The fourth stage of the Grand Prix in Kazan became one of few that attracted attention long before the start. Firstly, the line-up of participants promised the audience one of the most interesting battles in women's singles skating. If before this there was one clear leader at each stage, now four participants compete with each other: Kamila Valieva, Sofya Muravyova, Alina Gorbacheva and Daria Sadkova. All of them have ultra-B elements in their arsenal, which the public has already missed.
Secondly, it cannot be denied that Valieva was the one most expected in her hometown. A huge number of banners, which even before the start of the competition were located along all the stands, once again confirm the love of Kazan residents for the figure skater.
Nevertheless, doubts that Valieva would perform at the stage remained until the draw. Even the words of the General Director of the Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKKR) Alexander Kogan, who assured that the athlete insists on participating in the Russian Grand Prix stage in Kazan, despite the hearings at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), were not reassuring. Many exhaled on Friday when Valieva, in good spirits, appeared at the Sports Palace and pulled out the ninth starting number.
But questions remained before the start of the short program. In what condition will the athlete approach the stage? Did she cope with the period of growing up? How will the endless delay of the process in the case of a positive doping test affect her? All of these factors seem to take a toll on the 17-year-old's confidence. Eteri Tutberidze, who missed the three previous stages, despite the performances of her other athletes, even came to Kazan as support.
During the warm-up, Valieva demonstrated confidence and calm. Even the fact that she almost collided with Muravyova did not knock her out of concentration. I immediately remembered how, at the previous stage, Elizaveta Shanaeva hit Annabelle Morozova’s leg with her skate blade. But this time the skaters managed to avoid a collision. It seems that the audience was even more scared than the participants themselves.
No other figure skater has received as much attention as Valieva. For almost the entire six minutes, the skater was chanted and shouted words of support, and three fans actively waved flags with images of Kamila.
At the box office, Valieva did not allow any of her elements to be doubted. Only after all the jumps had been completed did a flirting smile finally appear on Camila’s face. The coaches, who had been counting the number of revolutions in the spins until the very end, also exhaled. A clean performance allowed her to take first place. For it, Valieva received 81.09 points and by kiss-and-cry she was already smiling and joking as before. Satisfied with the assessments she received, she took two huge bouquets and a bear half her height into the tribune room.
As soon as Valieva entered the mixed zone, journalists were warned: “No questions about the trial. We don’t talk about this topic. About competitions, the Grand Prix, any questions please.” But it seemed that even talking about the tournament was not easy for her. During the entire conversation, Camila smiled only once; it was noticeable that she was emotionally exhausted. After talking with her, there was only one question in my head: “Where does she get the strength to give her all on the ice, if even a normal conversation with a large number of people is so difficult for her?” But, probably, this is the highest degree of professionalism.
Despite her condition, Valieva answered all questions, especially noting the support of the public.
«»The audience is incredible, pleasant. I am grateful for such support. So much support, screams from the stands were not enough. I am glad that I finally started my competitive season. Preparations went as usual. All the difficulties were left behind, I prepared calmly. I tried to recover as much as possible “The plan is to practice jumps as much as possible. I haven’t recovered the triple Axel yet,” she told reporters.
It is very difficult to fight against Valieva during clean performances. To do this, at a minimum, you need ultra-si elements. But all subsequent participants, one after another, refused to perform the triple axel in the short program, relying on pure performance.
Muravyova managed to get as close as possible to Valieva. For the rental, Sofya received 77.02 points. But the difference in components of almost three points between her and Valieva made some fans indignant. A dissatisfied “Not enough!” was clearly heard from the stands. Sophia herself noted that at some point she thought that these were quite large points.
“It’s not for me to evaluate my performance, but for the judges and fans. But I received satisfaction, although I was unaccustomed to competitions. Now I’m getting used to it again. The mood is good. The audience is very good, I didn’t expect it. About the points, at some point I thought that it was even a lot. “I’m happy with everything, I’m grateful to everyone,” said Muravyova.
After which, with a smile, she distributed pre-prepared gifts to all the journalists. Her mother sewed bunny hearts on which Sophia left her autograph.
Gorbacheva took intermediate third place (73.29). After the skate, it seemed that the athlete was not entirely happy with her performance, despite the fact that all the jumps were performed cleanly, and the rotations and step sequence were performed to the fourth level. But the skater lost one point for a delayed start. Perhaps this happened due to the excessive excitement that Gorbacheva had today.
“»It was very exciting, today not everything worked out in the best way. But I will try to skate 100% tomorrow. There was excitement, and it didn’t work out completely concentrate on the moment here and now. This morning at training we decided to skate with a snipe. But I’m working on the triple axel, trying to stabilize it and will soon insert it into the program,” she noted.
The participants did not disclose the planned content for the free program, but there is confidence that not one of them will give up their place without a fight. Moreover, while all three still have a chance to fight for gold in the competition.