The return of Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin to the competition after a long hiatus was marked by a confident victory at the Lake Placid (USA) tournament. The former Russian dance duo scored 191.82 points and beat their closest American rivals by more than 11 points. For the Georgian national team, this is the first gold in the new season. It is this country that Diana and Gleb now represent in the international arena. And, it seems, they have every chance to go to the coveted European and world championships.
The debut tournament under the Georgian flag proved that figure skaters should not worry about a drop in results due to a transfer to another team. As well as the loss of sympathy of the judges after a forced break in the competition.
Diana and Gleb almost reached a personal record in the free dance. But this is his first start in a year and a half!
However, it was not easy. In the rhythmic dance, the athletes were second, and Eteri Tutberidze could not even watch the performance of her daughter and her son-in-law; the lack of transmission prevented it.
But Tatyana Tarasova managed to assess Diana and Gleb. The great coach wished them continued success.
lost the competition
Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin last competed on ice at the Beijing Olympics. They then skated for the Russian national team and trained with renowned ice dance guru Igor Shpilband. The couple was predicted a great future, but no one suspected that this future would be connected with another country.
Returning from the Middle Kingdom, the skaters managed to get married, change their coach and move to another state in America, where they have lived for several years. But they did not cross the ocean to compete in Russia until our athletes were allowed to participate in international competitions. We focus on training with a new mentor, Alexei Kilyakov, a former partner of Tutberidze herself.
Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin
Photo: from the personal archive of Diana Davis
For a long time, Diana and Gleb were suspected of passing quarantine to go to the US or Israel national team. As a result, they really changed their sports citizenship: but only to Georgian. And immediately went into battle. We opened the season very early at the Ice Dance International, which took place on August 1 and 2 in Lake Placid.
Naturally, they did not expect anything supernatural from them. Many at this time are dedicated to launching new programs and getting in shape. But for a year and a half, Diana and Gleb were hungry for competitions and decided to finally assert themselves.
The social media reaction to Davis and Smolkin’s debut:
“Eteri can buy everything, but her daughter has no talent.” Social media – on Davis’ debut for Georgia
Most of the components
They had many rivals: 17 dance duets. Not everyone posed a real threat, but despite the clean performance, Diana and Gleb failed to take the lead from day one. Una Brown and Gage Brown from the US outperformed them in the rhythm dance: 75.26 to 74.35. The lag is less than a point, but it’s still unpleasant.
Diana and Gleb were outperformed solely on technique, with component ratings scoring the highest. The judges especially liked his presentation: 8.19 points. True, the presentation of the Americans Eva Payton and Logan Bai was also appreciated in the same way. But the newly trained Georgian dancers were without equal in skating prowess: they were the only ones to pass the 8-point threshold in this component, which is equivalent to the verbal rating of “very good”.
Tatyana Tarasova also reacted positively to the performance of Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin. Her rhythmic dancing to Michael Jackson’s hits made a good impression on him.
Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin present rhythmic dance
Photo: video frame
“This is a successful performance. Especially for those who missed so long. Will I follow them? I didn’t look at them very carefully anyway, because after the Olympics there was nowhere to see them. But I’m going to watch the international competitions, the European Championship. God forbid that Davis and Smolkin continue to act successfully, ”Tarasova shared her opinion on Match TV.
Tutberidze could not trace the debut of his daughter and son-in-law in the Georgian national team. She couldn’t find the tournament broadcast. And the video of the rental, which Diana posted on her social networks, she probably did not have time to watch due to the tight preparation of the Khrustalny students.
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We swung in “Swan Lake” and set a personal record
On the second day of the competition, Diana and Gleb made an amazing effect as soon as they appeared on the ice. Diana in an elegant black tutu and Gleb in a shirt with puffy shoulders swayed in the musical masterpiece “Swan Lake.”
Obviously not in vain. The usual absence of mistakes and competent use of his strengths turned into a triumph. The judges did not skimp on points: 117.47. This is only one point and a penny less than the personal record of the skaters (118.60) in the free dance during the performances for Russia. However, then they reached such high figures, having gone through several tournaments and already closer to the middle of the season.
Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin present free dance
Photo: video frame
Now the stakes for the guys have clearly risen – the first challenge in a long time and such a brilliant result according to the protocols! Most of the elements were built up to the fourth highest difficulty level and faced the one-legged step sequence, in which the previously leading Americans fell. This knockdown certainly cost them precious points, but they would have lost even without it. The gap between Diana and Gleb in the free dance was more than 12 points! And in total – more than 11. This is a lot even for one event, and even more for ice dancing.
By the way, Diana and Gleb still set a personal record in Lake Placid – they showed the best career result in technique in a free dance – 68.71 points.
Also with the components, everything is fine: again the highest among all the participants. And if the American duet Una Brown/Gage Brown was a little better in terms of composition, then Diana and Gleb are ahead by a decent margin in terms of presentation and skating skills. And in general, no one except them could get points above eight in all three components. “Very good”, according to the referees, only they skated.
Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin
Photo: from the personal archive of Diana Davis
Ahead of Diana and Gleb is a difficult struggle for a place under the sun in the international arena, and they go in with burning eyes. For now, the gold in Lake Placid is the front page of its Georgian history. Very curious to see what the rest will be.
