Quads or Olympic gold? Figure skating prodigy Trusova’s difficult choice (VIDEO)
The Russian should choose what is more important between landing quads or winning medals, a four-time world champion says
Russia’s figure skaters, who are expected to sweep the podium in women’s singles, have now begun training in Beijing, drawing questions about their readiness and shape ahead of the world’s biggest winter sports event.
The Russian trio comprised of Kamila Valieva, Alexandra Trusova, and Anna Shcherbakova produced powerful skating, cementing their status as Olympic frontrunners.
While Valieva, who is believed to be the leading contender to claim gold, was solid, Trusova was far from perfect.
Despite landing several quads, the ‘Russian rocket’ made three noticeable mistakes.
And if two successful quads would be considered a huge success for other skaters, it’s a rather poor result for Trusova, who is attempting to land five in her program.
Так прошла первая тренировка наших фигуристок в Пекине????⛸
— Olympic Russia (@Olympic_Russia) February 2, 2022
????Андрей Голованов #КомандаГероев pic.twitter.com/W1FnqW0uNQ
Reigning world champion Shcherbakova proved she is in excellent shape, solidly landing a quad Lutz along with her signature quad flip.
Following Trusova’s first practice in Beijing, world and Olympic champion Yagudin said the quad-jumping queen must choose between insane technical content and stable performance.
“I think Sasha should clearly realize what she wants more: to throw all five quads or to win.
“She can do all quadruple jumps but the main task is to combine them in one program.”
The first female skater to make a quad jump, Trusova is the only competitor with such solid technical difficulty.
She could be practically unbeatable at the Games, assuming she lands all five quads in her routine. The problem is that she has never accomplished this in any official start.
What will she choose in her bid to win gold? We won’t know until they finally take the ice in Beijing. The medals will be awarded on February 17.
The Winter Olympic Games 2022 run from February 4-20.