Adelina Sotnikova: “Each competition has its own heroes. The Channel One Cup is no exception, even though many perceive it as a show.”
Adelina Sotnikova shared her opinion about Channel One Cup where she judged the jumping competition.
source: sport-express.ru dd. 14th February 2021
Adelina Sotnikova: Each competition has its own heroes. The Channel One Cup is no exception, even though many perceive it as a show. But it was a good test for the skaters before the World Championships in Stockholm. Including a test on psychological resilience. For me, the most vivid impression was the skating of Kamila Valieva, Mark Kondratyuk and Mikhail Kolyada.
Kamila showed herself in all her glory, having skated flawlessly both the short and the free program. The judges was very generous – 90.25 and 179.19 points, respectively! On the one hand, the unique achievements of Alena Kostornaia (85.45 points in the short program) and Alexandra Trusova (166.62 points in the free program) are broken. On the other hand, the world record wasn’t broken, since the scores at the domestic competitions are not recorded.
I think that at any international event both of Valieva’s performances, with all due respect to our young star, would have been judged more severely than at the Channel One Cup. So, If it were up to me, I would not flatter myself.
At the same time, I understand: sooner or later Kostornaia and Trusova’s records will be broken. Perhaps Valieva, who will debut in seniors next season, will do this. Even now, her level of preparation is delightful and admirable. At Megasport arena, she skated both programs in one go, completing all the difficult elements. A triple axel in both short and free program, quadruples with arms above her head, at a good height … It’s very cool!
Some name Kamila as the main contender for Beijing 2022 gold. I have a different opinion. Firstly, one should not discount our more experienced skaters – Shcherbakova, Kostornaia and Trusova. Secondly, I would not be surprised if not only Valieva, but also someone else from yesterday’s juniors, “shoots” next season. You can see how the girls are improving. And thirdly, the Olympics is a special competition, a cool head is needed there in addition to skill. For both the athlete and the coaching staff. You need to go on the ice, completely disconnecting emotions. Otherwise, the excitement and huge psychological pressure will destroy you.
Shcherbakova lost to Valieva at the Channel One Cup, but this does not mean anything. Anya is a gentle, flighty girl with a steel character. She performs quads well – both lutz and flip. She skated the short program cleanly, but the free program was a little strained. There was no such inimitable lightness on the ice, which we have all got used to. Something disturbed Shcherbakova. Probably, there were health problems, but Anya decided to keep it quiet. Has the right to.
As for Trusova, I really liked her at the Channel One Cup. In general, Sasha has changed a lot lately. It used to be a small robot that jumps quads one after another. Now femininity has appeared in her skating. Sasha feels music in a different way now. And there are no questions about the quality of her jumps.
Are these changes connected with switching to Evgeni Plushenko? Honestly, I don’t know. I think that with age, Trusova herself realized that not only technique requires attention, but also gliding, choreography, musicality, approach to the elements. Or maybe Plushenko made a contribution, helped Sasha to open up in a new way.
Now about men. For me, Kondratyuk’s enchanting performance is a pleasant surprise. He skated the free program and made the audience burst into applause and gave a standing ovation. And the most impressionable ones, including Zhenya Medvedeva, did not even hold back their tears.
I’m very happy for Mark. I remember him as a child – once we’ve skated together at the CSKA school. I am with Elena Buyanova, he – with Svetlana Sokolovskaya.
I will not say that Mark stood out among his peers. When I left CSKA in 2017, he just started to jump triples stably. But the quads and Kondratyuk seemed to be absolutely incompatible things. At that moment he had small, nimble jumps. And for quads, you still need height. To make them beautiful…
Now Mark has grown up, matured, pumped up. And the jumps become completely different. In general, people like Kondratyuk are said to be a real workaholic. Ready to work hard from dawn to dusk, scrupulously working on every element. He is kind, open, with incredible energy. At the same time, he is smart, well-read, draws beautifully. I think he can achieve a lot both in sports and life.
And of course, one cannot but mention Kolyada. His free program, set to music from the “Nureyev. White Raven ” movie, moves you deeply. I haven’t seen Misha for a long time. The first thing that catches your eye is that he also has changed in terms of gliding and artistry. Classics suit him. Yes, he had small mistakes, but you immediately forget about them. You just want to watch and watch this program. As in his time Stéphane Lambiel skated, who was simply mesmerizing on the ice. So Kolyada also “tricked” the system. He had small mistakes, but the aesthetic pleasure of the program overshadowed everything.
If our ladies, pairs and dancers have three spots for the World Championships, then men have only two. The first has already been received by Kolyada – as the winner of the Russian Nationals. Since Samarin misses the Russian Cup Final, the fight for the second spot will unfold between Aliev, Kondratyuk and Ignatov. I’ll be rooting for Mark. In my opinion, he definitely deserved a trip to Stockholm.
Related topics: Adelina Sotnikova, Alexandra Trusova, Anna Shcherbakova, Kamila Valieva, mikhail kolyada
for some reason she had this whole thing right
Tbh I didn’t think I would say that, but I really agree with her !
yeah, and still, you are not the real sochi champion