what is being discussed in the world of figure skating –

The gap between Medvedeva and Chigiryov

Evgenia Medvedeva shared unexpected news – her couple with figure skater Dmitry Chigiryov broke up. The athletes were together for about two years and in many interviews, the two-time world champion admitted that their relationship was close to ideal. However, there was a break.

“We haven’t been together recently. This happens in life when people realize that they are no longer on the path. No loud scandals, nothing, just two adequate adults talked and realized that something probably needs to be done. We decided to separate… Did he offend me? No, absolutely not. There was a lot of love in our relationship, a lot of understanding, mutual understanding,” Evgenia said in an interview with Ksenia Sobchak.

She emphasized that the separation is not related to jealousy towards Dmitry’s partner, who performs in pairs skating, Ekaterina Geinisch.

“No, it was fine for me, I initially understood that the guy was a team athlete. That’s it, this is not discussed further, there is a sports career, a sports destiny, and the only thing I can do is support,” Medvedeva noted.

In addition, she talked about why she changed her last name. As a child, the skater performed under her father’s last name, Babasyan, but then it was decided to take another one.

“I was seven years old, my father had not taken part in my life since I was nine months old. We saw each other several times, of course. No, I know what he looks like, I know who my father is. By means – no, I didn’t help, and somehow everything went on its own. When we had already moved on to Eteri Georgievna, we thought that it was probably better to change our last name, because this was the life situation. Now that I’m older, I think: Evgenia Medvedeva, this should have been thought of. It’s beautiful, Evgenia Medvedeva, it’s memorable,” the figure skater shared.

She also admitted that other skaters teased her for her last name.

“Oh, how hard it was for me. Apparently, due to the fact that I was very small, frail, defenseless, spineless, the children took it out on me. And my last name was given away. They just called my last name as if it were an insult. It’s like saying “idiot”. It seems to me that it all turned out very well, that my mother and grandmother decided to make adjustments to make my life easier in the future,” Evgenia concluded.

Also in the interview, they did not ignore the loss to Alina Zagitova at the Olympics in Pyeongchang. Medvedeva said that she no longer holds a grudge against Eteri Tutberidze and believes that the situation in 2018 became an impetus for her self-development and made her the person she is today.

“The whole story around that Olympics is more about interpersonal relationships, it’s more about emotions, it’s about forced lyrics somewhere on our part. It was unpleasant, but, on the other hand, now, as an adult, I can judge and think that, probably, if I really wanted to and wasn’t scared, I could have moved the cascade into the second half. It would be possible to come up with something, modernize it so that I could crawl out of this hole after the short program, but I didn’t do it,” the skater admitted.

Resentment to Zagitova

Meanwhile, Alina Zagitova also gave a great interview on Nadezhda Strelets’ YouTube channel. She also spoke about her relationship with Medvedeva after that same Olympics. According to the Pyeongchang champion, her opponent prefers to ignore her and doesn’t even greet her.

“It’s a shame. But I’m already used to it… Maybe I remind her of something bad. I just don’t understand why… I used to worry, but now I don’t. Now I’m used to it. I always wanted to be friends with Zhenya. Even the interview that I gave, where I said that we were friends… I spoke sincerely. I always speak sincerely, I will never fuss, I’d rather remain silent. And I always wanted to be friends with her,” Zagitova unexpectedly admitted.

She also recalled the statements of Russian commentators at the Olympic competitions, who doubted the fairness of the judges’ scores for both Russian women. In particular, Tatyana Tarasova then said about Alina’s victory that “this cannot happen.”

“Yes, this is unprofessional. I understand this now, but knowing that Zhenya communicated well with them, that they had known her for a long time, they still had some kind of empathy, a good personal relationship. But I didn’t know anyone, I prefer to sit in my room, not communicate with anyone, only with the coaches. To be in your own world,” the skater emphasized.

Also, the owner of all major titles in figure skating said that she was very painful about her unsuccessful performance at the post-Olympic World Championships, where she finished fifth. She believed that she had disgraced the country and the team. The accumulated negative emotions were also the reason why she suspended her career at the age of 17 after a year and a half.

“At that time I had a lot of injuries, my mental and psychological state was at zero. I had a lot of breakdowns. I was very closed and did not share my emotions with anyone, what I had inside. Probably this lump, which became bigger and bigger every day, accumulated and at some point exploded,” Alina shared.

Today Zagitova is the organizer of her own show, TV presenter, and author of a video blog on Channel One. At the same time, she often faces criticism of her oratorical abilities. The figure skater does not deny that this is not her strongest side. On the contrary, he constantly works with teachers on speech techniques and acting skills. However, sometimes, when too loud blunders happen, like the incident with the word “inevitability,” it is not possible to avoid negative emotions.

“It’s clear that I’m drawing conclusions and working through these mistakes. At first I was angry, I was very upset, there were tears because of this incident. But then I decided: I’ve already done it, yes, I blurted out complete nonsense, you can laugh at it. I made my own merch. It just sold out with a bang. You also need to laugh at yourself, sometimes this is the path to development,” said Alina.

Return of Valieva

Another big news of the past week in figure skating was Kamila Valieva’s statement that she intends to return to the sport after the expiration of the period of disqualification. The suspension will end in December next year, and the athlete will be able to train as part of a group two months before that.

“Of course, there are thoughts (of returning to sports. – RT). This is not the point, the last performance was not the most successful and good for me, I mean the Russian Championship, so leaving a sports career at such a young age is probably stupid. I will make every effort to once again please the audience, myself, the coaches and, of course, all the fans,” RIA Novosti quotes Kamila as saying.

These words caused a strong reaction among fans and experts, many of whom are confident that the figure skater will be able to regain her form and difficult jumps and compete for awards both at the Russian and international levels. Provided, of course, that domestic sports return to the world stage. According to Alexander Zhulin, this very moment will be decisive in Valieva’s final decision.

“Camila can do it, but she needs motivation. At a minimum – international starts. If they are not there, then I strongly doubt (her return. – RT),” the coach said in a commentary to Match TV.

According to Evgenia Medvedeva, Tutberidze’s pupil can return to duty if she has the desire. Tatyana Tarasova noted the girl’s strong character, which will be the key to her successful comeback. But Irina Rodnina doubted that after several years the skater would be able to achieve decent condition.

“We all know very well that girls’ bodies change, both technology and psyche change. So I can only wish Camila success and good luck. Next year she will be 19 years old. But remember, at what age did Yulia Lipnitskaya graduate from us? What time did Alina Zagitova end her career? What time did Evgenia Medvedeva, who stayed the longest, finish? These are pure statistics and nothing else,” said the three-time Olympic champion.

A similar point of view was expressed by RT columnist Elena Vaitsekhovskaya, who noted that Valieva is unlikely to be able to compete with Adelia Petrosyan, who is now the undisputed leader in the Russian arena.

Self-criticism Petrosyan

The current Russian champion, meanwhile, made a successful start in the Grand Prix series, confidently winning the stage in Kazan, even despite the butterfly instead of the second quadruple sheepskin coat in the free program. After that, the skater smashed her performance to smithereens. According to her, she was less worried than in the short round, but still made some offensive mistakes. And in general, I found more reasons for criticism than for praise.

“Something started to shake me from the very beginning of the rental. I don’t know how the axel turned out – I didn’t really like it. Then again the butterfly on the sheepskin coat. I don’t know what to do with myself anymore. It seemed to me that this month I had done everything to avoid getting butterflies. But apparently something else is needed. Then there were all sorts of blots. Looks like she worked a lot. I thought that today would be a good box office, but it turned out bad,” Adelia said on Channel One.

However, a little later, Tutberidze’s pupil cooled down and admitted that she was too strict with herself.

“In the race for perfect performances, I often devalue what I have already achieved. Behind gold medals there is always work, overcoming and luck. Tomorrow I’ll be at the skating rink again, and today I’ll just thank you for everything I have,” Petrosyan wrote in her Telegram channel.