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Favorite of the Russian Grand Prix stage in Krasnoyarsk Maya Khromykh was not among the winners at the end of the tournament . Sport explains why it is too early to write off a figure skater and what is the interest of coach Eteri Tutberidze.
Somehow it happened that historically no one believed in Maya. After moving to Moscow, Tutberidze was treated with skepticism. Too high for singles, too unstable for quads. She was included in the trio VUH (Valieva, Usacheva, Khromykh), but with an asterisk. On the way to the top, I still had to learn ultra-si, find my own style and achieve high results.
Maya was constantly catching up with everyone. Quite late I joined the squabble of big sport, which until recently did not really exist outside of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Later than other girls, Tutberidze began to do all triple jumps and achieved full recognition. The final of the Russian Cup — 2021 at the age of 15 divided life, where everything bad remained in the “before”, and the “after” was perceived exclusively in the context of two clean quadruple jumps that happened for the first time.
Khromykh has always been special. It is difficult for tall skaters to jump; some of them are automatically rejected after a couple of failures. Maya was also on the brink of the abyss. As a result, with a height of 170 centimeters, she jumped both triple and quadruple jumps. The figure skater's arsenal had everything the same as other girls — cool spins, choreography and good gliding. On the ice, the athlete never showed how difficult it was for her to perform this against the background of her smaller rivals.
A severe cut in the tendons of the fingers during training with large blood loss and hospitalization, a cast, back problems and a painfully long recovery are the next, as Eteri Georgievna put it, trials that Maya had to overcome. This weekend, at the Grand Prix stage in Krasnoyarsk, someone expected her to win purely out of inertia — they say, figure skater Tutberidze should a priori be the favorite. But not in this case. Maya came as a replacement, not really getting into shape, and dropped the group banner — fifth place. Tutberidze’s student did not make it to the senior podium for the first time since 2018.
Although for Khromykh, the start could be a big step into the future. Competitive experience cannot be gained through training, which means that any outlet for her will be useful even without medals. She herself said this in the mixed zone after Krasnoyarsk. Further more. Is it true?
The answer to the question can be given not only by Maya, but also by the coach. I remember well how she spoke warmly in an interview about her mentor — being naturally shy, with the transition to Eteri Georgievna she found herself in an environment where you could finally be yourself. It is obvious that the support of the head coach is extremely important to her, not only in the training process, but also in competitions. And Tutberidze herself needs more Khromykh than might seem at first glance.
As the age limit increases, the value of adult figure skaters on a team increases exponentially. Within the framework of the previous age restrictions, Khrustalny benefited from the thin and sonorous bodies put on stream, and working with athletes after 17 years of age was in some sense irrelevant. Now the realities have changed. Taking into account the rather painful process of generational change, even Eteri Georgievna’s group has to turn to those who have already passed the “puberty” mark.
Currently there are two such skaters in the team — Kamila Valieva and Maya Khromykh. Both are 17 years old, both are experiencing various difficulties, but if we were allowed to participate in international competitions now, who would go from Khrustalny? Yes, here they are, in the company of 16-year-old Adelia Petrosyan, whose main stage of age-related changes is still ahead. And Kamila, in case anyone has forgotten, is about to have another meeting of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on a doping case.
It turns out that Khromykh is second the most stable choice of «Khrustalny» among adults. She survived both a tough puberty and severe injuries, and will only continue to improve. True, for this it is still advisable to pay due attention from the coach. But is Eteri Georgievna, for whom international Grand Prix with Georgian Nika Egadze is clearly more valuable than Russian ones, ready for this? She was no longer on duty in Krasnoyarsk.
The author’s opinion may not coincide with the position of the editors