“An old injury shot”: Kostornaya will have surgery

European champion – the transition of 2020 in women’s singles from Alena Kostornaya from Eteri Tutberidze to CSKA and Elena Buyanova became one of the most discussed events in the world of Russian figure skating in the spring of 2022. This is Kostornaya’s second departure from Khrustalny: in 2020 she tried to cooperate with another coach – she moved to the academy of the two-time Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko, after Alexandra Trusova. But the injuries and illness she received made themselves felt, the results of the skater seriously worsened, and after a few months she returned to Tutberidze.

Collaboration with Buyanova began with a trial period. Neither the expert nor the athlete spoke about when it will be clear whether they will continue to work together, but at CSKA Kostornaya two programs were implemented and continued training. On August 8, information emerged that they are now constantly collaborating.

“People in such cases are not abandoned – there were no problems at work, and, of course, it is already ours. The entire coaching team is waiting for him on the ice. We will continue to work continuously, Buyanova told RIA Novosti.

In the same interview, the specialist said that Kostornaya will soon have to have surgery due to a worsening old hip injury. According to Buyanova, this should have happened earlier, but the operation was delayed for reasons beyond their control.

“He will have surgery due to a hip injury. They wanted to do it earlier but waited too long as there were no consumables. We expect our beautiful athlete to recover as soon as possible,” he said.

Kostornaya confirmed that this was not a new injury, but an old one. Therefore, the athlete has not been training on ice for a while. He also outlined the approximate timing of his return, stating that the national team would definitely miss the test skating.

“I trained regularly at CSKA, but I did not skate – I did not go out on the ice after almost coming from the training camp in Novogorsk. He had an old hip injury that did not make itself felt for a long time, but suddenly he was so “hit” that he went for an examination. In general, I’m going to the hospital for a surgery tomorrow, so I won’t have time to recover with test skates – I won’t be out on the ice until the second half of September.

We have already staged the programs – they are very beautiful, interesting, all familiar stories, I have not yet heard such music from anyone. I hope everything goes well, ”says the TASS skater.

In a comment to Match TV, Kostornaya admitted that she felt fine and noted that she did not know why the operation was delayed.

“I feel good, it’s just an old injury.

The surgery will most likely be the day after tomorrow. Everything will be known later, while doctors do not make any predictions.

Elena Germanovna (Buyanova) said that the operation was delayed due to a lack of consumables? Consumables are materials for operation. I don’t know what kind of materials, they didn’t tell me about it, ”she said.

Kostornaya last posted a video of her ice training on her Telegram channel on June 30. In the video, the athlete first dances in the frame, then enters the rotation.

“I return very efficiently with three sweaters,” said Kostornaya.

In July, the figure skater actively shared that she is trying new sports – for example, she posted a video on social networks that shows how she wakeboards. And in August, photos appeared on his channel, where the athlete does yoga. Also in the summer, the skater actively participated in the show Evgeni Plushenko, so the news about the aggravation of the old injury was unexpected for fans of the athlete.

Olympic champion Alexei Yagudin noted that their profession is associated with a large number of injuries, and athletes in his career rarely manage to avoid them. First of all, he said that it is necessary not to sympathize with Kostornaya, but to cheer him up, and also that the skater is the one who longs to win and plows for it, he will always achieve his goals.

“History knows many examples when skaters returned to their way after the most difficult trials – remember Tatyana Totmyanina and her fall on Skate America. Or what happened to Elena Berezhnaya, who had a craniotomy?

Recall the last concussion of Zhenya Semenenko, the broken leg of Alina Zagitova, how many operations Evgeni Plushenko had.

We Russian athletes have a fighting character a priori by nature. Yes, it’s sad, yes, it’s unpleasant, but now we need to support Alena. After all, it is not for nothing that they say that you need to take a step back, then – two steps forward. And in figure skating they often say – if you wake up and nothing hurts, then you die, ”TASS quoted Yagudin.