Alena Kostornaia: Of course, it’s very disappointing when everyone does it, but you don’t

Interview with Alena Kostornaia after her first senior victory at the Finlandia Trophy 2019.

by sport.business-gazeta.ru dd 13th October, 2019

The first senior competitions, the first victory, two triple axels. How do you asses your program?

– I’m very glad that I was able to improve my results, that from the first competition I was able to prove, first of all to myself, that I can learn new elements and can include them into the program.

There was a feeling that you were surprised when you saw the scores …

– To be honest, I just saw the total score. I didn’t expect it to be so high.

Can you say that triple axels are your signature weapon?

– Probably, not many girls are jumping axels yet, but it cannot be said that this is my weapon, because someone else can also master this element. And it’s possible that I won’t come with myself and won’t do it successfully.

Many say that it’s difficult to skate in the last, strongest worm-up, you sit, your legs fell asleep, how is it for you?

– I didn’t have such situations that my legs fell asleep, I was a little busy. At the morning training session, the silicones I skate with unfastened before the performance, and it’s more scary to skate without protection, so for these half an hour I had the task to find a replacement and stick it.

Can you say that this is the first step to the profession of a doctor that you dream about?

– So far I have abandoned this dream and changed my plans, because if I want to compete and win, it is unlikely that I will be able to combine these two things.

How difficult is it to work in a group with the strongest skaters in the world?

– It greatly motivates to work, to go to every train session and do better, because you see how Sasha jumps three, four, five quadruples. She jumps, jumps, jumps, and you stand at the side and look, because you have all triples and that’s it. And Sasha jumps and jumps, and jumps, Anya too. Everyone jumps, everyone works. Of course, it’s very disappointing when everyone does it, but you don’t. And you try to change something in yourself, to improve.

You said that last season you had problems mastering the triple axel, because you could not mentally get together to work on it. Was it due to injury?

– No, when a person has never driven a car and suddenly starts to, he does not know what to do, so he risks to kill himself and kill people around.

So, you had a fear of the axel?

– Probably yes. Fear of getting another injury. Now it’s easier.

Any plans to further complication of the content?

– No, I think it is necessary to strengthen consistency. In a free program, I gave my best, at the moment I don’t have more difficult elements.

After the test skates, you doubted whether you would jump a triple axel. What has changed?

– On the day off after the test skates, I decided that something needs to be changed. I tried the quadruple salchow. Daria Pavlyuchenko (Russian pair skater – ed.) helped me a lot: she assured me that I can. And I was very upset, because at the test skates I didn’t succeed, I failed the program, there were mistakes, the skate didn’t turn well. But she supported me, said that I would be fine. The next day I came to the practice, Rozanov suggested trying triple axel again. And I decided.

At what point did you decide to jump two triple axels?

– The plan was like this: if I don’t do a combination, I won’t do the second combination because the program would start to fail.

Did the courage appeared after the axels?

– The first jump I already jumped, performed more often. Just did as I could.

Does it matter to you which of the coaches goes with you to the competitions?

– Of course, I would be glad if Eteri Georgievna would go with me and stand behind the board, but she, unfortunately, doesn’t plan to go to all competitions. The main thing is to have a coach there, but which of them is not so important.

Related topics: Alena Kostornaia, Finlandia Trophy