A week ago, the Russian rocket made a splash with five quadruple jumps. But in the United States, Alexandra returned to her old problems.
After a triumphant performance at open rentals in Chelyabinsk, it seemed that Trusova had finally gained stability. But already at the first official tournament, Sasha showed that quadruple jumps for her are still a lottery.
At competitions in the United States, the Russian rocket again claimed five quads and swung at a world record. But instead she performed only one quad purely and almost lost to a little-known rival.
Tutberidze was clearly unhappy with what she saw. And Sasha was so confused by the failure that she almost forgot to greet the fans.
It seems that it is still very early to send Trusova to Beijing.
Why it was important for Trusova to perform at a modest tournament in the USA
Trusova was the first of the stellar Russian figure skaters to open a new season. Sasha began her journey to the Olympics at the modest US International Figure Skating Classic, where she had no serious rivals.
Despite the lack of serious competition, the tournament in Norwood was extremely useful for her. First, it is important for Trusova to catch a competitive rhythm. Secondly, Sasha needs to achieve stability and determine the most successful arrangement of elements. After all, she will probably have to skate a short program with a triple axel and an arbitrary program with five quads at least before the Olympics. And thirdly, it is probably important that Sasha, after returning from Plushenko's academy, starts with a victory, as if nullifying past defeats. No wonder it was Trusov who was announced to the tournament, where victory would have been ensured by any of the top-skaters of "Khrustalny".
The international premiere of the short program was not entirely successful. Sasha showed the world her huge progress in interpretation, sensually skating in the image of Frida Kahlo. But the triple axel skater again failed: after a series of excellent attempts at training at the box office, a fall happened. Otherwise, Sasha was perfect and even with a gross error received points close to a personal record - 74.75.
Not everything turned out well in the free program. Trusova bombed with five quads in training, but fell again at the box office. After falling from a quadruple flip, Sasha's previous block seemed to work: if the first jump fails, then all the others fly. Of the five planned quads, only Salchow was clean. The skater doubled the sheepskin coat, under-twisted the solo lutz and landed with an error, as well as the triple salchow in a cascade with a quadruple lutz through the oiler. All elements of the ultra-si, except for the quad-salkow, were seriously eliminated by Trusova. The skater was not impressed by the level of interpretation. The image of the villainess Cruella, with an abundance of mistakes, simply did not work.
Tutberidze did not save Trusova from falling. But Sasha still delighted the Americans
By a very modest estimate of 142.05 points, it seems as if Sasha did not jump at all quadruples. Little-known Korean Yong Jong Park without ultra-si elements came close to the Russian woman. In terms of the amount, the skater lagged behind Trusova by four points, and in the arbitrary one - by one. A little more, and student Tutberidze could lose. Unfortunately, the former Sasha, who is enchanting in training and crashes the skates, has not gone anywhere. A week ago, the Russian rocket made a splash with five quadruple jumps. But in the United States, Alexandra returned to her old problems.
Trusova amused the audience, but left Tutberidze unhappy
Despite the failure, the audience received Trusova very warmly. Immediately after the performance, the Russian audience jumped up from their seats and began to shout: "Sasha, you are the best!" The skater thanked the fans with a bow and hurried off the ice. But Eteri Tutberidze returned her there. Trusova, out of habit, did not take the toys that the audience threw at her - at prestigious tournaments, this is usually done by little skaters. But Norwood provides self-service, so the Russian Rocket had to collect the presents itself. This moment amused both the stands and Sasha herself. A wave of laughter swept through the arena, and our skater finally smiled after an unconvincing performance.
Finally, Trusova shows adult and meaningful skating. But Sasha has less and less time
But behind the side there was no time for fun. Trusova fell down and upset Tutberidze. Eteri Georgievna was unhappy with the rental and immediately began to sort out the mistakes. Until the announcement of the grades, Tutberidze emotionally explained something to the student. And the scores, it seems, were incomprehensible to either the coach or the skater. They greeted the modest assessments with surprised looks.
After returning to "Khrustalny", the coaching staff will have to work with Sasha on the mistakes. Unfortunately, the previous problems of the skater have not disappeared anywhere. The very first tournament brought Sasha down to earth. The Russian rocket can be enchanting in training, but with such performances it will be extremely difficult for her to even qualify for prestigious tournaments. On the other hand, it's good that such a skate happened at the start of the season, and not at an important tournament. Trusova still has time to fix everything.