Checking the first: what to expect from the Czech Republic on jumps
The Russian Jumping Championship has long ceased to be just a spectacular supplement to the season of figure skaters. By 2026, he had established himself as a kind of litmus test of every athlete's technique: who is willing to take risks, who is able to withstand pressure and who has a real margin of difficulty. The format, which lacks rental as such, exposes everything — technique, psychology, physical readiness. Mistakes cannot be disguised by choreography, any fall is very expensive. The new jumping tournament will be held on January 31 — February 1 at the Navka Arena. The squad is impressive, and two names are particularly noteworthy: Kamila Valieva will be on the ice after being disqualified, and Alexandra Trusova after giving birth.
Women's Tournament
The individual tournament is held unchanged and complies with the regulations of previous years. In each round, athletes compete in the performance of a set of jumping elements, which are evaluated according to the ISU system. The points of each participant are summed up throughout all rounds of the tournament, but after each of them, the participants with the lowest score are eliminated. The athletes who have scored the maximum amount advance to the next round with points remaining until the final.
Women's single skating at the Russian Jumping Championship – 2026 is becoming the highlight of the program of the entire tournament. Different vectors of the figure skaters' development converge here: the stars of the previous Olympic cycle, those who performed in recent seasons, the leaders of the adult national team and yesterday's juniors. The format of the jump championship playoffs leaves no room for gradual entry — either you go straight ahead without mistakes, or you drop out of the fight.
While Valieva and Trusova were away, the women's jumping market in Russia became extremely competitive. The triple axel is no longer an event, and the quadruple axel is no longer a topic of discussion. For Two-eyed, Khusnutdinova, Unloved and Sadkovaya, the ultra-si elements are the working minimum.
An important caveat: even cleanly executed triples in the current women's tournament do not guarantee passage to the finals. For Valieva, for example, this means balancing caution and forced risk. To take a step back for the sake of stability is to give in on the base. To take a step forward is to jeopardize the very idea of a "peaceful return." This is the main trap of starting it.
Alexandra Trusova's comeback looks less dramatic in appearance, but no less complex in essence. Returning after the birth of a child is not only a matter of physical recovery, but also of rebuilding the entire training process. In this context, a jumping tournament is a format where it is impossible to "sit out" because the schedule is very intense. At the Ice Age, Sasha had already complained in conversations with other skaters that it was difficult to recover with such a schedule.
Unlike previous seasons, Trusova does not claim quads as a mandatory part of the content. Instead, she relies on the Lutz–Rittberger cascade, one of the most complex and expensive elements without ultra-si. It is noteworthy that now this cascade may look more stable for her than in her peak years, when the risk often outweighed control.
However, the question remains of principle: will one complex cascade be enough in a tournament where competitors come out with triple axels and quads as a basic set? Trusova has always won through courage, but the current format requires not so much maximum risk as accurate calculation. And here her comeback becomes a test of her ability to adapt to the new logic of fighting new rivals.
Alisa Dvoeglazova owns a quadruple lutz, Maria Zakharova owns a quadruple sheepskin coat, Dina Khusnutdinova consistently copes with a triple axel and is actively working to expand the set of ultra-si. The only thing missing is Adelia Petrosyan, who previously stated that she would like to host another tournament before the Olympics (although it's unlikely to be a jumping tournament, but they could have cleared time for her to rent programs). In the meantime, she has to collect information bit by bit from training sessions — as the fans noticed, she did a triple lutz + triple sheepskin cascade instead of a quadruple sheepskin coat. However, this may not mean anything at all.
Men's Tournament
Men's single skating at the Russian Jumping Championships looks less acute in terms of plots, but it is here that the format of the competition reveals itself in the most athletic way. Unlike women, where returns and generational change create an emotional background, mathematics comes to the fore for men. The jumping tournament for guys who all know how to jump fours is not so much about maximum difficulty as about the ability to properly distribute risks and not "burn out" during the cumulative format.
Reducing the number to 12 participants only increases the density of the fight. There are practically no extras here: everyone is able to perform high-level elements, and the difference between the final and relegation in the quarterfinals can be measured by one short turn or an extra step on the road.
Vladislav Dikidzhi, Mark Kondratyuk and Evgeny Semenenko are traditionally considered the main contenders for victory (Peter Gumennik is not at the tournament). What unites them is not so much a set of elements as the ability to work in a jumping format. They rarely take adventures, but they almost always collect clean programs, minimizing losses on GOE.
Dikigi is super stable on lutz, Kondratyuk likes salchow, Semenenko has been making a luxurious rittberger lately. Moreover, he has not won major tournaments for a long time. But the unpredictability of the format is characterized by the fact that Nikolai Ugozhaev bypassed the whole trinity last year. In the current squad, even Makar Ignatov, Matvey Vetlugin and Nikita Sarnovsky are able to show the senior quads. For them, the tournament is a chance to establish themselves as people competing for top positions in Russia.
Couples and duets
The Russian Jumping Championship is considered to be a less "native" format for sports pairs than for singles, but it is here that the quality of the duo's work is best demonstrated. In 2026, the rules in pair skating have become even stricter: the number of rounds has been reduced, and three pairs advance to the finals at once. On the one hand, this increases the chances of winning a medal, on the other hand, it dramatically increases the density of the fight. You can make fewer mistakes than ever.
On paper, the favorite looks obvious. Alexandra Boikova and Dmitry Kozlovsky are the only couple in the application with elements of ultra-si. But it's not so much the complexity that matters, as the probability of a clean execution on the first try. Even the presence of ultra-si does not make Boikova and Kozlovsky unattainable.
Against this background, those who bet not on maximum difficulty, but on purity, can win. Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov are among the most experienced participants in jumping tournaments, well aware of the specifics of the format. Their advantage is the ability to collect items without fuss and minimize losses on GOE. A year ago, they won against Elizaveta Osokina and Artem Gritsaenko, who had previously won the tournament. Therefore, they can be considered one of the favorites.
In 2026, the Russian Jumping Championship was updated: the number of participants was reduced, and a new competitive format, the duet tournament, was introduced. The duets are performed by singles — one man and one woman. The competition is held in three rounds, each of which includes different jumping elements. The duo independently decides which of the athletes goes on the ice in a particular round, but both skaters are required to participate at least once. The elements are evaluated according to the ISU system, while joint jumps are judged according to the rules of pair skating. The points scored by the duo are added up based on the results of all rounds, and the winner is the pair with the highest score.
What it will look like is not very clear yet, but it is very interesting.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
