Petr Gumennik: “Malinin has moved a level ahead; he certainly looks unreachable. But this doesn’t affect my own preparation, because I’ve already found my optimal content – difficult enough and confident enough.”

Petr Gumennik believes that the current world champion from the United States, Ilia Malinin, is currently unattainable.

original source: Championat

Russian figure skating champion Petr Gumennik believes American world champion Ilia Malinin is currently out of reach, but remains focused on his own progress and Olympic preparations. Here’s a translation of his comments.

“Ilia has moved a level ahead; he was the fastest to achieve consistent quadruple jumps. I think in the future, the other guys will catch up and be able to create competition, but right now, Malinin certainly looks unreachable.

This doesn’t affect my own preparation, because I’ve already found my optimal content – difficult enough and confident enough. In figure skating, as in any sport, anything can happen, so you have to be ready and skate as cleanly as possible, earning as many points as you can. That strategy will always be a winning one.

Everyone keeps assuring me that I don’t need a visa [to Italy for the Olympics], that I’ll be allowed in as an Olympian. I’ve double-checked with everyone, and they’ve all confirmed it, so I hope that’s the case. Veronika Anatolyevna [Dayneko, his coach] is actively working on the visa now,” said Gumennik.

Today, Gumennik won the Grushman Memorial in St. Petersburg, landing five quadruple jumps in his free skate. He scored a total of 326.49 points, surpassing the Russian record.

“Before this competition, I had the idea to make my content a bit more difficult, so that I could bring it back for the Olympics. That’s why I wanted to do a quadruple flip–triple loop combination in the short program, and a quadruple salchow with a triple axel in the free skate. But I decided not to take such a risk right now – a clean skate gives me more confidence,” Gumennik noted.

Related topics: Ilia Malinin, Petr Gumennik