Ilia Averbukh about Papadakis and Cizeron: “I believe that it’s necessary to skate and compete, not to run away from each other. This shows that they’re afraid of our guys.”
Russian coaches about the withdrawal of Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron from the European Championships 2022.
Tatiana Tarasova: Oh really?
I believe that Sasha (Stepanova) and Vanya (Bukin) should try to win the European Championships now. They can try to beat Vika (Sinitsina) and Nikita (Katsalapov). They don’t really skate well.
source: rsport.ria.ru
Alexandr Zhulin: I absolutely do not care whether they withdrew or not. We need to do our job, we are gradually preparing for the Olympic Games in Beijing. I’m afraid to jinx it, but Nikita’s back is doing well now.
source: rsport.ria.ru
Ilia Averbukh: Everyone has their own tactics for preparing for the Games. Although I believe that it’s necessary to skate and compete, and not run away from each other. The decision of the French is not in their favor. They missed last season, they need to skate.
This shows that they are afraid of our guys. This is good for us. We do not need to look at Papadakis and Cizeron, we need to think about ourselves. They decided so.
Our guys are definitely the undisputed favorites to win the the European Championships. Nothing can stop Sinitsina and Katsalapov from winning the event.
It is a pity that there will be no tense duel with Papadakis and Cizeron. It would be interesting to see this on the eve of the Olympics Games. So, we will wait for the Games in Beijing. There is no doubt that Sinitsina and Katsalapov will win the European Championships.
Priorities have already been set for this season. It will be great if Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin beat the Italians (Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri) and take second place. I think this will be the main focus.
source: rsport.ria.ru, championat.com
Related topics: Alexander Zhulin, Alexandra Stepanova Ivan Bukin, Gabriella Papadakis Guillaume Cizeron, Ilia Averbukh, Tatiana Tarasova, Victoria Sinitsina Nikita Katsalapov
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