Who will be the leader without the Russians?
The era without Russia on the world figure skating scene has already begun, and no one knows how long it will last. The 2022 World Championship, which took place in March, lost the strongest athletes from Russia who could compete for medals in all sports.
Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto took the gold of the world championship in women’s singles skating. This did not come as a surprise to anyone, the figure skater sufficiently opposed the Russians at the Olympic Games in front of Kamila Valieva and won the bronze medal (would she have done this if it had not been for the doping scandal with Valieva – this is a question, but history does not tolerate the subjunctive mood).
Therefore, it is not surprising that a month and a half after the Games in Beijing, in Montpellier, the Japanese skater was not equal.
The runner-up at the world championship was Belgian Luna Hendrix, who came to the tournament literally at the last moment – she was recovering from an injury (a ligament rupture) and doubted that she could slip their schedule. The top three Americans closed Alice Liu. It can be called one of the favorites of the next season – its content allows you to fight with opponents on an equal footing, has a triple axel, but in the off-season it was known that the skater decided to end his career at 16, he said that he achieved his goals in figure skating. Interestingly, it was Lew who has long been called one of the main rivals of the Russians.
“Hi, so I’m here to announce my retirement from figure skating. I started skating at the age of 5, so it was like 11 years on ice and it was a crazy 11 years. It’s very good and it’s bad, but that’s how it is. So many friends and so many friends I will have for the rest of my life. I made good memories. To be honest, I never thought that I would achieve so much, God, I am so happy. I am very happy with the course of my figure skating career. Now that I have finally finished my skating goals, I will move on with my life, ”the girl says on her personal page in one of the social networks.
Interestingly, both Sakamoto and Hendrix did not display ultra-c elements at the World Championships—neither triple-axle nor four-turn jumps. It is worth noting here that at adult level only Russian women can do quadruple jumps, none of the adult figure skaters in the world can skip them. A little easier with a triple axle – from foreigners it can be performed by Japanese women Wakaba Higuchi and Mana Kawabe, Korean women Yu Yong and Haen Lee (this list includes Lew), and in the Russian team only Kamila Valieva and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva. skip this item. Despite the fact that Alexandra Trusova constantly declares trixelia in the short program, she falls steadily from it – she never managed to make a splash in just competitions.
But the triple axle is a really tricky element that skaters don’t always achieve. At the same World Championships, Yong finished fifth, Li – seventh, and Higuchi and Kawabe fell from the top ten – 11th and 15th, respectively. Therefore, for foreigners, the trixel is not an indicator that the skater can fight for high places (for example, as with Alena Kostorna, who defeated Trusova and the owner of the quads, Anna Shcherbakova, thanks to the axel and stability). This was demonstrated by the world championships, where gold and silver were taken by figure skaters without ultra-c elements.
By the way, a very interesting fact is that, having set two personal records (in the free program and in total points), Sakamoto beat Anna Shcherbakova, who won the 2021 World Championship, by points. The Japanese woman scored a total of 236.09 points, and the Russian woman – 233.17 points.
Speaking of upcoming season’s favourites, let’s also remember the Russians who changed their citizenship. For example, Anastasia Gubanova, currently playing for Georgia, took sixth place at the World Championships. She performed all her elements cleanly, but took a small mark for the components, but improved her result from the Olympic Games in Beijing—then finished 11th. It is noteworthy that if we take the European representatives, he took second place, losing only to Hendrix. Therefore, Gubanova can compete for victory in one of the stages of the Grand Prix, and for the podium in the European Championship. Representing Azerbaijan with a clean program performance, Ekaterina Ryabova can impose a challenge on her opponents, like the three-time Polish champion Ekaterina Kurakova.
American women can also impose the fight. Mariah Bell finished fourth and Karen Chen eighth at the World Championships, but in the absence of the Russians and the stable running of their schedules, both can compete for medals. And it is worth remembering another American skater – Isabeau Levito. The athlete is 15 years old, and last season he won the junior world championship. This victory, like Sakamoto’s gold, did not seem very real in the presence of representatives of Russia: three Sophias gathered for the Championship – Akatiev, Muravyov and Samodelkina. But now Levito becomes practically the leader of the US team – the aforementioned Chen and Bell are having difficulties with cascades, Liu has retired. Only age can become an issue for Levito, who has not yet jumped in but has studied the ultra-si elements – starting next season, the International Skating Union (ISU) is gradually increasing the age limit for entering adult competitions: now 15 years old, in the new season – 16 and a year later – 17.
Thus, we can conclude: Sakamoto and Hendrix can be called the absolute favorites for the upcoming season, but then everything will depend on the athletes themselves. Theoretically, with cleanly executed programs, the skaters listed above can hold onto the medals of international tournaments.
What awaits the Russian woman loneliness?
Russia expects at least one season isolated from international competitions. Currently, Russian skaters are the strongest in the world and have no equal in technique and skill. And this means that in the coming months each of them will have to compete with the strongest competitors – each other. It is enough to look at the main composition of the adult team: Kamila Valieva, Sofia Muravyova, Adelia Petrosyan, Alexandra Trusova, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Anna Shcherbakova. The strongest skaters, most of whom have quad jumps or triple axes. Separately, it is worth highlighting Tuktamysheva, who at the age of 25 restored a four-lap sheepskin coat, and at the age of 20+ is the only figure skater in the world who can do a quad jump.
It is worth noting that in all international competitions, Russians primarily compete with each other, and in terms of passions, the national championship is not inferior to the World Championship. Therefore, in part, the trend will continue – skaters will fight each other only at the national level. With such competition, the level of athletes is unlikely to fall – the quad jumps will not go anywhere, and young skaters are growing up to replace adult skaters.
For example, 15-year-old Petrosyan achieved a unique feat at the Russian Championship – he became the first in the world among both women and men to jump two quadruple loops in one program.
What can we say about the three figure skaters of the national team, who represented the country in the last two world tournaments – the European Championship and the Olympic Games. Shcherbakova skated cleanly and won gold in both programs in Beijing, Trusova became the first person in history to jump five quads in the free program of the Games, and Valieva holds all three world records.
What to expect when Russia returns to the world stage?
No one knows how long the suspension of Russian athletes could take. If this is a season, Shcherbakova, Trusova and Tuktamysheva still have a chance to shine on the world stage. It is not yet known how the story about the Valieva doping scandal will turn out and how this story will end, but fans can only believe that the star of the Russian team can still be seen at the world starts.
However, an important fact should be noted here. The results of the Championship affect the number of quotas for participation in next season’s World Championship and Grand Prix stages. And if Russian figure skaters are allowed to participate in international tournaments, then at each event the country will have only one quota. And to return the maximum number of quotas for the Olympic Games in 2026 (if Russia is allowed again), skaters will have to work hard. This also concludes that foreign figure skaters and figure skaters (especially women’s singles) have a much better chance of medals.
Despite the fact that Russian youth are currently considered the strongest in the world, competition may soon increase. It is worth remembering the same Levito, who taught the quad jumps, or another representative of the USA – 14-year-old Mia Kalin, who won the first tournament of the Broadmoor Open competition season in junior competitions at the end of June, performs. two quadruple foot loops.
Time will tell how the world figure skating level will change without Russia. By the way, all fans can only hope that the removal of Russian athletes will not take many years.