Ice trials: what surprised the World Figure Skating Championships in Omsk

Before the tournament in Omsk, intrigue was talked about only in men's and partly in dance. In the other events, it was as if everything was predetermined and predictable. But the Russian Championship is already an independent brand in our figure skating, something like the Monaco Grand Prix in Formula 1. And it always knows how to surprise. As a result, there was drama in the pairs around the fight for the second place, which almost sailed away from Boikova and Kozlovsky, and in the women's event, hardly anyone guessed the silver medal winner.

Petrosyan out of competition

Adelia Petrosyan has reigned supreme in women's singles for a season and a half. But the pressure on her after the news of the Russians' admission to qualify for the Olympic Games 2026 in a neutral status increased noticeably. At 17, she stood her ground. It wasn't even so much Adelia who impressed, but rather flashbacks from the era before 2022. Tutberidze, with her arms thrown up victoriously and a thrash-talk on Channel One about not jumping ultras - saying she wants those who can quadruple jump to win. Would she be as happy if she had a Russian medal and nothing else? Probably not.

All the others on the list also noticeably stepped up. Ksenia Gushchina skated cleanly, Sofia Muravyeva, who was only two hundredths short of bronze, returned to the peak. The medal was taken away from her by Alina Gorbacheva in a principled coaching confrontation between the coaching staffs of Plushenko and Fedchenko. A classic story of clean skating with triples versus ultra-si with falls. Two hundredths in figure skating, where nine people judge, is dust, snow crumbs on the blade. But on a very accurate scale, it will pull the cup down.

The silver medal goes to Daria Sadkova. She's the first one who dared to perform two quadruplets. So much so that she made Olympic champion Anna Scherbakova confess her love: "Dasha, I just love you!" - Anna said on Channel One.

Dikidzhi survived the meat grinder

Vladislav Dikidzhi, 20, was a second-tier guy a couple seasons ago who was just showing great promise. By this Russian Championship he was one of the obvious favorites in the fight for an Olympic ticket (which the federation might have known about, but hardly Vlad). It was on Dikidzhi that the federation management was ready to make the main bet - stable jumps, youth, a pleasant image for the audience.

And it was him who survived in the meat grinder of the last men's warm-up. It is not clear how he can do it - maybe he was lucky that he lost in the short program and started first in the final six, after the ice was poured. Maybe he knows how to switch off in some special way and not to reflex. Special praise to coach Oleg Tataurov - the student surpassed the teacher (Alexei Mishin).

Nervous point: unexpected results of the Russian figure skating championship

Semenenko and Dikidzhi did not make it to the top three, Tutberidze's students lost to debutants

Dikidzhi performed all quadruples cleanly. At the same time Mark Kondratyuk fell twice, Pyotr Gumennik started with a fall, and there was a complete feeling that they thought a lot before rolling and saw how others performed. Gleb Lutfullin (who ended up second) barely made it through the program physically. Vlad's victory was well-deserved, but until the Grand Prix Final, he can't be called a hundred percent number one.

Sadkova and Lutfullin are Olympic substitutes

The virtual Olympic team's reserves are a complete shock. If it was realistic to predict the winners, then it was only by obsession to predict that Lutfullin and Sadkova would take silver at the championships.

Gleb defeated the distinguished group partner Evgeny Semenenko, who had previously knocked out two championships (but nowhere near qualifying). He survived the hardest psychological warfare. We watched the skating together with the skaters, and on their faces and emotions we could read how much was at stake. Lutfullin managed not to think during the skating, unlike reflexive Gumennik and Kondratyuk.

- I'm glad I jumped clean in both the short and free skate," Lutfullin told reporters. - I also got into the prizes. In fact, I'm in shock. I couldn't imagine such a thing. I assumed, of course, that it was possible, but I couldn't imagine it. Changing time zones is a separate story. Every day I'd fall asleep at 5:00 in the morning. I was worried that I wouldn't get enough sleep, but then I came to terms with it. On the day of the free skating program I woke up at nine in the morning. Time didn't let me down too much this time, I was able to acclimatize.

Sadkova is a genius. She was sixth in the rankings at best. We remember Daria when she first joined Tutberidze's staff and moved to Moscow from Mari El. At that time she gave me and my colleague the first interview of her life - and at 12 she was already artistic, but not at all sure that even in "Khrustalny" (it was called that at that time) she would be able to hold on.

Now Daria is one of the two main contenders for a trip to the qualifying tournament and the Olympics. If something happens to Petrosyan, she can be a reliable replacement. If something happens to both of them (the vague wording about doping in theory allows us to take a dig at Tutberidze's staff), Gorbacheva, who beat Muravyeva by two hundredths, will go. But that's just for now - again, the de facto pre-Olympic Grand Prix final is still ahead.

Boykova and Kozlovsky couldn't hold out

Alexandra and Dmitry also proved too reflective and lost the confrontation with Anastasia Mishina/Alexander Galliamov. In fact, there is no confrontation as such. But there is a nuance - and it's the conditions of neutrality again. ISU and IOC may have questions to the leaders of our pair skating.

In dance it would be strange to send anyone but Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin to qualify for the Olympics. Yes, young couples have stepped up, but Khavronina/Narizhny didn't even manage to steal silver from Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva/Egor Bazin. It's unlikely that anything will change in the rankings in two months.

Attendance is also worth noting. During the championship the arena in Omsk was not empty: 8.5 thousand on Thursday, 9.5 thousand on Friday and probably more than 10 thousand on Saturday. Now that we have been admitted to the international arena, these numbers are also an argument in favor of a full Russian comeback.

- The arena in Omsk is unrealistically cool," said 2014 Olympic champion Adelina Sotnikova in a conversation with Izvestia. - I am here for the first time. This is a hockey arena and the ice here is different in temperature and texture. Many skaters said on the first day, "How are we going to jump? How are we going to skate?!" But, as I understand, everything was fixed by the competition, the ice was good. Judging by the skating, everyone liked it. All world competitions are held in huge arenas. And we are not lagging behind! Thank you very much to our federation for giving the athletes the opportunity to perform in a gorgeous big arena, where there are many spectators. Many fans came to support athletes from other cities.

On Sunday, December 22, the best figure skaters of the Czech Republic performed with demonstration numbers.