A year ago, many doubted that Alena Kostornaya’s story in pair skating would last more than one season. However, the star skater dispelled the skeptics. Soon she will shine for the second time as a pair in test skates and will show programs for future competitions with her husband and partner Georgy Kunitsa.
But the debut season in doubles was not easy for the European champion. The jury raised doubts. I even thought it was a bit unfair. The positions in the rankings did not correspond to long-standing victories. It is not surprising that in such a situation she did not immediately recover and did not give free rein to her emotional nature.
But then Alena drew conclusions and channeled all her energy into training. She no longer rebelled in competitions, but worked tirelessly during the off-season, improving day by day.
The way she doesn’t give up is inspiring and truly respectful. Alena is an incredibly talented figure skater, and how cool is it that she’s still practicing this sport!
It started with a rebellion, but decided to continue.
Being one of the most talented individual athletes, Alena took the modest, by her standards, 68.06 points for the short program in the first pairs competition very seriously. She later wrote on social media: “It’s painful, offensive and incomprehensible – this is not how I imagined our debut!!”. After the free skate, she made an accusatory speech, saying that her favorite sport was drowning in the swamp… Many condemned her, some sympathized with her, and some feared that Alena would give up and hang up her skates.
Alena Kostornaya and Georgy Kunitsa
Photo by: RIA Novosti
In the end, everything turned out well. Alena drew conclusions and then did not perform at all, either in the kiss and cry or in front of the press. She and Kunitsa closed the season, although not in a prominent place, but on a high note, delighting fans at the Russian Championships with a new version of their famous short program “Angel”.
They failed to make it to the final of the Russian Grand Prix, as the girl underwent surgery due to a shoulder injury. Health is more important, that’s right. However, the need to protect her arm from stress did not prevent Alena from actively training. She worked hard in the choreography room, performing pirouettes on pointe shoes and tearing her feet until they bled. I prepared in this way for the role of the Black Swan in the show, but ballet classes are also useful for sports.
Alena returned to the ice with great enthusiasm. The coaches did not hide their concern that she was so eager to work and tried to slow her down. It is difficult to judge how successful they were, but news from the field appeared regularly on the athlete’s page on social networks: every day she was striving to improve. Her diligence and workaholicism were amazing. At the same time, she and Gosha managed to combine their training with the role of mentors for amateur skaters.
Kostornaya’s painful reaction to the assessments:
“My favourite sport is drowning in a swamp.” Kostornaya caused drama at the Grand Prix!
Kostornaya and Kunitsa dedicated the summer to progress
At the training camp in Sochi, Alena and Gosha took part in demonstration performances, where they skated the short program “Angel”. The couple’s progress was obvious: they began to feel better, skate closer and improved their spin, with which they constantly had problems. It is a pity that at the end of the training camp Alena was again overcome by an old injury: her left arm needed to be rested in a splint.
Alena Kostornaya
Photo: From the personal archive of Alena Kostornaya.
The beginning of July was marked by a small but important victory for the couple. They got to the third level with the spinning top, just on the verge of reaching the fourth. And in August they scared us by studying extreme elements: Alena’s support without hands on Gosha’s head and the so-called “mace”, when the couple holds their partner by the skate and turns his head downwards around its axis. By the way, this dangerous trick was tried at Ilya Averbukh’s show in Olenegorsk. It looked really impressive, but, to be honest, I want the fearless Alena to take care of herself.
On the other hand, it’s great that she is busy with work and wants to be the best version of herself, both in competitions and ice shows. It’s clear that she is enjoying her journey in pairs skating and is gaining momentum with enthusiasm.
It would seem that against the background of the ban on our skaters from the international stage, it would be difficult for such a successful former single skater to maintain motivation and stay in the big sport. Especially against the background of numerous injuries and a very difficult nature. But Alena pleasantly surprises and makes you believe that she will definitely achieve great success as a man.
As long as my health doesn’t fail me. And he has more than enough work and talent to conquer more than one sporting summit.
All about the skating tests that will take place this weekend:
Trusova will be back… and who will stop her? All about skater test skates.
