Translated material
Dream Factory
World Cup starts in Los Angeles
This week, the largest city in the American state of California, Los Angeles, one of whose districts is the capital of the world film industry, Hollywood, is hosting the planetary figure skating championship, which will draw a line under the current pre-Olympic season. It is at this championship that the number of participants in the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games will be determined. It is probably more correct to consider this tournament from precisely this point of view, since Russian athletes can realistically count on awards in only one type of program out of four - ice dancing.The location of the current championship hardly fits into the concept of “winter sport”. Now in Los Angeles, by Russian standards, the weather is more like summer - plus 20 degrees Celsius, and everything is blooming. However, these are the realities of modern sports. Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014, world biathlon championship in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where there was no real snow at all...
The last time the World Figure Skating Championships were held in the United States was six years ago. In 2003, the strongest skaters gathered in Washington. This time the place of registration was Los Angeles, where nothing like this had ever been carried out before.
The Russian team at this championship will be represented in a shortened version. There are three sports pairs. These are European Championship medalists Yuko Kawaguchi - Alexander Smirnov, Maria Mukhortova - Maxim Trankov, as well as world championship debutants Ksenia Ozerova - Alexander Enbert, who replaced Lyubov Ilyushechkina and Nodari Maisuradze at the last moment. Only two of our duets will perform in ice dancing - 2009 European champions and 2008 World Championship medalists Yana Khokhlova - Sergei Novitsky, as well as 2008 European champions Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin. Three Russian athletes will take to the ice in the singles tournaments - Andrei Lutai, Sergei Voronov and Alena Leonova.
Most of our team flew to the USA at the beginning of March. Students of Oleg Vasiliev, the St. Petersburg couple Maria Mukhortova - Maxim Trankov, were preparing for the championship in Chicago. Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin, with whom Natalya Linichuk and Gennady Karponosov are working this season, are in Delaware. The rest of the skaters are in Detroit. Ozerov's only couple - Enbert, due to paperwork, only this week, together with the leaders of the domestic figure skating federation, went to California.
According to the President of the All-Russian Figure Skating Federation Valentin Piseev, in ice dancing our skaters can even compete for gold. However, if last year our team had clear leaders Domnina - Shabalin, now the situation has changed. For last year's European champions and Grand Prix finalists Domnina and Shabalin, the task of getting into the top three at the upcoming World Championships, in my opinion, seems extremely difficult. Due to a partner's injury, the tandem missed last year's world championship in Sweden, and this season the athletes did not complete the European championship for the same reason. After the obligatory dance, the couple withdrew from the competition. From Helsinki, Shabalin flew to Moscow to consult with his attending physician at CITO, Anatoly Orletsky. The specialist confirmed that there are no contraindications for continuing a sports career, and made it clear that if certain problems arise, they are primarily related to the psychological state and mood of the skater himself. However, be that as it may, this season for Domnina and Shabalin did not turn out as planned. And the World Championship in this regard will be the last opportunity for Oksana and Maxim to prove themselves.
The second Russian duo, Yana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitsky, are going to Los Angeles in a much better mood. This year, students of Irina Zhuk and Alexander Svinin became European champions for the first time in their careers. Last year they won bronze medals at the world championship. But it will be problematic for them to aim for first place, because their opponents are really serious.
These are two American couples - Olympic medalists Tanit Belban and Benjamin Agosto, as well as the current US champions Maril Davis - Charlie White, the Canadian duo, silver medalists of last year's world championship Tessa Virtue - Scott Moir. By the way, these students of Igor Shpilband and Marina Zueva actually missed most of the current season due to an injury to their partner; the athlete underwent surgery on her leg. For the first time, the Canadian duo appeared before the public at the Four Continents Tournament, where they lost to the Americans Davis and White on their home ice in Vancouver. Nevertheless, many experts believe that it is the Canadians who will become the main contenders for the “gold” of the current championship. Americans Belban and Agosto did not shine this season, even after moving to new coaches. But, perhaps, at the home championship many things will turn out differently for them.
The current world champions, France's Isabelle Delobelle and Olivier Schoenfelder, withdrew from the World Championships due to an injury to their partner. Isabelle underwent surgery, as a result of which the duo missed the European Championship. This is not a complete list of dance duets, each of which can count on championship awards. But such a situation will only add to the intrigue of the championship.
In pair skating, the Germans - world champions Alena Savchenko - Robin Szolkowy, as well as the Chinese will act as trendsetters. And not only the team leaders Dan Zhang - Hao Zhang, but also Queen Pang - Zhan Tong, for whom the previous season was disrupted due to a partner’s injury. Now they are gradually regaining lost ground and may well surpass their young compatriots.
Two Russian couples Yuko Kawaguchi - Alexander Smirnov, as well as Maria Mukhortova - Maxim Trankov were among the winners at the Grand Prix stages this year. Both duos won medals at the European Championships. And if the trump card of the Russian-Japanese duet is elements of ultra-si and bright programs, then Oleg Vasiliev’s charges are trying to rely on stable performances of both programs. However, this is exactly what they fail to demonstrate. If Mukhortova and Trankov cope with this main problem in the USA, they will be able not only to solve the local problem and get ahead of their compatriots, but also to compete for medals.
In single skating, it is unlikely that any of the three Russian participants will be able to break into the top three. The advances given to Sergei Voronov at the beginning of the season did not materialize. Ninth place at the European Championships in Helsinki can be considered a failure.
Andrey Lutai, although he looks more confident, is not yet able to compete with American, Japanese and European competitors.
In women's singles skating, Alena Leonova only attracted attention this season. Not long ago, the athlete won the world championship, albeit among juniors. But she is not able to make a golden double at the adult championship.