Alena Kostornaia: Eteri Georgievna is called the Snow Queen for a reason

Interview with Alena Kostornaia for Tatler Russia.

by tatler.ru dd. 7th March 2020

Alena Kostornaia: Eteri Georgievna is called the Snow Queen for a reason. On the ice, she is really like that. Demanding – first of all to herself, and then to us. She wants us to be the best. I met her at the Russian Nationals in St. Petersburg, I got to her workout and realized that everything I had done before was a kindergarten. Right after that she took me to her group.

In the 2019/2020 season, I debuted at competitions among senior athletes. I remember the November stage of the Grand Prix in Grenoble. Then I won, however, there was some confusion: the gold medal was mistakenly awarded to the American figure skater Mariah Bell, who took third place. But she quickly realized that and put a medal on my neck herself.

Then I also set my personal record for the total score. Skated to my favorite song from the Twilight saga. Probably, of all my programs, this is my favorite. I adore the character of Kristen Stewart in this movie and it was pretty easy for me to get into that character. Like Bella Swan, I have two conditions: either I don’t want anything at all, or the energy brims over.

Despite that trainings take most of my time, now I try to devote as much time as I can to study. Next year I’m having exams and entering the university. And I still can not decide: journalism or medicine. I know for sure that I don’t want to become a coach, but I’d gladly become a sports reviewer or a neurosurgeon. I rarely appear at school and send teachers all works and tasks by mail.

In my free time, that is, in the summer, I do horse-jumping. I learn basic elements with the coach, and at my aunt’s stables on her horse, Rocky, I practice the learned techniques. In addition to winning the world championships, I have one more goal: I am saving up prizes for buying my own horse. I want a frieze or tinker. The horses of both of these breeds are very beautiful, but the tinker is a bit stronger in terms of jumping.

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