Trusova, Valieva and Petrosyan were in the role of debutants: “Damn, I’m performing!”

It so happened that in recent years our skaters were out of the big game. Admitted to it on special (not friendly) conditions, Adelia Petrosyan closed the top 6 at the Olympic Games. And here we are, on the same terms, but we are starting to return to the main international competitions. The conditions for Russian athletes to get on them are again the toughest: one quota in each discipline.

Sasha's freedom

The loudest in heat for today's return - at Alexandra Trusova. At the test rentals, Sasha looked literally Gulliver among the skaters. And the programs that she showed at the test rentals were already different in performance even from those shown recently in Japan. It is not by chance that I have not seen such a wide smile at once coaches Tutberidze, Dudakov and Gleichenhaus.

The hall in Moscow again, as in Tokyo, stood up after the arbitrary "Stranger Things" (staged by Daniel Gleichenhaus). But this presentation of the program was more powerful than the first. Sasha herself admitted: "Just rentals, but still nervous." And she expressed the hope that the decline of form, as she wants to think, will not happen, only the rise. “But for us everything is new, no one knows what will happen next. So that a single woman gave birth to a child and skated after that with quadruplets - this is so far for the first time, we will try.”.

What in a figure skater always wins is the absolute naturalness of the answers: how she would explain the situation to her girlfriends, and she explains it to journalists. Alexandra, of course, will be asked many more times about five quads in the free program, recalling Beijing 2022. And she will try to explain in the same accessible language: the former form, most likely, will never be — “probably so dry body will no longer, I’m still a woman.”.

Everything seems to be so, but Sasha managed to “bring to mind” the quadruple toe loop in the two weeks that passed between the Japanese start and the test rolls. And who, the Russian missile, knows? Another issue is that there is no need for such resonant statements. First of all, this is a stage already passed. Secondly, Trusova really wants, and she is already doing it, to show herself from the other side: new programs of the season only to help her.

As for everything else, yes, no one has canceled their ambitions. But at Challenger in Japan, when Sasha was asked if she would be upset if she didn't make it to the main starts of the season, she said: "No, let's be honest - I already had everything." And perhaps this inner freedom will give it additional strength.

Camila's tears

Camila wants to go back to the big ice. And that's the point. Because the easiest thing for her was to go into another life: to perform only in the show or even turn the other way from the rinks. And no one would judge. But she wants to go back. So we have the opportunity to look at this return step by step.

Due to the withdrawal of the ISU neutral status, Kamila will not have international starts, not only major, but in general any? It is a pity that they could give both motivation and additional confidence. But the neutral status, I want to believe, will soon go into the harsh past, and in the meantime there is an opportunity to restore yourself at home tournaments. Catch the nerve that doesn't destroy. As Valieva herself said after not the most successful rental of an arbitrary program (even broke down in tears), it will have to be done gradually. For now, "all that: working.".

But the main start is the championship of Russia in Chelyabinsk in late December. Everything else is a step to beauty, so that everyone will die. And how Valieva was happy to participate in the rentals is a reflection of her internal state: “Damn, I’m at the rentals, I’m performing!”.

Camila in the rollers before the test rentals told about the short program of Benoit Richot: the image of a yearning goddess who did not want to dance. But God, not wanting to leave her in this state, again grants her his grace, after which she returns to the feeling of her dance, the joy of life. Sometimes we quite artificially pull our associations and thoughts on the realities of life. But here it is as if neither to add nor to add. And the production itself, no doubt like the free program, should show us Camila's art. Just give it time for what we call acclimatization. Because the degree of rivalry that Valieva has had in recent years changes everything.

Adelia and fog

It is difficult to say why the paths of Adelia Petrosyan and her former coaches led by Eteri Tutberidze diverged. “Why did this happen with the change of headquarters? Why, I won't say that. The skater herself either does not want or can not formulate the reason for the breakup. True, a hard emotion and awareness of the decision slip (either by accident or consciously): “Everything terrible for me has already happened, and I go on, set new goals.”.

There is a lot to be regretted about this gap story. But especially about the fact that you will not have to see what would the current Petrosyan, having passed a very difficult Olympic test and preparing for it in front of the whole country, become like with the former coaches? That, by the way, stops to say: yes, the other hand of the choreographer to her, the current, face. And the former one was designed for young Petrosyan. Both are true, but require reservations.

Today, the past is already in the past. Adelia's programs are beautiful. And they promise to be spectacular. While the decision to leave one headquarters, as well as the sudden preparation for the season under the leadership of Inna Goncharenko, occurred for some reason in a very short time. And then the athlete got sick on the eve of the rentals, which also turns out to be the debut: “Not to say that I died completely, it is clear that someday in the future I will get easier.”.

About this future of Adel says that it is still in the fog. However, "as always." But now she wants to celebrate the moment and "try to get better, just be happy with herself.".

Three skaters of the highest level. Three, as it happens, debutants of the season. They will be on the competitive ice again. And for them, paraphrasing Sasha Trusova, "everything is new, no one knows what will happen next." For which of these skaters will be the final victory, which will take part first in the European championship, then the world championship? Or at the championship of Russia will be demolished by another of our athletes? The ring of intrigue is already twisted, then the talent of each loner will heat him up.