“The Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya. It was a special competition in such a big arena. We took photos with everyone, including even Rafael Arutyunyan.” Trusova, Shcherbakova, and Kostornaia shared memories of their most memorable junior competitions.

Figure skaters Alexandra Trusova, Anna Shcherbakova, and Alena Kostornaia shared memories of their junior competitions.

source: Mir figurnogo kataniya (Figure Skating World) magazine

Alexandra Trusova, Anna Shcherbakova, and Alena Kostornaia shared their fondest memories from their junior figure skating careers, highlighting special competitions and training experiences. Here’s a translation of their comments.

“Q: Your junior careers were very bright and memorable, with the whole world following the success of TShK… What do you remember most from that period?

Alexandra Trusova: Probably the Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya. It was a special competition for me in such a big arena. I still often remember those competitions with warmth and nostalgia. Also, the Junior World Championships in Bulgaria, where I landed two quadruple jumps for the first time.

Anna Shcherbakova: If we’re talking about competitions, definitely the Russian Nationals — the senior event. As a junior, after a not-so-successful performance at the ISU Grand Prix Final, I managed to win the senior Russian Nationals, even though I didn’t expect such success at the time and could hardly believe it. So that’s certainly the most memorable moment of my junior season.

As for training, my first attempts at quadruple jumps stand out. The quad toe loop was the first jump I landed, and the quad lutz when I learned it. Those are the most memorable moments from training.

Alena Kostornaia: I remember my Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya. It was my first junior final. Wonderful competition, very warm atmosphere. The girls and I were running around, taking photos, and I kept losing my phone. My coaches and others would bring it back to me – everyone already knew, “That’s Alena’s, for sure!”

We took photos with everyone, including even Rafael Arutyunyan. In Nagoya, I got my first photo with Aliona Savchenko. I caught Aliona as she was running onto the ice for practice, and I ran after her, shouting, “Please, can I?” She stopped and said, “Come on, quickly!” The photo turned out blurry, but it’s very precious to me.

Of course, I also remember the final itself and our performances. And now it’s great that today’s juniors have so many different interesting tournaments. Unfortunately, we didn’t have that many.”

Related topics: Alena Kostornaia, Alexandra Trusova, Anna Shcherbakova