels of difficulty. While during the season they received the maximum fourth levels for the same programs.
In addition, the current situation takes a scandalous turn due to the fact that the main character of the technical trio was the Pole Andrzej Dostatnik. At the beginning of this season, the coach of the Russian duo, Alexey Gorshkov, criticized Dostatnik’s working methods. The current fifth place of Domnina and Shabalin was seen by many as the Pole’s response to criticism.