Russian figure skaters Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
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Russia Only Hoping for One Medal in Tokyo
The figure skating world championship is taking place now in Tokyo. Russia, a country that dominated that sport for decades, expects to take only one medal in it, and that may not be a gold medal. Last year's championship in Montreal went no better, as Russia took only a single bronze medal. The cause of the problem is obvious. After taking three gold medals at the Olympics in Turin – a usual outcome for the time – the heroes of the sport – Evgeny Plyushchenko, Irina Slutskaya, Tatyana Navka with Roman Kostomarov, Tatyana Titmyanin with Maxim Marinin – left the ice for the commentator's booth or the ice show. no one took their places in competition.
Nonetheless, even if Russia's skaters are not the best today, its trainers still are. Tatyana Tarasova, Tamara Moskvina, Alexey Mishin and their junior colleagues will stay on the job. Never have never failed for long to train a world leader, and the next one may be appearing in Tokyo now. There is Mishin's student Andrey Lutai, who took fifth place in the Championship of Europe in Warsaw in January; and Moskvina's students Yuko Kawaguchi with Alexander Smirnov. Kawaguchi will ironically be skating in her homeland while representing another country, who took third place in the Russian phase of the Grand Prix.
It is already clear where Russia may win a medal in Tokyo. Dances in figure skating were always synonymous with stability and predictability and the winner could easily be guessed in advance by scores in previous competitions. Now they are the most interesting discipline within the sport. There are at least five pairs that may contend. At the last Championship of Europe, the French Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder won by three-tenths of a point over Russians Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin. They are still not guaranteed a medal though. Domnina is recovering from a family tragedy – her father committed suicide at the end of last month. It is not hard to guess what condition she is in psychologically. And, beside the French pair, the Russians will face the Bulgarian gold medalists at Montreal Albena Denkova with Maxim Staviisky, as well as Canadian and American pairs.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 20, 2007
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