Olympic medalist announces progress of Kostornaya-Kunitsa duo 18:03

Russian figure skater Alexander Enbert, silver medalist in the team competitions of the 2018 Olympic Games, appreciated the performance of Alena Kostornaya and Georgy Kunitsa in the pairs competition at the Russian Grand Prix stage held in Moscow on November 25 and 26. In a conversation with socialbites.ca, he announced the duo’s progress and praised the experts working with the athletes.

“The guys are really making progress, and it’s visible. Still, we could see obvious progress with the naked eye in the early stages of the formation of their pairs. Further progress is usually not that obvious. And for the fact that the guys continue such a pace of development in their skating – they increase speed, complexity and skating – I can only praise the team: Betina Popova, Sergei Roslyakov and Alena and Gosha.

We see that they are worried about not being in leadership positions. But they are working hard, improving and showing that they can do better. I enjoyed watching their performances and I was very happy that Alena shined so much in her new role.

Over the weekend, you and I watched a tournament in which European champions who have been skiing together for a long time competed. And a pair formed in the spring of 2023 set out with them. Of course, when kids go to tournaments we see a lot of things that need to be worked on, and skating is one of the main factors. All that remains is to work together in pairs, perfecting all connections, preparations and all components of the program. So far, only the base is ready and there is a lot of work ahead of us,” Enbert said.

Kostornaya and Kunitsa finished fifth in the Moscow stage. Alexandra Boykova and Dmitry Kozlovsky won with a total of 235.78 points. Natalya Khabibullina and Ilya Knyazhuk received 220.32 points, while Yulia Artemyeva and Alexey Bryukhanov came third with 212.58 points.

Previously Honored Coach explained Kondratyuk’s second place in the Grand Prix.