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The most joyful news on the eve of the third stage of the Russian Figure Skating Grand Prix in Krasnoyarsk was the news, concerning the fourth stage — in Kazan. Kamila Valieva will still perform at it — and this despite the fact that the tournament will be held almost at the same time as the hearings in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in the case of a positive doping test of the Russian figure skater.
«< br>«Which Olympic champion will be seen in Krasnoyarsk?» — such a question was asked by one of the local journalists at a press conference preceding the start of the third stage of the Russian Grand Prix. In response to this, the General Director of the Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKKR), Alexander Ilyich Kogan, had to answer by slightly laughing it off. “Olympic champions Alina Zagitova, Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov will perform at the opening ceremony,” he noted, adding that he expects interesting competitions and competition in each discipline.
But people are interested in stars — this is an axiom that cannot be contradicted. And with this, the Krasnoyarsk stage could have done better — at least in women's single skating, to which, thanks to the success of Russian girls in recent years, we have received special attention. For example, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva appears as the face of the tournament, her photograph is on the official posters — but the ex-world champion initially announced for these competitions decided to take a break from her competitive career. The participation of Russian champion Sofia Akatieva was announced — but literally a few days later she withdrew for medical reasons.
We can also, of course, recall the gold and silver medalists of the Beijing Olympics, Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova, who at the moment prefer to earn money in shows rather than participate in tournaments. Which, by the way, seems to cause understanding in the FFKKR. “It is clear that for athletes with titles the most difficult thing is not to perform in competitions, but the daily work in training, and in our last conversation with Liza Tuktamysheva we discussed this,” Kogan noted at the same Krasnoyarsk press conference. “It’s probably hard.” Monotonous training work is the trigger that gives them a sign — maybe it’s better to rest and take part in the show?”
Perhaps someone here suddenly had a thought: does this mean that Valieva is confident in the court’s acquittal? No, the point here is a regulatory issue, which was reported earlier: CAS will not issue a verdict right away. It is unknown how long it will take to prepare it, but based on the experience of previous cases, this period will most likely be measured in months. Therefore, even in the worst case, which, as all sane people hope, will not happen, Kamila still definitely has the opportunity to compete at the Russian Grand Prix.
Although it is obvious that it will not be easy for Valieva in Kazan to distract herself from a completely unsportsmanlike topic. And on Friday, November 10, it is possible that you will have to skip the pre-start training altogether — if it coincides with the hearings in which Kamila participates via video link. And the fact that perhaps the most talented figure skater of our days (at least that’s what many experts have called her more than once) not only does not use any reason to “refuse” from competitions, but even insists on participating in them — this is huge joy for all lovers of the artistic part of this sport.
After all, what is the main pain from the fact that stars leave sports early? In theater terms, these are unplayed roles. Yes, there are shows in which champions continue to perform, but there, to begin with, they do not always play iconic roles. For example, the same Valieva, like Shcherbakova and Alina Zagitova, participate in Tatyana Navka’s “The Love Story of Scheherazade,” but there the Goddess, whom they alternately play, goes on the ice for only a few minutes in each part. Well, you can’t call the roles in children’s ice fairy tales full of depth — it’s unlikely that in the performances that take place every day, it could be otherwise.
Sports programs of great masters are still remembered much more often — also for the reason that in figure skating, artistry evokes special admiration in combination with the highest technical level. And in shows, as a rule, champions no longer demonstrate it. The same Zagitova has very bright exhibition performances — but the Olympic champion of Pyeongchang is still remembered for “Don Quixote”, “Black Swan” and “Cleopatra”. The same applies to Evgenia Medvedeva — her tragic Olympic «Anna Karenina» is still before everyone's eyes. And such examples can be given and given.
Returning to the Beijing champion, let us remind you that Valieva has completely new images for her this season. One of them is very adult, in a short program that the skater performs to the blues song I See Red, and the athlete admitted at the test skates that she is grateful to the coaches who heard her desire to change on the ice. Camila is also good in the role of the Black Panther — also not the most familiar one for her. In terms of expression, Valieva, perhaps, reached a level previously unseen in her productions in these programs. And the coolest thing about all this is that she wants to share this expression with us.