Betina Popova: “Kostornaia is undertaking a heroic journey from singles to pairs. She is a crazy maximalist. She wants to be a champion and I’m sure she will achieve it.”
Translation of Betina Popova’s comments about Alena Kostornaia’s progress in pair skating.
original source: Sport-Express
Coach and choreographer Betina Popova shared her thoughts about Alena Kostornaia’s progress in pair skating. Here’s translation of her comments made in an interview for Sport Express.
Kostornaia now competes in pair skating together with her husband and ice partner Georgi Kunitsa. In October, they secured the fourth place at the Grand Prix stage in Omsk – the debut competition for the duo.
“Our pairs have been skating for a short time, so I consider the results and scores to be worthy. The guys are doing quite well, and pair skating is very challenging. Our pairs lack automation and cleaness of skating. In this aspect, we are being surpassed, which is logical. Give us a couple of years – and we will be on an equal footing, ha-ha!
Alena is undertaking a heroic journey from singles to pairs. She performs such combinations in training! For example, 3+3+2 – lutz + loop + toe loop. It’s challenging to come up with something more complicated. Maybe lutz + toe loop + triple axel… But then there’s no need to continue doing pairs; you can just relax.
Alena is a crazy maximalist. She wants everything here and now. She knows what she wants and why she’s doing it. Her expectations from switching to pair skating are not just to tour around, but to win and become a champion. But it takes time – and she will definitely achieve it; I am sure of that. She reacts sharply, but when you invest yourself in the process, you can’t always control yourself.
Any competition is an adrenaline rush that is even difficult to imagine, and enduring it with a smile is not easy. She has cooled down, of course; the guys understand everything, know what to work on. They are reasonable, honestly!” – said choreographer and coach Betina Popova, who works in Sergei Roslyakov’s group.
Related topics: Alena Kostornaia, Betina Popova, Georgi Kunitsa
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