“Of course, I’m a little upset. But I got the scores I deserved” Alena Kostornaia about performance at Rostelecom Cup
Alena Kostornaia about her performance at Rostelecom Cup 2020.
Alena, you were in the lead after the short program and skated in the free program right after Liza. How did you manage to set yourself up for skating the program well?
Alena Kostornaia: I heard that the audience supported Liza very much, that she skated well. While warming up at the boards, I saw her routine. I went to do my job and do what was planned. Unfortunately, not everything worked out, but we will work on it.
Alena, after the first skate of the free program at the Russian Cup in Kazan, you said that you improvised and did not show the whole choreography. How does it feel this time?
Alena Kostornaia: Now I tried to do almost everything. There were moments which I still forgot during the performance. I hope to improve the choreography and skating from competitions to competitions, in order to eventually come to the desired option, so it looked “wow”.
Alena, do you plan to add more difficult jumps to fight on equal terms, for example, with Trusova?
Alena Kostornaia: Of course, to show a decent level, you need to do difficult jumps – quadruples, 3,5 axel. This is in the plans, but for now we are restoring the axel.
Where do you find motivation in these difficult times?
Alena Kostornaia: I fight with myself. It’s hard for me to do something if I understand that it is likely to be in vain. Every day I sit in the evening and think: well, today I overcame myself. And this satisfaction – even from these words – motivates to do something tomorrow to be just as happy.
source: Dmitry Kuznetsov, Anastasiia Pletneva sport-express.ru
It seemed that in “kiss and cry” corner you expected victory.
Alena Kostornaia: No, I expected scores corresponding to mine skating. Of course, I’m a little upset. But I got the scores I deserved for my skating. I have to think about what I need to correct, what to work on.
I’m very glad for Liza that she, having gone through everything, was able to win.
What needs to be improved? It seemed that there was a clean skate.
Alena Kostornaia: No, it was obvious that the first lutz was not very good. I can jump it, but apparently I lack confidence. We need to work on the steps sequences, I have no enough energy for the final one, all my strength goes on the technical component.
Do you lack physical shape?
Alena Kostornaia: Well, not lack. I just need to give all of myself, and I was saving more today, to make it look more or less beautiful and to the music, so that non-professionals would not notice that something was wrong there.
source: Vladimir Afanasiev for sport24.ru
About work with Shae-Lynn Bourne
Alena, how did your work with Shae-Lynn Bourne go? Was it difficult to work on programs online?
Alena Kostornaia: I’ve wanted to work exactly with her for a long time and I was very glad when I found out about such an opportunity. It didn’t matter to me, online, offline, I … was just screaming from happiness. I liked working with her, it was clear, simple, she constantly explained, I sent her a video, she sent me. On Saturday, we had an hour and a half of work purely on the program, with a camera and headphones. Unusually, the it was in English, I had to learn the names of the steps. If I did not understand, she showed me. This is an experience that I really needed. This is a new work and I really liked it.
source: Dmitry Kuznetsov for sport-express.ru
Related topics: Alena Kostornaia, Rostelecom Cup
What an amazing weekend of skating! Good luck to her at Nationals Championships!