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At the stage of the Russian Grand Prix in Ufa, the junior figure skating competition ended. The pedestal was taken by representatives of three leading Moscow schools: Margarita Bazylyuk from Khrustalny, Alena Prineva from CSKA and Kira Trofimova from Plushenko’s Angels.
The correspondent talks about the new young stars and discusses why they so reminiscent of the legendary trio Trusov — Shcherbakova — Kostornaya.
The champion of the first stage of the Grand Prix, Margarita Bazylyuk, embodies skill and confidence on the ice, but appears to be the complete opposite in the mixed zone. If previously the main shyness among journalists was Alina Gorbacheva, then from now on Bazylyuk is relinquishing this title for lack of worthy competition.
When you are waiting for a conversation with a young lady who has just beaten her rivals by almost 30 points based on the sum of two programs, you expect some kind of courage and even audacity. But in fact, you see a thin flower with eyes green from excitement and a poorly hidden desire to merge with the column. One of those that holds a red barrier tape in mixed doubles, separating the athlete from the press. Just not to answer these insidious questions. Idols, examples? All the girls are good, I can’t single anyone out. What did the coaches say? That I skated better in training. What will I do? I will work harder and show my maximum.
When you hear such answers from a skater and at the same time you feel an undertone of banter in his voice: they say, I don’t want to confess to you now, leave me alone — you accept it immediately and without problems. But Margarita had no hint of banter. She is just a very obedient and responsible child, capable of repeating an exercise even better than the teachers show. That's why so far everything is so timid.
And this, in general, is not that bad. Modesty is also a form of individuality. This has already helped a lot in life for one girl named Anna Shcherbakova.
Bazylyuk doesn’t seem to be quite similar to her: neither in her face nor in her skating style. And in the purity of her lines, even now she would be ahead of the current Olympic champion. But this unobtrusiveness bordering on disappearance and the plum-gray suit for Les Misérables for some reason persistently make us remember Shcherbakova.
Without doubts, Margarita still has a lot of interviews ahead, so there will be time to learn how to behave in front of journalists. After all, none of us will make even one percent of what Bazylyuk owns at twelve. Why be afraid of us!
Other medalists of the stage were much more courageous. You could even say they were lively. Silver medalist Alena Prineva, when asked about the increasingly frequent comparisons with Sasha Trusova, answered in the best traditions of Trusova herself: “I don’t care.” Indeed, shouldn’t we consider this the main achievement in life? Especially when you, who have just started competing in juniors, are already ready to be recognized as one of the most accomplished figure skaters of the generation. And in your asset you have a quadruple lutz one and a half boards high, even if it has not yet been brought to maximum stability.
Honestly speaking, Prineva’s face is really very similar to Trusova at the same age. The program to the music of «Game of Thrones» and the blue dress only strengthened the similarity. But, in fairness, this is simply a feature of the structure of our memory, clinging to a visual image.
The production itself does not refer to Sasha in any way — all the accents are placed differently and even the dress is completely different. The program for Alena was staged by a young choreographer and popular TikToker Artem Fedorchenko. He clearly has his own view of art, so Artem might not even consider Sasha’s “Dracaris” as an homage.
Bronze medalist Kira Trofimova promises to grow into the same kind of mixed doubles champion as Alena Kostornaya. In terms of skating and even appearance, they have also been compared for quite some time. It’s ironic that Kira’s coaching staff, led by Evgeni Plushenko, did not run away from these analogies. On the contrary, the current athlete Kostornaya was invited to work with Trofimova on both programs as a choreographer. Or, if you want, a personal coach.
In the process, hand movements were clarified, emotions were spoken, and empty spaces in the programs were filled. Kira herself called Alena’s findings unique. You can argue with this or agree, but the free dance to Sevara’s song “I’m not there” really gives you major goosebumps.
Yes, Kira does not have Kostornaya’s knee, which allows her to easily and effortlessly fly over the short side with one movement of her leg. Nothing is a sparrow, as we know, except a sparrow. But for her age, gliding and other components of the second assessment are already quite impressive.
In general, here they are — the new TSCHKs that we have been waiting for for so long. Adjusted for the fact that BPT — Bazylyuk, Prineva and Trofimova — do not have to stew in the same juice within the same coaching group. And keeping in mind that this comparison is still a very large advance. The girls are just beginning their journey to conquer a place in history.
The phenomenon of Trusova, Shcherbakova and Kostornaya is that no obstacles or difficulties prevented them from showing their individuality. Their programs were choreographed by the same choreographer, their jumps were choreographed by the same coach, and their costumes were made by the same tailor from the same fabrics. But they were never the same. And they still force us to measure the “new ones” according to their line — each in its own way. And according to the totality of the invincible merits of the trinity — according to the total.
This is how human memory works — only the unique and significant lingers in it for a really long time.
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