And I'm not talking about passed puberty. This whole story is reminiscent of one of the most famous guys from North Korea, and the violent reaction from the fans to it is about empty nest syndrome.

All this talk about patriotism or betrayal of either side, about "brought to the people, and she is ungrateful," perhaps just an attempt to hide terrible disappointment and awkwardness. No, well, really - why is everyone so alarmed? After all, Zhenya remains a Russian athlete. But she decided to fly away from the nest, she chose new challenges, she wants to go further and get more than Russia can offer her.

Now think - what if she suddenly succeeds? And if there it still blooms like a lush rose?

Probably, many people are afraid of just this - to accept the fact that at some stage it became crowded here, it became stuffy, it became boring, and just being among us (!) turned out to be not the most important and important for her ... we were not enough good? Yes, just - what, we are already not the best here? Even after Olympic gold Sotnikova, Lipnitskaya and Pyeongchang?

What does Zhenya's departure to Canada look like?

This is how they see off a colleague who suddenly leaves for the best firm, because the boss is a goat, there is little money and no prospects - but we envy and do not admit to ourselves that in fact we even wish him to fail a little, because if he suddenly succeeds, then we, fools, sit and endure.

This is how they see off a purposeful girl from the provinces, who has just entered a Moscow university for a specialty that they did not even know in her native Urengoy - they will say "yeah, Moscow will absorb her, start hanging out, become arrogant." Because we are staying in Urengoy - we have a "comfort zone", that's all.

But the iron curtain in this sense has long been lifted. Who are we proud of last years, what are our beauties? , - here they are, smiling, achieving, they do not refuse the flag, even when training abroad.

I recently came across a video where the Belgian coach Kasatkina on her "I can't!" on the court gently murmurs to her: "Don't say that, just try it, you like it here - let's stay here for a couple more hours, play, go ahead, my champion."

And here is a sensational documentary about, where hair stands on end from how two adult honored women scream at the future Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics that she is a "moron", "creature", "cattle".

"But is it possible with them otherwise?" - cut someone. And an unequivocal affirmative answer is given to us by foreigners, and the same Massimo Carrera, who always knows how to share responsibility between himself and the players.

And therefore, about respect and a correct attitude - this is the first compliment to a foreign coach from any athlete. What do they say about Orser? Namely - that he knows how to work with stars (read - people who know their own worth), and this is not only a compliment to him, but also, as it were, a reproach to us.

Yes, Zhenya's decision to "run to the Canadian border" makes us doubt our school, our professionals, our resources, it is partly about taking off the crown, dear coaches, move over and put away your "swearers".

In the legendary film from the DPRK about a guy with a flute (the same Hong Gil Dong), a stern master put heavy iron stockings on the legs of a very youngster and made him jump and train from morning to night, teaching him with all severity. But when Khon grew up and threw off this load, he could gallop like a saiga through trees and houses (which, of course, amused the audience to the point of colic, well, but you can’t imagine progress more clearly). Only the stern master had already realized by that moment that he would not give anything to the guy anymore, and let him go home to look for love and fight bad ninjas.

I hope that Zhenya, as she performed her most difficult jump combinations, will continue, but at the same time she will gain new heights in her programs, feeling her uniqueness in her heart, and wings behind her back and receiving not only a huge burden of responsibility to the whole country, but also freedom of choice.

It's no secret that in Japan figure skating special relationship. This sport is as popular here as the national form of sumo wrestling. Recently, local fans have a new idol - a two-time world champion. found out how a young Russian woman became the darling of the Land of the Rising Sun.

Season 2015/2016

A year has passed since the Olympics in Sochi. One of the stars of those Games was a fifteen-year-old figure skater. Among those who could not resist the charm of a young Muscovite were the Japanese, who vied with each other to discuss the image of a “girl in a red coat”. Although they also had their own hero - Yuzuru Hanyu, who won gold medal in men's singles. Surprisingly, even Yulia's failure in individual competitions did not embarrass the Japanese public, who fell in love with Eteri Tutberidze's ward with all her heart.

As time went on, Lipnitskaya's admiration among Japanese fans was rapidly fading. At the start of the 2015/2016 season, during her performances, rather disappointment was read on their faces - after all, in just over a year, almost nothing was left of the little gifted girl in terms of sports.

In October 2015 in Milwaukee at the stage of the US Grand Prix, another pupil came to the fore Russian coach- 14-year-old Evgenia Medvedeva, who won among others and Olympic champion. In just over two years, Zhenya has grown into a world-class star, confirming his high status with victories at two Grand Prix finals, two European Championships and two World Championships.

The American audience did not immediately, but appreciated the skill of Medvedeva, but the Japanese fans fell in love with her at first sight, forgetting about the former idol. After Zhenya skated a free program, a permanent partner in on-air work, noted that the audience who witnessed this performance was "the happiest of mortals." A bold statement at the time, but he was not mistaken!

Silver followed the victory in the USA Russian stage Grand Prix, which allowed Zhenya to qualify for the final of the tournament. Few people imagined at that moment that the fragile-looking Muscovite was hiding The Iron Lady women's figure skating, champion with iron nerves. The gold medal of the Russian championship, the victory in Barcelona in the Grand Prix final, the triumph at the continental championship in Bratislava - the crown of the debut season among adults was the victory with a new world record in the free program (150.10 points) at the World Championships in Boston.

Stability, patience, diligence, talent - Medvedev combines all these qualities. In her first "adult" season, she outperformed more experienced competitors and left them far behind.

Inspired by the Japanese, at the end of the season, Medvedev was invited to one of the many TV shows. The locals fell in love with Evgenia not only because of her great skating, but also because of her kawaii appearance: the young Russian woman looks exactly like an anime heroine.

The Russian figure skater was able to truly surprise the Japanese public by choosing the image of the heroine of the popular Japanese anime Sailor Moon. “I knew that there would be a lot of joy, but so much!” - laughed Medvedev, remembering the enthusiasm of the audience of the Dreams On Ice show.

Video: @wikiakiba / Twitter

Later, Evgenia admitted that she loves anime very much and recited a short verse in Japanese. This technique turned out to be one of the forbidden ones: a miniature Russian woman finally and irrevocably conquered the Japanese. A sea of ​​gifts with an anime theme, a meeting with the creator of Sailor Moon Naoko Takeuchi, dozens of shows dedicated to Medvedeva - and this was just the beginning of the "Medvedev fever".

Season 2016/2017

The new season for the Russian woman began with a trip to open championship Japan, where Evgenia confidently took gold. During her performance, it seemed that the competition was not held in Japan, but in Russia. Local fans enthusiastically greeted the favorite, waving Russian flags.

Then it was time for the second Grand Prix, this time in Canada, where Medvedeva again won the gold medal. The fourth stage of the Grand Prix in France - Evgenia is again the best. The Grand Prix Final, the Russian Championship, the European Championship - Medvedev collected the scalps of her rivals, and Japan rejoiced with her.

Video: my channel / YouTube

At the Russian Championship, Evgenia performed three triple jumps for the first time, clearly demonstrating her superiority over her rivals. At the European Championships, the Russian woman set two new world records - for a free program and for the amount of points.

At the end of March, the World Championship started, where Medvedeva received 154.40 points for a free program and an outrageous 233.41 points in total, once again updating her personal and world records. And at the end of April, she returned to her beloved Japan - to the World Team Championship. And although then the Russian team became only the second, Evgenia set three new world records! But this was not the end of Medvedeva's gifts to the country in love with her. On the third day demonstration performances the athlete reappeared on the ice in a Sailor Moon costume and delighted the audience with an amazing performance.

The Japanese follow all figure skating competitions, they know all the athletes, and most importantly, they are able to appreciate real talent. Fortunately, Medvedeva is only 17. So now you can prepare a show under the label The show must go on.

Medvedev: with a Canadian coach and without the Canadian Grand Prix final?

Completed fourth of six qualifying tournaments Grand Prix 2018. We understand: what has changed for Russian skaters after the stage in Hiroshima.

In some places, the Japanese ice greatly clarified the situation in the qualifying standings. For example, in men, all six finalists can already be predicted without waiting final stages in Moscow and Grenoble (November 16-17 and November 23-24, respectively): the fight for the 2018 Grand Prix medals in Vancouver from December 6 to 8 will most likely be led by the Japanese Yuzuru Hanyu and Sema Uno, the American Nathan Chen, the Czech Michal Brzhezina , Canadian Keegan Messing and our Sergei Voronov.

Only a medalless failure of Messing in the Russian capital can change anything here - then Alexander Samarin and Mikhail Kolyada will have chances for a “resurrection”. True, it is not very clear to whom Messing will lose so much this coming weekend. Of his Moscow rivals, only two have overcome the by no means transcendental milestone of 240 points this season - all the same Khania and Kolyada.

MEDVEDEV'S MAY NOT ENOUGH SILVER IN GRENOBLE

But in women's skating, clarity has not increased. After Hiroshima, there were predictably four vacancies left in the final (minus the "armor" for Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and Satoko Miyahara), and in fact even three (Alina Zagitova). But all the cards for the contenders were confused by 16-year-old Japanese Rika Kihira, who brilliantly won at the home stage and earned 15 credit points, the owners of which rarely miss the final. And if so, then a terrible fight will unfold for a couple of last trips to Vancouver. Between six skaters (again from Japan and Russia) at least.

Anyone can end up in this mess, including, alas, Evgenia Medvedeva. After a bronze misfire at Skate Canada two-time champion the world is guaranteed to be saved only by the gold of the stage in Grenoble. A very strong squad is expected there, led by Kihira, and even the second place will immediately put Medvedev on the brink of “failure” (for example, it will be necessary to score 214 points, although they may not be enough), and the third will deprive her of all hopes for sure. Going to Canadian coach Brian Orser and flying past the Canadian Grand Prix final in the first place is not a very pleasant prospect for an Olympic vice-champion.

In addition to Medvedeva, Zagitova and Tuktamysheva, Stanislav Konstantinova and Sofia Samodurova have some chances. However, there are more Japanese women and they look more powerful. Who would have thought that the Russian army of single skaters would have a worthy opposing side so quickly! However, you can’t really throw Zagitova from the championship throne with one number. Plus, we are already in full swing preparing a retaliatory strike for the samurai: in a year on world stage a whole detachment of our juniors will burst in with deadly, hitherto unseen jumps. The leader in this gang-lake is 14-year-old Sasha Trusova, who won the Kazan stage of the country's cup with two quadruple Lutz last weekend. True, she fell from one, but she still received 89 and a half points for the technique in an arbitrary. Kihira for a parallel triumph in Hiroshima was “poured” 87 out of bounty. Although the Japanese woman didn’t fall, she didn’t make a single mistake at all.

DANCE FINAL: STEPANOVA WITH BUKIN AGAINST THE AMERICANS

In pair skating, Natalya Zabiyako and Alexander Enbert clearly booked a ticket to Vancouver, and one of these days, Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov should do the same on Moscow ice. Plus, our prospects for the third final place for one of the three young duets have improved. Let's see if the Italians Della Monica / Garize will repeat in Russia the tricky trick from the Finnish stage, where they beat Daria Pavlyuchenko and Denis Khodykin by 0.16 with suspicious accuracy.

The dancers have a similar situation: Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin will be in the final without question, Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov most likely, and Tiffany Zagorski/Jonathan Gureyro, who missed a great chance to win in Hiroshima, are in limbo and depend on competitors from the USA and Canada. Everything will be decided here only at the last moment, in Grenoble, and it is still not clear whether the multiple world champions Papadakis / Sizeron will perform there. Due to a slight injury to a partner, the French withdrew from the stage in Japan and Vancouver is now definitely not to be seen. But they are still on the list of participants in the home tournament, and this can greatly complicate the collection of precious points in Grenoble for other duets.

Although the main meaning here is still different: without Papadakis and Sizeron, the dancing gold of the Grand Prix in the final will be played by ours and the Americans. Stepanova/Bukin vs. Hubbell/Donoghue.

The Grand Prix
Qualifying standings after four stages
Men

Women

Satoko MIYAHARA (Japan) Elizaveta TUKTAMYSHEVA (Russia) Kaori Sakamoto (Japan) Mariah Bell (USA) Rika Kihira (Japan) Alina Zagitova (Russia)

Mako Yamashita (Japan) Stanislav Konstantinova (Russia) Sofia Samodurova (Russia) Evgenia Medvedeva (Russia) Mai Mihara (Japan) Brady Tennell (USA) Yuna Shiraiwa (Japan) Daria Panenkova (Russia) Alena Leonova (Russia) Polina Tsurskaya (Russia) Maria Sotskova (Russia) Gracie Gold (USA)

Couples

Natalia ZABIAKO/Alexander ENBERT (Russia) CHEN PEN/YANG JIN (China) Kirsten Moore-Towers/Michael Marinaro (Canada) Alexa Simeka/Chris Nearim (USA) Vanessa James/Morgan Sipre (France) Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov (Russia)

Nicole Della Monica/Matteo Garise (Italy) Alisa Efimova/Alexander Korovin (Russia) Daria Pavlyuchenko/Denis Khodykin (Russia) Ashley Kane/Timothy Ledak (USA) Alexandra Boikova/Dmiriy Kozlovsky (Russia) Miriam Ziegler/Severin Kiefer (Austria)

Dancing

Madison HUBBELL/Zachary DONOHUE (USA) Charlene GUignard/Marco FABRI (Italy) Tiffany Zagorsky/Jonathan Gurreiro (Russia) Lorraine McNamara/Quinn Carpenter (USA) Lila Fir/Lewis Gibson (Great Britain) Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin (Russia)

Kathleen Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker (USA) Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov (Russia) Piper Gills/Paul Poirier (Canada) Rachel Parsons/Michael Parsons (USA) Anastasia Skoptsova/Kirill Aleshin (Russia) Betina Popova/Sergey Mozgov (Russia) Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Sizeron (France) Sofia Evdokimova/Egor Bazin (Russia) Annabel Morozova/Andrey Bagin (Russia)

O (M / E) - test points (places in the stages and the remaining stages: "M" - November 16-17 in Moscow, "G" - November 23-24 in Grenoble), B - the sum of judges' points for all programs.

Figure skaters and duets that secured places in the final are in capital letters.

Figure skating fans rejoice - rumors appeared on the Web about the romantic relationship between figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva and the star Japanese ice Yudzur Hanyu. The couple can often be seen together on the ice during preparations for ice show, besides, Evgenia is leaving Etteri Tutberidze for Yuzuru's coach, Brian Orser.

Skating fans are sure that the couple is together. On the skaters' Instagram, you can see joint pictures and praises to each other, however, so far only related to the working theme. A large audience is waiting for news about Zhenya's imminent marriage, but the girl prefers to remain silent on this topic.

Now her thoughts are occupied only by the imminent departure. As you know, Medvedev left her star coach and is now due to work in Canada.

Relations between Yuzuru Hanyu and Medvedeva - what is known

Against the background of rumors, the Japanese himself did not remain silent. Yuzuru Hanyu reacted with surprise to the news that he had a lover, and even a Russian woman. The guy did not hide the details and bluntly stated that everything said is just speculation of the public, but not the truth.

“The media write very strange messages that I have nothing to do with. I was shocked. I thought that all this was about some other Yuzuru Hanyu from a parallel world.

Medvedeva kept silent, but hastened to delete most of the pictures with the Japanese from Instagram, as if hinting that there was no romance between them.

At the same time, it cannot be said that the skaters are very good friends. Although Zhenya herself has said more than once that she warmly treats her colleagues from many countries of the world and her friends of skaters “you can’t count them on the fingers of your hands.”

Evgenia Medvedeva is preparing to leave for Canada

The departure of the famous figure skater from her beloved coach was a shock to Russian society. Rumors that Medvedev would leave Tutberidze appeared back in the spring of 2018, after the Pchenchkhane Olympics, in which Zhenya won silver and lost gold to another pupil of her coach, Alina Zagitova.

True, then the gossip was refuted by Zhenya herself, and Etteri Tutberizde directly said that she was not going to lose her pets.

Subsequently, it became clear that Evgenia's departure is not a joke - she is a change of coach "officially" and is already sitting on her suitcases, because she is going to train in Canada with Brian Orser.

As you know, the figure skater was not allowed to immediately leave for a new place of work due to employment in commercial performances in Japan. Soon there will be no more of this problem. Her mother Zhanna Devyatova has already announced estimated time when the daughter leaves Moscow - "the beginning of June." At the same time, Evgenia does not seem to be going to take citizenship of another country yet.

Evgenia herself says that she is changing the training base and country of residence, but she will always play for Russia.

Hope Russian sports will now live in Toronto. This city of almost three million is located on the shores of Lake Ontario and, together with the suburbs, includes 6 million inhabitants, writes Therussiantimes. Its twin cities are the Russian Rostov-on-Don and Volgograd.

“I don't know much about Toronto, but I've been told it's a beautiful, quiet city. I hope, thanks to the changes in my life, I will be able to focus on figure skating, ”Medvedeva told the YouTube channel of the International Olympic Committee(IOC).

Zhenya talks about how she was never tied to a specific place - her home is where her loved ones are. Psychologically, the girl is not easy now, because she was defeated, survived serious injury and now she just desperately needs to gather her courage, because in Beijing in 2022 she still plans to win the coveted gold of the Olympic Games.

We add that in addition to the Russians, in the group of Orser, who, by the way, won two Olympic silver as a single skater, there is a whole scattering of titled figure skaters of the highest class. These are the two-time Olympic champion Japanese Yuzuru Hanyu, the two-time world champion Spaniard Javier Fernandez, the winner of Pyeongchang-2018 in the Canadian team Gabriel Daleman ... The big question is whether the specialist will be able to devote enough time to his new ward.

The penultimate stage of the "Grand Prix" starts in Moscow

This coming weekend in the Russian capital will host the fifth stage of the "Grand Prix" in figure skating, following which the winners of at least four tickets to the December finals of the series in Canada will be named. Russian fans will have the opportunity to see the performances live Olympic champions in men's and women's singles.

With whom to fight Zagitova?

Vancouver trip for four

Following the speech sports couples and dance duets, the Russian team will definitely get two tickets to the Grand Prix final.

It is much more interesting who will win silver and bronze, because this is also a fight for the final. Four couples are competing for two places on the podium, each of which has already taken medals at previous stages. Russians Alisa Efimova And Alexander Korovin were second in the US Daria Pavlyuchenko And Denis Khodykin- third in Finland. Americans Ashley Kane And Timothy Leduc bronze at Skate America, while the Italians Nicole Della Monica And Matteo Guarise- silver in Helsinki.

In dancing, the first place will certainly go to. The international debut of the daughter of a famous coach will take place in Moscow: Anabel will perform in a duet with Andrey Bagin. Another Russian duet will show their dances - Sofia Evdokimova And Egor Bazin.

Schedule "Russian Grand Prix"
Friday, November 16
14.00 - men, short program
16.00 - ice dancing, rhythm dance
18.30 - pairs, short program
20.00 - women, short program
Saturday, November 17
13.30 - men, free program
15.40 - ice dancing, free dance
17.30 - couples, free program
19.10 - women, free program

The composition of the Russian team
Men People: Artur Dmitriev, Mikhail Kolyada, Andrey Lazukin
Women People: Alina Zagitova, Sofia Samodurova, Polina Tsurskaya
Dancing on Ice: Sofia Evdokimova - Egor Bazin, Anabel Morozov - Andrey Bagin, Alexandra Stepanova - Ivan Bukin
Couples: Alisa Efimova - Alexander Korovin, Daria Pavlyuchenko - Denis Khodykin, Evgenia Tarasova - Vladimir Morozov.