Beijing Olympic champion Anna Shcherbakova and silver medalist of the 2022 Games Alexandra Trusova have not yet talked about their plans for next season. Sport discusses whether the figure skaters will return to the competition.
Shcherbakova
Perhaps the most revealing moment regarding Anna Shcherbakova and her career is that she tries not to discuss this topic in conversations with the press. Probably, Anna drew a conclusion from the experience of Alina Zagitova — even when it was obvious that the 2018 Olympic champion would no longer compete, she continued to talk about a possible return.
Probably, Shcherbakova herself did not fully decide which life would captivate her more — in sports or ordinary, with the freedom to do what you want, do what you like, and develop not only in the number of quadruples in a free program. This life opened up to her after the autumn knee surgery, and in an interview, Anna admitted that she liked her. In sports, she has achieved the highest possible heights, and the longer Russian figure skating stays in isolation, the stronger this thesis becomes. Only the European Championship and the Grand Prix Final are missing from the full set of titles, but how soon will she have at least a theoretical opportunity to appear there? In the next season, hardly, too many different obstacles. >In March 2024, Anna will turn 20 years old. And after missing two seasons, at an already solid age for women's singles and with a mountain of gold medals, including the most important one, again go for two or three quadruples in a free program? We will not argue that this is impossible. Moreover, such a story would benefit our figure skating, so that not only Elizaveta Tuktamysheva would play the role of a guiding figure, as her coach Alexei Mishin, the star of maturity, said, but here the question of finding motivation is even sharper than health.
On the other hand, Anna promised nothing to anyone, which means she owes nothing. She talked about «returning to training», and it really took place. Yes, as far as I’ve heard, this season she didn’t even train half as much as before, but the goals of these classes were completely different — recovery from surgery, maintaining physical fitness, preparing for the show. Shcherbakova performed in them in the spring and looked great, but, logically, without quads. And again she asked not to ask about the future.
Last season, Anna, taking advantage of a pause, made her debut as a host in the television show «Ice Age», and everyone on the project was happy with her. And given the tendency not to disclose plans by the skaters themselves, fans of the Olympic champion can learn about her thoughts about the upcoming season just from the personnel appointments of the Glacier.
Trusova
As for Alexandra Trusova, her case is somewhat different — at least in that she skated last season, albeit only half. Few people would be surprised if she decided to take a break, but already at the test skates she had two new programs, staged at the headquarters of Eteri Tutberidze, and competitive costumes ready. And all this against the backdrop of a back injury that worried her, about which Alexandra herself told reporters. That is, the “queen of quads” had really serious plans to break into the season, despite the fact that it was quads that began to let the queen down.
>Again, we descend into the maelstrom of cheerleaders' conjectures and theories. There is an opinion that all the sores of Alexandra that she faced this season are at least exaggerated, to say the least. For example, doctors removed Trusova from the Russian Championship due to a high temperature and, probably, the flu, which was doubted not only by the fan community, but also by the choreographer of the Tutberidze team Alexei Zheleznyakov (later he apologized for what he said). There are probably reasons for this, and they do not relate directly to Trusova. It’s just that it has become fixed in the mass consciousness that an athlete should perform without looking back at torn ligaments and broken limbs, and even such a trifle as a dangerous flu should not be mentioned at all. In this unhealthy paradigm, perhaps the reason for removing Alexandra really looks insufficient, but here are a couple of touches on the portrait to better understand the context.
Firstly, in Krasnoyarsk Trusova was really going to perform. If anyone flew there without a clear idea of whether he would go on the ice or not, then this was her young man Mark Kondratyuk, who barely had time to heal his back. Not so long ago, he admitted that he went to Krasnoyarsk, at least «to support Sasha», that is, there were no «buts» and «ifs» in relation to her.
Secondly, eyewitnesses noticed that Alexandra did not look well at the drawing ceremony, and the next day everything got worse. One of my acquaintances was supposed to meet her in the evening before the short program on an important matter, but Alexandra felt so bad that she could not even leave the room. The next morning — news about the withdrawal, clarification that the decision was made by the team doctor Alexander Ozerov, as well as a photo of a thermometer in a banned social network with a value of 39.4.
About a month after the Olympics in Beijing, I briefly talked with one of the coaches who worked with Alexandra, and he said that any age changes would not deprive her of a single quadruple. She can jump him with little or no training, he doesn't need an outrageous form. Naturally, this quadruple was Lutz, and it was Trusova who left him in the post-Olympic season, even against the background of emotional and physical fatigue and a back injury. In a free program, he was Alexandra's first element, although six months ago, her second quadruple lutz could go closer to the end — after four more quads and the rest of the program. she didn't make it. Although in the spring at the Evgeni Plushenko show, Alexandra (already completely out of shape before the holidays) successfully entered it several times. What has changed with her during this time? Obviously, just the same state of the back. At the same time, Alexandra speaks evasively about the next season — “I don’t make any plans yet, I live for today, I work.”
If we ignore the thoughts of Alexandra herself, then the past year has shown that half-hearted conditions are not enough for a full-fledged struggle. If in the Olympic season Trusova calmly won at the stage of the then international Grand Prix with a stress fracture of the foot, having the same one quadruple lutz, then this is definitely not enough with the current level of competition. At the same time, Trusova, unlike Shcherbakova, retains competitive goals that are quite tangible even for an outside observer, because she does not yet have significant titles at the adult level, with the exception of the redistributed championship of Russia last year. Adding a couple of serious victories to the piggy bank (preferably at the international level) is a serious motivation on which you can drag through the next season, and the next, and more, and more.
But is it worth it specifically for Alexandra? The question is still rhetorical. Moreover, she also began an active life outside the rink — she appears at a variety of events, actively spends her free time, attends lectures by the journalism faculty of Moscow State University and generally looks like a happy person who suddenly discovered a portal beyond the ice. To return back, you need to restore quadruples, look for an approach to the changed body and learn to treat it with care, adjusting the load to current tasks. This is certainly difficult, but by no means impossible.
However, there is one more circumstance that inspires doubts. Not so long ago it became known that part of the spring tour of the Plushenko show, in which Trusova plays a key role, was rescheduled tentatively at the end of October. What makes Alexandra's participation in the first three stages of the Russian Grand Prix unlikely. Yes, top athletes have the right to choose stages to their taste, and hypothetically nothing prevents her from taking, say, two at the end of November, but there are two but: will the federation give Alexandra the right to choose after not the most successful last season? And more importantly, will she use it?