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The Grand Prix stage in Krasnoyarsk was overshadowed by a dramatic accident that predetermined the outcome of the ice dancing tournament. Some of the contenders for medals, at least for silver, Annabelle Morozova and Igor Eremenko, were forced to withdraw from the competition due to a severe cut on their partner’s leg. She received it not through her own fault, but as a result of a collision during the warm-up with another duet — Elizaveta Shanaeva and Pavel Drozd.
Shanaeva and Drozd were finishing the element at the side; Morozova and Eremenko were rolling towards them along an intersecting trajectory. Eremenko, seeing his rivals, tried to brake himself, but did not have time to “turn away” Annabelle, who was driving with her back and could not notice Elizabeth. Drozd, in turn, saw Morozova/Eremenko too, but did not change the direction of movement and did not stop Shanaeva. As a result, at a fairly high speed, the back of the blade of her skate crashed into Morozova’s shin.
Annabelle managed to skate the rhythm dance on moral-volitional and painkillers, but after applying seven stitches and the resulting swelling, she had to give up her free dance take off.
The situation left a feeling of unresolution largely due to the behavior of the main characters. In particular, Shanaeva. She made neither public nor private apologies for the injury, even if unintentionally caused. The journalists only got Elizabeth to say that she reacted calmly to hate on the Internet — she read it, closed it and forgot. The partner tried to smooth out the corners a little, but it turned out quite awkward, with the blanket being pulled over their couple and the mention of certain duets who supposedly practice “aggressive warm-up”.
And this despite the fact that Morozova/Eremenko, due to the incident, lost the opportunity to win stage medals and earn prize money. That is, they suffered many losses: moral, financial, temporary. While Shanaeva/Drozd calmly skated both dances and took second place without a fight.
What adds poignancy is the fact that it was Morozova/Eremenko who were their main competitors in the fight for silver. And it was to Annabelle Morozova last season that Elizaveta Shanaeva’s partner David Narizhny went (now he skates with Irina Khavronina). This is partly why the clash looks like a settling of scores, although it certainly is not. An accident within a larger system of hatred and violence, albeit passive.
And what is this aggressive warm-up that Pavel Drozd talked about? This phenomenon really exists in ice dancing. When five duets come out to skate — count ten people — and need to try amplitude lifts, paths and twizzles, a traumatic atmosphere is generally created. All participants need to be careful and monitor the movements of their opponents to avoid collisions. But sometimes athletes rush onto the ice so charged that even the simple need to give way in front of the judges and spectators is perceived as a defeat. Accordingly, they drive to the end, do not remove their outstretched leg and, as it were, force their opponents to “get out of the way” first.
Most often, common sense wins — if stubbornness can cost your health, then such stubbornness is in the firebox. But sometimes collisions still happen. It is considered good form to immediately make sure that everything is okay with you and your opponent and apologize. The bad thing is to pretend as if nothing happened, and continue to go over your head with the empathy of a brick.
One of the recent examples, not related to the internal Russian cuisine, is the slight clash between Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov with Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue in the Olympic team tournament. There were no injuries, Nikita even managed to say something angry to Zachary, and he rode off into the sunset without apologizing.
There have also been collisions that led to serious injuries. Like, for example, Albena Denkova from Bulgaria — Petr Chernyshev, who competed for the USA, cut her leg to the bone, damaging her Achilles. It took several months to recover, and Albena needed a complex operation.
Coaches sometimes pump up athletes themselves: they say, a confident warm-up is already half the victory. They probably hope to use pressure to drive their opponents crazy, to make them over-emotion and thus make mistakes. It is interesting that in response to the corresponding question from the correspondent, Honored Trainer of the USSR Tatyana Tarasova used the technique of aggressive dialogue: how to answer this. There are many different warm-ups, whatever the coach comes up with is what (the athletes) use.»
Ilya Averbukh refused to comment again on the clash between the two couples and Shanaeva’s behavior. Getting a hold of several other top dance coaches has proven to be about as difficult as avoiding a collision while a glittering skate is speeding toward you.
And, although officials remain silent (no matter what happens, this is understandable), it is obvious that the behavior of Elizaveta Shanaeva deserves reproach even in the wolfish environment of figure skating. More eloquent than any words is the blow on Shanaeva’s back from Elena Tchaikovskaya, which was caught on video of the award ceremony. At the same time, she shook Drozd’s hand, like all the other medalists.
The official position of the FFKKR can also be read in the summary of the competition results published on the website . Here's a quote:
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“In the mixed zone, Pavel expressed regret about what happened, but it seemed that he and Lisa carefully avoided simple apologies. Meanwhile, when you accidentally bump into a passer-by on the street, and even if you didn’t see him, it happened by accident, the first thing you do is apologize, stop and simply ask if everything is okay…”
Just imagine what will happen in our ice dancing if everyone starts behaving like Shanaeva. Among teenagers and hot-blooded young people, where everyone is someone’s ex or ex-girlfriend, where there are many unspoken grievances and voiced insults, where the desire to prove to everyone that one is right and greatness sometimes prevails over common sense, chaos will begin. Please take everything written below as a fantasy brought to the point of absurdity, which should never become reality.
Sofia Shevchenko will throw Annabelle Morozova’s skates in the trash because her ex-partner Igor Eremenko skates with her. By chance, of course, — well, there are some unidentified skates lying around in the locker room. Elizaveta Pasechnik, whom Maxim Nekrasov left for Vasilisa Kaganovskaya, will tear her opponent’s dress right before going on the ice — she accidentally catches it with her nail and does not apologize. Dario Chirisano will punch David Narizhny in the jaw for losing his partner Irina Khavronina — the resentment is pressing, how to resist. Coaches Irina Zhuk and Alexander Svinin will make a voodoo doll of Alexander Zhulin — it was their students Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin who went to him. You can understand people. And, of course, Valery Angelopol, who has returned from the shadow ban of the federation, will rise above all this — you can imagine the scale of his revenge.
The author’s opinion may not coincide with the position of the editors