Plushenko’s student made an unexpected move. Now Kostornaya will be tough in pair skating?
Ekaterina Avdonina July 12, 2023, 15:45 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Alena Zhilina changed her discipline, although she had prospects, being a single skater. Will ultra-si jumps come sooner to pair skating?
Figure skaters-quadrists have already become commonplace for single skating. And if such appear in other disciplines?
There is such a possibility, because the talented student Evgenia Plushenko decided to try her hand at pairs. Alena Zhilina, who once trained three different quadruple jumps and performed a triple Axel, will now try to revolutionize pair skating.
Will she get ahead of Alena Kostornaya?
Plushenko’s student unexpectedly entered pair skating
The off-season in figure skating never ceases to amaze. Transitions occur not only from one venue to another, but also between different disciplines. Recently it became known that the talented student of Evgeni Plushenko Alyona Zhilina left single skating for pairs. The decision of the 13-year-old athlete was confirmed by the representative of the Academy of the two-time Olympic champion:
“Training, yes. While we wait a bit, we do not shoot. Let the guys get used to each other, work quietly, ”this was the answer to the question of whether Zhilina really changed her occupation.
Alena Zhilina
Photo: Anastasia Matrosova, Championship
Alena’s partner, according to TASS, was Andrey Rud. The young man is 18 years old, much older than the skater and has been skating as a couple for several years. Last season he acted with Eva Khmelkova. Before that, he collaborated several times with Anastasia Chernyshova, Elizaveta Osokina and Anastasia Kostyuk. Now Zhilina and Rud are training at the Plushenko Angels skating rink under the guidance of Arina Ushakova, a stuntwoman who began her career with Nina Moser.
Zhilina taught the elements of ultra-si: what went wrong?
The news about Alena’s new role on the ice excited fans of figure skating, because the athlete showed promise as a single figure skater. Like her older sister, Veronika, she went from Eteri Tutberidze to Evgeni Plushenko, having a triple axel in her arsenal, and then learning quadruple jumps. In training, Zhilina Jr. performed several quads: sheepskin coat, salchow and rittberger.
The story of the confrontation between Plushenko and Tutberidze:
Poaching Trusova and Kostornaya and criticizing the judges. Who is right in the dispute between Plushenko and Tutberidze?
Interestingly, the head of the Angels categorically denied the transition of the older sister to pair skating:
“She was not going to move on to pair skating. But if we are given such a task, we can do it. Zhilina can go both to pair skating and ice dancing, she is a versatile athlete: she can skate anywhere, ”Plushenko noted in a conversation with TASS, referring to Veronica.
The Zhilins were, perhaps, Evgeny’s main asset: with them she was going to conquer women’s single skating, but Alena’s fate turned out differently. The results at the competitions did not meet expectations: in the 2022/2023 season, the skater won only one tournament for Maria Butyrskaya’s prizes, so she decided to move in a different direction.
Kostornaya has a rival in pairs skating
On the other hand, the appearance of Zhilina in pair skating is a success for the entire discipline, whose representatives have long been talking about the need for development. Alexandra Boikova and Dmitry Kozlovsky are trying to do quad flips and throws, and Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov even dream that one day athletes will start jumping quads.
The strengthening of this kind of ultra-si can happen thanks to Alena, although it was originally expected from another girl with the same name. Now it will be more difficult for Alena Kostornaya to get the palm from her. The 2020 European Champion also entered pair skating and immediately set her sights on a high result:
“I want to do a parallel triple axis in the programs. I don’t know if it’s possible, but I think it will work one day. While I would like to do all the elements well, to the level. We’ll talk about the complication later,” he told Sirius magazine.
More about Kostornaya’s transition to pair skating:
Stories
What is known about the Kostornaya transition in pairs? Alena refuses to finish!
Alena’s competitor for the title of figure skater, who made a revolution in pairs, is, of course, serious, but first Zhilina needs to catch up and learn the basics. Considering that she has before her eyes a successful example of the same Kostornaya, who began to change at a more mature age, this is probably not a big problem for her. It remains only to wish Alena success and wait for the first results in pair skating.
