Andrey SimonenkoSport correspondentAll materialsRussian figure skater Yevgeny Semenenko accurately performed a short program in the men's tournament at the Beijing Olympics, which allowed him to take an intermediate seventh place and keep his chances for a medal. Olympic team champion Mark Kondratyuk and another Russian Andrey Mozalev did not manage to skate in the first part of the individual tournament. But those who came at 7 am on Tuesday for the men's pre-start training before the short program of the individual tournament at the Olympics, it was clearly visible how hard Mark is now. It is impossible to have an iron psyche at the age of 18, and to cope with a situation in which on Sunday the huge responsibility for performing in the team tournament of the Olympics falls off the shoulders, and in less than 48 hours already in the rank of Olympic champion you have to start in individual competitions, is not subject to everyone .So Mark stamped one “butterfly” after another at the end of the training, going to such a familiar triple axel. He was angry, cursing, but he could not help himself. Only in the very last attempt did he manage, but it was clear: the performance was not a training one, but a real one would be an incredible test for the Olympic champion.
