Vadim Shebeko, a well-known Russian skater in the past and now the coach of American teenager Mia Kalin, said that the successful performances of the 2018 Olympics, two-time silver medalist Evgenia Medvedeva, laid the foundations. Russian domination in women’s single skating.
“This does not mean that she is excellent or that her current Russian competitors are not superior in various skills, but she is the skater who more than anyone else started the era of modern Russian dominance in women’s figure skating.
This is not only her stability over a long period of time, but also her passion for figure skating, her ability to constantly express herself through the extraordinary artistry of her performances. ” Sports24.
At the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, Medvedeva took the silver medal in the team competition and lost to her compatriot Alina Zagitova in the individual championship. However, even before the Olympics, she twice won the gold of world championships and European championships. Zagitova, in addition to Olympic gold, has the title of world and European champion each.
Famous skater Maria Butyrskaya, the first Russian world champion in women’s singles, reacted to Shebeko’s words. Butyrskaya did not agree with her statement, stating that Russian athletes had previously performed successfully at the international level.
“We need to talk about women’s single skating because we’re still competing in other sports.
I can say that the domination began a little earlier – when Yulia Lipnitskaya performed, when Adelina Sotnikova won the Olympic Games.
He was the first Russian Olympic champion in individual competitions – we are not talking about the team championship, it was a new genre at the Games in Sochi. So we can assume that Adeline opened a window into the Olympic competition. First she won, then Alina Zagitova. Two Olympics in a row, and then – of course, Anya Shcherbakova.
The word “dominion” is certainly appropriate. When Zhenya Medvedeva began to speak, she already had an example to strive for, ”Butyrskaya told socialbites.ca.
Sotnikova and Lipnitskaya became Olympic champions in Sochi in 2014. But if Julia won the team competition, then Adelina won the individual championship. In addition, Lipnitskaya has not won a single large-scale international tournament after 2014, she also suffered injuries and consequently ended her career at the age of 19 in 2017.
Sotnikova retired from big figure skating three years after her spine surgery. After the Sochi Games, there was no big victory in his career either.
At the same time, Adelina was indeed the first Russian woman to win a single Olympic gold, and Russian athletes also won at the next two Olympics. But if Sotnikova was a student of trainer Elena Buyanova, then she won the wards of Eteri Tutberidze – from which Lipnitskaya also trained.
Maria Butyrskaya highly appreciated the achievements of Tutberidze and her wards at international competitions. She emphasized that the merits of the specialist in the development of women’s single skating are very great.
“Of course, Eteri Georgievna made a huge contribution to women’s single skating. And Yulia Lipnitskaya is her “product”. Everyone remembers the skating programs of Russian women at the Olympic Games. And all other victories are his disciples.
Of course, this is a good example for other coaches. They also make every effort and there is competition among experts within the country.
But I believe that Eteri Georgievna’s success is an indicator of coaching. Initially, it was still necessary to create a team, and then the result appeared, ”Butyrskaya said.
In 2018 and 2022, athletes from the Tutberidze group – Alina Zagitova and Anna Shcherbakova, respectively, won the Olympics. Also, at the 2022 Games in Beijing, Tutberidze’s guards could take all of the top three: Alexandra Trusova came in second, and Kamila Valieva, who won the short program, could not build on her success in the free program and finished the competition in fourth place. Location. However, many experts noted that Camila was psychologically affected by the doping scandal: after winning the team gold in Beijing, traces of trimetazidine were known to be found in the doping test. The athlete was allowed to participate in the individual championship, but did not win a medal.