Siberian predictions: Petrosyan secures Olympic ticket

Something has changed in the Russian figure skating kingdom: the girls in conditions of relative certainty with the Olympic selection almost in full fell, some once, some twice. The guys in full-fledged nervousness showed almost perfect skating. Who to send to the Olympic selection in women's and other events? The denouement of the final of the Russian Grand Prix in Krasnoyarsk.

"You will finish either with the program or with the coach".

Eteri Tutberidze's scathing quotes to her students at the board after the skating, which are broadcasted on Channel One, are enough for a whole quote book. Even more than Comrade Mao's. Adelia Petrosyan had to try hard not to win. But she started with a challenge - she decided to do six jumping elements instead of seven.

Instead of the first triple axel, the result was a zero - Petrosyan did not even soar into the air. Although then under the roar of the stands she did two quadruple, not allowing the collapse. Nevertheless, the coach was formidable with her 17-year-old, already generally adult, pupil after the ride. Others have left Crystal before.

"After a start like that, you're done with either the program or the coach," Tutberidze said.

"We almost quit," added another of Adelia's mentors, Daniil Gleichengauz.

That said, even before Gorbacheva and Muravyeva's rollouts, it was clear that Petrosyan would win. 238 points - not 250, but it eliminated all the questions about his Olympic bid and his fourth consecutive victory at a major tournament of the season. But let's assume that Tutberidze's methods have worked, are working and will continue to work.

Muravyeva didn't take any risks and missed both birds of a feather

It was much hotter in the fight for silver. Anna Frolova showed mature female skating and grace - but with cascades like 3+2. The eternal question of what is cooler: a clean skate with lighter content or a dirty one with a quadruple? It's solved by math and ISU rules, but it's also too easy an answer - how do falls affect components? And how do quads? The question turns from objective to subjective.

But at least during Frolova's performance I saw a standing ovation. Her cat roll to the musical Cats resulted in 221 points, while Gorbacheva started her roll with two falls on three jumps. But the third was a quadruple, pardon the digital pun. The program under James Bond looks, the image is interesting, coaches Sofya Fedchenko and Vlada Danilina jumped and showed the choreography at the board on themselves. With a common effort, Alina stepped over Frolova.

But her main rival was Muravyeva, who performed last. Sofia made the right choice in general - she didn't go for a triple axel and bet on a clean performance. But there is a nuance - with such an approach it was impossible to even give a reason to make a mistake. Evgeni Plushenko's mentee gave it at once with a cascade of double axel + double tulup, and then fell from one of the triple. It was a surrender - if the 18-year-old figure skater was counting on success and the Olympics at all.

Now, I'm afraid, the Russian Figure Skating Federation has no choice but Petrosyan and Gorbacheva. But which of them should be placed in which number is a much more subtle, political and diplomatic question. If not roulette.

Will there be additional rentals?

In men, as always, this season was very tight. And now the fight for a place in the Olympic selection becomes even more intense.

Pyotr Humennik, first place. On Friday, Pyotr said that his chances for the Olympics were only a percent. Now the position has changed.

"At least to 6%, and the maximum, following the logic, to 100%. How do you choose a contender? You have to choose a number of criteria, give them some weight, then multiply this weight and summarize the points. Additional rentals? I'm ready, always," Peter told reporters.

Mark Kondratyuk, second place.

"I try not to think about the admission, but if it suddenly happens that I go, I think it will be like then, unforgettable. If it doesn't work out this time, I plan to ride until 2030, there will be another attempt. I consider myself a participant of the race, I don't really like this wording, but in general - yes, I do.

Evgeny Semenenko, third place.

Did not come to the mix zone. He passed his words through the press-attache of the Federation Olga Yermolina: "The competitions in Krasnoyarsk are over. I am glad that I rolled two programs clean".

Vladislav Dikidzhi, fourth place.

"I have no idea how the fourth place will affect the selection situation. Do I want to go to the Olympics? Of course, I would like to, but it's not up to me. Would you be ready for extra skating if it was possible? If it was possible, I would go out. I'm happy for Petruccio [Petr Humennik], he's a beast. I congratulate him, the tactic worked. I'm glad that I got ready for the first half of the program, I'd like to scold myself for the second half. I had a lot of thoughts in my head while rolling. But it'll do. I guess I was hit by skating problems. Recently I broke a hook, Oleg Stanislavovich drilled a hole on purpose, there was panic".

Dmitry Aliev is having a bad season and is not competing for an Olympic ticket, but he says he is spurred on by the admission.

"What motivates me is the admission to the international arena. I recently thought, if international starts were open now, a lot of things would change and my condition would come back to normal, because now we are competing with the same people, I want to get a taste of these starts, but the level of our guys can only be envied."

Boykova/Kozlovskiy were deprived of the silver medal

In other events, which closed the program of the Grand Prix Final on Sunday, also happened epochal. In particular, in pairs, for the first time in three years someone broke the usual top-2 of Mishina/Gallyamov and Boikova/Kozlovsky. This hasn't happened since the 2022 Olympics. And how!

Nina Moser's pair Khabibullina/Knyazhuk, gaining strength, lost by only 12 points to Mishina/Gallyamov with a fall. Boykova and Kozlovsky have not been spared from mental problems - with Dmitry now sprinkled in. When asked about psychologists, both answered skeptically - they say you can only help yourself. And why should Tutberidze's pair be sent as substitutes now, and not Moser's?

In dance everything turned out as expected - up to the bronze medal. Kaganovskaya/Nekrasov with gold, and again it is a bid for a young reserve behind Stepanova/Bukin, but in the fight for bronze there was a drama. Yevgeny Ustenko, partner of Ekaterina Mironova, fell in an unbelievable way. The St. Petersburg pair lost the bronze medal - and it was miraculously taken by Shcherbakova/Goncharov. In turn, these guys were so disbelieved in the interest of dancing that they took early plane tickets, not counting on the award. And also the bronze and prize money could well have been taken by Leontieva/Gorelkin. But their partner got ill because of a collision with rivals in the warm-up.

But who will be sent to the Olympics is still a mystery. Alexander Kogan, General Director of the federation, said that some information from the ISU should come back - then the decision will be announced.

Grand Prix Final. Final position

Women

1. Adelia Petrosyan - 238

2. Alina Gorbacheva - 224

3. Anna Frolova - 221

Men

1. Pyotr Humennik - 314.54

2. Mark Kondratyuk - 294,06

3. Evgeniy Semenenko - 293,90

Pairs

1. Anastasia Mishina / Alexander Galliamov - 231,95

2. Natalia Khabibullina / Ilya Knyazhuk - 219,80

3. Alexandra Boikova / Dmitry Kozlovsky - 208,43

Dancing

1. Vasilisa Kaganovskaya / Maxim Nekrasov - 205,58

2. Elizaveta Pasechnik / Dario Cirizano - 200,61

3. Anna Scherbakova / Egor Goncharov - 192,23