Ilia Averbukh: To fight on equal terms, Medvedeva needs a quadruple jump
Ilia Averbukh commented on Alexandra Trusova and Evgenia Medvedeva’s performance at Skate Canada 2019.
Ilia: Everything is natural, so to speak. At the beginning of the season, I said that Sasha is probably one of the main contenders for the world title this season. The heights that Sasha is showing are extraordinary.
The complexity of her program is so high that her rivals can rely only on her mistakes. Actually, they have no other chances to defeat such a program with such a colossal set of elements. Maybe only by mastering quads also, but in the middle of the season no one will learn these jumps. If Alexandra manages to keep her shape throughout the season, then she is one of the main contenders for the world title this year.
Is it possible to say that she is a leader for many years? No. We see that the rotation of girls is very high. She is 15 years old, large and difficult stage of development is ahead. We won’t talk about any long years, we are talking only about this season, and this season Alexandra Trusova is the main favorite to win. Along with her, of course, we shouldn’t forget either Alina Zagitova or Anna Shcherbakova, who showed a very good result, or Alena Kostornaia. Probably, Liza Tuktamysheva stands a little behind, and the most difficult it will be for Zhenya Medvedeva to join this fight. Although yesterday she showed a very good performance in the free program – clean, beautiful. I’m very happy for her that she was able to find the strength to pass this difficult test after a failure in the short program. Objectively, after this competitions, Zhenya lost all chances of getting into the Grand Prix Final. Now she will concentrate on the Russian Nationals. But the competition is extremely high.
I want to praise Zhenya, it was very difficult for her to skate after what happened in the short program. She was really well prepared for this competitions, but these terrible mistakes blocked her path to the podium. She became third in the free program, if she had managed to skate just as clean in the short, I’m sure that she would have been on the podium, because the Korean girl didn’t skate very successfully. However, with yesterday’s sixth place, the lag was big, unfortunately, she couldn’t level it out.
However, she skated very well in the free program, complicated her program. She performed almost unmistakably, but with the sixth place in the short, she practically lost the chance of getting into the Grand Prix Final. She will definitely perform at the Cup of Russia, but you cannot get into the finals only with one stage. However, she will fight at the Russian Nationals, there will be enormous competition: Trusova, Shcherbakova, Zagitova, Kostornaia and others. But she must fight!
Medvedeva’s good preparation is noticeable. She improved. I’m not saying that she was underscored, now she squeezed the maximum of her capabilities. To fight on equal terms, she needs a quadruple jump. Not just talk about it, but start doing. Without such a trump card, like at least one quadruple jump, it’s hardly possible to count on something now. She can master the quad salchow, then she will immediately join the fight for leading positions.
by championat.com and sport24.ru
Related topics: Alexandra Trusova, Evgenia Medvedeva, Ilia Averbukh, Skate Canada
Well, if Tutberidze is a great coach, and her athletes show the most incredible results, who are we to judge her style of training? The girls are too young and tiny? Yes, but that is what it takes to be at the top of the podium nowadays. It is a tough sport, and Eteri found the way for her skaters to be better than anyone else. Would you critisize sumo fighters for being overweight? Probably not…
Yes, Ilia is 100% right. But, Medvedeva’s programme and skating was so beautiful, what a pitty she made a mistake in short. Maybe someone will think about those young girls of 14-15 years who do incredible jumps, but when they come to age of 18 what will happen? They will probably have problems with weight, and their ankles will suffer, they will stop in progress or generally in career. Just have a look at Lipnitskaya, she is the best example. Medvedeva will , thanks God, continue with great skating, but what will happen with these beautiful young girls from Tutberidze group? She is a great coach, but someone should reconsider this style of training, for all girls’ sake.