And how many athletes who played in Tokyo took lessons from Alexei Mishin and Tatyana Tarasova - not counted. We are comforted by the fact that in this sense the Russian school of figure skating holds a mark. The demand for its specialists is explicable. Coaches, in addition to the notorious material factor, are also driven by professional interest. Pupils from far abroad not only absorb everything like a sponge, but also implicitly obey teachers. They are willing to meekly work 10 hours a day. Our athletes are mostly whimsical and ruffian.
Surely working with Japanese athletes, for whom figure skating is a sacred act, is a pleasure. I recall the current Grand Prix finals in St. Petersburg, where the composition of the men's tournament turned out to be truncated due to the fact that Americans Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir withdrew from it. The remaining four and there was nothing to share, however, both Japanese - Nobunari Oda and Daisuke Takahashi - came out extremely charged to fight. The silver medalist of the current “world” in St. Petersburg won the glory of the hero. Takahashi, being unhealthy, writhed in pain during an arbitrary rental, nevertheless, as a true pro, he proved the program ...
The owners of ladies' gold and silver also have characters, and even in the skill and traditions of the athletes of the Land of the Rising Sun you will not refuse. 19-year-old Miki Ando started skating at age 9, two years later she performed the first triple jump, salchow. At the final of the Junior Grand Prix in 2002, she was the first of the women to make a quadruple jump, also a salchow. In training, Mikey manages to land after a ritberger and a four-turn sheepskin coat.
To match a compatriot, and another child prodigy - Mao Assad. The 2005 World Junior Champion made a fuss on the eve of the Olympics by winning the Grand Prix finals held in her home country. In addition to other grandees, Russian Irina Slutskaya then lost to her. However, Assad, who was only fifteen at that time, could not perform in Turin due to age restrictions. Many skaters then mentally thanked the wise Union of skaters - nevertheless, they are less than one serious rival. For two years, the angular girl grew up, gained experience and began to perform a man’s jump, a triple axel with greater stability.
In Tokyo, she uncovered a secret weapon in a free program. There was no longer any way back for Mao Asada - after a short composition, the young Japanese woman occupied only fifth place. A mistake in the cascade of a triple flip - a triple rittberger (the second jump came out only in a single) cost her dearly. Ahead of Mao Asada are the world champion American Kimmy Meissner, European champion Italian Carolina Costner, her friend on the national team Miki Ando and the opening of the season Korean Kim Yu Na. “Roxanne's Tango” under the soundtrack from the movie “Moulin Rouge”, flawlessly performed by a sixteen-year-old Korean skater, made her the main contender for gold.
The Italian opened the last rolling. The "Geisha Diary" turned out to be sad for Costner - a fall, dirty trips, none of the two declared cascades. American Emily Hughes and Korean Kim Yu Na also did not escape obvious mistakes. Nevertheless, the Flight of the Lark, which went very much to the skater from the Country of Morning Freshness, pleased the judges. Those pulled up grades for the components, and Kim Yu Na remained the leader.
The first was replaced by Mao Assad, who introduced the eastern version of Chardash. The Japanese crowned triple axel came out not quite clean, nevertheless she did the rest of the elements with a bang, venturing out at the end of the rental to the jumping “waterfall” 3-2-2. Assad diversified her dance with beautiful rotations, among which was Bilmann, beloved by the public. As soon as the last chords fell silent, the hall stood in a single impulse. Ward Rafael Harutyunyan managed to beat Kim Yu On for more than ten points.
At that moment, no one could have imagined that she would concede to her main rival some meager - 64 hundredths. However, this has happened. Mendelssohn’s violin concert will henceforth caress Mika Ando’s hearing, as if the march of this composer - to the entire female sex.
The representative of Japan won the world title at home after a long break: Jukka Sato won in Chiba in 1994. The title of the strongest skater on the planet was also given to Midori Ito in 1989 and Shizuka Arakawa in 2004.
Olga GONCHAROVA